Digital Commons Network^™

Ready, Set, Network! Research Speed Networking For Clinicians, Scientists And Engineers, Pamela M. Dillon, Karen H. Gau

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Objectives: A 2013 Institute of Medicine report urged researchers to “engage in additional substantive and productive collaborations” to address important clinical/translational science questions. To encourage team science among our researchers, Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences and Center for Clinical and Translational Research hosted a speed networking event, specifically targeting engineers, clinicians, and basic scientists; an analysis of the event is below.

Methods: Invitations were distributed to clinicians, engineers, and basic scientists. To maximize interactions without increasing time spent at the event, researchers were divided into three groups. The event was planned such that each group would meet everyone from …

The Teaching Of Creativity: Process, Product, Environment, And Assessment, Todd T. Holm

National Forensic Journal

Teaching creativity is an issue gaining more attention. Businesses and universities alike are looking for ways to promote creative and innovative thinking. As universities look for ways to teach and assess creativity, interscholastic speech and debate competition should be held up as a model for such efforts. Through a combination of iterative performances, the mastering of domain knowledge, an environment that encourages/rewards creativity, and feedback based on the Consensual Assessment Technique, forensics offers an ideal environment for students to learn the process of developing creative products.

Volume 34 - Full Volume, Nfa Journal

National Forensic Journal

No abstract provided.

2016 Walden University Research Symposium, Walden University

2010-2016 Archived Programs

Welcome to the 2016 Walden University Research Symposium. The Walden University Research Symposium is an annual event that showcases research projects from our academic community, especially work by our recent graduates. The presentations at a symposium appear in two different formats. Poster presentations provide an opportunity for researchers to engage with all individuals attending the symposium and potentially to network with other interested researchers. Using a roundtable presentation format, a select group of researchers is available for interactive discussions of their work, with handouts and visual materials available to support the discussion. This year’s roundtable presenters are focused specifically on …

Voting Aggregation Leads To (Interval) Median, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

When we have several results of measuring or estimating the same quantities, it is desirable to aggregate them into a single estimate for the desired quantities. A natural requirement is that if the majority of estimates has some property, then the aggregate estimate should have the same property. It turns out that it is not possible to require this forall possible properties -- but we can require it for bounds, i.e., for properties that the value of the quantity is in between given bounds a and b. In this paper, we prove that if we restrict the …

Why Superellipsoids: A Probability-Based Explanation, Pedro Barragan Olague, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many practical situations, it turns out that the set of possible values of the deviation vector is (approximately) a super-ellipsoid. In this paper, we provide a theoretical explanation for this empirical fact -- an explanation based on the natural notion of scale-invariance.

Do We Have Compatible Concepts Of Epistemic Uncertainty?, Michael Beer, Scott Ferson, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Epistemic uncertainties appear widely in civil engineering practice. There is a clear consensus that these epistemic uncertainties need to be taken into account for a realistic assessment of the performance and reliability of our structures and systems. However, there is no clearly defined procedure to meet this challenge. In this paper we discuss the phenomena that involve epistemic uncertainties in relation to modeling options. Particular attention is paid to set-theoretical approaches and imprecise probabilities. The respective concepts are categorized, and relationships are highlighted.

On Geometry Of Finsler Causality: For Convex Cones, There Is No Affine-Invariant Linear Order (Similar To Comparing Volumes), Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Some physicists suggest that to more adequately describe the causal structure of space-time, it is necessary to go beyond the usual pseudo-Riemannian causality, to a more general Finsler causality. In this general case, the set of all the events which can be influenced by a given event is, locally, a generic convex cone, and not necessarily a pseudo-Reimannian-style quadratic cone. Since all current observations support pseudo-Riemannian causality, Finsler causality cones should be close to quadratic ones. It is therefore desirable to approximate a general convex cone by a quadratic one. This cane be done if we select a hyperplane, and …

A Model For Spheroid Versus Monolayer Response Of Sk-N-Sh Neuroblastoma Cells To Treatment With 15-Deoxy-Pgj2, Dorothy I. Wallace, Ann Dunham, Paula X. Chen, Michelle Chen, Milan Huynh, Evan Rheingold, Olivia F. Prosper

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Researchers have observed that response of tumor cells to treatment varies depending on whether the cells are grown in monolayer, as in vitro spheroids or in vivo. This study uses data from the literature on monolayer treatment of SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells with 15-deoxy-PGJ₂ and couples it with data on growth rates for untreated SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells grown as multicellular spheroids. A linear model is constructed for untreated and treated monolayer data sets, which is tuned to growth, death, and cell cycle data for the monolayer case for both control and treatment with 15-deoxy-PGJ₂. The monolayer …

Zarahemla Revisited: Neville’S Newest Novel, Matthew Roper, Paul Fields, Larry Bassist

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

This article is the third in a series of three articles responding to the recent assertion by Jonathan Neville that Benjamin Winchester was the anonymous author of three unsigned editorials published in Nauvoo in 1842 in the Times and Seasons. The topic of the unsigned editorials was the possible relationship of archeological discoveries in Central America to places described in the Book of Mormon narrative. The first article shows that, contrary to Neville’s claims, Winchester was not a proponent of a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon, but rather a hemispheric one. Since this was a view commonly held …

Untangling Scripture From The Philosophies Of Men, Mark Bukowski

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Terryl Givens’ masterful work Wrestling the Angel takes on the daunting task of examining the history of Christian belief while also examining the worldly philosophies which shaped its scriptural interpretation. As in the biblical story of Jacob’s struggle with the angel, we all must forge our own testimonies while confronting a secular world including godless philosophies. Sometimes testimony wins, and tragically sometimes the world wins and a testimony is lost. In dealing with this intellectual “matter unorganized,” interpretation of the secular philosophy becomes the key. With the right interpretation, philosophies deemed “secular” or “godless” can be seen as helpful and …

A Brighter Future For Mormon Theology: Adam S. Miller’S Future Mormon, Jeff Lindsay

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Adam S. Miller’s Future Mormon, his collection of “Essays in Mormon Theology,” is one of the most intriguing reads I’ve encountered in LDS studies. It is a book intended to make students of Mormonism, especially those within the Church, challenge lazy assumptions in our theological thinking and rethink our approach to help us build a stronger faith. Some of Miller’s work here will be readily grasped and appreciated by LDS students, while other parts may be more radical or opaque. From my perspective, the gems should make the book a valued addition to any LDS library, in spite of my …

Importance Of Hereditary And Selected Environmental Risk Factors In The Etiology Of Inflammatory Breast Cancer: A Case-Comparison Study., Roxana Moslehi, Elizabeth Freedman, Nur Zeinomar, Carmela Veneroso, Paul H. Levine

Epidemiology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: To assess the importance of heredity in the etiology of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), we compared IBC patients to several carefully chosen comparison groups with respect to the prevalence of first-degree family history of breast cancer.

METHODS: IBC cases (n = 141) were compared to non-inflammatory breast cancer cases (n = 178) ascertained through George Washington University (GWU) with respect to the prevalence of first-degree family history of breast cancer and selected environmental/lifestyle risk factors for breast cancer. Similar comparisons were conducted with subjects from three case-control studies: breast cancer cases (n = 1145) and unaffected controls (n = …

Part 6: Will Robots Take Your Job? A Look At Virginia's Opportunities And Vulnerabilities, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

A recent study suggested that 47 percent of all jobs in the United States are at risk of being eliminated by automation. The jobs most vulnerable are those that involve repetitive tasks and relatively little judgment. Those holding these jobs can be replaced by robots or machines utilizing artificial intelligence.

2016 Nsu Fact Book, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Fact Book

This 24th edition of the Nova Southeastern University Fact Book reflects an expanding body of data and information that provides perspective on the university’s character, growth, and accomplishments.

The 2016 Fact Book includes narrative, numeric, and graphic representation of the university, including history, characteristics, and development of the institution. Data are presented in both tabular and graphic formats to provide pertinent detail, and general trends are highlighted.

Dialogic Learning And Self-Explanation In Classrooms Implementing Worked Example Instruction With Interactive Whiteboard Technology, Ellen C. Bloomfield

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

This purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between classroom discourse and interactive pedagogies when using the interactive whiteboard (IWB) for worked example instruction. Using an embedded single case study design (Yin, 2003), the researcher examined the effect of interactive pedagogies and the differences in whole class dialogue and student self-explanation about the worked example. The sources of data included two classroom observations of teacher directed instruction and one classroom observation of student directed instruction. Each worked example presentation used a different level of interactive pedagogy as defined by Glover, et al., 2006. These included the supported didactic, …

Drought And Health In The Context Of Public Engagement, Nicole Wall, Michael Hayes

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Droughts have profoundly affected societies around the world from the earliest beginnings. A recent estimate from the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) claims that more than 1 billion people have been affected by drought during the twenty-year period between 1994 and 2013. Because of the characteristics of drought, drought impacts are often difficult to identify and quantify, and this is especially true with public health-oriented drought consequences, including those resulting from low water quantities, poor water quality, mental health and stress, dust and windblown agents, and wildlife intrusion. However, when officials emphasize adopting a proactive risk …

Assessing Drought Vulnerability Using A Socioecological Framework, Joel R. Brown, Doug Kluck, Chad Mcnutt, Michael J. Hayes

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Drought is a persistent problem on rangelands and adjusting management to respond appropriately is critical to both preserving natural resources and to maintaining financial viability. • We explore the value of using a structured assessment approach to determining both social and ecological vulnerability. • This approach allows for the identification of vulnerable ecosystems and business operations at regional and local scales as a basis for developing effective policies and programs.

Interim Report, Hd-51897-14, Image Analysis For Archival Discovery (Aida), January 2016, Elizabeth M. Lorang, Leen-Kiat Soh

CDRH Grant Reports

In the third six months of work on "Image Analysis for Archival Discovery," the project team has made progress toward the goals outlined in our report from June 2015. As we reported in June 2015, we realized that our original plan to analyze 7 million pages from Chronicling America was overly ambitious for the grant period, and we revised our goal to complete a thorough case study of our methodology and code for all newspaper images in Chronicling America from the period 1836-1840. Activities undertaken, toward this and other grant goals, from June 2015–December 2015:

• Publication of the article, "Developing …

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Reading And Math Interventions At The Secondary Level: A Research Brief, Ashlee Lester, David Naff

MERC Publications

Starting in the early 2000’s with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, federal and state education authorities promoted the use of accountability policies that require schools to meet certain measures of academic progress overtime. Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) and Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) have become the new measure of school success. These policies rely heavily on students’ Math and Reading achievement at particular benchmark grades, leading local educational agencies (i.e. school divisions) to place increased emphasis on the reading and math results of state-mandated testing. In Virginia, pressures to meet AYP and AMOs by improving school performance on the …

Introducing Context To The Determinants Of Individual Legislative Effectiveness In The U.S. House Of Representatives, Kimberly Napoline

Theses & ETDs

At the heart of Political Science is the study of representation and what makes for adequate representation. Political Science literature broaches the answers to these questions by devising ways of measuring and determining individual legislative effectiveness. This thesis relies on the definition of effectiveness that suggests that lawmakers are more effective when they are able to pass and sponsor more laws than their peers. Further, this paper intends to address the gaps within legislative effectiveness literature that disregards contextual factors, like congressional polarization, and its effects on individual lawmaker ability to pass laws. The contextual factors chosen are party unity …

Computational Simulation And Perturbation Of The Hiv-1 Viral Capsid, Shana Bergman

Theses & ETDs

AIDS is an epidemic that relies on the high mutation rate of HIV-1. The most promising means of combating this virus is to prevent a poorly understood process known as uncoating, where the protective capsid shell dissociates to release the infectious material. To capitalize on this opportunity to prevent infection, this research approximates the capsid's potential using a coarse grained elastic network model and then systematically perturbs each residue in the capsomer, evaluating its effect on the global potential. A simulation of this complexity and magnitude has not been approached in this way, so it was significant to prove the …

Molecular Signaling In Plant Immunity Through Promoter Expression Analysis And Quantitative Proteomics, Juan Manuel Gonzalez

Theses & ETDs

Studying the plant innate immune system is important to address hunger and malnutrition problems worldwide. Plants have two immune systems to defend themselves against pathogen attack. Initially, pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) is induced upon membrane receptor recognition of immunogenic ligands. Pathogenic bacteria deliver effector proteins into the plant cell that disturb this immune response to promote disease. Some plants express resistance proteins that detect the presence of specific effectors leading to effector-triggered immunity (ETI). Previous transcriptomic analysis monitored tomato gene expression changes in response to Pseudomonas syringae pv. Tomato infection to characterize differences between PTI and ETI. This study aimed to …

The Gendered Space In Restaurant Literature From Bourdain To Ratatouille, Logan Murdock Starnes

Theses & ETDs

There have been extensive discussions about food in literature, but very little has been done on restaurants in literature. The restaurant as an establishment is fairly new but it provides rich possibilities for artists to explore a uniquely diverse meeting place. This thesis explores what authors Bourdain, Hamilton, Pond, and O’Nan, and filmmakers Itami and Bird/Oswalt, have done with narratives in the restaurant setting. Restaurants within these texts are gendered settings in which growth, characters, and narratives develop around ideas of masculinity, art versus craft, types of cooking, and Bildungsroman. The restaurant is a productive site for exploring gender roles. …

Music Training Type And Working Memory Components, Tagen Kaestner

Theses & ETDs

Previous studies have shown that music training has positive effects on a child’s working memory. The current study aimed to determine whether or not different types of music training (auditory vs. auditory and visual) affect different components of working memory. Students ages 6-9 were trained in one of two music training conditions or a control condition for five weeks and their performance on visuospatial sketchpad and phonological loop tests was measured. It was hypothesized that students who were trained in music using auditory only teaching tools would perform better on phonological loop measures than those in the control condition. It …

Methods In Tiling With Subsets Of Zn, Dante Giordano

Theses & ETDs

In this thesis we examine methods of tiling using tiles which are subsets of Zn. We start by examining the traditional methods developed by Golomb, then move on to examining more modern techniques such as including methods of group theory, the Conway criterion, and the conversion of tiles to polynomials. We also briefly discuss the incredible proof of the Chalcraft conjecture which states that for any tile T there is some integer d such that T tiles Zd. Using two computer programs we developed to generate images of tilings with chosen tiles, we examine all possible, 79 tiles up to …

Substituent Effects In Model ��+-�� Stacking Interactions, Thomas Mirchandani

Theses & ETDs

π+-π stacking interactions, in which a cationic π-system (e.g. pyridinium) engages in favorable face-to-face stacking interactions with a neutral π-system, are important in a number of contexts. The goal was to understand these interactions, focusing on how substituents can tune the strength and geometry of the resulting complexes. We applied wB97XD/TZVPP to model complexes of benzene with pyridinium and Nmethylpyridinium, with the goal of uncovering possible stable non-bonded structures that these can form, and understanding which is most favorable. From there, we went on to study substituent effects on these complexes. In particular, a range of substituents were added to …

Music To Whose Ears? The Effects Of Cognitive Load On Preferential Judgment Of Certain Pitch-Intervals, Jackson Hughes

Theses & ETDs

Western listeners tend to exhibit a preference for consonant music. Many have argued that this preference is innate, citing ideas like roughness theory and pitch-interval frequency ratio theory as evidence that the perception of consonance is governed by specific acoustic properties inherent to consonant intervals. However, another line of research suggests that perceptions of consonance and dissonance are based more upon expectations generated by previous music experience. Though much study has been conducted in this field, a gap exists concerning the depth of the cognitive processes through which musical stimuli are judged as consonant or dissonant. In an experiment designed …

Thin Film Fracture And Finite Element Analysis Fundamentals, Matthias Murray

Theses & ETDs

A conceptual treatment of fracture mechanics is presented with a focus on the mechanics relevant to failure in thin films bonded to substrates. The study works towards determining necessary initial conditions for a given crack geometry, with the geometry of a spiral crack pattern given particular consideration. We provide a development of the necessary material including finite element analysis and its application to fracture problems.

The P53arg Variant Is Associated With Increased Mucous Production And Breakdown Of Tight Junctions In Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells, Shane Caldwell

Theses & ETDs

Background: The Tesfaigzi laboratory has reported on the role of the variant that modifies the amino acid arginine to proline at codon 72 of P53 on affecting mucous cell differentiation. This variant modifies the regulation of Bcl-2 and SPDEF to mRNA stability and promoter activation, respectively (Tesfaigzi et al, 2015). In the present study, we wanted to expose other pathways that may be affected by the P53Arg/Pro variant. Therefore, we analyzed the gene expression data in primary human airway epithelial cells (HAECs) before and after exposure to cigarette smoke extract. Methods: Primary NHBEs were genotyped for the P53 variants using …