Digital Commons Network^™

Uncovering Alzheimer's One Sense At A Time, Maya Totev, Marcus Marek Tortorella, Dylan Kurni

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting 55 million people worldwide and is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. Without effective interventions, diagnoses are expected to quadruple by 2050. One major barrier to treatment is the difficulty of detecting AD early, limiting the opportunity for timely intervention prior to the accumulation of significant, irreversible brain pathology. Therefore, developing specific, sensitive biomarkers is crucial for early diagnosis as it enables timely intervention and can potentially slow disease progression. Electronic-senses (E-senses) technology, which mimic human senses like olfaction and gustation, show promise in detecting changes in health …

Media Representation And Public Perception Of Supreme Court Decisions, Estrella G. Romero Barriola

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This research project explores how inadequate, or oversimplified media portrayals can distort public understanding of the United States Supreme Court’s (the Court) intricate decisions. Through a close examination of notable cases like Bush v. Gore and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, in addition to other important rulings from the current 6-3 Court majority, the study investigates how partisan narratives and selective information shape public perception. It examines how media framing can obscure essential legal principles and foster misunderstandings about the judiciary’s function and neutrality. Furthermore, the project considers how the current Court, frequently viewed as favoring a particular ideological …

Modeling The Function Of Ryanodine Receptor 2 And Its Role In Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (Cpvt) Heart Disease, Harani Athwale, Dillen-Preetesh Patel, Sai Puneeth Kothuru

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (CPVT) is a potentially fatal condition linked to a mutation in the Ryanodine receptor (RyR2), the largest calcium ion channel known, which is crucial for heart function. The RyR2 protein is made of four similar subunits. Mutations in RyR2 can cause the channels to "leak," disrupting normal heart rhythms. In individuals with this mutation, the combination of caffeine intake and exercise can worsen these effects, leading to sudden cardiac arrest. With the RyR2 receptor located on the sarcoplasmic reticulum of cardiac muscle, the mutation prevents the receptor from fully closing, which hyperpolarizes the membrane and disrupts …

Quantifying Coral Live Tissue Cover At Cano Island, Costa Rica, Tehya Fulcher, Abigayle Groth

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Coral reefs are essential marine ecosystems, serving as a reservoir of biodiversity while providing habitat and nourishment for associated benthic and demersal species. This research quantifies scleractinian coral live tissue cover at Caño Island, Costa Rica. Two study sites encompassing 225m², one shallow (4m depth) and one deep (11m depth), were each surveyed in January 2024 using GoPro Hero 11 cameras. Two photomosaics were created from several thousand smaller images (3,644 shallow and 3,888 deep) using AgisoftMetashape. Live coral tissue area was calculated using TagLab, documenting 53.09 m² and 58.16 m² in the shallow and deep …

Size At Sexual Maturity Of The Bluntnose Stingray (Hypanus Say) And The Atlantic Stingray (Hypanus Sabinus) From The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Katelyn Mckimmy, Jordan Zulli, Jessica Schieber

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Bluntnose (Hypanus say) and Atlantic (Hypanus sabinus) stingrays in Family Dasyatidae are benthic species found in abundant numbers in the Indian River Lagoon, a major estuarine ecosystem along the Atlantic coast of Florida. Although the Indian River Lagoon ecosystem is experiencing increasing anthropogenic pressures and effects on local habitats from climate change, data specifically regarding H. say and H. sabinus life histories are currently lacking. Using specimens collected monthly from a collaboration with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, average size at sexual maturity was assessed for both sexes of H. say (n = 126) …

The Impact Of A Healthy Intervention And Psychotherapy On Cardiovascular Disease In Ptsd Individuals, Radiah Patwary

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Significant research indicates a relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Those affected with PTSD have been found to show higher patterns of CVD risk earlier in life compared to the general population. Interventions need to be developed to reduce the risk of CVD in PTSD individuals. Although there has been research regarding the elevated CVD risk in PTSD, little research has been done addressing CVD risk reduction in the same population. To tackle this issue, adjunctive treatments, such as health behavior interventions, may be required in addition to traditional psychotherapy for PTSD to reduce overall …

Trends And Disparities In Preventative Oral Health Across Demographics: Unveiling And Analyzing 24 Years Of Data In The Us (1999-2023), Tania Anousheh

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Oral health is a fundamental component of our overall well-being. Not only can it greatly influence our physical health but also the emotional, psychological, and socioeconomic aspects of our lives. Despite advancements in dental care, we have noted that there is limited research on how demographic factors impact our oral health behaviors, with underrepresented populations often excluded from large-scale studies. Recognizing this critical gap, we will examine trends in oral health preventive behaviors in the United States from 1999 through 2023, using data from over 106,289 surveys in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). We will use RStudio …

The Role Of Attachment And Self-Esteem In Identity Development Among Emerging Adults, Akhila Nalluri, Preetham Gopu, Charvi Thumati

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Emerging adulthood, a transitive period between 18 and 25 years, is widely considered a period marked by change, experimentation, exploration, and development. Attachment theory postulates that relationships between children and their caregivers are crucial for the organization/representation of the self. Extant research indicates that secure parent-child-relationships and identity-development co-exist during emerging-adulthood. Self-esteem has also been associated with secure identity-formation. While there is considerable research on the associations between parent-child relationships and identity formation, as well as self-esteem and identity-formation, relatively little is known about the combined effects of parent-child relationships and self-esteem on identity-development during emerging-adulthood.

The present study explores …

Adoptive Transfer Of B10 Cells Promotes Resolution Of Periodontal Inflammation, Jayant Ari

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Regulatory B cells (Bregs) play a crucial role in reducing the inflammation of periodontitis. It has been shown that specialized pro-resolving mediator (SPM) synthesis and production mediate the resolution of periodontitis inflammation and alleviate bone resorption. Bregs has been reported alleviate the inflammation in periodontitis, but little is known about their function in SPM production. The present study aims to investigate whether IL-10 expressing regulatory B cells (B10) can inhibit periodontitis progression by promoting the production of SPMs. Experimental periodontitis models were established in mice by ligation combined with periodontal pathogen P. gingivalis bacteria inoculation for 14 days, and B10 …

Eat-26 As A Stable Measure Of American College Athletes: Diet, Food, Preoccupancy, And Calorie Counting As Predictors Of Health, Simrin Raju

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This study examines the structure and reliability of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) in a sample of 144 college athletes. The EAT-26 is commonly used to measure eating attitudes but is not intended to diagnose eating disorders. The study aims to confirm if the test's factor structure, which has been stable since its development in 1979, remains consistent in this new group. The results show that the EAT-26 continues to reflect three main factors—Dieting, Preoccupation with Food (Others Notice) and Calorie Counting (Oral Control). These factors accounted for the majority of the variation in responses, with "Dieting" being the most …

Identifying Key Characteristics In Aspiring Healthcare Professionals: A Strengths And Preference Profile Analysis On Emotional Intelligence, Abbygail Salcido, Emily Young

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Topic: As undergraduate students in a pre-health path or an advisor for these students, understanding one's priorities, strengths, and motivations is crucial for self-awareness and career clarity. This understanding is pivotal in guiding students toward a fulfilling and appropriate career choice. Purpose: Our study aims to identify the characteristics of students with the potential to excel as Optometrists - a profession known for its emphasis on patient care, attention to detail, and creative intuition. In our current investigation, we assessed 125 students aspiring to become Optometrists. Each participant completed a strengths inventory and a positive psychology-based personal preference test. According …

Tortious Interference With The Expectancy Of A Legacy: Harmon V. Harmon, Paul F. Driscoll

Maine Law Review

The decision of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in Harmon v. Harmon established that a plaintiff has a remedy in damages for tortious interference with the expectancy of a legacy which may be sought prior to the testator's death. The purpose of this Note is to examine the Harmon court's reasoning, the utility of the remedy announced in Harmon in light of pre-existing plaintiffs' remedies, and the potential consequences of that decision. The development of these themes will require an examination of the decisional law background of the Harmon decision and an analysis of the legal status of testamentary expectancies.

Amorphous Metal Transparent Conducting Oxide P-Type Semiconductors, Joshua Santy

Miners Solving for Tomorrow Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Fractional Brownian Motion With Mean-Density Interaction, Jonathan House, Skirmantas Janusonis, Ralf Metzler, Thomas Vojta

Miners Solving for Tomorrow Research Conference

No abstract provided.

2025 - 1st Annual Miners Solving For Tomorrow Research Conference, Ellen Afful, Ashish Kumar Kakoria, Michael S. Moats, Guang Xu, Mohammad Hossein Afsharmovahed, Ritesh Sharma, Nguyen Son, Genda Chen, Joseph Akor, Varuni Abhayaratne, Tong Zhou, Sophia Yang, Honglan Shi, Joel Gerard Burken, Paul Ki-Souk Nam, Mahmuda Aktar, Debjyoti Sengupta, Anurag Satpathy, Sajal K. Das, Milad Aghayi Anaraki, Amitava Choudhury, Mobashir Ahmed, Cianne Arnau, Davide Vigano, Carson Arnold, S. Koju, David D. Duvernell, Kolawole Arowoogun, Katherine R. Grote, Jeremy Maurer, Amaneh Babaee, Grace Hall, Daniel Burton Shank, Casey I. Canfield, Parker Barnes, Phillip R. Mulligan, Avery Lyons, Markus Baur, Sutapa Bhattacharya, Aleksandr V. Chernatynskiy, Amitava Choudhury, Shane Cairns, Leonardo Enzo Brito Da Salva, Sasha Petrenko, Donald C. Wunsch, Bahaa Chammout, Islam H. El-Adaway, William Charlesworth, Prithbay Dey, David Lee Enke, Allie Dingfield, Alexandar Djidjev, Nathan Hellwege, Aidan Dollar, Effat Eskandari, Ugochukwu Ewuzie, Godwin Ifeanyi Ogbuehi, Steven Achterberg, Monday Uchenna Okoronkwo, Philip D. Whitefield, Alireza Fallahi, David Bayless, Ali Fasihi, Nicolas Ali Libre, Sophie Firle, Gemma Flores-Olivas, Celia Freed, Clair Reynolds Kueny, Love Gami, Collin Gentry, Kamdem George, Stephen Y. Owusu, A. B. M. Shaheen Ud Doulah, Vaibhav A. Edlabadkar, Chariklia Sotiriou-Leventis, Eyuel Getahun, Jessica Cundiff, Jenny Davis, Carter Glynn, Nick Graham, Katharine Gray, Katie Shannon, Lucas Greiner, Charmayne E. Lonergan, Jennifer Harrell, Matthew S. Thimgan, Milo Hathaway, Justin Pope, Jacob Hauck, Yafang Hei, Ahmad Heidari, Matik Heskin, K. Chandrashekhara, Richard Billo, Ming-Chuan Leu, Thomas P. Schuman, Cole Hopper, Jonathan House, Skirmantas Jano'sonis, Ralf Metzler, Thomas Vojta, Aamir Iqbar, Syed Tahla Riaz, Ashish Kakoria, Rajarshi Kar, Amideddin Nouralishashi, Harish Singh, Manashi Nath, Emma Kettler, Mariam K. Al-Lami, Joel G. Burken, Carter Lawson, Haodao Li, Hossein Libre, William Petzoldt, Sara Mccauley, Julia Mcintyre, Jennifer J. Harrell, Gracie M. James, Danielle Gines, Catherine E. Johnson, Julie A. Semon, Sophia Nicolette Militante, Jenna Mueller, Kiernan O'Boyle, Yaqi Zhu, Landon Oelschlaeger, Gayla R. Olbricht, V. A. Samaranayake, Adeyinka Olaseinde, Emmanuel Olugbade, Nuzaer Omar, Maryam Shariff Paroushi, Megan Percy, Galayna Baur, Elizabeth Pritchett, William Fahrenholtz, Greg Hilmas, Steven M. Smith, Abid Hasan Rafi, David W. Lipke, Jeremy Lee Watts, Syed Talha Riaz, Cole Rischbieter, Caleb Roberts, Tyler Rowden, Stephen Sankpill, Joshua Santy, Lindsay Schneider, Alexis Ham, Anna Schroeter, Amitav Sen, Ace Cannon, Aidan Sengupta, Noah Sparks, Lei Xu, Hu Yang, Nathan Tibbetts, Satish Puri, Nathan Truong, Punit Turtapati, Lucas Ethington, Lana Herkenhoff, Braden Stillmaker, Joseph Villarreal, Victoria Wegley, R. Joe Stanley, Jason Hagerty, Henry M. Willie, Jarod Wortmann, Khosro Ghorbani Zadeh, Yun Seong Song, Songtao Zhang, Jun Yao, Pengfei Wen, Xinyu Fen, Jiaxing Ban, Siqi Zhang, Geoffrey Sunahara, Wen Ni, Tong Zhou, Varuni Abhayarayne, Joseph Akor, John Yang

Miners Solving for Tomorrow Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Fort Hays State University Faculty Senate Minutes, April 2, 2025, Fhsu Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate

No abstract provided.

Palynological Analysis To Interpret Inputs And Paleoenvironmental Conditions Of Tidal Flat Sediments In The Wouri Estuary, Rahmatoulaye Thialaw Diop, Fatou Penda Cisse, Maguette Ka, Onema Adojoh, Henry Agbogun

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This study examines the environmental significance of microfossils in specifically pollens, spore and cuticles in understanding paleoenvironment and sediments inputs in Tidal flats in the tropical Wouri estuary. Palynological slides of sediments from different depths with two sediment cores from the east and Western flanks of the Wouri estuary were examined using a trinocular microscope. Results showed the predominance of pollens families of Rhizophoraceae and Poaceae at different depths. Cuticles also varied with depth in both the West and east Wouri sediments cores. The Rhizophoraceae family are interpreted to indicate coastal and mangrove environment inputs into the sediments of the …

Integrating Standards For Infrastructure Improvement And Resilience In University Curricula, Lisa Greenwood, Jennifer Schneider, Sumita Mishra, Yewande S. Abraham, Shriram Karpoora Sundara Pandian

Articles

In today’s ever-changing world, we are increasingly vulnerable to shocks and stresses that disrupt industry and society. Persistent threats from natural and manmade hazards require our communities and infrastructure to be resilient despite possible disruption. Creating robust infrastructures is founded on operational and physical standards to withstand and respond to threats such as environmental exposures, climate change, and informational security breaches. The significant U.S. investment in infrastructure projects through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has amplified the need for professionals in engineering and related fields who – in addition to technical knowledge - possess the necessary knowledge and skill …

Reframing Information Seeking In The Age Of Generative Ai: A Critical And Humanistic Approach, Joseph Kevin Sebastian

Library Faculty Research

Information-seeking has long been the subject of theoretical modeling, often drawing from cognitive, behavioral, computational, and even evolutionary perspectives to explain how individuals navigate, filter, and utilize information. Several dominant frameworks—Carol Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process, Marcia Bates’ Berrypicking Model, Peter Pirolli & Stuart Card’s Information Foraging Theory, Kiyohiko Nakamura’s Information Criteria framework, and Ian Ruthven’s Information Shaping Theory —have provided structured ways of understanding how people interact with information environments. However, while these frameworks offer valuable insights, they often operate within mechanistic or efficiency-driven paradigms, which risk overlooking the complex, embodied, and socioculturally situated nature of human information behaviors. These …

Fostering Inclusive Learning: Exploring Trauma, Special Education, And The School Referral Process For Student Success, Angela Cheng

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the critical gaps in trauma-informed practices and culturally responsive strategies within the educational system, focusing on the disconnect between general and special education. Using Dis/ability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) as a theoretical framework, and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as conceptual frameworks, the research explores how trauma and race-based inequities shape student experiences and referral processes, particularly for special education services Annamma et al., 2013b, 2017; Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Maslow, 1987). Through qualitative interviews with general education teachers across California, the study uncovers the widespread unpreparedness among educators to address trauma and its implications …

Standard Search Logic Under Article 9: The Florida Debacle Revisited, Kenneth C. Kettering

University of Miami Law Review

If a financing statement is filed in a filing office that does not have a search system that uses a standard search logic, Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code provides that there is no tolerance for any error, however slight, in the debtor’s name shown on that financing statement. Such an erroneous financing statement will not be effective to perfect a security interest. In 2012 the author warned that the search system used by Florida’s central filing office lacks a standard search logic, and in 2022 the Florida Supreme Court so held. This Article (i) details how Florida should …

Proceedings Of The 81st Annual Meeting, Midwestern Association Of Graduate Schools

Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools

Table of Contents: 2025 MAGS Annual Meeting

Indianapolis, Indiana | April 2–4, 2025 Theme: Restart Your Engines to Renew, Refresh, and Reimagine Graduate Education!

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Preconference: New Graduate Administrators Workshop Plenary I – Issues and Opportunities for Graduate Education: What Is and What Can Be

• Fostering Diversity and Inclusion in Graduate Programs: Supporting Holmes Scholars in Rural Universities
• My Graduation Checklist: Using Canvas to Improve Graduate Students’ Final Experiences at the University of Kansas
• Empowering Successful Mentoring Relationships: Success Stories from the Indiana University, Indianapolis Graduate Mentoring Center
• Moving Past Information Overload: Reimagining a Student-Centered Graduate Orientation …

The Lived Experiences Of Rural Nurses In The Post-Covid-19 Era, Amy Schultes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Approximately 60 million people, or one in five Americans, live in rural areas across the United States. Despite this, there is a lack of information about the experiences of critical access nurses working in rural hospitals that serve small towns and rural areas. The goal with this research was to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of rural nurses in the post-COVID-19 era. Using hermeneutic phenomenology and rural nursing theory, the lived experiences of eight nurses working in critical access hospitals in Iowa were explored through semi-structured interviews. The qualitative data was analyzed using the hermeneutic circle for phenomenological …

Optimizing Fisher Information In Quantum Technology, Bran Purvis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Fisher information is a statistical metric whose inverse represents a lower bound on the variance of an unbiased estimator. Naturally, in order to make the best estimates of a given unknown parameter, one would desire to find ways to minimize the value of this lower bound. Thus, the Fisher information can also be used to compare the quality of different estimators for a given parameter: whichever estimator has a lower value for its Fisher information must also provide better estimates. The same holds true in the framework of quantum information theory, where an analog to the Fisher information, dubbed quantum …

Enhancing Eye Anatomy Education: Integrating 3d Models In Open Educational Resources, Hayley Nickels Yancey

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

This project explores how interactive 3D models can enhance eye anatomy education within the framework of open educational resources (OER). Recognizing that students in anatomy and physiology courses often struggle to recognize anatomical structures from multiple perspectives—and frequently lack access to high-quality, low-cost study tools—this project addressed these gaps by designing and developing a custom, interactive 3D model of the human eye. Created using Blender and embedded into a web interface via Verge3D, the model allows users to rotate, zoom, highlight, and isolate structures of the eye, including both external and internal components. The tool was designed specifically for students …

Water Holding Capacity Of Soil And Resilience To Drought, Taro Mieno

Cornhusker Economics

For the past two years, I have been involved in an NSF-funded research project titled “RII Track-2 FEC: Supporting Rural Livelihoods in the Water-Stressed Central High Plains.” The overarching goal of this project is to evaluate the potential of microbials and biochar to enhance soil water holding capacity (hereafter, WHC), thereby improving drought resilience in crop production and reducing irrigation demand to slow aquifer depletion. Visit the project website for more details. A key component of this research is assessing the economic viability of these interventions, a task for which I am responsible.

To understand the economic benefits of increasing …

Development And Application Of Self-Supervised Machine Learning For Smoke Plume And Active Fire Identification From The Fire Influence On Regional To Global Environments And Air Quality Datasets, Nicholas Lahaye, Anastasija Easley, Kyongsik Yun, Hugo Lee, Erik Linstead, Michael J. Garay, Olga V. Kalashnikova

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality (FIREX-AQ) was a field campaign aimed at better understanding the impact of wildfires and agricultural fires on air quality and climate. The FIREX-AQ campaign took place in August 2019 and involved two aircraft and multiple coordinated satellite observations. This study applied and evaluated a self-supervised machine learning (ML) method for the active fire and smoke plume identification and tracking in the satellite and sub-orbital remote sensing datasets collected during the campaign. Our unique methodology combines remote sensing observations with different spatial and spectral resolutions. With as much as a 10% …

International Education And Workforce Readiness At Wisconsin Technical Colleges, Allisen Stojanovic

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

International education programming plays a critical role in developing workforce readiness skills necessary for today’s global economy and diverse local communities. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the experiences of Wisconsin technical college graduates and leadership administrators regarding workforce readiness, international education programming, and policy. While previous research had focused on the outcomes of university or community college graduates, there has been no study that specifically examined the experiences of technical college graduates or leadership administrators as it relates to international education programming and workforce readiness. The research problem addressed the need for international education programming …

Computational Sensitivity Evaluation Of Ultrasound Neuromodulation Resolution To Brain Tissue Sound Speed With Robust Beamforming, Boqiang Fan, Wayne Goodman, Sameer A Sheth, Richard R Bouchard, Behnaam Aazhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) neuromodulation requires precise targeting and high resolution enabled by phased array transducers and beamforming. However, focusing optimization usually relies on phantom measurements or simulations with inaccurate acoustic properties to degrade neuromodulation resolution. Therefore, this work analyzes the sensitivity of neuromodulation resolution, measured by off-target activation area (OTAA), to brain tissue sound speed. A Robust Optimal Resolution (ROR) beamforming method is proposed to minimize the worst-case OTAA with restricted sound speed inaccuracy and propagation information estimated with deviated sound speed. The propagation estimation model utilizes equivalent source method (ESM) to map sound field between different acoustic parameter …

Identifiability And Model Selection Frameworks For Models Of High-Grade Glioma Response To Chemoradiation, Khushi C Hiremath, Kenan Atakishi, Ernesto A B F Lima, Maguy Farhat, Bikash Panthi, Holly Langshaw, Mihir D Shanker, Wasif Talpur, Sara Thrower, Jodi Goldman, Caroline Chung, Thomas E Yankeelov, David A Hormuth Ii

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We have developed a family of biology-based mathematical models of high-grade glioma (HGG), capturing the key features of tumour growth and response to chemoradiation. We now seek to quantify the accuracy of parameter estimation and determine, when given a virtual patient cohort, which model was used to generate the tumours. In this way, we systematically test both the parameter and model identifiability. Virtual patients are generated from unique growth parameters whose growth dynamics are determined by the model family. We then assessed the ability to recover model parameters and select the model used to generate the tumour. We then evaluated …