Digital Commons Network^™

Comparative Evaluation Of Radioisotope Accumulation In Stems And Leaves Of Wild Flora In Nineveh Governorate For Environmental Pollution Indicator, Amina Q. Al-Bakri, Ayman Albanna, Mazin N. Fadhel

BioMed Visions Journal

It is a comparative assessment of natural deposition of radioisotopes in wild plants' stems and leaves from 11 sites of Nineveh Governorate, Iraq. Levels of ^226Ra, ^232Th, and ^40K activities were determined using high-resolution gamma spectrometry, and radiological equivalent indices—Radium Equivalent Activity (Raeq), Absorbed Dose Rate (D), Annual Effective Dose Equivalent (AEDE), Annual Gonadal Dose Equivalent (AGDE), Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk (ELCR), and hazard indices (Hex, Hin, Iγ) were determined. All results indicated invariably greater radionuclide accumulation in leaves than in stems at every station. Mean Raeq in leaves was 63,473 Bq/kg and in stems 60,854 Bq/kg, and the highest …

Cytotoxicity Of Dimethyl Sulphoxide On Viability Of Peripheral Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Rana Nidhamaldeen Al-Nuri, Francesco Ipsevich, Lazim Subhi Sheet

BioMed Visions Journal

Background: Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are cells that can differentiate according to the tissue they are lying in. The transplantation of such cells is either autologous or allogeneic. Autologous storage is required until the patient finishes his intensive chemotherapy. Whilst allogenic storage is required until finding the suitable matched recipient for this cellular therapy. Storage is in deep frozen state (–80° C) with cryoprotectant compound. Dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) has been used as cryoprotectant due to its electrophilic property that makes H-bond between DMSO and H₂O, which is 2.6 times stronger than the H bond between two water molecules. …

Evaluation The Attitudes Toward Prevention Of Communicable Diseases On Health Care Workers At Al-Sadr Hospital In Iraq's Najaf Governorate, Ahmed Ali Mohammed Alshamarti, Wisam Abdul Ameer Ali Farid, Atheer Kadhim Ibadi, Sabreen Ali Hassoni

BioMed Visions Journal

Background: Communicable diseases are responsible for a heavy burden on human health. Health workers were the front line in preventing these diseases. Wrong or positive attitudes of health workers can reflect negatively or positively on infection control efforts. The primary objective of study evaluating attitudes levels between health care workers towards transferable diseases. The secondary objective, assessing association with social-demographic characteristics of health workers. Materials and Methods: The data from Al-Sadr Hospital, by use a frequency study started from the 1^st of December 2021 to the 30^th of May in 2022. The sample from 384 health care workers …

Grated Green Apple And Its Therapeutic Role In Gastrointestinal Disorders: An Analytical Study Of The Effect Of Pectin In Alleviating Diarrhea, Hamza A Saadallah, Mohammed. Ahb. Al-Krdoshi, Noor M Sultan, Farah Y Gaddawi, Marwa R. S Al Shaaban, Abd Al-Bar Al-Farha, Safa M Salim

BioMed Visions Journal

Gastrointestinal disorders, including diarrhea, represent a significant global health burden, necessitating the exploration of effective and accessible therapeutic strategies. Dietary interventions, particularly those containing soluble fibers such as pectin, have emerged as promising solutions due to their profound impact on gut health and its microbiota. This meta-analysis systematically reviews the current scientific understanding of the multifaceted role of pectin in alleviating diarrhea, with a particular focus on the unique contribution of grated green apple. The analysis delves into pectin's physicochemical properties and mechanisms of action—including water binding, modulation of the gut microbiota, production of short-chain fatty acids, and support of …

Pharmacy Students' Perceptions And Attitudes Toward Online Learning: Insights From A Cross-Sectional Study In Iraq, Heba M. Attash, Luma M. Al-Obaidy, Harith Kh. Al-Qazaz, Fahad Saleem

BioMed Visions Journal

Background: The rapid shift to online learning during the pandemic has reshaped pharmacy education in Iraq, yet student perceptions remain underexplored. This study examines how pharmacy students view online and hybrid models, with attention to gender, location, and access to technology. Method: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between October 2024 and January 2025 with 386 fourth- and fifth-year pharmacy students from differrent universities across Iraq. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire adapted from validated tools, assessing demographics, learning preferences, and attitudes toward digital education. Descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: Most participants were …

Food Systems Transformation Would Reshape Global Agriculture, Matthew Gibson, Marina Sundiang, Daniel Mason-D’Croz, Thais Diniz Oliveira, Felicitas Beier, Lauren Benavidez-Brouk, Astrid Bos, Maksym Chepeliev, Jonathan Doelman, Shahnila Dunston, Shinichiro Fujimori, Tomoko Hasegawa, Petr Havlik, Jordan Hristov, Jonas Jägermeyr, Marta Kozicka, Marijke Kuiper, Page Kyle, Thijs De Lange, Benjamin Leon Bodirsky, Hermann Lotze-Campen, Hermen Luchtenbelt, David Meng-Chuen Chen, Abhijeet Mishra, Christoph Müller, Gerald Nelson, Amanda Palazzo, Ignacio Perez Dominguez, Alexander Popp, Ronald Sands, Marco Springman, Elke Stehfest, Timothy B. Sulser, Kiyoshi Takahashi, Gianmaria Tassinari, Ferike Thom, Philip Thornton, Kazuaki Tsuchiya, Willem-Jan Van Zeist, Hans Van Meijl, Dominique Van Der Mensbrugghe, Detlef Van Vuuren, Hannah H.E. Van Zanten, Isabelle Weindl, Keith Wiebe, Xin Zhao, Mario Herrero

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Food systems are a major contributor to exceeding planetary boundaries1,2,3 and poor quality diets are a key mortality risk globally4. Projected population and income growth could exacerbate these challenges5. In response, there are calls for transformation towards healthy and sustainable food systems6,7,8. However, the scale and distribution of the impacts of this transformation on agriculture are underexplored. Here we show that, by 2050, the transformation of food systems towards healthy diets (adoption of the EAT–Lancet reference diet), improved productivity and halving of food waste results in a fundamental restructuring of global agriculture, aspects of which break with historical trends. Scenario …

Experiences Of Reproductive Health Care Practitioners In North Carolina After The Dobbs Decision, Arwyn Lapella

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since the Supreme Court of the United States made the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, providing access to reproductive health care in the state of North Carolina has been a challenge for medical professionals. Findings from existing literature indicate that a lack of access to reproductive health care can have a negative impact on society from socioeconomics, food and home inequality, and other health care complications. The purpose of this study was to focus on the impacts that health care providers faced when providing care for those who live in the state of North Carolina since the Supreme Court’s …

Quantitative Methods In Education: A Practical Introduction To Statistics, Yukiko Maeda, John Gipson, Sheila Hurt, Katie H. Dufault

Purdue University Press Books

Educational research often involves understanding complex patterns in student achievement, teacher effectiveness, and institutional performance. Quantitative Methods in Education: A Practical Introduction to Statistics is designed to equip current and future educators and researchers with a basic comprehension of the statistical tools necessary to effectively analyze and interpret educational data. In today’s data-driven world, the ability to leverage statistical techniques is essential for making informed decisions that can enhance learning outcomes and maximize learner potential. This book provides a systematic approach to exploring these trends using both descriptive and inferential statistics, providing readers with the knowledge to conduct rigorous analyses …

Comparative Analysis Of Traditional And Deep Learning Time Series Architectures For Influenza A Infectious Disease Forecasting, Edmund Fosu Agyemang, Hansapani Rodrigo, Vincent Agbenyeavu

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

Influenza A remains a major cause of respiratory mortality worldwide, motivating accurate forecasting to support timely preparedness and resource allocation. This study presents a comparative evaluation of two traditional seasonal time series baselines, ARIMA and Holt–Winters exponential smoothing (ETS), and six deep learning (DL) architectures (Simple RNN, LSTM, GRU, BiLSTM, BiGRU, and a Transformer) for forecasting monthly Influenza A case counts in the United States. Data from January 2009 to December 2023 were analyzed, using January 2009 to December 2022 for training and January 2023 to December 2023 for out-of-sample testing. Models were tuned using a validation split and assessed …

Cost Effective Resilient Time Synchronization For Industrial Applications: Gps-Disciplined Grandmaster Clock On Commodity Hardware, William Hall

Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research

Rural electric substations require Stratum-1, IEEE C37.238-compliant time synchronization to prevent false relay trip conditions, but industrial GPS-disciplined oscillators carry costs that limit deployment at scale. This research evaluates whether commodity Raspberry Pi hardware running Chrony NTP with GPS-PPS discipline can meet substation-grade timing accuracy at a fraction of that cost, as a foundation for a resilient, fault-tolerant timing architecture.

An air-gapped baseline testbed achieved 0.549 µs RMS offset, a 182× margin against the IEEE standard. Extending the testbed onto a Zero Trust network confirmed Stratum-1 compliance under real network routing conditions and ruled out network path as a timing …

How Does An Advanced Educator Utilize Digital Language Teaching And Learning By Integrating Linguistic, Cultural, And Business Life Perspectives?, Hely Westerholm, Pirjo Takanen-Körperich, Ph.D.

International Journal for Business Education

This paper explores advanced educators’ digital working capabilities in online language teaching, with a particular focus on sharing Finnish language and culture in a foreign context. Cultural and linguistic knowledge play a significant role in enhancing students’ motivation to study foreign languages. In today’s educational environment, digitalisation and globalisation exert an increasing influence on foreign language teaching and learning.

The digital learning environment has brought about a paradigm shift in foreign language didactics. Digital language learning is both challenging and holistic in nature. Continued foreign language learning is simultaneously an individual and a social process, as digital learning cultures impose …

A Reduced-Order Framework For Stochastic Criticality Estimation In Granular Energetic Materials, Philip T. Melton

LSU Master's Theses

Granular energetic materials (EMs) exhibit stochastic shock initiation because pore collapse, frictional dissipation, and localized thermal activation depend on microstructural descriptors that vary between nominally identical samples. Fully resolved mesoscale and atomistic calculations can represent these mechanisms, but their computational cost limits direct ensemble evaluation of microstructure-conditioned criticality thresholds. This thesis introduces a reduced-order framework for stochastic criticality estimation in granular EMs by coupling five explicitly defined model components: first, a one-dimensional steady compaction-shock model that maps initial solid volume fraction and shock pressure to a bulk mass-specific dissipated-work budget; second, an SEM/synthetic-image segmentation workflow that extracts pore area, perimeter, …

July 15, 2026 Minutes, Swosu Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Seasonal Affective Disorder’S Prevalence And Impact On Organizational Outcomes In The Northeastern United States, Tommaso Bruce Fernandes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression linked to seasonal changes, primarily affects individuals during fall and winter. More insight was needed on the prevalence of SAD and the role of social support in moderating its impact on organizational outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between SAD and organizational outcomes, including employee well-being, absenteeism, job satisfaction, and productivity, in the Northeastern United States, where SAD symptoms are more prevalent due to environmental factors. Engel’s biopsychosocial model and Cullen’s social support theory provided a theoretical framework for the study. A quantitative cross-sectional design, featuring structured …

A Corpus-Based Topic Modelling And Discourse Analysis Of Pakistan-Russia Diplomatic Discourses, Muhammad Afzaal, Ahmed Bux Jamali, Syedah Nobia Zehra, Abida Kausar Chaudhary

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This study explores the underlying themes and trends embedded in the diplomatic discourses of Pakistan and Russia by employing the KeyATM approach. It also identifies and compares the linguistic strategies employed to (re)shape bilateral ties between these states. The corpus of the study comprises press releases taken from the official websites of Pakistan and Russia from 2009 to 2024. The findings reveal how discourse patterns mirror geopolitical shifts, reflecting mutual interests and shared challenges while negotiating historical legacies. This research not only contributes to the understanding of Pakistan-Russia relations but also demonstrates the efficacy of KeyATM in analyzing complex, multi-dimensional …

Navigating Queer Identities In Rural Communities: The Role Of Social Support In Shaping Lgbq+ Adolescents’ Identity Development, Michaela Elaine Pierson

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Adolescents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (LGBQ+) develop their identities within complex social contexts. In rural settings, limited access to affirming resources and greater exposure to stigma may further shape identity development. Guided by social ecological and minority stress theories, this study examined whether perceived family and friend support predict identity affirmation and internalized homonegativity among rural LGBQ+ adolescents. Participants included 53 adolescents ages 13 to 18 drawn from a larger dataset. Group differences across demographic variables were examined, and regression analyses were used to evaluate the predictive role of family and friend support. No significant group …

Socioeconomic Status, Nutritional Risk, And Glycemic Outcomes In The Diabetes Population At Al-Diwaniyah Teaching Hospital, Iraq, Huda Abdulsattar Mazeal

Iraqi National Journal of Medicine

Background: Diabetes mellitus, encompassing both type 1 and type 2, represents a significant global health burden. Socioeconomic status (SES), nutritional risk, and glycemic outcomes are interrelated determinants of disease management. Aim: This study aims to examine the relationship between SES, nutritional risk, and glycemic outcomes among diabetic patients at Al-Diwaniyah Teaching Hospital, Iraq. By analyzing demographic, clinical, and nutritional characteristics, the research seeks to identify predictors of poor nutritional status and uncontrolled glycemia to inform targeted interventions and health policy. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in October 2025 at the Diabetes Center, Al-Diwaniyah Teaching Hospital, …

The Role Of Mental Health In Postoperative Complications: A Literature Review, Kayla Monet Alwahhamy, Abbas Rasoul Alwahhamy

Iraqi National Journal of Medicine

Background: Currently, it is not standard practice to screen all surgical patients both pre- and postoperatively for either a prior history of mental health disorders (MHD) or active symptoms of MHD at the time of surgery. This is despite growing evidence that MHDs may impact wound healing and are recognized as a mortality risk factor in many patients. Aim: This review aims to evaluate existing literature examining mental health (MH) in surgical patients, assess whether there is a relationship between MHDs and postoperative complication rates, and determine whether outcomes differ based on the timing of MHD manifestation (pre- …

Volume 16 Issue 3 - Full Issue

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

From Mandela To Meta: Democratization Of The Right Of Publicity, Persona, And Image Rights In Cyberspace, Frederick W. Mostert, Lea Leisure

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Pediatric Oncology Progress And Challenges In Southeast Asia: Strengthening Cancer Care Systems, Allison Tang, Teeradon Treechairusame, Esther Saguil, Adrian E. Go, Frederic Ivan L. Ting, Kevin Knopf, Avram Denburg, Sanjeeva Gunasekera, Nirmala Bhoo-Pathy, Edward Christopher Dee, Rod Carlo Columbres

Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Premature Ventricular Contractions As A Result Of Subacute Myocarditis In A Professional Football Player, Charlotte Pirquet, Daniel Underberg, Brian Osler, Derek Schwabe-Warf, David Shipon

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Return-to-play (RTP) decisions for professional athletes with arrhythmias are challenging, particularly when the diagnosis is uncertain.

CASE SUMMARY: A 33-year-old professional football player presented for RTP evaluation of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) and atypical chest pain. Work-up was significant for fragmented R waves and PVCs on electrocardiogram as well as late gadolinium enhancement on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Positron emission tomography scan was normal. These findings suggested possible subacute myocarditis. He elected to rest for 2 to 3 months and was treated with guideline-directed medical therapy. Risk stratification highlighted increased risks associated with late gadolinium enhancement and incomplete genetic …

Bar-And-Hinge Model For Elasto-Plastic Origami Analysis, Yansong Tang, Yeqi Chu, Yue Mei, Yi Zhu, Ke Liu

Michigan Tech Publications

Origami-inspired structures are attracting considerable attention in engineering owing to their ability to facilitate intricate deformations and deployable configurations. However, accurately simulating their mechanical behaviour under realistic conditions involving permanent deformations and energy dissipation remains a significant challenge. In this study, we present an elasto-plastic formulation based on the nonlinear bar-and-hinge model for non-rigid origami simulation. We integrate rate-independent elasto-plastic constitutive models for both the hinges and the bars, enabling tunable representation of both elastic and plastic deformations in origami structures. The formulation employs a return mapping algorithm to ensure consistency with yield conditions checked at each incremental time step, …

Correctional Officers' Perceptions Of Inmate Suicide In Florida State Prisons, Chrishelle Robbins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Correctional officers are responsible for the care, custody, safety, and supervision of inmates within jails, prisons, and correctional institutions. They face many hardships within a prison setting including inmate suicides. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and understand the perceptions of Florida state correctional officers who have experienced inmate suicide firsthand. This study was formulated using the transcendental, descriptive phenomenology approach and addressed the study’s research questions. Participants included nine Florida state certified correctional officers who witnessed an inmate suicide. Participants were selected using purposive snowball sampling. Interviews were scheduled and conducted via ZOOM or by telephone …

Subscribe, Follow, Save: Podcast Preservation In The Platform Era, Ben Pettis, Jeremy Morris

Rhetoric and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Podcasting has produced a glut of cultural content. Collecting and saving these sounds for future study, however, remains challenging. This article asks: “How are recent developments in the platformization of podcasting threatening the ability of users and researchers to save, study, and sustain podcasts and the cultural insights they offer?” To answer, we focus on a podcast preservation project, PodcastRE.org, and discuss strategies for creating an (un)stable repository for future studies of podcasting. While new developments challenge preservation efforts, they also offer archivists opportunities to prioritize the cultural significance of podcasts, rather than the economic motives of the podcast industry …

The Hidden Net Cost Of Data Center Construction And Operation For Household Service Pricing, Arezou Shafaghat, Mikhail Klimenko, Da Hu, Ali Keyvanfar

Faculty Articles

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating data center construction and creating downstream implications for households. This study examines how AI-era data center costs (comprising construction, energy, water, grid upgrades, cooling, and lifecycle management) move through service supply chains and affect household prices in healthcare, transportation, education, banking, and commerce. It also considers the productivity and welfare benefits that AI may transmit. This study identifies four pass-through channels: utility-rate socialization of energy costs, cloud-platform pricing, sectoral pass-through from AI-adopting industries, and indirect effects through supply chains and labor markets. It introduces the AI-inflated net good basket, defined as …

The Use Of Breathing Meditation With Bipoc Trauma Survivors, Keerthi Sundaramurthy

Doctoral Dissertations

There is a growing body of evidence supporting the use of mindfulness-based practices to reduce psychological distress. Although interest in mindfulness-based care is growing, studies investigating virtual interventions for BIPOC trauma survivors remain limited. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of a breathing meditation intervention on mental health outcomes in a sample of trauma-exposed BIPOC adults, using a randomized post-test only design. Participants in the intervention group were asked to complete a 10-minute box breathing meditation daily for four weeks. Quantitative analyses revealed that those in the intervention group reported significantly lower symptoms of anxiety and …

Co-Designing Translanguaging-Informed Transformative Socioemotional Learning With Bilingual Kindergarten Teachers In Colombia, Catherine Restrepo-Widney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Emergent bilingual children enter early childhood classrooms with rich, dynamic linguistic repertoires that span languages, cultural practices, and ways of knowing. Socioemotional learning (SEL) often fails to meaningfully incorporate children’s linguistic and cultural repertoires, reflecting critiques that many SEL frameworks privilege individualistic, culturally narrow competencies that may marginalize learners from diverse backgrounds. This is particularly consequential in early childhood dual language bilingual education (DLBE), where children's heritage languages are central to authentic emotional connection and identity development, and where empirical models for culturally sustaining SEL remain limited. Through a participatory design research approach structured around iterative cycles of collaborative inquiry, …

Aquaponics: Farming Fish And Growing Greens For Grades 9–12, Amy M. Shambach,, Rebecca M. Ward, J. Stuart Carlton, Kwamena K. Quagrainie, Tomas O. Höök

Purdue University Press Books

Aquaponics: Farming Fish and Growing Greens for Grades 9–12 teaches STEM-related course material through aquaponics, a water-based agricultural system that combines aquaculture (fish production) and hydroponics (soilless vegetable production) systems. This curriculum is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and designed to be used with an onsite aquaponics system. Topics include an introduction to aquaculture, fundamental parts of an aquaponics system, the nitrogen cycle, water quality, population dynamics, our modern food system, and more. The ten lessons presented build on each other and are intended to be delivered in sequential order. Alternatively, lessons may also be utilized as stand-alone units …

The Effect Of Doping In Ferroelectric Hafnium Oxide, Adedamola David Aladese

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Ferroelectric hafnium oxide (HfO2) has emerged as a promising material for next-generation non-volatile memory and computing technologies because of its compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processing, scalability, and robust ferroelectricity. However, the atomistic mechanisms governing ferroelectric phase stabilization, defect interactions, and polarization switching remain incompletely understood, limiting the rational design of high-performance HfO2-based devices. This dissertation employs first-principles density functional theory calculations to establish atomistic design principles for engineering ferroelectricity in HfO2 through strain, dopant incorporation, oxygen-vacancy engineering, and multivalent defect chemistry. The effects of strain orientation, yttrium (Y) doping, and oxygen vacancies on ferroelectric phase stability were first investigated. …