Digital Commons Network^™

Why We Need A Long View Of Abolition To End The School-To-Prison Pipeline, Karen Sotiropoulos

History Faculty Publications

Drawing on experiential, literary and historical narratives, this article connects the long history shaping the school-to-prison-pipeline to the contemporary experiences of Black youth in today’s educational system. It maps abolitionism from its origins as a movement to end slavery through the ongoing Black freedom struggles that have challenged state and vigilante violence throughout the eras of Jim Crow and Civil Rights to today’s efforts to dismantle the prison state. By situating the criminalization of African American education from our nation’s founding until the present with particular focus on the post Brown years, the article stresses how policies that funded policing …

Assessing The Relative Sustainability Of Point-Of-Use Water Disinfection Technologies For Off-Grid Communities, Bright C. Elijah, Ali Ahmad, Yalin Li, Jaime Plazas-Tuttle, Lewis Stetson Rowles

Civil Engineering & Construction: Faculty Publications

Point-of-use (POU) water disinfection technologies can be adopted to provide access to safe drinking water by treating water at the household level; however, navigating various POU disinfection technologies can be difficult. While numerous conventional POU devices exist, emerging technologies using novel materials or advanced processes have been under development and claim to be of lower cost with higher treatment capacity. However, it is unclear if these claims are substantiated and how novel technologies compare to conventional ones in terms of cost and environmental impacts when providing the same service (i.e., achieving a necessary level of disinfection for safe drinking water). …

Angler Knowledge Of Live Bait Regulations And Invasive Species: Insights For Invasive Species Prevention, Alexis L. Gerber, Hannah Mulligan, Mark A. Kaemingk, Alison A. Coulter

Biology Faculty Publications

The prevention of aquatic invasive species is one of the most cost-effective management strategies for reducing negative ecological, economic, and social impacts to freshwater ecosystems. The release of leftover baitfish via the live bait trade has been identified as a high-risk pathway for introducing invasive species beyond physical barriers (e.g., mountains, dams). To assess differences in behavior surrounding live bait use and angler knowledge of invasive species, we conducted in-person angler surveys at waterbody access sites (i.e. boat ramps with available shore fishing and a shore fishing location with no boat ramp) along the Missouri River, above and below Gavins …

Atrocity Prevention In The Digital Era: Adapting Norms, Laws, And Code To Changes In The Ways Atrocities Are Committed, David J. Simon, Samhitha Josyula, Joshua Lam, Julian D. Melendi

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Emerging digital technologies have changed some of the ways that genocides are planned and executed. This paper examines those differences, calling attention to how changes in the execution of genocide should prompt a shift in the approaches to atrocity prevention. It develops a conceptual framework addressing how atrocity prevention efforts might adapt to new technology within three realms of potential prevention efforts: the ethical (norms), the legal (laws), and the digital (code).

Security Or Vulnerability? The Optics Of Data In The Humanitarian Sphere, Nicole M. Bennett, Hamid Ekbia

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Governments, humanitarian agencies, and non-government organizations increasingly resort to data-driven techniques to meet the challenges they face in dealing with growing mobile populations such as refugees. Such techniques originate in bureaucratic administrations of the 19th century and, even earlier, in slave trade and plantation accounting methods. They were then perfected in logistics and global supply chain management of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, especially with the advent of information technology. We examine the application of these techniques in humanitarian cases, seeking to contextualize them within the framework of logistic security. To understand the drivers of this trend, we introduce the …

Agenda De Investigación Para El Manejo Sustentable Del Manglar En Tamaulipas, México [Research Agenda For The Sustainable Management Of Mangroves In Tamaulipas, Mexico], Carlos Zamora-Tovar, Alejandro Fierro-Cabo, Glenda Nelly Requena-Lara

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Se presenta un análisis de la información ecológica disponible sobre los manglares de Tamaulipas, México. El objetivo fue establecer una línea base de conocimiento que defina el estado del arte a partir de la información publicada; actualizar la estructura forestal con datos propios observados en el año 2018; y determinar una agenda de investigación prioritaria para el manejo sostenible del ecosistema de man-glar, ecosistema de vital importancia por la gran variedad de recursos y servicios ambientales que aporta a la sociedad. La investigación bibliográfica recopiló 32 trabajos relevantes: 16 publicaciones formales, siete ediciones institucionales y nueve consideradas literaturas gris; recopilación …

Characterizing And Manipulating Intra-Die Performance Variation Of Fpgas And Its Application In Security, Hayden C. Cook

Theses and Dissertations

Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are reconfigurable, high-performing devices that are often used in critical applications. However, like all semiconductors, FPGAs experience transistor aging that can lower performance and lead to device failures. Additionally, device aging also has several security implications. Therefore, understanding the aging mechanisms behind transistor aging is necessary to ensure the reliability of FPGAs. However, current aging studies either rely on simulation alone or are unable to isolate aging effects on specific elements within the FPGA. This dissertation uses the reconfigurability of FPGAs to develop novel aging techniques that allow for the targeted aging of specific areas …

Early Identification Of Postpartum Depression Symptoms During The Antenatal Period Using The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Cherie Didier

DNP and Student Works

This quantitative quality improvement project aimed to assess the effectiveness of implementing the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) during the prenatal period in an obstetrical clinic in Memphis, TN. The primary research question was to investigate whether prenatal screening for postpartum depression (PPD) using the EPDS is effective in identifying at-risk individuals and improving maternal mental health outcomes.

Chief Sustainability Officer’S Role Centrality And Corporate Sustainability Performance, Taiwo Abraham, Gabriel Owusu, Xuan Wang

Management Faculty Publications

Corporate Sustainability Performance (CSP) has gained substantial attention as firms recognize its potential impact on competitive advantage. In response, there has been a significant increase in the appointment of Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) tasked with managing sustainability performance and integrating systemic sustainability initiatives for business growth. In this research, we draw upon upper echelon theory and social network theory to argue that merely having a CSO does not enhance CSP. However, the centrality of CSO within organizational networks significantly augments CSP. Further, leveraging literature from institutional theory and stakeholder theory, we provide a fresh perspective on how organizations should approach …

Revealing Structural Evolution Of Nickel Phosphide-Iron Oxide Core–Shell Nanocatalysts In Alkaline Medium For The Oxygen Evolution Reaction, Ryan H. Manso, Jiyun Hong, Wei Wang, Prashant Acharya, Adam S. Hoffman, Xiao Tong, Feng Wang, Lauren F. Greenlee, Yimei Zhu, Simon R. Bare, Jingyi Chen

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Metal phosphide-containing materials have emerged as a potential candidate of nonprecious metal-based catalysts for alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER). While it is known that metal phosphide undergoes structural evolution, considerable debate persists regarding the effects of dynamics on the surface activation and morphological stability of the catalysts. In this study, we synthesize NiP_x-FeO_x core–shell nanocatalysts with an amorphous NiP_x core designed for enhanced OER activity. Using ex situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy, we elucidate the local structural changes as a function of the cyclic voltammetry cycles. Our studies suggest that the presence of corner-sharing octahedra in the …

Developing The Openflexure Microscope Towards Medical Use: Technical And Social Challenges Of Developing Globally Accessible Hardware For Healthcare, William Wadsworth, Julian Stirling, Catherine Mkindi, Joram Mduda, Valerian L Sanga, Paul T Nyakyi, Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou, Elisée Jafsia, Stephane Fadanka, Kelsey Hummel, Sharmila Anandasabapathy, Richard Bowman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The OpenFlexure Microscope is an accessible, three-dimensional-printed robotic microscope, with sufficient image quality to resolve diagnostic features including parasites and cancerous cells. As access to lab-grade microscopes is a major challenge in global healthcare, the OpenFlexure Microscope has been developed to be manufactured, maintained and used in remote environments, supporting point-of-care diagnosis. The steps taken in transforming the hardware and software from an academic prototype towards an accepted medical device include addressing technical and social challenges, and are key for any innovation targeting improved effectiveness in low-resource healthcare. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Open, reproducible …

Lateral Variations Of Crustal Attenuation And Separation Of Intrinsic And Scattering Attenuation In Alaska, Anuradha Mahanama

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This study synthesizes findings from a comprehensive seismic attenuation investigation across Alaska, employing data from the EarthScope USArray spanning 2014 to 2020. The analysis integrates crustal seismic (Q_Lg^(-1)) attenuation mapping with an examination of intrinsic (Q_s^(-1)) and scattering (Q_i^(-1)) attenuation contribution on total seismic wave attenuation. By employing the Multiple Lapse Time Window Analysis (MLTWA) and focusing on earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 2.0 to 6.5, this research delineates the complex interplay of geological structures with seismic wave attenuation behavior, offering significant insights for regional seismic hazard assessments. The crustal seismic (Q_Lg^(-1)) attenuation component of the study reveals significant variations …

Teacher Retention And School Characteristics In Tennessee: A Human Relations Theory Correlation Study, Crystal Sarina Watts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Teacher retention is a foundational issue and schools have historically struggled to retain teachers. Previous research indicates that teachers leave the profession at high rates before year five of teaching expertise. Lack of teacher retention contributes to instability and lack of trust in school districts. This secondary data study explores whether teacher retention predicts institutional outcomes based on teacher perceptions of school climate, school leadership, student achievement, and student behavior in Tennessee public school districts. This research answers whether student achievement, school climate, school leadership, percentages of disadvantaged, special education, minority, suspended, and chronically absent students predict teacher retention in …

Laser-Powder Bed Fusion Of Ti-6al-2sn-4zr-2mo-0.08si (Ti-6242) Alloy: Process-Microstructure-Properties Relationship, Harish Chandra Kaushik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The current work is focused on Laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) of Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo-0.08Si (Ti-6242) which is a near-α titanium alloy used for high-temperature applications. The fabrication of Ti-6242 is common using conventional techniques such as casting, forging, and powder metallurgy whereas the L-PBF of Ti-6242 is comparatively new. This offers the opportunity to develop the process-microstructure-property relationship of Ti-6242 fabricated through L-PBF. This includes tasks like 3D printing of Ti-6242 followed by the study of mechanical properties and the governing microstructures of as-built (AB) and after post-processing (heat treatment in this case). In the current study, the 3D printing of Ti-6242 …

Experiences Of Food Insecurity Among Single Mothers Pursuing Secondary Education, Amber Bernard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The number of single mothers continues to grow across the nation, and many are at a socioeconomic disadvantage. Little research focuses, however, on how single mothers describe their experiences of balancing motherhood, work, and pursuing higher education, all while undergoing food insecurity. Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional theory of stress and coping was used to formulate the research design. Semistructured interview questions were used to answer the question of how single mothers with food insecurity describe their experiences pursuing higher education. A generic qualitative research approach was utilized in this study. Interviews were conducted with 10 single mothers pursuing postsecondary education …

Socioeconomic Status On The Management Of Type-2 Diabetes Among African Americans (Aged 26–64) In Rural Pennsylvania, Mariejo Joyce Constant

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a lack of knowledge on hardly-reached patients’ socioeconomic status (SES). This quantitative study examined the extent to which SES moderated or impacted the relationships of African American status, rural status, or insurance status with type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) management outcomes (testing for elevated glucose levels, patient education, and regular doctor visits) for African American individuals of low SES living in rural areas. The theoretical foundation for this study was the ecological systems theory (EST). Secondary data were from the publicly available Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 2021 dataset. Binary and linear regression analyses showed insufficient results to …

Cardiovascular Disease In Adults With A History Of Out-Of-Home Care During Childhood: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Prospective Cohort Studies, G. David Batty, Mika Kivimäki, Ylva B. Almquist, Johan G. Eriksson, Mika Gissler, Emmanuel S. Gnanamanickam, Mark Hamer, Josephine Jackisch, Hee-Soon Juon, Markus Keski-Säntti, Chaiquan Li, Tuija M. Mikkola, Emily Murray, Amanda Sacker, Leonie Segal, Philipp Frank

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Background

While individuals who were separated from their biological family and placed into the care of the state during childhood (out-of-home care) are more prone to developing selected adverse health problems in adulthood, their risk of cardiovascular disease is uncertain. Our aim was to explore this association by pooling published and unpublished results from prospective cohort studies.

Methods

We used two approaches to identifying relevant data on childhood care and adult cardiovascular disease (PROSPERO registration CRD42021254665). First, to locate published studies, we searched PubMed (Medline) until November 2023. Second, with the objective of identifying unpublished studies with the potential to …

Early Detection Of Pipeline Natural Gas Leakage From Hyperspectral Imaging By Vegetation Indicators And Deep Neural Networks, Pengfei Ma, Tarutal Ghosh Mondal, Zhenhua Shi, Mohammad Hossein Afsharmovahed, Kevin Romans, Liujun Li, Ying Zhuo, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The timely detection of underground natural gas (NG) leaks in pipeline transmission systems presents a promising opportunity for reducing the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. However, existing techniques face notable limitations for prompt detection. This study explores the utility of Vegetation Indicators (VIs) to reflect vegetation health deterioration, thereby representing leak-induced stress. Despite the acknowledged potential of VIs, their sensitivity and separability remain understudied. In this study, we employed ground vegetation as biosensors for detecting methane emissions from underground pipelines. Hyperspectral imaging from vegetation was collected weekly at both plant and leaf scales over two months to facilitate stress detection …

Utilization Of Electronic Resources For Effective Library Services In The 21st Century, Stanley Efe Okolo

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper focuses on the utilization of electronic resources for effective library services in the 21^st century. The research paper treated among others, the concept of electronic database, and the various types of databases that are available in the educational system. It also treated the application of electronic resources or databases in rendering effective library services, factors that must be in place in order for electronic databases to be used for library services which includes: library Automation, library Management, library Networking, Audio-visual Technology and technical Communication. The paper outlined some challenges as enshrined by scholars in the field of …

The Ecofeminist And Gaian Spirituality: Subverting The Patriarchal Discourse In Doris Lessing’S Selected Novels, Shereen Mohamed Safwat

Computer Science

Doris May Lessing (1919-2013) lived most her life on the veld of South Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and came back to London in 1949. Her multicultural upbringing allowed her to gain a special connection with nature via her intuitive instinct. This article sheds light on three novels by Lessing namely, The Golden Notebook (1962), The Four-Gated City (1969) and The Memoirs of a Survivor (1974) that are to be tackled within the theoretical frame of ecofeminist and Gaian spirituality. This paper dives into the depth of the Gaian and ecofeminist spiritual realm in the selected novels. It explores the alternative path …

Breaking The Silence: Autoethnographic Account Of Communication In The Aftermath Of Parental Suicide, Marissa L. Lucero

Communication ETDs

The silence that surrounds the suicide of a parent often masks unresolved feelings of guilt, shame, and powerlessness in families grieving their loss. For children, the long-lasting impact of suppressing communication about parental suicide can endure throughout adulthood. In this autoethnography, I un-salience my voice to reflect on my father’s suicide in the context of my Nuevo Mexicana identity. I assert my Chicana feminist voice through an extraction of gendered and culturally grounded memories, personal journal entries from my childhood, and a review of academic sources on suicide. This thesis is a personal and intellectual engagement with Chicana/o critical theory, …

On The Surface Topography Of Local Overheating And Plasma Formation Due To Initial Condition Perturbations Sourcing The Electrothermal Instability On High-Current-Density Conductors, Maren Whiting Hatch

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The electrothermal instability (ETI) is a Joule heating-driven instability that instigates runaway heating on conductors driven to high current density, altering the 3D evolution of the expansion and phase state. Most metals include complex distributions of imperfections (voids, resistive inclusions) which seed ETI. To simplify comparison with modeling and theory, experiments examined growth of ETI from various alloys of stainless steel as well as relatively void/inclusion free, 99.999% pure, diamond-turned, 1 mm-diameter aluminum rods. Aluminum surfaces included a variety of deliberately machined and well-characterized perturbations, including 10-micron-scale quasi-hemispherical voids, or “engineered” defects (ED), and sinusoidal patterns of varying wavelength and …

Article Comprising Bonded Substrate Comprising Nanocrystals And Method Of Making And Using Same, Michael D. Sherburne

AFIT Patents

The present invention relates to devices for measuring property changes via in-situ micro-viscometry and methods of using same. The aforementioned device is inexpensive and can be used to quickly and accurately measure numerous physical and chemical property changes, including but not limited to the rate of chemical cure, change in tack, and rate of mass loss, for example, rate of moisture, solvent and/or plasticizer change.

Attenuating Midline Thalamus Bursting To Mitigate Absence Epilepsy, Ping Dong, Konstantin Bakhurin, Yuhui Li, Mohamad A Mikati, Jianmin Cui, Warren M Grill, Henry H Yin, Huanghe Yang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Advancing the mechanistic understanding of absence epilepsy is crucial for developing new therapeutics, especially for patients unresponsive to current treatments. Utilizing a recently developed mouse model of absence epilepsy carrying the BK gain-of-function channelopathy D434G, here we report that attenuating the burst firing of midline thalamus (MLT) neurons effectively prevents absence seizures. We found that enhanced BK channel activity in the BK-D434G MLT neurons promotes synchronized bursting during the ictal phase of absence seizures. Modulating MLT neurons through pharmacological reagents, optogenetic stimulation, or deep brain stimulation effectively attenuates burst firing, leading to reduced absence seizure frequency and increased vigilance. Additionally, …

Assessing Team Performance And Cohesion Of Isolated Multicultural Teams Using Digital Escape Rooms, Susannah J. Aronson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

History has shown that when multicultural teams are together for long periods of time, conflict can occur. When put in an isolated environment, these conflicts can become dangerous. This study looked at physically isolated multicultural teams through the lens of systems engineering and if a publicly available escape room video game could measure the team’s individual level team performance and cohesion. The author also evaluated the relationship between these success measures, cultural intelligence, and fusion collaboration. Results showed the escape room video game was a reliable and valid instrument to measure individual level team performance and cohesion. The validity correlation …

S-Preclones And The Galois Connection SPol–SInv, Part I, Peter Jipsen, Erkko Lehtonen, Reinhard Pöschel

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We consider S-operations f : Aⁿ → A in which each argument is assigned a signum s ∈ S representing a “property” such as being order- preserving or order-reversing with respect to a fixed partial order on A. The set S of such properties is assumed to have a monoid structure reflecting the behaviour of these properties under the composition of S-operations (e.g., order-reversing composed with order-reversing is order- preserving). The collection of all S-operations with prescribed properties for their signed arguments is not a clone (since it is not closed under arbitrary identification of arguments), …

Removal Of Textile Dyes By Ecofriendly Aquatic Plants From Wastewater: A Review On Plants Species, Mechanisms, And Perspectives, Manal M. El-Sadaawy, Nancy S. Agib

Blue Economy

Water, an essential resource for sustaining life on our planet, is crucial for both human beings and the overall ecosystem. However, in recent decades, several factors, including population growth, rapid industrialization, urbanization, and unsustainable utilization of natural resources, have significantly impacted the quality of water. Industries such as textiles, leather tanning, cosmetics, and pigmentation extensively employ colored compounds called dyes for various purposes. Synthetic dyes have largely replaced natural dyes due to their superior durability against washing, heat, light, pH, and exposure to biological agents. Azo dyes, sulfur dyes, and pigment dyes are some examples of dyes used in industrial …

Preliminary Analysis Of Per-And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfas) In Surface Waters Of The West Plains Region Of Spokane County, Jerusha Hampson

2024 Symposium

Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) have become a national issue as regulatory limits for these toxins have just recently been put into the Clean Water Act. The West Plains has been significantly impacted by PFAS contamination due to the decades-long use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) for firefighting training at both Fairchild Airforce Base and the Spokane International Airport. Though research is still underway, it is known that PFAS contamination in West Plains groundwater is significant and widespread. This study focuses on West Plains surface waters, as there is currently less information about how these water bodies are impacted by PFAS. …

Live-Weight Gain Of Steers Grazing African Star Grass Four Herbage Allowances, J Perez-Perez, J O. Hernandez-Velez, J G. Herrera-Haro, R Barcena-Gama

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The objective was to determine weight changes of steers grazing African star grass (Cynodon plectostachyus) at four herbage allowances (2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 kg of dry matter/100 kg of live weight day-1). A rotational grazing system with 10 grazing days and 30 days rest was followed. A Split Plot Design with four replications was used. Response variables were: daily gain per steer (DGS) and per hectare (DGH), dry matter forage yield (FY), % of utilization (% U) and in vitro dry matter digestibility (DMIVD). DGS and DGH were not different (P >0.05) among allowances and grazing periods. …

Strategic Use Of Brachiaria Decumbens Pasture To Beef Heifers During Dry Season, E G. Cardoso, N F. Seiffert, J Marques Da Silva, V.P. B. Euclides, J M. Vieira

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The main objective of this study was to evaluate a Brachiaria decumbens pasture, instead of a common rangeland, for zebu beef heifers during the dry season of the year as a means of anticipating the first calving age from four to three years of age, and so improve the production rate of the herd. Daily liveweight gains (DLWG) were analyzed for the effects of year and three stocking rates during the dry season (SR1=1.5; SR2=2.0 and SR3=2.5 head/ha). The main effect on heifers DLWG was the year (P<0.01), but SR was also important (P<0.05), mainly during the last half of the dry season when pastures are under severe constraints such as soil moisture deficit and low temperatures. The lowest SR presented the highest DLWG (0.204a, 0.174ab and 0.145b kg/head, respectively for SR1, SR2 and SR3), during the dry season. If climatic conditions are not exceptionally bad, heifer first calving occurs at 37 months of age when reared on B. decumbens.