Digital Commons Network^™

Polymer-Impregnated Cement Mortar: Effects Of Peg, Pam, And Pva On Mechanical Properties, Shanaz Ahmed, Awham Hameed, Khalida Al-Azawi

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

The brittleness and porosity of cement mortar leads to low compressive, flexural, and tensile strengths and poor hardness, making it susceptible to environmental degradation. This study aimed to improve the mechanical and physical properties of cement mortar using a simple and cost-effective approach of impregnating pre-cured hardened mortar with polymers. Three polymers - polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyacrylamide (PAM), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) - were used for impregnation. The polymers were blended with a magnetic stirrer and the impregnation was performed via three methods: vacuum, ultrasound, and 24-hour immersion. The results showed significant improvements in mechanical and physical properties. PEG-impregnated samples …

A Review On The Kesterite Cu2znsns4 Prepared By Solvo/Hydrothermal Method, Nabaa Allawi, Selma Al-Jawad

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is a promising material for use in solar cells. The special properties of this substance include its occurrence on earth, its low cost, its non-toxicity, its high absorption coefficient, its p-type conductivity and its ideal band gap. CZTS has a stannite (ST) and kesterite (KS) crystal structure. Kesterite has excellent thermodynamic stability compared to stannite. Therefore, CZTS is most common in this era. Sputtering, thermal evaporation, pulsed laser deposition, spray pyrolysis, chemical vapor deposition, spin coating, electrodeposition, SILAR, sol-gel, solvothermal and hydrothermal processes are among the various processes used to produce CZTS thin films. The solvothermal and hydrothermal …

Stepping Stone Problem On Graphs, Rory O'Dwyer

The Mathematics Enthusiast

This paper formalizes the stepping stone problem introduced Ladoucer and Rebenstock [G] to the setting of simple graphs. This paper considers the set of functions from the vertices of our graph to N, which assign a fixed number of 1’s to some vertices and assign higher numbers to other vertices by adding up their neighbors’ assignments. The stepping stone solution is defined as an element obtained from the argmax of the maxima of these functions, and the maxima as its growth. This work is organized into work on the bounded and unbounded degree graph cases. In the bounded case, sufficient …

A General Expression For Hermite Expansions With Applications, Tom P. Davis

The Mathematics Enthusiast

Hermite polynomials arise when dealing with functions of normally distributed variables, and are commonly thought of as the analog of the simple polynomials on functions of regular variables. Therefore the Hermite expansion should be an analog of the Taylor expansion. Indeed there is a strong connection between the two – the general coefficient in the Hermite expansion is the weighted integral of the nth derivative, as compared to the nth derivative evaluated at zero in the case of Taylor. This fact can be used to derive the Hermite expansion for the integral and the derivative of a function. Furthermore, it …

Will They Automatically Work Together? Cooperation Among Non-Fools In Hobbes´S Leviathan, Karim Pluma

The Mathematics Enthusiast

Thomas Hobbes´s State of War is commonly imagined as a harrowing condition where hostile interactions are the rule and non-hostile encounters are the rare exception. However, while it is generally true that Hobbes purposely outlined his famed condition of anarchy as a condition of perennial conflict, it is also equally true that cooperative behavior was not uncommon. In fact, by only taking into account cooperative behavior, as presented in Leviathan, the anarchic humans leave the absolute uncertainties of the State of War and create the Commonwealth for their safety and well-being. Over the past fifty years or so, several exits …

An Examination Of The Factors And Characteristics That Contribute To The Success Of Putnam Fellows, Robert A. J. Stroud, Thomas C. Defranco

The Mathematics Enthusiast

The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is an intercollegiate mathematics competition for students in the United States and Canada and is regarded as the most prestigious and challenging mathematics competition in North America (Alexanderson, 2004; AMS, 2020; Grossman, 2002; Reznick, 1994; Schoenfeld, 1985). Students who earn the five highest scores on the examination are named Putnam Fellows. Since its inception in 1938, only 306 individuals have won the competition and a select few have won multiple times. Clearly, being named a Putnam Fellow is a remarkable achievement and therefore, understanding the factors and characteristics that contribute to their success is …

Tagging Opportunities To Learn: A Coding Scheme For Student Tasks, Janet Heine Barnett, Cihan Can, Daniel E. Otero

The Mathematics Enthusiast

This article describes the development of a coding scheme for analyzing mathematical tasks in Primary Source Projects (PSPs), curriculum materials based on primary historical sources designed for teaching standard topics from today’s undergraduate mathematics curriculum. Our scheme attends to social-cultural aspects of mathematical learning while focusing on the student actions expected as they work tasks. We exemplify our scheme with tasks drawn from a diverse set of PSPs and report results from its application to these projects. We conclude with comments on how our work can assist instructors, curriculum developers, and researchers, including those who are interested in other types …

Cas Monthly Newsletter February 2024, Andrews University

College of Arts & Sciences Newsletter

Key Dates for February

IN THIS ISSUE

DEPARTMENTAL UPDATES

Study Abroad Opportunities

Faculty & Staff Appreciation Week

VACD News

International Center for Trauma Education & Care

English Deportment Student Poetry Published in Spectrum

Desmond Murray Appointed to American Chemical Society's Minority Affairs Committee

JWL Poetry Reading

ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Research Deadlines

Effects Of Hemiparasites In Grassland Restorations Are Not Universal, Anna Marie Scheidel, Victoria Borowicz

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

Root hemiparasites infiltrate the vascular tissue of host roots to acquire water and nutrients, which often reduces host growth. Hemiparasites are postulated to be keystone species in grassland communities if they suppress dominant species and increase plant community biodiversity, and ecosystem engineers if they increase nutrient accessibility for surrounding species. We examined keystone effects by evaluating species richness and evenness in 1 m2 plots in a recent prairie restoration where Castilleja sessiliflora was naturally present or absent, and in a longer-established prairie restoration with or without Pedicularis canadensis. We examined ecosystem engineer effects by determining nitrate and phosphate concentrations …

Exploring Perceptions Of Algorithmic Bias In Video Interviewing Software: The Importance Of Ai Hiring Education, Theresa Fister, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Many employers across various fields are incorporating artificial intelligence into their hiring processes. Existing research suggests that although artificial intelligence is often perceived as neutral by its advocates, it can inadvertently perpetuate both implicit and explicit biases present in the engineers and designers responsible for its development through the machine learning process. To delve deeper into this issue, we conducted a research study involving 25 recent graduates from 12 different industries. Our aim was to gain insights into the workings of AI video interviewing software and to understand the reactions of recent graduates who have used this technology. Considering the …

Macdiarmid The Spaceman: Extraterrestrial Space In Hugh Macdiarmid’S Poetry From Sangschaw To A Drunk Man Looks At The Thistle, Michael H. Whitworth

Studies in Scottish Literature

Looking at Hugh MacDiarmid’s Sangschaw (1925), Penny Wheep (1926), and A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle (1926), this article considers MacDiarmid’s use of science, particularly astronomy, in the 1920s. It traces known and possible sources for his scientific knowledge in books and periodicals, especially The New Age. It examines the image of light travelling through space, found in popular astronomy works by Felix Eberty and Camille Flammarion. It also compares his conception of the earth as a moving object in space with that found in poems by Thomas Hardy.

New Discoveries On Protein Recruitment And Regulation During The Early Stages Of The Dna Damage Response Pathways, Kelly Waters, Donald E. Spratt

Chemistry

Maintaining genomic stability and properly repairing damaged DNA is essential to staying healthy and preserving cellular homeostasis. The five major pathways involved in repairing eukaryotic DNA include base excision repair (BER), nucleotide excision repair (NER), mismatch repair (MMR), non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), and homologous recombination (HR). When these pathways do not properly repair damaged DNA, genomic stability is compromised and can contribute to diseases such as cancer. It is essential that the causes of DNA damage and the consequent repair pathways are fully understood, yet the initial recruitment and regulation of DNA damage response proteins remains unclear. In this review, …

A Dyadic Analysis Of Financial Toxicity And Health-Related Quality Of Life Among Bone Marrow Transplant Patients And Their Caregivers., Jean S Edward, Mary Kay Rayens, Laurie E. Mclouth, Lori P Eisele, Joan Scales, Lovoria B. Williams, Gerhard C. Hildebrandt

Nursing Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: Relatively few dyad-based studies have evaluated the shared psychosocial and financial toxicity (FT) experiences of hematologic patients and their caregivers, especially those undergoing bone marrow transplantations (BMTs). This study evaluated the association of FT with health-related quality of life (QOL) among BMT patient-caregiver dyads.

METHODS: Survey and electronic health record data were collected between April 2021 and January 2022 from BMT patients and their caregivers pre- (T1) and post-intervention (T2). Thirty-four patient-caregiver dyads completed surveys; all dyads included a patient experiencing elevated T1 FT. The effect of the total FT score (i.e., the combination of psychological response, coping behaviors, …

Text-Based Reminders: Pathways To Improve Hemoglobin A1c And Fasting Blood Glucose Levels Of People With T2 Diabetes Mellitus, David Bamidele Alao

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background

Research studies have shown that self-monitoring blood glucose levels is a cornerstone in DM management. Various studies have shown that a text message intervention effectively reminds people with T2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) to check their blood glucose levels at home. Text message reminders successfully encourage medication adherence, blood glucose self-monitoring, and lifestyle changes (Xiqian et al., 2019). Through the beneficial effects on HgbA1c and blood glucose, text-based reminders have been demonstrated to improve blood glucose self-monitoring, essential to managing diabetes.

Purpose

This project aims to evaluate the effects of the 12-week text-based reminder intervention on the patient's blood sugar …

Quaker Campus, February 1, 2024 (Vol. 22, Issue 8), Whittier College

Quaker Campus

No abstract provided.

Oral Health And Older Adults: A Narrative Review, Martin S. Lipsky, Tejasvi Singh, Golnoush Zakeri, Man Hung

Institute on Aging Publications

Oral health’s association with general health, morbidity, and mortality in older adults highlights its importance for healthy aging. Poor oral health is not an inevitable consequence of aging, and a proactive, multidisciplinary approach to early recognition and treatment of common pathologies increases the likelihood of maintaining good oral health. Some individuals may not have regular access to a dentist, and opportunities to improve oral health may be lost if health professionals fail to appreciate the importance of oral health on overall well-being and quality of life. The authors of this narrative review examined government websites, the American Dental Association Aging …

The Pacifican February 2024, University Of The Pacific

All Issues - Student Newspaper, The Pacifican, Pacific Weekly

No abstract provided.

Professional Counselor's Experience Of Providing Clinical Services While Experiencing Adversity, Cambria Jovanna Mcdonald

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experience of professional counselors who provided clinical services while undergoing personal adversity. Despite the common belief that counselors are more equipped to handle personal adversity, counselors experience adversity alike others. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was the methodology implemented. Participants in this study consisted of six licensed professional counselors working at various clinical sites who continued to provide counseling services while experiencing an adverse event. Adverse events included the death of a loved one, marital concerns, family crises, divorce, infertility issues, and complex parenting situations. Findings revealed that all participants reported a …

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations: To Statutorily Organize Or Not?, David M. Grant, Eric M. Kirby, Steven Hawkins

Wyoming Law Review

This Article explores the evolving concept of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) in the context of Web3 technology. It raises critical questions about whether DAOs truly represent a step forward in limiting liability in entity governance structures or if they risk centralizing the decentralized. The text discusses the potential of DAOs to address regulatory and tax challenges while also highlighting concerns about their legitimacy and security. It compares the governance structures of traditional entities to DAOs and contemplates the reasons for formal organization pursuant to state statute. The Article further delves into some of the statutory laws in specific states recognizing …

Probing Central Spin Decoherence Dynamics Of Electronic Point Defects In Diamond And Silicon, Ethan Que Williams

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Electron spins of point defects in diamond and silicon can exhibit long coherence times, making them attractive platforms for the physical implementation of qubits for quantum sensing and quantum computing. To realize these technologies, it is essential to understand the mechanisms that limit their coherence. Decoherence of these systems is well described by the central spin model, wherein the central electron spin weakly interacts with numerous electron and nuclear spins in its environment. The dynamics of the resultant dephasing can be probed with pulse electron paramagnetic resonance (pEPR) experiments.

Using a 2.5 GHz pEPR spectrometer built in-house, we performed multi-pulse …

Montana Kaimin, February 1, 2024, Students Of The University Of Montana, Missoula

Montana Kaimin, 1898-present

Student newspaper of the University of Montana, Missoula.

Early Goal-Directed Hemostatic Therapy For Severe Acute Bleeding Management In The Intensive Care Unit: A Narrative Review., Tomaz Crochemore, Klaus Görlinger, Marcus Lance

Anaesthesiology, East Africa

This is a narrative review of the published evidence for bleeding management in critically ill patients in different clinical settings in the intensive care unit (ICU). We aimed to describe “The Ten Steps” approach to early goal-directed hemostatic therapy (EGDHT) using point-of-care testing (POCT), coagulation factor concentrates, and hemostatic drugs, according to the individual needs of each patient. We searched National Library of Medicine, MEDLINE for publications relevant to management of critical ill bleeding patients in different settings in the ICU. Bibliographies of included articles were also searched to identify additional relevant studies. English-language systematic reviews, meta-analyses, randomized trials, observational …

Modeling Of Covid-19 Clinical Outcomes In Mexico: An Analysis Of Demographic, Clinical, And Chronic Disease Factors, Livia Clarete

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study explores COVID-19 clinical outcomes in Mexico, focusing on demographic, clinical, and chronic disease variables to develop predictive models. In the binary classification task, the Ada Boost Classifier distinguishes survivors from non-survivors, with age, sex, ethnicity, and chronic medical conditions influencing outcomes. In multiclass classification, the Gradient Boosting Classifier categorizes patients into outcome groups.

Demographic variables, especially age, are crucial for predicting COVID-19 outcomes for both the binary and multiclass classification tasks. Clinical information about previous conditions, including chronic diseases, also holds relevance, especially diabetes, immunocompromise, and cardiovascular diseases. These insights inform public health measures and healthcare strategies, emphasizing …

The Black Map Project: A Black People’S Epistemology Of Healing, Britton Williams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This work is a love letter to Mary Turner and her descendants, by which I mean all Black people, that lifts recipes and roadmaps of Black creative healing and liberatory praxes. It is a freedom dream (Kelley, 2002) that dares to (re)imagine mental health care by holding Black healing and liberation centrally in mind. I do not seek to prove through this work but rather to provoke [thought|action|repair]. In this work, I unsettle prescribed notions of therapy that have long dismissed/erased/ignored the needs and [therapeutic] practices of Black people. The Black MAP Project resists epistemologies of ignorance (Mills, 2022)—born in …

Studying Lake Surface Temperature Variabilities At Regional And Global Scales Using Remote Sensing And In-Situ Observations, Abdou Rachid Bah

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Surface temperature changes can be effectively monitored by employing remote sensing thermal infrared (TIR) data, offering advantages such as improved spatial and temporal coverage. Notably, this approach enables observation without disturbing the studied object and overcomes accessibility challenges in the study regions. The study utilizes remotely sensed data from Landsat 8, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R series (GOES-R), and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) thermal infrared bands. These satellite TIR data are instrumental in model development and understanding patterns and processes in environmental systems. In my dissertation, I employed remote sensing tools, specifically Landsat 8, GOES-R, and MODIS Aqua temperature …

Stereospecific Cross-Coupling Reactions Of Vinyl Triflates And An Investigation Of The Synthesis And Reactivity Of Activated Alkyltricyclohexylstannanes, Pejman Ghaemimohammadi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Organic chemistry exists in all aspects of everyday life from polymers to pharmaceutics. Formation of carbon-carbon bonds is essential for the synthesis of complex organic compounds. This goal can be achieved by using transition metal catalysts. Second-row transition metals such as Pd, Pt, Rh, and Ir have shown remarkable efficacy in these reactions. Metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions form carbon-carbon bonds between electrophiles and nucleophiles using transition metal catalysts. Pd is mainly used in this reaction.

Transition metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions that form a bond between two C(sp²) carbons have been widely studied over the past decades. C(sp²)-C(sp^{3 …}

Biomolecular Crystals As Functional Materials, Fahmeed Khan Sheehan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The field of supramolecular chemistry has undergone significant evolution over the last few decades, progressing from fundamental studies of self-assembling systems to the rational design of functional materials with exceptional properties. Among these materials, short peptides have emerged as a chemically simple yet highly versatile class of biomimetic compounds. Initially, short peptides were used as model systems to understand larger protein interactions. As the field progressed, short peptides were found to have exceptional functionality, and are now explored as functional nanomaterials for diverse applications. In many cases, short peptide materials have displayed properties not found in biology, in some cases …

Analysis Of Wind Turbine Wake Dynamics By A Gaussian-Core Vortex Lattice Technique, Apurva Baruah, Fernando L. Ponta

Michigan Tech Publications

The development and deployment of the next generation of wind energy systems calls for simulation tools that model the entire wind farm while balancing accuracy and computational cost. A full-system wind farm simulation must consider the atmospheric inflow, the wakes and consequent response of the multiple turbines, and the implementation of the appropriate farm-collective control strategies that optimize the entire wind farm’s output. In this article, we present a novel vortex lattice model that enables the effective representation of the complex vortex wake dynamics of the turbines in a farm subject to transient inflow conditions. This work extends the capabilities …

Utility Of A Low-Cost 3-D Printed Microscope For Evaluating Esophageal Biopsies, Daniel G Rosen, Evandro Sobroza De Mello, Sadhna Dhingra, Sanford M Dawsey, Joe Knapper, Richard Bowman, Sharmila Anandasabapathy

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

In this manuscript we assessed the utility of a low-cost 3D printed microscope to evaluate esophageal biopsies. We conducted a comparative analysis between the traditional microscope and our 3-D printed microscope, utilizing a set of esophageal biopsy samples obtained from patients undergoing screening endoscopy. Two pathologists independently examined 30 esophageal biopsies by light microscopy and digital images obtained using a low-cost 3D printed microscope (Observer 1 and 2). The glass slide consensus diagnosis was compared to the findings of 2 additional pathologist who independently just reviewed the digital images (Observer 3 and 4). The intra-observer agreement was substantial to almost …

Cognitive Stimulation As A Mechanism Linking Socioeconomic Status And Neural Function Supporting Working Memory: A Longitudinal Fmri Study, Lucy A. Lurie, Maya L. Rosen, David G. Weissman, Laura Machlin, Lilliana Lengua, Margaret A. Sheridan, Katie A. Mclaughlin

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

Childhood experiences of low socioeconomic status are associated with alterations in neural function in the frontoparietal network and ventral visual stream, which may drive differences in working memory. However, the specific features of low socioeconomic status environments that contribute to these disparities remain poorly understood. Here, we examined experiences of cognitive deprivation (i.e. decreased variety and complexity of experience), as opposed to experiences of threat (i.e. violence exposure), as a potential mechanism through which family income contributes to alterations in neural activation during working memory. As part of a longitudinal study, 148 youth between aged 10 and 13 years completed …