Digital Commons Network^™

Increasing Awareness And Communication To Decrease Catheter Days In The Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Kamila Fortney

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem Nurse-driven removal protocols (NRDPs) have been shown to reduce indwelling urinary catheter (IUC) days and prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). Communication barriers prevent consistent implementation of the NDRP, leading to delayed IUC removal and increased risk of CAUTIs. Context The project was conducted in a 16-bed adult surgical intensive care unit (ICU) at a teaching hospital in a major metropolitan area. Interventions Urinary catheter reminder posters displaying IUC days were posted at each bedside to prompt discussion of IUC indication and removal. An email describing the project background was sent to all nurses and physicians by the unit …

Improving Nurse Support Of Patient Satisfaction Surveys Through Team Huddle Education, Matthew Price

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem As a leading cause of death and disability in the US, strokes often require complex, multifaceted care. Often ignored, patient satisfaction is a crucial aspect of this care and is positively linked to key health indicators. Regulatory guidelines underscore the need for stroke-specific patient satisfaction survey (SSPS) utilization in post-stroke care. Context Hospital X is a large Comprehensive Stroke Center in the Bay Area, serving patients with various stroke etiologies and complexities. At present, its Neuro Observational Unit (NOU) does not administer a SSPS. Intervention To address this gap in care, an educational presentation using literature evidence in support …

Reducing Barriers To Timely Indwelling Urinary Catheter Removal, Huyen T. Nguyen

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem Nurse-driven removal protocols (NRDPs) have been shown to reduce indwelling urinary catheter (IUC) days and prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). Communication barriers prevent consistent implementation of the NDRP, leading to delayed IUC removal and increased risk of CAUTIs. Context The project was conducted in a 16-bed adult surgical intensive care unit (ICU) at a teaching hospital in a major metropolitan area. Interventions Urinary catheter reminder posters displaying IUC days were posted at each bedside to prompt discussion of IUC indication and removal. An email describing the project background was sent to all nurses and physicians by the unit …

Learning Proximal Operators With Gaussian Process And Adaptive Quantization In Distributed Optimization, Aldo Duarte Vera Tudela

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In networks consisting of agents communicating with a central coordinator and working together to solve a global optimization problem in a distributed manner, the agents are often required to solve private proximal minimization subproblems. Such a setting often requires a further decomposition method to solve the global distributed problem, resulting in extensive communication overhead. In networks where communication is expensive, it is crucial to reduce the communication overhead of the distributed optimization scheme. Integrating Gaussian processes (GP) as a learning component to the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) has proven effective in learning each agent's local proximal operator to …

Influence Of Fire On Boreal Stream Metabolism, Jacob Adams

Biological Sciences

Wildfires are becoming more severe, frequent, and intense in the boreal forest, which has large repercussions for ecosystem processes, such as carbon and nutrient cycling. Combustion of terrestrial soils and biomass can propagate to influence streams, including increased nutrient inputs, flashier discharge, and changes to the light regime. Due to a warming climate, fire regimes are changing in concert with precipitation regimes, including more frequent and larger storms, which can scour primary producers and remove poorly attached detritus. Changing physicochemical attributes of streams resulting from fire and precipitation could influence metabolic processes that in turn influence carbon (C) storage and …

Effects Of Hunting Pressure On The Spatial Dynamics Of A Subarctic Caribou Herd, Jeffrey Wells

Biological Sciences

Indirect effects of hunting can have important ecological and hunt management implications, and little has been done to quantify these indirect effects on caribou (Rangifer tarandus). To assess effects of hunting pressure on caribou spatial dynamics, we used GPS locations that spanned fall and winter 2010-2022 from the semi-migratory Fortymile caribou herd in interior Alaska. We analyzed these locations using integrated step selection analysis to evaluate step lengths (i.e., movement rates) and selection of distance to roads and trails, and forest cover across 3 hunting pressure levels (none, low, and high) as well as road crossings during hunting compared to …

The Avialan Fauna Of The Late Cretaceous Prince Creek Formation, Alaska, Lauren N. Wilson

Geosciences

Modern polar regions are critical breeding grounds for over 250 species of birds. Some migrate to high latitudes for access to seasonally abundant resources during reproductive periods, whereas others are year-round residents. Despite the major role these birds play in polar ecosystems, we know very little of the origins of the utilization of polar ecosystems for nesting due to the rarity of avialan fossils from high latitudes. The avialan fossil record spans 150 million years, yet evidence for high-latitude bird reproduction extends only to the Eocene La Meseta Formation of Antarctica (56-33.6 Ma). Here, we report a remarkable polar avifauna …

Multiple Myeloma Patients With A Long Remission After Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Oren Pasvolsky, Zhongya Wang, Denái R Milton, Mark R Tanner, Qaiser Bashir, Samer Srour, Neeraj Saini, Paul Lin, Jeremy Ramdial, Yago Nieto, Guilin Tang, Partow Kebriaei, Yosra Aljawai, Hina N Khan, Hans C Lee, Christine Ye, Krina K Patel, Sheeba K Thomas, Robert Z Orlowski, Elizabeth J Shpall, Richard E Champlin, Muzaffar H Qazilbash

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Autologous stem cell transplantation (autoHCT) is considered standard of care for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM). Although most patients eventually progress after autoHCT, a small proportion achieve a durable response. In this retrospective study we included 1576 patients, 244 (15%) of whom were long-term responders (LTR), defined as having a progression-free survival (PFS) of ≥8 years after transplant. Patients in the LTR group were younger than the non-LTR group (median age 58.4 vs. 59.5 years; p = 0.012), less likely to have high-risk cytogenetics (4% vs. 14%; p < 0.001), more often had

Tumor Niche Network-Defined Subtypes Predict Immunotherapy Response Of Esophageal Squamous Cell Cancer, Kyung-Pil Ko, Shengzhe Zhang, Yuanjian Huang, Bongjun Kim, Gengyi Zou, Sohee Jun, Jie Zhang, Yahui Zhao, Cecilia Martin, Karen J Dunbar, Gizem Efe, Anil K Rustgi, Hiroshi Nakagawa, Haiyang Zhang, Zhihua Liu, Jae-Il Park

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Despite the promising outcomes of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), resistance to ICI presents a new challenge. Therefore, selecting patients for specific ICI applications is crucial for maximizing therapeutic efficacy. Herein, we curated 69 human esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) patients' tumor microenvironment (TME) single-cell transcriptomic datasets to subtype ESCC. Integrative analyses of the cellular network and transcriptional signatures of T cells and myeloid cells define distinct ESCC subtypes characterized by T cell exhaustion, and interleukin (IL) and interferon (IFN) signaling. Furthermore, this approach classifies ESCC patients into ICI responders and non-responders, as validated by whole tumor transcriptomes and liquid biopsy-based …

Phase 1b Study Of Batiraxcept In Combination With Durvalumab In Patients With Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer, Anne Knisely, Emily M Hinchcliff, Elisabeth Gardiner, Reshma Rangwala, Kathryn Lito, Bryan Fellman, Ying Yuan, Anil K Sood, Shannon N Westin, Karen H Lu, Amir A Jazaeri

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Combining an immune checkpoint inhibitor with batiraxcept (AVB-S6-500), an AXL inhibitor that acts via selective binding to growth arrest-specific protein 6 (GAS6), may improve anti-tumor immunity in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (PROC). This phase 1b trial of durvalumab in combination with escalating doses of batiraxcept enrolled patients with recurrent PROC (NCT04019288). The primary objective was to determine the toxicity profile of the combination. Eleven patients were enrolled on the trial. No dose-limiting toxicities were observed, and no objective responses were noted. Median progression free survival (PFS) was 1.81 months (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.71–2.40), and median overall survival (OS) was 4.53 …

Climate Security And Scale: Climate Change Risk And Security As An All-Scales, All-Of-Society Challenge, Alec Bennett

Engineering

Climate security as an emerging field of study seeks to connect the substantial security-related challenges faced under climate change, and the ways in which climate change re-prioritizes issues at all scales of governance, and throughout all parts of society. This dissertation explores these perspectives to better understand how climate security differs from past approaches in security, and how climate change requires new paradigms to consider local, national, regional, and international assessments on risk and security. Through three papers, this dissertation assesses local approaches toward shifts in natural hazards through computational modeling, explores regional and global governance challenges that generate ethical …

Multi-Year Water Quality Analysis Of Surface Water From Yukon River Watershed, Harrison Hee

Engineering

The Yukon River has been monitored for water quality by the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council (YRITWC) for the ongoing Indigenous Observation Network (ION) project (NSF Award Number 1753389) since 2006. Other studies have dated back even further, allowing researchers to see trends in tested analytes over time. The newest available data obtained in recent years has allowed researchers to look at the Yukon River Basin (YRB) comparatively to previously assumed trends with larger sample sizes per year and in a more modern view with updated knowledge of the data collected. In addition to previously tested parameters (hardness, sulfate, and …

Project Management By The People, For The People, And Of The People: Context, Challenges, And Prospects For Adoption Of E-Government Tools To Monitor Execution Of Public Infrastructure Projects In Nigeria, Peace Afieroho

Engineering

An abundance of failed or abandoned public infrastructure projects contributes to Nigeria's poor quality of life and economic development. The project management process for public infrastructure projects in Nigeria is opaque to the public and has not benefited from active public stakeholder involvement. This study investigated from a public perspective, (i) factors driving the public to participate effectively, (ii) moderating effect of using e-government tools on the public's willingness to participate effectively, (iii) factors influencing the willingness of the public to adopt e-government tools and approaches to effectively participate, and (iv) current level of public participation in monitoring the execution …

Co₂ Transport At A Supercritical State: Nikiski, Alaska Pipeline Study And Cost Analysis, Mike Ophoff

Engineering

CO₂ in the supercritical state is suitable for long-distance transportation because of the denser flowing fluid, almost the same density as liquid CO₂ but has lower viscosity and surface tension. Albeit this well-known principle, it is nontrivial to implement a scheme for single-phase, supercritical CO₂ transportation on a given pipeline. As the pressure and temperature are the major state variables governing the state of the transported CO₂, the state of the fluid is determined by a complex interaction among the key parameters: the inner diameter, insulation material, inlet pressure and temperature, and the boundary conditions (including the ambient temperature and …

Changes In Walking Function And Neural Control Following Pelvic Cancer Surgery With Reconstruction, Geng Li, Di Ao, Marleny M Vega, Payam Zandiyeh, Shuo-Hsiu Chang, Alexander N Penny, Valerae O Lewis, Benjamin J Fregly

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Surgical planning and custom prosthesis design for pelvic cancer patients are challenging due to the unique clinical characteristics of each patient and the significant amount of pelvic bone and hip musculature often removed. Limb-sparing internal hemipelvectomy surgery with custom prosthesis reconstruction has become a viable option for this patient population. However, little is known about how post-surgery walking function and neural control change from pre-surgery conditions.

Methods: This case study combined comprehensive walking data (video motion capture, ground reaction, and electromyography) with personalized neuromusculoskeletal computer models to provide a thorough assessment of pre- to post-surgery changes in walking function …

Dynamic Visual Acuity, Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex, And Visual Field In National Football League (Nfl) Officiating: Physiology And Visualization Engineering For 3d Virtual On-Field Training, Joshua Ong, Nicole V Carrabba, Ethan Waisberg, Nasif Zaman, Hamza Memon, Nicholas Panzo, Virginia A Lee, Prithul Sarker, Ashtyn Z Vogt, Noor Laylani, Alireza Tavakkoli, Andrew G Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The ability to make on-field, split-second decisions is critical for National Football League (NFL) game officials. Multiple principles in visual function are critical for accuracy and precision of these play calls, including foveation time and unobstructed line of sight, static visual acuity, dynamic visual acuity, vestibulo-ocular reflex, and sufficient visual field. Prior research has shown that a standardized curriculum in these neuro-ophthalmic principles have demonstrated validity and self-rated improvements in understanding, confidence, and likelihood of future utilization by NFL game officials to maximize visual performance during officiating. Virtual reality technology may also be able to help optimize understandings of specific …

Broadening Access: Digitization And Transcription Of The Waring Inaugural Theses Since 2015, Tabitha Y. Samuel

MUSC Conference Presentations

This presentation provides background to previous digital projects that were developed to provide richer context and to broaden access to the Waring Historical Library Inaugural Theses collection. As the project manager for a 2015 digitization project, which was funded by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine’s Express Digitization Award for the Waring to digitize inaugural theses written on the subject of yellow fever, Samuel discusses the outcome of this project and her development of an online platform to crowdsource the transcription of the theses digitized under the 2015 grant.

Nigerian Secondary Physics Teachers’ Perceptions Of Factors That Challenge Information And Communication Technology Integration, Hemamalini Srinivasan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Challenges to integrating technology into educational institutions pose a significant issue that impacts students’ performance and accomplishments. The research problem addressed through this study was that secondary school physics teachers were challenged to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) in a southwestern state of Nigeria. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore secondary physics teacher perceptions of the factors that challenged ICT integration in the southwestern state of Nigeria, so that schools could be provided with research-deduced recommendations to take informed steps forward toward developing technology-integrated student-centered pedagogies. In this study, the unified theory of acceptance and …

Radio At Saint John's University: Antennas To Long-Playing Legacies, Bonnie Finn

Libraries Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Listener Biases Toward Chinese And Latino Instructor Accents: Their Impact On Subjective Evaluations And Objective Memory Measures, Ka Wai Lau

Student Theses and Dissertations

Many people in the United States speak with a non-native accent that reveals their racial identity. Accent bias and discrimination are prevalent issues in many social interactions, including academic and work environments. Past research has argued that foreign-accented speech is generally more difficult to process. The present study aimed to explore the impact of Chinese and Latino accents compared to standard American accents on subjective evaluations and objective memory in a classroom setting. Participants were asked to evaluate speaker competence, trustworthiness, and warmth in math and Western literature lessons and completed a memory test for them. I found that Chinese-accented …

Going Nuclear: Conflict Transformation In Asia, Hariharan Murugesan

Student Theses and Dissertations

On July 16th, 1945, codenamed “Trinity,” the world’s first nuclear bomb was detonated, releasing 18.6 kilotons of energy, morphing the sand in the Alamo Desert into green sheet glass.

International relations and its study were fundamentally changed with the creation of nuclear weapons. Mutually Assured Destruction, aptly shortened to MAD became a prevailing theory that tried to explain why countries would acquire nuclear weapons but would never use them; overtime, through various frameworks and treaties, the world tried to control the spread of nuclear weapons, and since 2006, only nine countries have succeeded in creating nuclear weapons, and yet interestingly …

Resilient Af: Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Women Of Color Psychologists In Forensic Mental Health Settings, Carisse A. Cronquist

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored the lived experiences of women of color psychologists who identify as ethnic-racial minorities. This qualitative study used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to understand the narrative experience of the participants from their perspective. A total of four participants took part in this study. All participants identified as cisgender women psychologists currently working in a forensic mental health setting and identified as an ethnic-racial minority. In the lived experiences of the participants, three themes, and several subthemes, emerged: challenges, self-preservation, and strengths / resilience. The results showed that women of color psychologists working within forensic mental health settings face …

Bibliometric Insights Into Indian Artificial Intelligence Research In Library And Information Science, Khadeeja Mohammed Nizam Ansari, Dr. Sunil Bhatt

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study aims to evaluate the research productivity of Indian researchers on artificial intelligence (AI) in the Library and information science (LIS) field. The study employed a bibliometric approach to analyze the yearly growth, prolific authors, organization, country, pattern of Authorship, keyword analysis, and most cited papers on AI in LIS. The researcher used the Web of Science database to retrieve literature related to Indian AI researchers in LIS between 1995 and 2023. Four hundred forty publications were downloaded and analyzed using MS Excel, Biblioshiny, and Vosviewer software. The study reveals that Indian researchers published 440 publications and 6227 citations …

2024 Stratham Summerfest 4-H Building Premium Booklet, Unh Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Residential Ders In Service-Oriented Load Participation: Enhancing Grid Flexibility, Zhongkai Zeng

Dissertations and Theses

Amidst concerns about power consumption during peak periods and potential grid instability, the role of Distributed Energy Resource (DER) aggregation comes into consideration. Smart electric water heaters with remote capabilities and energy storage offer load reduction capabilities that can help maintain grid stability and manage residential energy consumption. DERs address challenges posed by stochastic renewable energy generation and fossil fuel power plant emissions, playing a contributing role in load shifting and enhancing grid flexibility by participating in energy management programs.

However, high unenrollment rates in demand response programs, notably programs that use direct load control, persist due to customer dissatisfaction. …

Synthetic Realities And Artificial Intelligence-Generated Contents, Daniel Moreira, Sebastien Marcel, Anderson Rocha

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Welcome to the IEEE Security & Privacy Special Issue on Synthetic Realities and Artificial Intelligence-Generated Contents! In this edition, we delve into the topic of synthetic realities, where generative artificial intelligence (GAI) is revolutionizing the construction of narratives, blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction, for the good and the bad. Indeed, content created or enabled by GAI spans a wide spectrum of usage and intentions, from fostering positive experiences, such as entertainment, training, and education, to more questionable utilization, such as deception, propaganda, and manipulation.

Liver Acox1 Regulates Levels Of Circulating Lipids That Promote Metabolic Health Through Adipose Remodeling, Dongliang Lu, Anyuan He, Min Tan, Marguerite Mrad, Amal El Daibani, Donghua Hu, Xuejing Liu, Brian Kleiboeker, Tao Che, Fong-Fu Hsu, Monika Bambouskova, Clay F. Semenkovich, Irfan J. Lodhi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Behavior Change Counseling Delivered Via A Digital Health Tool Versus Routine Care Among Adolescents With Obesity: Pilot Randomized Feasibility Study, Maura Kepper, Callie Walsh-Bailey, Zoe M Miller, Min Zhao, Kianna Zucker, Angeline Gacad, Cynthia Herrick, Neil H White, Ross C Brownson, Randi E Foraker

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Youth overweight and obesity is a public health crisis and increases the risk of poor cardiovascular health (CVH) and chronic disease. Health care providers play a key role in weight management, yet few tools exist to support providers in delivering tailored evidence-based behavior change interventions to patients.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this pilot randomized feasibility study was to determine the feasibility of implementing the Patient-Centered Real-Time Intervention (PREVENT) tool in clinical settings, generate implementation data to inform scale-up, and gather preliminary effectiveness data.

METHODS: A pilot randomized clinical trial was conducted to examine the feasibility, implementation, and preliminary impact …

Feasibility Of Fit24, A Digital Diabetes Prevention Program For Hispanic Adolescents: Qualitative Evaluation Study, Erica G Soltero, Salma M Musaad, Teresia M O'Connor, Debbe Thompson, Keith Norris, Bettina M Beech

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Digital health interventions are promising for reaching and engaging high-risk youth in disease prevention opportunities; however, few digital prevention interventions have been developed for Hispanic youth, limiting our knowledge of these strategies among this population.

OBJECTIVE: This study qualitatively assessed the feasibility and acceptability of Fit24, a 12-week goal-setting intervention that uses a Fitbit watch (Fitbit Inc) and theoretically grounded SMS text messages to promote physical activity and sleep among Hispanic adolescents (aged between 14 and 16 years) with obesity.

METHODS: After completing the intervention, a subsample of youth (N=15) participated in an in-depth interview. We categorized the themes …

The Invisibility Of The American Emigrant, Laura Snyder

DePaul Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.