Digital Commons Network^™

Review: Biological Engineering For Nature-Based Climate Solutions, Benjamin R. K. Runkle

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nature-based Climate Solutions are landscape stewardship techniques to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase soil or biomass carbon sequestration. These mitigation approaches to climate change present an opportunity to supplement energy sector decarbonization and provide co-benefits in terms of ecosystem services and landscape productivity. The biological engineering profession must be involved in the research and implementation of these solutions—developing new tools to aid in decision-making, methods to optimize across different objectives, and new messaging frameworks to assist in prioritizing among different options. Furthermore, the biological engineering curriculum should be redesigned to reflect the needs of carbon-based landscape management. While doing …

An Interactive Game With Virtual Reality Immersion To Improve Cultural Sensitivity In Health Care, Paul J. Hershberger, Yong Pei, Timothy N. Crawford, Sabrina M. Neeley, Thomas Wischgoll, Dixit B. Patel, Miteshkumar M. Vasoya, Angie Castle, Sankalp Mishra, Lahari Surapaneni, Aman A. Pogaku, Aishwarya Bositty, Todd Pavlack

Health and Sport Science Faculty Publications

Purpose: Biased perceptions of individuals who are not part of one's in-groups tend to be negative and habitual. Because health care professionals are no less susceptible to biases than are others, the adverse impact of biases on marginalized populations in health care warrants continued attention and amelioration.Method: Two characters, a Syrian refugee with limited English proficiency and a black pregnant woman with a history of opioid use disorder, were developed for an online training simulation that includes an interactive life course experience focused on social determinants of health, and a clinical encounter in a community health center utilizing virtual reality …

Machine Learning Methods For Generating High Dimensional Discrete Datasets, Giuseppe Manco, Ettore Ritacco, Antonino Rullo, Domenico Saccà, Edoardo Serra

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The development of platforms and techniques for emerging Big Data and Machine Learning applications requires the availability of real-life datasets. A possible solution is to synthesize datasets that reflect patterns of real ones using a two-step approach: first, a real dataset X is analyzed to derive relevant patterns Z and, then, to use such patterns for reconstructing a new dataset X' that preserves the main characteristics of X. This survey explores two possible approaches: (1) Constraint-based generation and (2) probabilistic generative modeling. The former is devised using inverse mining (IFM) techniques, and consists of generating a dataset satisfying given …

Event-Triggered Control For Linear Time-Varying Systems Using A Positive Systems Approach, Frederic Mazenc, Michael Malisoff, Corina Barbalata, Zhong Ping Jiang

Faculty Publications

This paper presents a new design for the event-triggered output feedback control of uncertain linear time-varying systems. Departing from the traditional treatments of event-triggered linear time-invariant systems, it is shown that factoring of fundamental solutions as products of solutions of matrix differential equations, together with small-gain arguments and the notions of interval observers and positive systems, lead to a new class of robust event-triggered output-feedback controllers. A key innovation is our use of new event triggers, which use vectors of absolute values instead of the usual Euclidean 2-norms. An illustrative example of a curve tracking system from marine robotics validates …

Autologous Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation And Systemic Sclerosis: Focus On Interstitial Lung Disease, Gianluca Bagnato, Antonio Giovanni Versace, Daniela La Rosa, Alberta De Gaetano, Egidio Imbalzano, Marianna Chiappalone, Carmelo Ioppolo, William Neal Roberts, Alessandra Bitto, Natasha Irrera, Alessandro Allegra, Giovanni Pioggia, Sebastiano Gangemi

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Autologous hematopoietic stem cells transplantation (AHSCT) has been employed as treatment for severe systemic sclerosis (SSc) with high risk of organ failure. In the last 25 years overall survival and treatment-related mortality have improved, in accordance with a better patient selection and mobilization and conditioning protocols. This review analyzes the evidence from the last 5 years for AHSCT-treated SSc patients, considering in particular the outcomes related to interstitial lung disease. There are increasing data supporting the use of AHSCT in selected patients with rapidly progressive SSc. However, some unmet needs remain, such as an accurate patient selection, pre-transplantation analysis to …

To Be Seen But Not Heard: How The Internet’S Negative Impact On Minors’ Constitutional Right To Privacy, Speech, And Autonomy Creates A Need For Empathy-By-Design, Jon M. Garon

Mercer Law Review

This Article reviews the rights of individuals younger than eighteen to engage in their daily activities, now often mediated through online service providers, learning management systems, and other technological intermediaries. Unlike prior generations, modern adolescents must navigate the complex world of online society in addition to their family life, school day, and the time they spend away from school at work or in social activities.

This project includes concerns over bullying and harassment, contractual rights, social media policies, child pornography laws, revenge pornography laws, and end-user license agreements.

Ipulse: March 2022, Lynn University

Student Newspapers

Issues:

• March 2022 [Spring Week 2]: The "Gigi" Musical; The Anticipated Capstone Apartments; Boca on a Budget; Legendary Duke Coach's Last Dance; Fresh Off the Runway; Babies on the Brain; KOR Date Night
• March 2022 [Spring Week 3]: From a Fighting Knight to a Baylor Bear; Recycle Your Old Sneakers, Don't Throw Them Out; The Importance of Playing Fetch; Is Euphoria Glamorizing Drug Addiction; Life as a Full-Time Content Creator and Student; Saying Thank You to the Coaches; Los Angeles Angels Trainer Found Guilty; A Love for Fashion; Work Hard, Play Hard

Accomplished Alumna Edith Kelly-Green Boosts Accountancy Scholarship, Bill Dabney

University of Mississippi News

Women's Council founding chair hopes to give recipients head start to success

Elucidating The Clinical Spectrum And Molecular Basis Of Hyal2 Deficiency., James Fasham, Siying Lin, Promita Ghosh, Francesca Clementina Radio, Emily G. Farrow, Isabelle Thiffault, Jennifer Kussman, Dihong Zhou, Rick Hemming, Kenneth Zahka, Barry A. Chioza, Lettie E. Rawlins, Olivia K. Wenger, Adam C. Gunning, Simone Pizzi, Roberta Onesimo, Giuseppe Zampino, Emily Barker, Natasha Osawa, Megan Christine Rodriguez, Teresa M. Neuhann, Elaine H. Zackai, Beth Keena, Jenina Capasso, Alex V. Levin, Elizabeth Bhoj, Dong Li, Hakon Hakonarson, Ingrid M. Wentzensen, Adam Jackson, Kate E. Chandler, Zeynep H. Coban-Akdemir, Jennifer E. Posey, Siddharth Banka, James R. Lupski, Sarah E. Sheppard, Marco Tartaglia, Barbara Triggs-Raine, Andrew H. Crosby, Emma L. Baple

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

PURPOSE: We previously defined biallelic HYAL2 variants causing a novel disorder in 2 families, involving orofacial clefting, facial dysmorphism, congenital heart disease, and ocular abnormalities, with Hyal2 knockout mice displaying similar phenotypes. In this study, we better define the phenotype and pathologic disease mechanism.

METHODS: Clinical and genomic investigations were undertaken alongside molecular studies, including immunoblotting and immunofluorescence analyses of variant/wild-type human HYAL2 expressed in mouse fibroblasts, and in silico modeling of putative pathogenic variants.

RESULTS: Ten newly identified individuals with this condition were investigated, and they were associated with 9 novel pathogenic variants. Clinical studies defined genotype-phenotype correlations and …

Neutralizing Enterovirus D68 Antibodies In Children After 2014 Outbreak, Kansas City, Missouri, Usa., Robyn A. Livingston, Christopher J. Harrison, Rangaraj Selvarangan

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) causes severe respiratory illness outbreaks among children, particularly those with asthma. We previously detected neutralizing antibodies against the predominant EV-D68 B1 clade in the 2014 outbreak in serum collected before the outbreak (2012–2013) from persons 24 months to 85 years of age. We recently detected neutralizing antibodies to the 2014 B1, B2, and D clade viruses in serum collected after the 2014 outbreak (April–May 2017) from 300 children 6 months to 18 years of age. B1 virus neutralizing antibodies were found in 100% of patients, even children born after 2014; B2 in 84.6%, and D in 99.6%. …

Life Cycle Analysis Of Hydrogen Fuel Derived From Aluminum Versus Diesel, Tyson S. Metlen

Theses and Dissertations

The Department of Defense needs energy sources beyond petroleum products to effectively combat area denial strategies employed by its adversaries. Petroleum fuels are expensive, they have deleterious environmental impacts, and most of the world’s oil reservoirs are in volatile countries. A proposed alternative energy carrier is reacting aluminum with water to produce hydrogen and using the hydrogen as a fuel source. Normally aluminum forms a protective oxide layer that prevents continuous reaction but if aluminum is mixed with a 3.5% by weight gallium-indium eutectic, the oxide layer cannot form, and the reaction is sustainable. This study conducts a life cycle …

The Impacts Of Climate Uncertainty On Streamflow In Andes, Antioquia, Colombia, Kristen R. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

Natural hazards, such as hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and droughts impact human systems that rely on predictable patterns in the natural elements with which they interact. Skillful prediction of the impacts of climate change on linked, human-natural systems, like surface water resources, can help ensure physical risks within vulnerable communities are mitigated, resource sustainability is maximized, and intersectoral markets continue to contribute to socioeconomic stability. Due to water resources being a primary conduit through which climate uncertainty impacts people, economies, and ecosystems, its study is worthy of investigation; particularly, where those resources are uncertain and demanded by a variety of competitive …

Performance Of Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Systems With Applications In Combined Arms, Robert J. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Multi-agent systems show great potential for solving problems in complex and dynamic domains. Such systems comprise multiple individual entities called agents. Agents possessing the same behavior or physical form are called homogeneous while agents which differ in these respects are termed heterogeneous. The overall behavior of the system emerges from the many interactions of its component agents. Most multi-agent systems research to date focuses on systems of homogeneous agents, but recent work suggests that heterogeneous agents may improve system performance in certain tasks. This research examines the impact of heterogeneity on multi-agent system effectiveness and investigates the application of multi-agent …

Evaluating Neural Network Decoder Performance For Quantum Error Correction Using Various Data Generation Models, Brett M. Martin

Theses and Dissertations

Neural networks have been shown in the past to perform quantum error correction (QEC) decoding with greater accuracy and efficiency than algorithmic decoders. Because the qubits in a quantum computer are volatile and only usable on the order of milliseconds before they decohere, a means of fast quantum error correction is necessary in order to correct data qubit errors within the time budget of a quantum algorithm. Algorithmic decoders are good at resolving errors on logical qubits with only a few data qubits, but are less efficient in systems containing more data qubits. With neural network decoders, practical quantum computation …

Cumulative Lifetime Stressor Exposure Assessed By The Strain Predicts Economic Ambiguity Aversion, Candace M. Raio, Benjamin B. Lu, Michael Grubb, Grant S. Shields, George M. Slavich, Paul Glimcher

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Uncertainty is inherent in most decisions humans make. Economists distinguish between two types of decision-making under non-certain conditions: those involving risk (i.e., known outcome probabilities) and those that involve ambiguity (i.e., unknown outcome probabilities). Prior research has identified individual differences that explain risk preferences, but little is known about factors associated with ambiguity aversion. Here, we hypothesized that cumulative exposure to major psychosocial stressors over the lifespan might be one factor that predicts individuals’ ambiguity aversion. Across two studies (Study 1: n = 58, M_age = 25.7; Study 2: n = 188, M_age = 39.81), we used a …

Large-Scale Integrative Analysis Of Soybean Transcriptome Using An Unsupervised Autoencoder Model, Lingtao Su, Chunhui Xu, Shuai Zeng, Li Su, Trupti Joshi, Gary Stacey, Dong Xu

Biomedical Sciences

Plant tissues are distinguished by their gene expression patterns, which can help identify tissue-specific highly expressed genes and their differential functional modules. For this purpose, large-scale soybean transcriptome samples were collected and processed starting from raw sequencing reads in a uniform analysis pipeline. To address the gene expression heterogeneity in different tissues, we utilized an adversarial deconfounding autoencoder (AD-AE) model to map gene expressions into a latent space and adapted a standard unsupervised autoencoder (AE) model to help effectively extract meaningful biological signals from the noisy data. As a result, four groups of 1,743, 914, 2,107, and 1,451 genes were …

Honors College Retention In The College Of Agriculture, Food And Environmental, Sadie Vander Wal

Honors Capstone Projects

The College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) at South Dakota State University (SDSU) has the second lowest Honors College student enrollment compared to all other colleges in the university. This study explores factors that deter CAFES students from enrolling or continuing with Honors and potential opportunities to encourage enrollment and retention. A QuestionPro survey and focus groups were utilized in collecting responses from first-year CAFES students on their awareness of the Honors College’s automatic enrollment, factors that deter students from pursuing Honors, and opportunities. Survey responses (n=59) were reported as percentages. Randomized focus groups were created from the …

C.T. Trowell Collection Of Roland M. Harper, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of photocopies of articles and book excerpts written by Roland M. Harper for publication in scholarly journals and various other botanical bulletins. Harper's works focus on botany, conservation, and social conditions, primarily in the southeastern United States. Spanning from 1900 - 2008, additional documents, photographs and audio visual materials pertaining to Roland M. Harper's family history is included.

Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog.

Unmet Legal Needs As Health Injustice, Yael Cannon

University of Richmond Law Review

In Part I, this Article examines the health justice framework through which laws are understood as determinants of health equity. In Part II, this Article argues that when unaddressed for low-income individuals, legal needs serve as social determinants of health. Applying the health justice framework, the Article examines the major domains of social determinants of health (“SDOH”) and identifies areas of law for which unmet legal needs contribute to poor health and health inequity. Specifically, it analyzes how the five major domains of SDOH of the Healthy People 2030 paradigm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) …

On A Scale From 1 To 1557, How Much Justice Is Too Much Justice For Healthcare Entities Evading Disparate Impact Accountability?, Vanessa Giunta

Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Global Education In Stem And Healthcare: Implications Of Covid-19, Jessica Hallet, Santanu De

Biology Faculty Articles

The Coronavirus Infectious Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic in March of 2020. Since then, most schools, colleges, and universities across the globe stopped delivering classes face-to-face and transitioned into virtual modalities of instruction. This reformation of academics has had an impact on every field of study, especially those students in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and in the realm of healthcare education. Ranging from middle/high school to undergraduate and graduate programs, STEM degrees require intensive curricula integrating extensive lectures on theoretical topics and laboratory exercises to apply those concepts in a practical setting. Likewise, …

Factors Contributing To The Recognition Of A Potential Nonsexual Multiple Relationship, Nikki Patel

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Clinical psychologists encounter situations for which no prescriptive professional standards exist, necessitating therapists’ judgment to determine an appropriate course of action. This study examines the first step of therapists’ decision-making process—recognition of the potential for a nonsexual multiple relationship. Based on the existing literature and previous empirical findings, our hypotheses are that (1) therapist sex (female), higher scores on the PAQ Expressivity (femininity) scale, higher scores on the VIA-IS-V3 Self-control scale, and participants’ ranking Nonmaleficence as the most important ethical principle would be significantly (positively) predictive of Recognition scores, (2) higher scores on the PAQ Instrumentality (masculinity) scale, higher scores …

Harnessing Blood Clot Removal Mechanisms After Germinal Matrix Hemorrhage, Jerry J. Flores

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Germinal matrix hemorrhage (GMH) is one of the leading causes of morbidity, mortality, and acquired infantile hydrocephalus in preterm infants in the United States, with little progress made in its clinical management. Blood clots have been shown to elicit secondary brain injury after GMH, by disrupting normal cerebrospinal fluid circulation and absorption after germinal matrix hemorrhage causing post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus development. Current evidence suggests that rapid hematoma resolution is necessary to quickly improve neurological outcomes after hemorrhagic stroke. N-formyl peptide receptor 2 (FPR2), a G-protein-coupled receptor, has been shown to be neuroprotective after stroke. FPR2 activation has been associated with the …

Extracellular Vimentin Modulation Of Human Dendritic Cell Activation, Mary Beth Yu

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Vimentin is traditionally considered to be an intracellular protein with a primarily structural role. Evidence suggests that extracellular vimentin can be found in cancer, tissue injury, and autoimmunity. Extracellular vimentin has already been shown to alter innate immunity by increasing monocyte and macrophage ability to kill bacteria, but also decreasing neutrophil infiltration into inflamed tissue. How extracellular vimentin affects initiation of adaptive immunity has not been previously studied. To initiate adaptive immunity, antigen presenting cells prime naïve T cells. Since the most effective antigen-presenting cells are dendritic cells (DCs), the DCs are important in immune responses against cancer, self, and …

Evaluating The Effect Of The Protector Cap Technique For Castable Implant Abutments On Reverse Torque Values, Mohammed Alfaifi

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Statement of problem: The most common mechanical complication reported regarding the implant abutment is screw loosening attributed to masticatory forces and insufficient preload torque.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the differences in reverse torque value between UCLA abutments with no casting performed, UCLA abutments cast using a conventional manner, and UCLA abutment cast using protection caps and pegs.

Material and methods: Thirty implants with a standard diameter (4.3 mm) conical connection (NobelReplace Tapered Groovy 4.3 × 13 mm; Nobel Biocare) and thirty premachined 4.3 mm gold UCLA abutments (Branemark System™ Nobel Biocare, Inc) were used in …

African-American Pastors' Mental Health Literacy, Leadership And Counsel: A Systematic Review, Michelle A. Townsend

Social Work Doctoral Dissertations

The African-American pastor is a trusted provider of leadership and counseling within the Black church and community. Pastors and ministry leaders are often the first responders of mental health issues faced by their congregants and community members. As a trusted and sought-after source for counseling, the African-American Pastor is a mental health provider to a community who often does not pursue professional mental health counseling. Although the community is susceptible to the same mental illness as other ethnic groups, there is mistrust for the medical and mental health community and inequality in the available resources. This study 1) examined what …

The Perfect Storm: Substance Abuse, Mental Illness, And Rural America, Bailey D. Barnes

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

No abstract provided.

First Amendment Contradictions And Pathologies In Discourse, Erica Goldberg

School of Law Faculty Publications

A robust, principled application of the First Amendment produces contradictions that undermine the very justifications for free speech protections. Strong free speech protections are justified by the idea that rational, informed deliberation leads to peaceful decision-making, yet our marketplace of ideas is crowded with lies, reductive narratives, emotional appeals, and speech that leads to violence. Our current First Amendment model creates pathologies in discourse, which I term problems in speech quality and problems of speaker identity, that are exacerbated in our modern age of easy communication. The reason for these pathologies lies in the relationship between reason and emotion, both …

Aged 539 Graduate Internship Report- Washington Union High School, Manuel Torres Jr.

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship and project report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The supporting material includes information to receive state and local funding, outline the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of Washington Union High School, the agriculture program and the community.

The Full Monty: Analyzing The Constitutionality Of Ordinances That Only Punish Women For Being Topless In Public, Max Birmingham

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Public female-only topless bans are constitutional, as most courts have upheld. This Article addresses two concerns surrounding the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment: First, whether an ordinance expressly punishing women—but not men—for being topless in public violates the Equal Protection Clause; and second, whether an ordinance targeting women and criminalizing exposure of “the female breast” is unconstitutional.

The Equal Protection Clause makes no distinction between classifications (sex, race, ancestry, alienage, inter alia) and other discriminatory practices. Nor does the text require equal treatment or equal rights. Rather, it requires equality only in the “protection of the laws.” Female …