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April 2025 Faculty Senate Packet, University Of Nebraska At Kearney Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Packets

No abstract provided.

Roses And Concrete: Black Teachers' Roles And Challenges In Marginalized Communities, Alyse N. Barry

Dissertations

Black educators play a vital role in schools that serve marginalized communities, yet their stories are often overlooked in academic research. This phenomenological study explores how Black teachers interpret their roles and navigate challenges within these spaces. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), I centered the voices of ten Black educators to better understand the emotional, cultural, and professional layers of their experience.

Through in-depth interviews, participants described themselves as more than just instructors. They saw themselves as cultural connectors, advocates, and protectors for their students. Their presence helps affirm student identities and bridge cultural divides, but they also carry significant …

Protecting The Freedom Of Movement For All: A Proposal For Complete Street Policies That Prioritize The Needs Of Travelers With Idds And Autism In The Wake Of N.J. Bill S147, Olivia Handelman

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note examines the groundbreaking implications of New Jersey Bill S147, which mandates the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) to develop complete street designs specifically addressing the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (autism). This legislation represents a significant shift in complete streets policies, which traditionally focus on physical accessibility but rarely prioritize non-physical disabilities. The note argues that NJDOT’s implementation of these designs must include tailored strategies, such as mobility education, staff training, and improved signage, to ensure independent and safe travel for this population. By addressing these needs, New Jersey …

On The Provenance Of Software Systems: Automating Software Traceability With Knowledge Graph And Large Language Model Synergy, Tyler Procko

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The present dissertation delineates a system that enables those engaged in software development to automatically generate and maintain project life cycle provenance. All projects are implemented and made manifest with the development of artifacts, e.g., papers, code files, etc. Tools exist to accelerate artifact creation, but little focus is paid to the processes that produce them. In terms of Ontology, or, from Ancient Greek, the study of being, the two most basic entities in reality are Continuant and Occurrent, or, roughly, “Artifact” and “Process”. This dissertation posits that for any created artifact, its process of creation, i.e., its life …

A Stacked Ensemble Classifier For Email Spam Detection Via An Evolutionary Algorithm, Salam Al-Augby, Hasanen Alyasiri, Fahad Ghalib Abdulkadhim, Zahraa Ch. Oleiwi, Zahraa Ch. Oleiwi

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

Email communication is a crucial aspect of modern interactions. With the growing volume of spam emails, there is a pressing need for more effective antispam filters to detect unwanted messages. Existing spam detection techniques often fall short, prompting researchers to leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence to enhance online security. This study introduces an advanced spam detection technique using an ensemble learning approach. First, key features are extracted from both spam and non-spam emails via the term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) method. Several classification algorithms, including cubist, naïve Bayes, support vector machine, rpart, and ctree, are applied to classify emails …

The Mediating Effects Of Disability Impact, Job Satisfaction, And Social Support In The Relationship Between Core Self-Evaluations And Life Satisfaction In Employed People With Disabilities, Rachel Friefeld Kesselmayer, Alexandra M. Kriofske Mainella, Susan Miller Smedema, Paola Cátala Villanueva

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a mediation model of the relationship of core self-evaluations (CSEs) and life satisfaction in employed individuals with disabilities. This was a quantitative descriptive design using Hayes’s (2012) PROCESS macro for SPSS and multiple regression analysis. Two-hundred fifty-nine employed individuals with disabilities were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and completed an online survey. Job satisfaction and social support were found to partially mediate the relationship between CSE and life satisfaction. The direct effect of CSE on life satisfaction remained significant after controlling for the effects of the mediators. Functional disability was not a …

Lincolnville Old Jail, Frank Ordia, Craig Bennett, Amalia Leifeste, Jessica Ridder, Samantha Threlkeld, Jessica Stech, Alexandra Ullman, Ashton Steele, Summer Henry, Belle Ziethen, Hamzah Jule, Lorena Garrod, Zenic Rice, Jackson Dent, Thompson Teasdale, Thomas A. Darrah

Master of Science degree in Historic Preservation - Research Reports

The following report provides documentation of the Lincolnville Old Jail, located at 135 W Smith Street in the town of Lincolnville, South Carolina. It was completed by the students of Clemson University’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation during their Preservation Studio class, led by professors Amalia Leifeste and Frank Ordia, along with Teaching Assistants Hannah Truman and Jessica Ridder, provided additional support in the generation of the final report.

In the months of January and February of 2025, students completed a set of drawings of the old jail to Historical American Building Survey (HABS) standards, supplemented by historical research, and …

For The Birds, Charlotte L. Middleton

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

For the Birds is a homogenous material exhibition of porcelain pottery that explores the relationships between, expectations of, and roles placed upon women and pottery. Using traditional craft processes, still life imagery, and the language and limits of porcelain, I create arrangements that expose the viewers assumptions of both subjects. Pottery- pitchers, cups, and vases—is a product of anthropocentrism and anthropomorphism and can be entirely taken for granted- their role is assumed and unquestionable—to serve. The language and expectations of these objects are the medium I build with.

The title of the show, For the Birds, is both a …

Traumatic Brain Injury And Substance Use Disorder: A Clinic Based Exploratory Study, Steven Daniel Wheeler, Amanda Acord-Vira, Cecelia Simons, Kaleigh Papez, Jeremy Dixon, Cortland Nesley

Graduate Student Scholarship

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and substance use disorders (SUD) are common co-occurring conditions that have been investigated in isolation over the past several decades. Research regarding the conditions in unison have yielded conflicting results; however, there is a clear correlation linking negative implications of one condition on the other.

Objectives: To explore factors contributing to SUD among persons screening positive for a history of TBI and to validate the importance of screening for TBI as part of the SUD treatment program intake process.

Setting: Outpatient SUD treatment programs across West Virginia.

Design: Exploratory Study.

Methods: Those who screened positive …

Nanosilica Supplementation In Tomato Increases Oviposition On Stems And Caterpillar Mortality In The Tomato Pinworm, Kokou R. Fiaboe, Fathiya M. Khamis, Xavier Cheseto, Abdullahi A. Yusuf, Baldwyn Torto

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Silicon-induced responses play a key role in plant defense against herbivory, though the underlying mechanisms remain underexplored. In this study, we examined how mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) affect tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) defense against an invasive and highly destructive lepidopteran herbivore, the tomato pinworm (TPW), Phthorimaea absoluta. In tomato plants supplemented with MSN, prior exposure to TPW oviposition shifted subsequent egg-laying from a preference for leaves to an even distribution between stems and leaves. This shift was not observed in nonsilicon-supplemented plants. Prolonged oviposition triggered pigmentation in the basal cells of type I glandular trichomes on the stems of silicon-supplemented plants. …

Know Where You Go: Infestation Dynamics And Potential Distribution Of Two Bed Bug Species (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) In Africa, Dennis M. Mbuta, Bonoukpoè M. Sokame, Fathiya M. Khamis, Komivi S. Akutse

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Bed bugs (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) are blood-feeding insects closely linked with humans and animals, causing discomfort, and posing potential threats as disease vectors. This study focuses on Cimex lectularius (common bed bug) and Cimex hemipterus (tropical bed bug), the two key species identified in Africa. Cimex lectularius infests human habitats, while C. hemipterus, more common in Africa, infests diverse habitats, including bat colonies. In our study, we investigated the infestation dynamics and distribution of bed bugs in Africa, when considering climate, habitat, and host availability using system dynamics and ecological niche modelling techniques. System dynamics modelling analyses in Kenya revealed varied …

Differentiation Stage Predicts Radiosensitivity In Mesenchymal-Like Pancreatic Cancer, Tingshi Su, Xinjian Yu, Mojtaba Hoseini-Ghahfarokhi, David B Flint, Scott J Bright, Joana I D S Antunes, David K J Martinus, Mandira Manandhar, Mariam Ben Kacem, Poliana C Marinello, Eurico J G Pereira, Hua-Sheng Chiu, Uwe Titt, David R Grosshans, Jan Schuemann, Henning Willers, Harald Paganetti, Pavel Sumazin, Gabriel O Sawakuchi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: To derive a genomic classifier to predict radiosensitivity of pancreatic cancer cell lines and patients with pancreatic cancer to allow genomic-guided radiation therapy.

Methods and materials: We collected a comprehensive data set of full clonogenic cell survival curves of 45 pancreatic cancer cell lines irradiated with clinical photon and proton beams. We derived classifiers based on data from human embryonic and fetal pancreas single-cell RNA-sequencing to distinguish between epithelial and mesenchymal cells and to predict pancreas cell-line differentiation stage. Independent testing was done with an embryonic mouse pancreas single-cell RNA-sequencing data set. We then used bulk RNA-seq profiles from …

Context-Aware Representation: Jointly Learning Item Features And Selection From Triplets, Rodrigo Alves, Antoine Ledent

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In areas of machine learning such as cognitive modeling or recommendation, user feedback is usually context-dependent. For instance, a website might provide a user with a set of recommendations and observe which (if any) of the links were clicked by the user. Similarly, there is growing interest in the so-called “odd-one-out” learning setting, where human participants are provided with a basket of items and asked which is the most dissimilar to the others. In both of those cases, the presence of all the items in the basket can influence the final decision. In this article, we consider a classification task …

Insulin-Like Growth Factor 2 As A Driving Force For Exponential Expansion And Differentiation Of The Neonatal Thymus, Seung Woo Kang, Bryan R Helm, Yu Wang, Shiyun Xiao, Wen Zhang, Anusha Vasudev, Ken S Lau, Qi Liu, Ellen R Richie, Laura P Hale, Nancy R Manley

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Like all organs, the thymus grows in size and function rapidly during development, but this growth comes to a halt after birth. However, the molecular mechanisms behind such a transition in the thymus remain obscure. Using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of the murine thymic stroma, we identified that major transcriptomic changes occur in the endothelium and mesenchyme across the transition to homeostasis. Differentially expressed gene and intercellular network analyses of temporally resolved scRNA-seq data revealed fibroblast-derived insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) as a candidate driving neonatal thymic expansion. We demonstrated that IGF2 activity promotes a cortical thymic epithelial cell-specific proliferation …

Cost-Effectiveness Of Personalized Policies For Implementing Organ-At-Risk Sparing Adaptive Radiation Therapy In Head And Neck Cancer, Seyedmohammadhossein Hosseinian, Daniel Suarez-Aguirre, Cem Dede, Raul Garcia, Lucas Mccullum, Mehdi Hemmati, Aysenur Karagoz, Abdallah S R Mohamed, Stephen Y Lai, Katherine A Hutcheson, Amy C Moreno, Kristy K Brock, Fatemeh Nosrat, Clifton D Fuller, Andrew J Schaefer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and purpose: The principle of adaptive radiation therapy (ART) is to adjust radiation plans in response to anatomical changes during treatment. The purpose of this study was to develop a decision-making model for implementation of personalized ART that balances the costs and clinical benefits of radiation plan adaptations in head and neck cancer (HNC).

Materials and methods: Using retrospective imaging data from 52 HNC patients, a Markov decision process (MDP) model was developed to determine optimal timing for plan adaptations based on the difference in normal tissue complication probability (ΔNTCP) between planned and delivered doses to organs-at-risk. To capture …

American College Of Radiology Manual On Mr Safety: 2024 Update And Revisions, Ivan Pedrosa, David A Altman, Jonathan R Dillman, Michael N Hoff, Alexander M Mckinney, Scott B Reeder, Jeffrey M Rogg, R Jason Stafford, James A Webb, Dina L Hernandez, Robert E Watson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Since the introduction of the American College of Radiology (ACR) MRI safety guidelines in 2002, the indications for use of MRI in clinical care and research have continued to expand. Similarly, MRI technologies have evolved, with multiple field strengths now available for human imaging. While several publications have updated the ACR recommendations since the first guidelines, a single source in a structured format was lacking. Accordingly, the ACR Committee on MR Safety recently updated the online ACR Manual on MR Safety that compiles ACR recommendations for safe use of MRI equipment in humans into a single document. This review describes …

Characterization Of A Time-Resolved, Real-Time Scintillation Dosimetry System For Ultra-High Dose-Rate Radiation Therapy Applications, Alexander Baikalov, Daline Tho, Kevin Liu, Stefan Bartzsch, Sam Beddar, Emil Schüler

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Scintillation dosimetry has promising qualities for ultra-high-dose-rate (UHDR) radiation therapy (RT), but no system has shown compatibility with mean dose rates (DR¯) above 100 Gy/s and doses per pulse (Dp) exceeding 1.5 Gy typical of UHDR (FLASH)-RT. The aim of this study was to characterize a novel scintillation dosimetry system with the potential of accommodating UHDRs.

Methods and materials: We undertook a thorough dosimetric characterization of the system on an UHDR electron beamline. The system's response as a function of dose, DR¯, Dp, and the pulse dose-rate (DRp) was investigated, as was the system's dose sensitivity (signal per unit …

Defining A 'Cells To Society' Research Framework For Appendiceal Tumours, Andreana N Holowatyj, Michael J Overman, Konstantinos I Votanopoulos, Andrew M Lowy, Patrick Wagner, Mary K Washington, Cathy Eng, Wai Chin Foo, Richard M Goldberg, Mojgan Hosseini, Kamran Idrees, Douglas B Johnson, Ardaman Shergill, Erin Ward, Nicholas C Zachos, Deborah Shelton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Tumours of the appendix — a vestigial digestive organ attached to the colon — are rare. Although we estimate that around 3,000 new appendiceal cancer cases are diagnosed annually in the USA, the challenges of accurately diagnosing and identifying this tumour type suggest that this number may underestimate true population incidence. In the current absence of disease-specific screening and diagnostic imaging modalities, or well-established risk factors, the incidental discovery of appendix tumours is often prompted by acute presentations mimicking appendicitis or when the tumour has already spread into the abdominal cavity — wherein the potential misclassification of appendiceal tumours as …

Evaluating The Human Abuse Potential Of Concurrent Use Of Electronic Cigarettes And Low Nicotine Cigarettes Among Adults Who Smoke, Jason D Robinson, Yong Cui, George Kypriotakis, Jeffrey M Engelmann, Maher Karam-Hage, Jennifer A Minnix, Charles E Green, Sanjay Shete, Dorothy K Hatsukami, Eric C Donny, Sharon E Murphy, Stephen S Hecht, Thomas Eissenberg, David W Wetter, Paul M Cinciripini

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has stated its intention to reduce the nicotine content of combustible cigarettes to render them less addictive. This study evaluated the impact of providing adults who smoke with both very low nicotine content cigarettes (VLNCCs) and electronic cigarettes (ECs) of varying nicotine content on measures of human abuse potential. Participants (

Josephson Junctions: Fabrication And Applications For The Axion Dark Matter Experiment, Jonah M. Sachs

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

The observation of axions could revolutionize the world of physics. Through microwave frequency cavity readout of the photons associated with these axions, the ADMX project at WashU utilizes multiple different forms of the Josephson junction (JJ), a superconductive circuit element. The physics behind the JJ are essential to understanding its operation for resonant cavity readout in addition to parametric amplification. Parametric amplifiers produced using JJs can approach the signal-to-noise ratio set by quantum mechanics, and prove essential for the amplification chain used by the ADMX experiment for axionic detection. The limits of these amplifiers are set by the noise tuning …

The Internist's Post V.1 N.13, The University Of Texas Rio Grande Valley. School Of Medicine, Jian Garcia Cruz, Julio Javier Perez Rodriguez, Ramon Elizondo Romo, Barbara Malaga-Espinoza, Carlos Alejos Aguero, Osiris Fernandez, Edgar Dorsey Trevino, Diana Othon Martinez, Roque Mifuji Lira, Martha Solis, Cesar Gutierrez

School of Medicine Publications

No abstract provided.

Statins And Middle Meningeal Artery Embolization: A Literature Review In The Treatment Of Chronic Subdural Hematoma, Basel Musmar, Joanna M. Roy, Samantha Spellicy, Stavropoula I. Tjoumakaris, Michael R. Gooch, Robert H. Rosenwasswer, David Hasan, Pascal Jabbour

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Chronic subdural hematoma (cSDH) presents a multifaceted challenge in contemporary neurological practice, necessitating innovative therapeutic strategies. This comprehensive review explores the convergence of two promising interventions: statins and middle meningeal artery (MMA) Embolization. With cSDH incidence on the rise, particularly among the aging population and those with long-term anticoagulant usage, the traditional surgical avenues face limitations in recurrence rates and associated risk factors. Statins, heralded for their anti-inflammatory, vasculogenic, and angiogenic properties, are emerging as potential allies in cSDH management. Concurrently, MMA embolization offers a nuanced approach to target the neomembrane's blood supply, with evidence supporting its efficacy and safety. …

Drying Reduces The Total Pfas Concentration In Biosolids And Alters The Pfas Profile, Patrick J. Mcnamara, Jessica Calteux, Eric Redman, Taryn Mcknight, Lynne Moss, Webster Hoener, Scott Carr, Zhongzhe Liu

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

While per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are not actually generated at water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs), utilities are being forced to consider PFAS in biosolids management plans due to mounting political pressure and pending regulations. Emerging thermal technologies including pyrolysis, gasification, and super critical water oxidation have garnered recent attention for PFAS destruction. Drying, however, is a conventional technology that might also be a tool for utilities to manage PFAS in biosolids, but research on the impacts of drying on PFAS in biosolids is scarce. The objective of this research was to determine how drying affected the fate of PFAS …

Rethinking Behavior - Spring 2025, Midwest Symposium For Leadership In Behavior Disorders

ReThinking Behavior Magazine

A magazine for professionals serving children and youth with behavioral needs.

Spring 2025, Volume 8, Issue 3

Streamlining Field Note Analysis: Leveraging Gpt For Further Insights, Saríah López-Fierro, Umar Shehzad, Alireza (Sina) Zandi, Jody Clarke-Midura, Mimi Recker

Publications

As an integral part of qualitative research inquiry, field notes provide important data from researchers embedded in research sites. However, field notes can vary significantly, influenced by the researchers' immersion in the field, prior knowledge, beliefs, interests, and perspectives. As consequence, their interpretation presents significant challenges. This study offers a preliminary investigation into the potential of using large language models to assist researchers with the analysis and interpretation of field notes data. Our methodology consisted of two phases. First, a researcher deductively coded field notes of six classroom implementations of a novel elementary-level mathematics curriculum. In the second phase, we …

4-Ethylacetophenone From Potato Plants Repels Phthorimaea Operculella And Inhibits Oviposition: A Sustainable Management Strategy, Xinyu Ma, Junjie Yan, Guangyuan Su, Fathiya M. Khamis, Athanase Hategekiman, Yulin Gao

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The potato tuber moth, Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller), is an important pest of potato crops capable of boring into and consuming the potato tubers. Although chemical insecticides are employed to control P. operculella populations, their efficacy is frequently limited, raising environmental concerns. Host plant volatiles are important allelochemicals that can be exploited for the management of pests. In our previous studies, we identified five volatile organic compounds (3-ethylacetophenone, 4-ethylacetophenone, geranylacetone, ethylbenzene, and 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-pentanone) as allelochemicals potentially influencing the oviposition behavior of P. operculella. Using electroantennography (EAG) and behavioral assays, we found that 4-ethylacetophenone significantly repelled P. operculella at all tested concentrations …

Zoophytophagous Predator Sex Pheromone And Visual Cues Of Opposing Reflectance Spectra Lure Predator And Invasive Prey, Bashiru Adams, Fathiya Mbarak Khamis, Abdullahi Ahmed Yusuf, Baldwyn Torto

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Introduction: In sub-Saharan Africa, the invasive South American leafminer Phthorimaea absoluta is the most damaging tomato pest. Females of the pest can reproduce both sexually and through parthenogenesis and lay their eggs on all tomato plant parts. The mirid predator Nesidiocoris tenuis, a biological control agent for the pest, is also a tomato pest when prey population is low. To date, however, no study has developed an eco-friendly solution that targets both the predator and its host in a tomato farming system. Objective: To develop a bio-based management system for both pest and predator based on the combined use of …

Anthropogenic Influences On Parasitoid Wasps’ Biocontrol Of Invasive Insect Pest Species In Africa, Fathiya M. Khamis, Inusa J. Ajene

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Sustainable agriculture is crucial to ensuring food and nutritional security and improving livelihoods of millions across Africa. However, agricultural production is constrained by native and invasive pests. Indiscriminate insecticide use is often the first line of action to manage these pests, harming human and animal health, and impacting biodiversity. Thus, shifting to more ecologically sustainable alternatives is key to biodiversity conservation and sustainable agriculture. Biological control is a core component of integrated pest management strategies, and natural enemies, like parasitoid wasps, are considered one of the most environmentally sustainable means of managing pests. However, the Anthropocene plays a significant role …

Trifluridine/Tipiracil And Oxaliplatin As Induction Chemotherapy In Resectable Esophageal And Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma: A Phase Ii Study, Sarbajit Mukherjee

All Publications

Background: Preoperative chemoradiation (CRT) followed by surgery for localized esophageal and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (EGAC) is a standard of care with a pathologic complete response (pCR) rate of 20%. We evaluated a novel combination of trifluridine/tipiracil with oxaliplatin as induction chemotherapy (IC) followed by CRT.

Methods: We enrolled patients with potentially resectable localized EGAC (T3, T4aN0, or node-positive disease) in this open-label, single-arm, multicenter, Phase II trial between January 2020 and October 2022. Patients received three cycles of IC with trifluridine/tipiracil and oxaliplatin and then underwent concurrent CRT with weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel followed by surgery. The primary objective was …

The End Of The U.S.-Backed International Order And The Future Of International Law, Monica Hakimi, Jacob Katz Cogan

Faculty Scholarship

The international order that the United States has for decades led and maintained is undergoing dramatic change. In this Essay, we explain that international law during this period was constituted with, and dependent on, U.S. power; that the two became (in odd-couple fashion) entwined together; and that, as the international order changes, the international legal system, its content and its architecture, will also inevitably change.