Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating The Impact Of Teacher-Led English As A Second Language Intervention And Computer Assisted Language Learning On Second Language Acquisition, Jennifer Lane

Education Theses and Dissertations

This manuscript is an improvement science dissertation in practice spanning two years. This study evaluated the impact of a pull-out intervention model and Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) technology on a rural East Texas English as a Second Language (ESL) program and its impact on English Language Learners (ELLs). An evaluation study occurred within the first year and an evaluation of an intervention study was conducted in the second. The studies were conducted with ESL teachers who agreed to participate and were given qualitative and quantitative surveys to complete regarding ESL instruction self-efficacy, effective teaching characteristics, and the Summit K12 …

The Influence Of Misconceptions On Pedagogical Choices Of Secondary Science Teachers: An Embedded Case Study, Tracey Beyer

Dissertations

This case study, using phenomenography within science disciplines, examines how educators' experiences with misconceptions affect teaching methods in high school physics, chemistry, and biology. Based on constructivist and interpretive theories it highlights that personal experiences shape learning and involve continuously reconstructing knowledge. The shared misconceptions of 13 educators across science disciplines reveal how those experiences influenced both their content knowledge and instructional practices. The findings indicate that educators who openly acknowledge and learn from their past experiences with misconceptions are better equipped to recognize and address gaps in understanding, an asset to furthering student learning. This research highlights the importance …

Laser-Induced Electrochemical Biosensor Modified With Graphene-Based Ink For Label-Free Detection Of Alpha-Fetoprotein And 17Β-Estradiol, Ridma Tabassum, Pritu P. Sarkar, Ahmed Hasnain Jalal, Ali Ashraf, Nazmul Islam

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

In this research, a novel electrochemical biosensor is proposed based on inducing graphene formation on polyimide substrate via laser engraving. Graphene polyaniline (G-PANI) conductive ink was synthesized by planetary mixing and applied to the working zone of the developed sensor to effectively enhance the electrical signals. The laser-induced graphene (LIG) sensor was used to detect alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and 17β-Estradiol (E2) in the phosphate buffer saline (PBS) buffer and human serum. The electrochemical performance of the biosensor in determining these biomarkers was investigated by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and chronoamperometry (CA). In a buffer environment, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and 17β-Estradiol detection range …

The Behavioral Specialization Of African Ant-Following Birds On Dorylus Driver Ants, Patricia F. Rodrigues

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ant-following birds, that forage on arthropods flushed by swarm raiding army ants, are an iconic phenomenon in tropical forests around the globe. Despite capturing the attention of naturalists for over a century, research on ant-following birds has largely focused on Neotropical species. Decades of research on Neotropical ant-following birds has revealed fascinating aspects of their specialization, including complex cognitive and behavioral adaptations that allow birds to locate and track nomadic army ants. Despite this breadth of research on Neotropical species, virtually nothing is known of the behavioral ecology of African ant-following birds, and it remains unknown whether they exhibit adaptations …

Trackins (Trk-Targeting Drugs): A Novel Therapy For Different Diseases, George N Chaldakov, Luigi Aloe, Stanislav G Yanev, Marco Fiore, Anton B Tonchev, Manlio Vinciguerra, Nikolai T Evtimov, Peter Ghenev, Krikor Dikranian

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Many routes may lead to the transition from a healthy to a diseased phenotype. However, there are not so many routes to travel in the opposite direction; that is, therapy for different diseases. The following pressing question thus remains: what are the pathogenic routes and how can be they counteracted for therapeutic purposes? Human cells contain >500 protein kinases and nearly 200 protein phosphatases, acting on thousands of proteins, including cell growth factors. We herein discuss neurotrophins with pathogenic or metabotrophic abilities, particularly brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF), pro-NGF, neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), and their receptor Trk (tyrosine receptor …

Potential Value Of Brazzein-Yeast As A Broiler Chicken Feed Additive, Lauren Ruth Neuleib

Theses and Dissertations

A variety of flavors, including sweeteners, have been used in animal feeds to improve feed palatability and increase feed intake by livestock (Chen et al., 2020). While many of these sweeteners are found in the form of carbohydrates, brazzein is a sweet-tasting protein. This study was conducted to identify the potential of brazzein to influence feed intake by livestock, using poultry as a model. The preliminary study's purpose was to develop methods appropriate for the subsequent feeding study. In the preliminary study, eight pens of five birds were fed one of four treatment diets: Control or the Control plus one …

Tissue-Specific Effects Of Temperature And Salinity On The Cell Cycle And Apoptosis In The Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus)., Rachel M. Palmer, Arika Sandbach, Bradley A. Buckley

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) evolved in warm, freshwater rivers, but possesses a broad physiological tolerance to a range of environmental conditions. Due to this hardiness and resilience, this species has been successfully introduced to regions widely outside of its native range. Here, we examine the impact of temperature and salinity variation on this species at the sub-lethal level. Specifically, Nile Tilapia were exposed to two temperatures (21 °C or 14 °C) and three salinities (0, 16, 34 ppt) for 1-h. Given their native habitat, the 21 °C / 0 ppt exposure was considered the control condition. Both cell cycle …

Educator Feedback On A Farm Tractor And Machinery Safety Training Program: Implications For Program Content And Success, Linda Fetzer, Brenna Butler, Judd Michael

Journal of Extension

This article provides results from a survey of instructors who have offered the National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation Program (NSTMOP) to youth planning to work in agriculture. Youth younger than age 16 who wish to be employed on non-family farms are required to complete an approved safety training program to operate tractors and other powered machinery. A survey of educators who offered the NSTMOP program was conducted to learn more about their successes, challenges, and feedback related to the instructor training course and program materials. Results provide direction to the instructors’ programmatic needs with respect to teaching safety-related topics.

Patient-Generated Health-Data Information Needs In Pediatric Asthma, Victoria L. Tiase

Dissertations

Patient-generated health data (PGHD) are data collected by patients that can be used to screen for health problems or monitor progress toward health goals. These data may be especially useful for those with chronic health conditions such as pediatric asthma, as PGHD reflect the day-to-day status and home behaviors. Without access to PGHD within clinical workflows, clinicians working to personalize care and treat patients at an individual level may have an incomplete picture of those patients. A thorough understanding of information needs and display preferences is required to present PGHD in the clinical documentation without causing information overload. The aims …

An Observational Study To Compare The Anti Anginal Efficacy Of Ranolazine Versus Nicorandil In Ischemic Heart Disease Patients Attending A Tertiary Care Hospital In Kolkata, Arup Mallick, Pradip Saha, Ishita Sengupta, Gairik Sengupta, Paramartha Bhattacharya, Soumya Dutta

Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy Research

Ischemic Heart disease (IHD) occurs due to an imbalance between myocardial oxygen supply and demand. In stable IHD, second-line anti-anginal drugs like Ranolazine and Nicorandil are used as add-on therapy with first-line agents like Nitrates and beta-blockers. Our study compared the efficacy of Ranolazine versus Nicorandil utilizing the patient’s responses to the Short Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ7) score. A prospective observational study on stable IHD patients attending the cardiology Outpatient Department (OPD) of IPGME&R and SSKM Hospital, Kolkata, with either Ranolazine or Nicorandil as add-on therapy (50 patients in each group). SAQ7 score was recorded at baseline and three follow-up …

Prospect Study Of Anti-Inflammatory Activity By Identification Of Muntingia Calabura Leaf Infusion, Shenny Permana, Muchamad Yusuf, Aufa Putriana, Jasmine Sukmayani, Ratu Sudrajat, Miski Khairinisa, Indah Wahyuni, Enny Rohmawaty, Muhammad Bashari, Ronny Lesmana, Aziiz Rosdianto

Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy Research

Many diseases occur due to inflammation that is not handled properly. One of the feature of inflammation is swelling or edema. Inflammation can be handled with traditional medicine, such as Muntingia calabura L. (M. calabura L.) Pharmacologically, this plant extract is reported to have antipyretic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial. Metabolite compound contained in M. calabura L. has the potential as an anti-inflammatory agent. The objective of this study is to ascertain the secondary metabolites contained in M. calabura L. leaves infusion. This experimental research method includes the simplicia making and infusion of M. calabura L. leaves by cold infusion …

Weather And Technology Trends In U.S. Durum Wheat Yields, Charles Sanders

Research Papers

Durum wheat is the primary ingredient in a global staple food item: pasta. Yet, it is considered a minor wheat crop with less than 2.0 million acres devoted to production in the U.S. Durm wheat production has not received much attention from researchers in terms of either weather impacts or technology trends. This paper uses a multiple regression model to estimate the gains in U.S. yields due to technology and the key weather variables that impact yields in the April through August growing season. The data focus on yields in the key Montana and North Dakota growing areas commonly referred …

Cover Cropping: How Sustainability And Economics Can Work Hand In Hand, Emma Reyes

Business and Economics Summer Fellows

Research finds that over half of the agricultural lands worldwide have been moderately or severely affected by soil degradation (Kopittke et al., 2019). This problem is further heightened by the fact that many farmers are concerned about the profitability of sustainable practices. As a result, this may lead to an increase in the practice of more harmful conventional agricultural techniques if they continue to be considered more economically beneficial in comparison. This paper aims to see if the use of a specific sustainable practice known as cover cropping can help to increase the level of economic benefits farmers receive. Cover …

Stepparenting And Schooling: Challenges, Reconstitutions, And Outsider Perceptions, Christopher Repa

Dissertations

This study examined the challenges stepparents face in schooling their high-school aged children. An analysis of how stepfamily formation can impact this process was also investigated. The sample included 13 families composed of one biological and one non-biological parent with at least one child between the ages of 14 and 18 who was currently attending high school. Stepparents were asked to share their experiences with other family members, the school, and the community as they related to the education of their stepchildren. The primary research focus was to identify difficulties and successes that stepparents encounter as they engage with schools …

Exploration Of A Potential Door Endpoint For Hospital-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia And Ventilator-Associated Bacterial Pneumonia Using Six Registrational Trials For Antibacterial Drugs, Tori Kinamon, Ursula Waack, Mark Needles, Daniel Rubin, Deborah Collyar, Sarah B Doernberg, Scott R Evans, Toshimitsu Hamasaki, Thomas L Holland, Jessica Howard-Anderson, Henry Chambers, Vance G Fowler, Sumati Nambiar, Peter Kim, Helen W Boucher, Ramya Gopinath

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Desirability of outcome ranking (DOOR) is an innovative approach to clinical trial design and analysis that uses an ordinal ranking system to incorporate the overall risks and benefits of a therapeutic intervention into a single measurement. Here we derived and evaluated a disease-specific DOOR endpoint for registrational trials for hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (HABP/VABP).

METHODS: Through comprehensive examination of data from nearly 4000 participants enrolled in six registrational trials for HABP/VABP submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 2005 and 2022, we derived and applied a HABP/VABP specific endpoint. We estimated the probability that …

Perceptions And Use Of The Athletic Training Milestones In Education: A Report From The Aate Research Network, Cailee E. Welch Bacon, Barton E. Anderson, Julie M. Cavallario, Bonnie L. Van Lunen, Lindsey E. Eberman

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

The Athletic Training Milestones (AT Milestones) were developed as an evaluation tool to capture the breadth and depth of athletic training knowledge, skills, and behavior. However, it is unclear whether athletic training programs are implementing this tool or how they are implementing it to gauge the clinical progression of students or residents in athletic training. We aimed to explore the perceptions and use of the AT Milestones among educators in athletic training programs. We used a cross-sectional, web- based survey with open-ended questions to collect data from athletic training programs on if and how they implement the AT Milestones at …

Compelled To Care? Exploring College Instructors’ Conceptualizations And Expressions Of Care Toward Students, Krista Kimmel

Online Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research explores how college instructors perceive and demonstrate care toward students. This research also seeks to consider how the Covid-19 pandemic influenced instructors’ caring behaviors. Although instructor care has been linked to several positive student outcomes, including persistence, little research has examined caring behaviors from the instructor’s perspective. In addition, how the pandemic’s aftermath continues to transform college teaching and learning is an area ripe for further scholarly investigation. Findings from semi-structured interviews and interpretive phenomenological analysis revealed that faculty conceptualize caring behaviors as a negotiated relationship between instructor and student. This negotiated relationship was characterized by responding …

The Value Of Using Validated Competency-Based Assessments Across The Career Span Of An Athletic Trainer, Matthew Drescher, Lindsey Eberman

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

No abstract provided.

The Development, Implementation, And Value Of The Athletic Training Milestones For Assessing Progressive Clinical Behaviors, Hollie Walusz, Eric Sauers, Mark Laursen, Forrest Pecha

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

No abstract provided.

Standardized Patient Evaluation Tool: A Valid Measure Of The Core Competencies, Lindsey E. Eberman, Jessica Edler Nye

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

No abstract provided.

L-Pbf High-Throughput Data Pipeline Approach For Multi-Modal Integration, Kristen J. Hernandez, Thomas G. Ciardi, Rachel Yamamoto, Mingjian Lu, Arafath Nihar, Jayvic Cristian Jimenez, Pawan K. Tripathi, John J. Lewandowski, Roger H. French, Laura S. Bruckman

Faculty Scholarship

Metal-based additive manufacturing requires active monitoring solutions for assessing part quality. Multiple sensors and data streams, however, generate large heterogeneous data sets that are impractical for manual assessment and characterization. In this work, an automated pipeline is developed that enables feature extraction from high-speed camera video and multi-modal data analysis. The framework removes the need for manual assessment through the utilization of deep learning techniques and training models in a weakly supervised paradigm. We demonstrate this pipeline’s capability over 700,000 high-speed camera frames. The pipeline successfully extracts melt pool and spatter geometries and links them to corresponding pyrometry, radiography, and …

Novel Mutation Leading To Splice Donor Loss In A Conserved Site Of Dmd Gene Causes Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy With Cryptorchidism, Jianhai Chen, Yangying Jia, Jie Zhong, Kun Zhang, Hongzheng Dai, Guanglin He, Fuping Li, Li Zeng, Chuanzhu Fan, Huayan Xu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: As one of the most common congenital abnormalities in male births, cryptorchidism has been found to have a polygenic aetiology according to previous studies of common variants. However, little is known about genetic predisposition of rare variants for cryptorchidism, since rare variants have larger effective size on diseases than common variants.

Methods: In this study, a cohort of 115 Chinese probands with cryptorchidism was analysed using whole-genome sequencing, alongside 19 parental controls and 2136 unaffected men. Additionally, CRISPR-Cas9 editing of a conserved variant was performed in a mouse model, with MRI screening used to observe the phenotype.

Results: In …

Targeted Co-Expression Networks For The Study Of Traits, A Gómez-Pascual, G Rocamora-Pérez, L Ibanez, J A Botía

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) is a widely used approach for the generation of gene co-expression networks. However, networks generated with this tool usually create large modules with a large set of functional annotations hard to decipher. We have developed TGCN, a new method to create Targeted Gene Co-expression Networks. This method identifies the transcripts that best predict the trait of interest based on gene expression using a refinement of the LASSO regression. Then, it builds the co-expression modules around those transcripts. Algorithm properties were characterized using the expression of 13 brain regions from the Genotype-Tissue Expression project. When …

Roles Of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2s) As A Potential Therapeutic Agent In Cardiovascular Diseases: A Narrative Review, Kazi N. Islam, Ivan D. Nguyen, Rahib Islam, Humza Pirzadah, Hassan Malik

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) stands as one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and the continued search for novel therapeutics is vital for addressing this global health challenge. Over the past decade, hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) has garnered significant attention in the field of medical research, as it has been proven to be a cardioprotective gaseous signaling molecule. It joins nitric oxide and carbon monoxide as endogenously produced gasotransmitters. As for its mechanism, H₂S functions through the posttranslational addition of a sulfur group to cysteine residues on target proteins in a process called sulfhydration. As a result, the observed …

An Investigation Into The Consumption Of Caffeinated Energy Drinks Among University Students In Ireland, Jessica Holmes, Denas Molotokas, Ralfas Molotokas

International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

Objectives: To investigate the consumption patterns of caffeinated energy drinks among university students in the south of Ireland

Materials and Methods: An online survey was created using Google Forms to investigate the consumption of caffeinated energy drinks among university students in Ireland. It was distributed to students via social media and email from the 8th of March to the 21st of March 2023 inclusive. A total of 281 responses were analysed and validated by data cleaning on Microsoft Excel, with 10 incomplete responses discarded, yielding 271 validated responses for statistical analysis.

Results: The majority of survey respondents (71.3%) reported consuming …

A Review Of The Role Of Single-Cell Rna-Sequencing (Scrna-Seq) In The Transcriptome Analysis Of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (Dcis), Ali Maeve Fitzgerald, Francesca Tiso, Eldar T. Abdullaev, Kirsten Kübler

International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) remains one of the most reported lesions detected by mammography screening programmes, yet our understanding of its progression to malignancy and markers of invasiveness is limited. Although a non-obligate precursor of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), all currently diagnosed DCIS patients are indiscriminately subjected to mastectomy or breast-conserving therapy (BCT) and radiotherapy. With less than 50% of untreated DCIS progressing to IDC, questions have been raised surrounding the over-treatment of indolent DCIS.

Thus, one of the central clinical challenges is to assess the risk of disease progression, which has prompted research efforts aimed at refining prognostic …

An Investigation Into Aetiology, Detection And Treatment Of Neonatal Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia, Mairead Horan

International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

NAIT is a rare disorder with a similar aetiology to HDN, however unlike its erythrocyte counterpart, thrombocyte immunisation can occur within the first pregnancy. (Giouleka et al., 2023). The most common antibodies implicated are HLA-1a. (Winkelhorst et al., 2017). 2.5% of the Caucasian population are HPA-1a negative, of this population 33% are HLA-DR-B3*0101 positive increasing the risk of producing an alloantibody upon encountering the HPA-1a antigen. The maternal system becomes alloimmunised to the foreign paternal antigens of the foetus/neonate, which cross the placenta causing low platelets of the foetus. (Giouleka et al., 2023).

A third of antigen-positive neonates born to …

Full Issue: The International Undergraduate Journal Of Health Sciences, Volume 4, Issue 1, July 2024, Iujhs Full Issue

International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

Full Issue: The International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences, Volume 4, Issue 1, July 2024

Corrigendum To “Evaluation Of Operational Performance Of Wusongkou Cruise Port Through Network Data Envelopment Analysis”

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

No abstract provided.

Memetic Memory As Vital Conduits Of Troublemakers In Digital Culture, Alexander O. Smith, Jordan Loewen-Colón

School of Information Studies - Post-doc and Student Scholarship

Recent fears of data capitalism and colonialism often argue using implicit assumptions about cybernetic technology’s ability to automate data about culture. As such, the level of data granularity made possible by cybernetic engineering can be used to dominate society and culture. Here we unpack these implicit assumptions about the datafication of culture through memes, which both act as cultural data and cultural memory. Using Alexander Galloway’s critical method of protocological analysis and descriptions of media tactics, we respond to fears of cybernetic domination. Protocols – the source by which cybernetic technologies enable automated datafication – enables us to respond to …