Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring And Testing Wildfire Risk Decision-Making In The Face Of Deep Uncertainty, Bart R. Johnson, Alan A. Ager, Cody Evers, David Hulse, Max Nielsen-Pincus, John P. Bolte

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

We integrated a mechanistic wildfire simulation system with an agent-based landscape change model to investigate the feedbacks among climate change, population growth, development, landowner decision-making, vegetative succession, and wildfire. Our goal was to develop an adaptable simulation platform for anticipating risk-mitigation tradeoffs in a fire-prone wildland– urban interface (WUI) facing conditions outside the bounds of experience. We describe how five social and ecological system (SES) submodels interact over time and space to generate highly variable alternative futures even within the same scenario as stochastic elements in simulated wildfire, succession, and landowner decisions create large sets of unique, path-dependent futures for …

Racial Disparities In Mental Health Disorders In Youth With Chronic Medical Conditions, Stefan Kostelyna, Titilope Fasipe, Natalie Villafranco, Katherine E Cutitta, Keila N Lopez

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between race/ethnicity, poverty, and mental health in youth with chronic conditions.

STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional comparative study was performed using the records of a tertiary care center from 2011 to 2015.

INCLUSION CRITERIA: children aged 4-17 years with ≥1 hospitalization or emergency department visit. Exclusion criteria were those with arrhythmias or treatment with clonidine/benzodiazepines. The primary outcome variable was diagnosis or medication for anxiety, depression, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The primary predictor variable was diagnosis of cystic fibrosis (CF), sickle cell disease (SCD), or congenital heart disease (CHD).

RESULTS: We identified 112 313 patients, …

Asia’S Moment: Contextualizing The Rules Of The Corporate Governance Game, Dan W. Puchniak

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Whether this century is Asia’s century is still open for debate. What is clear now, however, is that understanding corporate governance in Asia is a paramount issue of global importance. Asia is forecast to account for an astonishing 70% of global growth in 2023.

Lex Cryptographica Financiera, Rosa M. Lastra, J.G. Allen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The past year has witnessed significant growth in the size, and mainstream profile, of financial markets built on distributed ledger technology (“DLT”), in particular “blockchain”. In February 2021, the market capitalisation of the cryptoasset Bitcoin, which is built on the first operational blockchain, topped USD 1 trillion. So-called decentralised finance (“DeFi”), built mostly on the Ethereum blockchain, grew from less than USD 1 billion to over USD 80 billion in May 2021. Even if one adopts a sceptical posture towards these developments, “crypto” markets cannot be ignored by scholars or practitioners of financial and monetary law.

Development Of A Comprehensive Staff Development Program About Outpatient Diabetes Clinic Care For Patients With Type 1 And Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Cynthia G. Sanders

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this DNP project was to evaluate if focused staff education about the many aspects of outpatient diabetes care has the potential to increase knowledge and impact attitudes about diabetes in staff providing care to patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes is a disease with wide ranging implications, in terms of cost, consumer health, and quality of life, for populations worldwide, including the United States. It is critical that staff who participate in the care of patients with diabetes mellitus have a role-specific educational foundation to support their contribution to patient care. The researcher …

Learning Mindset Dimensions And Completion Status Of Tennessee Community College Students, Donna Sue M. Shellman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this nonexperimental, quantitative study was to analyze relationships between three learning mindset dimensions (growth mindset; purpose and value; and sense of belonging) to retention and persistence to graduation among first-time, full-time Tennessee community college student graduates and nongraduates who attended one of 13 institutions in Fall 2019. In addition to comparing Tennessee community college graduates and nongraduates’ learning mindset dimensions, I analyzed student subgroups to explore those dimensions with regard to gender and race. Additional analyses included correlations between students’ growth mindset scores; purpose and value scores; and social belonging scores.

Analyses included Tennessee Board of Regents’ …

A Low Cost, Compact Electrochemical Analyzer Based On An Open-Source Microcontroller, Michael Kofi Darko Addo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Compared to other instruments for chemical analyses, electrochemical analyzers are relatively simple, inexpensive, easy to miniaturize and require little-to-no maintenance. However, like all commercially available instruments, commercial electrochemical analyzers like potentiostats primarily operate as black boxes with manufacturers providing little or no information about internal circuitry and programming. This practice can limit a researcher’s ability to develop new techniques or adapt an instrument for applications outside its typical use. In contrast, creators of open-source instruments release all the necessary information for reproduction of the hardware and software – minimizing such barriers to innovation in chemical analyses. Here, we report a …

A Novel Approach For Defect Detection Of Wind Turbine Blade Using Virtual Reality And Deep Learning, Md Fazle Rabbi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Wind turbines are subjected to continuous rotational stresses and unusual external forces such as storms, lightning, strikes by flying objects, etc., which may cause defects in turbine blades. Hence, it requires a periodical inspection to ensure proper functionality and avoid catastrophic failure. The task of inspection is challenging due to the remote location and inconvenient reachability by human inspection. Researchers used images with cropped defects from the wind turbine in the literature. They neglected possible background biases, which may hinder real-time and autonomous defect detection using aerial vehicles such as drones or others. To overcome such challenges, in this paper, …

Electrochemical Approaches To Life-Support Resources In Space Missions And Nuclear Technologies: Hydrogen Peroxide And Uranium Films, Armando Manuel Pena-Duarte

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Space race has developed several technological advances that have achieved and continue to achieve the success of space missions in the aerospace timeline. Currently, the number of space technical and scientific innovations is still growing––demanding new materials and developments for extreme performing applications of fuel cells, batteries, supercapacitors, and systems of nuclear energy. Space missions require life-support solutions, auto-sustainable closed-loop living environments, cleaning and sanitizing solutions against pathogens, and safe nuclear-based resources of energy––with fissile materials with well-controlled dimensions within the core fuel elements. Likewise, to guarantee safety conditions, reduce costs, and facilitate operational logistics, space missions must reduce their …

Density Functional Theory Study Of Dopant Incorporation Into Gamma-Uo3, Nicholas James Wilson

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Uranium trioxide (UO3) is a stable uranium oxide found throughout the nuclear fuel cycle. The γ-UO3 phase is of particular interest as the most stable at ambient conditions. As such, the γ-UO3 structure was selected for a theoretical investigation into the incorporation of metal dopants for nuclear intentional forensics applications. The two lattice types of this phase, tetragonal (I41/amd) and orthorhombic (Fddd), were investigated and found to be energetically identical, and as such the smaller tetragonal structure was selected for doping. Three transition metal dopants (Cr, Fe, and Ni) were incorporated into the structure interstitially and substitutionally at a total …

The Power Of A Story: How Emotions And Numeracy Affect Parental Decisions About The Human Papillomavirus Vaccine, Candice Fawn Coffman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (CDC, 2021). There are two strains of HPV known for causing cervical, penile, anal, vaginal, and oropharynx (throat) cancers (CDC, 2020). A vaccine is available to prevent these cancer-causing strains of HPV for individuals between the ages of 9-45. Unfortunately, vaccination uptake and completion rates are below the recommended rates to achieve herd immunity. A primary barrier to vaccination is concern about potential adverse events following vaccination. The purpose of the present study is to examine the influence of anecdotal versus statistical information on parents' intentions to vaccinate their …

Translanguaging In Science Emergent Bilingual Classrooms, Maria Fernanda Moya

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Overall, this literature review seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the research on translanguaging in the science classroom at middle school and high school levels and to highlight its potential as a pedagogical approach to promote scientific inquiry and support the linguistic and cultural diversity of emergent bilingual students. By synthesizing existing research and identifying openings in the literature, this review aims to contribute to ongoing discussions about the role of language in science education and the importance of promoting equitable access to scientific knowledge for all bilingual learners. Various case studies around translanguaging in STEM education have been …

Increases In Uvr Exposure: Local Adaptation Of A Bdelloid Rotifer, Maribel J. Baeza

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Aquatic species living in ephemeral habitats without a continual influx of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) are at increased risk of the effects of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) as the climate changes. Climate change is predicted to cause changes in DOC, some habitats will experience extended periods of drought and reduced input from DOC sources, and other environmental features that increase UVR reaching aquatic habitats. UVR can cause damage to cellular structures and biomolecules such as DNA, proteins, and lipids. The pigmented bdelloid Philodina sp. (Philodina) found in rock pools in the Chihuahuan Desert naturally experiences high UVR, yet it appears to …

X-Ray Crystal Structure Of E399q,E708q Ecm16 Double Mutant, Gileydis Guillama

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The use of antibiotics has undoubtedly been a boon for humanity in combating infections and microbial threats. However, their widespread utilization has contributed to the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance, which now poses a significant public health challenge. Streptomyces bacterium, produce diverse secondary metabolites with antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antitumoral, and immunosuppressant activities. Among these compounds is echinomycin, a nonribosomal peptide antibiotic synthesized by Streptomyces lasalocidi, which inhibits DNA replication and transcription by intercalating the DNA duplex at CpG steps. A gene called ecm16 was identified in the echinomycin biosynthetic gene cluster, which provides echinomycin self-resistance. Ecm16 recognizes DNA duplexes …

Studies On Atomic And Molecular Properties Using Locally Scaled And Perdew-Zunger Self-Interaction Corrected Density Functional Approximations, Philip Adeniyi Oyedele

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines some properties of atoms and molecules using one-electron self-interaction-correction (SIC) methods such as the Perdew-Zunger SIC (PZSIC) and the locally scaled SIC method of Zope and coworkers within the Fermi-Lowdin SIC formal- ism. The accuracy of electron density is examined by comparing moments of the den- sity, ⟨r^n⟩ = ∫ ρ(r)rndτ = ∫ ∞ 0 4πr2ρ(r)rndr (n = −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3) with the corresponding available values from the Coupled cluster (CC) singles, doubles, and perturbative triples (CCSD(T)) method. Three test sets are considered: boron through neon neutral atoms, two and four electron cations, and …

Sea Grant Center For Great Lakes Literacy Shipboard Science Workshop Evaluation, Jennifer Hunnell, Heather A. Triezenberg, Brandon C. Schroeder, Meaghan J. Gass

Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education

Youth have an important role in current and future Great Lakes stewardship. Educating youth and empowering them to be Great Lakes stewards requires educators to be knowledgeable and confident, and therefore more likely to engage in teaching Great Lakes literacy activities in their classroom, thus contributing to a Great Lakes-literate public. The Shipboard Science Workshop (SSW) for educators is a vessel-based professional learning opportunity aboard the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's research vessel (R/V) Lake Guardian . During the week-long SSW, educators learn from professional scientists, Sea Grant staff, and each other about Great Lakes research through the lenses of place-based …

Unraveling The Biogenesis And Roles Of Iron-Sulfur Proteins During Nitrogen Fixation By Methanosarcina Acetivorans, Jasleen Saini

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters, the ancient cofactors found in proteins across all life forms, play vital roles in numerous cellular processes. Fe-S clusters exhibit structural diversity, ranging from simple to complex forms. Methanogens are anaerobic archaea that produce methane as a metabolic by-product through methanogenesis, a process dependent on numerous Fe-S proteins. Notably, methanogens are capable of fixing nitrogen (diazotrophy) facilitated by the enzyme complex called nitrogenase, which contains both simple and complex Fe-S clusters. While methanogens possess the largest number of Fe-S proteins, the factors involved in Fe-S cluster biogenesis remain largely unknown. Bacteria possess three distinct and well-characterized Fe-S …

Liquid Crystalline Coacervates Composed Of Chromonic Mesogens And Polyelectrolytes, Elizabeth Adeogun

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Complex coacervates are formed by liquid-liquid phase separation of an aqueous solution of oppositely charged ions. Although several mixtures of molecules of natural and synthetic macro-ion have been shown to form complex coacervates, the formation of liquid crystalline (LC) coacervates are sparsely reported. LC coacervates have a unique property in that they can change their shape and optical property in response to external stimuli such as changes in temperature, pH, or the presence of specific molecules. This property makes LC coacervates useful as a sensor, as they can be engineered to respond to specific stimuli and generate a measurable signal …

Understanding Peripheral Blood Pressure Signals: A Statistical Learning Approach, Md Abul Hayat

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Proper estimation of body fluid status for human or animal subjects has always been a challenging problem. Accurate and timely estimate of body fluid can prevent life threatening conditions under trauma and severe dehydration. The main objective of this research is the estimation, classification and detection of dehydration in human and animal subjects using peripheral blood pressure (PBP) signals. Peripheral venous pressure (PVP) and peripheral arterial pressure (PAP) signals have been investigated in this research. Both PVP and PAP signals are PBP signals. A dataset of PVP signals was collected using standard peripheral intravenous catheters from human subjects suffering from …

Poly(Ionic Liquid)S For Magnetic, Ionic, And Electrical Stimuli-Responsive Applications, Kayla Ann Foley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) are a fascinating subclass of strong polyelectrolytes formed from polymerizable ionic liquids. As a result of their unique properties and counterion exchangeability, PILs can exhibit conformation structure or material property changes in response to external stimuli such as changes in pH/ionic environment, magnetic fields, and electric potentials. In Chapter 1, a comprehensive review of PILs design as well as their stimuli-responsive behavior is provided. Additional motivation for each dissertation chapter is also discussed. In Chapter 2, magnetically responsive PILs (MPILs) are developed from complexing paramagnetic salts with a random PIL copolymer containing a metal-coordinating co-monomer, acrylamide. A …

Fuse Annual Report 2023, Franklin University Library

FUSE Annual Report

Learn about FUSE's performance during the August, 2022 - July, 2023 Academic Year in the Franklin University Library's annual report.

Flow Dynamics In Cardiovascular Devices: A Comprehensive Review, Venant Niyonkuru, Bosco Jean Ndayishimiye Dr, Anicet Barthélemy Sibomana

Digital Journal of Clinical Medicine

This review explores flow dynamics in cardiovascular devices, focusing on fundamental fluid mechanics principles and normal blood flow patterns. It discusses the role of different structures in maintaining flow dynamics and the importance of stents, heart valves, artificial hearts, and ventricular assist devices in cardiovascular interventions. The review emphasizes the need for optimized designs and further research to enhance knowledge of flow dynamics in cardiovascular devices, advancing the field and improving patient care in cardiovascular interventions.

Lack Of Engagement Of Play-Based Learning In Early Childhood Education, Jessica A. Beuilby

Masters Projects

Research has shown that children in early childhood education classrooms, including those at Ottawa Area Center, are having less time to engage with meaningful play-based learning opportunities. This project explores the factors hindering the implementation of play-based learning as well as thought on how to improve the implementation of play-based learning. To effectively address the factors hindering the implementation of play-based learning, administration and teachers must have the adequate knowledge on play-based learning. Two professional development sessions will be used to address the most common factors that hinder implementation. Additionally, it combines elements of evaluation that will be helpful in …

Development, Roll-Out And Implementation Of An Antimicrobial Resistance Training Curriculum Harmonizes Delivery Of In-Service Training To Healthcare Workers In Kenya, Josiah Njeru, Joshua Odero, Sheilla Chebore, Mungai Ndung’U, Emmanuel Tanui, Evelyn Wesangula, Romona Ndanyi, Susan Githii, R Gunturu, Willy Mwangi

Pathology, East Africa

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasingly severe threat to global public health that requires action across different sectors. Selection of appropriate antimicrobials is an urgent challenge due to the emergence of drug resistance. In 2017, Kenya developed an AMR policy and National Action Plan to drive prevention and containment of AMR. A priority activity under AMR surveillance strategic objective was to develop a national AMR training curriculum for in-service healthcare workers. In this paper we discuss the development process, gains achieved through implementation across the country and lessons learned.

Methods: An initial stakeholders’ forum was convened to …

Utilizing Mitotalens To Investigate Large Repeats In The Arabidopsis Thaliana Mitochondrial Genome, Cambelle Johnson

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Mitochondria are a silly place to store the genetic code. In spite of the ever-present threat of oxidative DNA damage, plant mitochondrial genomes are expansive in size and include noncoding repeat sequences, a small number of which are greater than 1kilobase (kb), known hereafter as “large repeats” (LR). This theme of one or more large repeat pairs is shared across most flowering plants, lending to the belief that they somehow contribute to the plant’s fitness. These repeats exhibit high rates of rearrangement and recombination. Studying repeats in vivo could have large scale implications in hybrid crop production enhancement including eliminating …

Workshop Summary Report: Making Waves In Equitable Coastal Resilience: A National Workshop On Social Equity And Coastal Resilience, November 1, 2, And 10, 2022 (Virtual), Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Cassandra R. Davis, Thomas R. Allen, Joshua Behr, Nicole S. Hutton, Marina Saitgalina, Jennifer L. Whytlaw, Khairul Anuar

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Workshop Overview

‘Making Waves in Equitable Coastal Resilience: A National Workshop on Social Equity and Coastal Resilience’ was a three-day virtual workshop held in November 2022. The workshop was organized by a project team of faculty and researchers at Old Dominion University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the Coastal Resilience Center, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence. The workshop was intended to bring together researchers and practitioners from government, nonprofit agencies, community organizations, and advocacy groups to discuss issues relevant to coastal resilience and social equity and identify research and practice next …

Next-Generation Nanopore Sensors Based On Conductive Pulse Sensing For Enhanced Detection Of Nanoparticles, Samuel Confederat, Seungheon Lee, Derr Vang, Dimitrios Soulias, Fabio Marcuccio, Timotheus I. Peace, Martin Andrew Edwards, Pietro Strobbia, Devleena Samanta, Christoph Wälti, Paolo Actis

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nanopore sensing has been successfully used to characterize biological molecules with single-molecule resolution based on the resistive pulse sensing approach. However, its use in nanoparticle characterization has been constrained by the need to tailor the nanopore aperture size to the size of the analyte, precluding the analysis of heterogeneous samples. Additionally, nanopore sensors often require the use of high salt concentrations to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, which further limits their ability to study a wide range of nanoparticles that are unstable at high ionic strength. Here, a new paradigm in nanopore research that takes advantage of a polymer electrolyte system …

Anatoview: Using Interactive 3d Visualizations With Augmented Reality Support For Laypersons’ Medical Education In Informed Consent Processes, Michelle Chen

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

AnatoView is an interactive multimedia educational application that visualizes medical procedures in three-dimensional (3D), augmented reality (AR) space. By providing visual and spatial information of medical procedures, AnatoView acts as a learning supplement for laypersons/patients in informed consent (IC) processes — wherein instructional content is traditionally limited to purely spoken explanations that lead to poor patient comprehension. We design a mixed study and conduct a randomized, controlled trial with 15 laypersons as participants: administering a traditional IC process to a control group, and an IC process supplemented by the use of AnatoView to experimental groups. As a primary outcome, medical …

Biological Effects Of New Titanium Surface Coatings Based On Ionic Liquids And Hmgb1: A Cellular And Molecular Characterization In Lewis Rats, Alexandra Arteaga, Cláudia Cristina Biguetti, Bhuvana Lakkasetter Chandrashekar, Jimena Mora, Adeena Qureshi, Danieli C. Rodrigues

School of Podiatric Medicine Publications

High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) is a redox-sensitive molecule that plays dual roles in tissue healing and inflammation. We previously demonstrated that HMGB1 is stable when anchored by a well-characterized imidazolium-based ionic liquid (IonL), which serves as a delivery vehicle for exogenous HMGB1 to the site of injury and prevents denaturation from surface adherence. However, HMGB1 exists in different isoforms [fully reduced HMGB1 (FR), a recombinant version of FR resistant to oxidation (3S), disulfide HMGB1 (DS), and inactive sulfonyl HMGB1(SO)] that have distinct biological functions in health and disease. Thus, the goal of this study was to evaluate the …

Conceptual And Technological Advancements In Visitor Use Management Of Coastal And Estuarine Environments, Tyler Cribbs

All Dissertations

This dissertation demonstrates the exploration and use of conceptual and technological advancements in the science of visitor use management (VUM). The goal of this effort is to help better understand visitors to park and protected areas (PPAs) and more specifically, better manage our coastal and estuarine environments (i.e., coastal protected areas (CPAs). These concepts and techniques are 1) further implementing the use of cellphone data in recreation ecology and VUM, 2) assessing the use of advanced imagery, virtual reality (VR), in visual-based methods to determine visitor indicators and thresholds, and 3) assessing visitor’s awareness of PPAs and how it influences …