Digital Commons Network^™

Advancing The Study Of Politics And The Brain: Targets For Research On Neurology And Political Behavior, Glenn W. Rainey Jr.

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

In this paper I argue that advancing research on neurology is creating important opportunities for political scientists to integrate its findings into their research, particularly with regard to the effects of emotional processes on political behavior.  I provide a general background on neural anatomy, genetics, and neurobiological chemicals, and I briefly review techniques of neurological research, the findings that have been developing, and the limitations on the research. I provide an overview of selected key neural anatomy, and neurotransmitters and hormones, that play a role in neurological functions, and particularly in the development and expression of emotions.  I then suggest …

Staff Education To Improve Nursing Knowledge Of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection Prevention Practices, Maylin Fernandez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In this Doctor of Nursing Practice quality improvement project, I used a staff education intervention to address nursing knowledge gaps related to catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) prevention in a large outpatient urology clinic in the southeastern United States. Registered nurses (N = 28) participated in a single, 45-minute, in-person education session comprising PowerPoint slides, facilitated discussion, and printed job aids based on national guidelines. I used a single-group pre-/posttest design to evaluate the effect of the intervention. The primary outcome was staff knowledge measured using a paper-based, 17-item knowledge test administered immediately before and after the session. The secondary …

China Samr’S Review Process In Cross-Border Technology M&A, Gabriel A. Paknia

Honors Scholar Theses

China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) holds discretionary authority over the merger review process. This paper examines whether SAMR's review of technology and semiconductor transactions since the governing body's inception in 2018 reflects political-economic incentives beyond what competitive harm analysis alone would explain. The paper is broken into three core pillars: accessing SAMR's regulatory code to identify how flexibility to exercise discretion is codified, scrutinizing SAMR's full adverse outcome record for overrepresentation of technology and semiconductor deals, and deconstructing a semiconductor megamerger to illustrate those mechanisms with the backdrop of real time geopolitical events. I find that technology and …

Audio Based Intelligence For Smart Autonomous Vehicles Using Deep Reinforcement Learning, Sweekruthi Balivada, Mansi Sanjaybhai Tanna, Meera Alpesh Dhedia, Jane Wu, Jerry Gao

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Efficient Advancements in intelligent transportation systems increasingly demand multimodal sensing frameworks capable of operating reliably under noisy, unpredictable real-world conditions. This research presents a Smart Car Audio Intelligence framework that leverages Machine Learn- ing (ML) and Reinforcement Learning (RL) to enhance real-time vehicle perception, safety, and situational awareness. Unlike traditional single-modality or static audio models, our approach integrates four specialized submodules - Emergency, Alert, Environmental/Human sounds, and Accident detection models which are each optimized through a combination of Transformer, CLAP, and CRNN architectures, augmented with adaptive RL agents. The ML models achieved strong baseline performance across all categories, with up …

Ski Industry Professionals In New Hampshire Are Worried About Climate Change, Jacklyn Tracy, Elizabeth Burakowski

Carsey Publications

In this brief, authors Jacklyn Tracy and Elizabeth Burakowski report the results of an online survey conducted in June 2025 with New Hampshire ski industry professionals to gain insight into how they perceive climate change. Understanding the perspectives on climate change is an important first step in working to preserve a vital industry to the state as temperatures rise and winters shorten. The results of the survey revealed that the majority of New Hampshire ski industry professionals are concerned about the effects of global warming on the ski industry in the state and believe more should be done to address …

Detection Of Lupine Alkaloids In Earwax Of Sheep, Clinton A. Stonecipher, Stephen T. Lee, Benedict T. Green, Daniel Cook

Poisonous Plant Research (PPR)

Lupines (Lupinus spp.) are a common plant species located on western U.S. rangelands. Most livestock death losses due to lupine toxicosis occur in sheep. Cattle are often affected due to the teratogenic nature of lupines in which crooked calf syndrome can occur. Earwax has been used to detect lupine alkaloids in cattle, but it is unknown if the alkaloids in lupine can be detected in the earwax of sheep. The objective of this study was to evaluate earwax as a noninvasive specimen to determine sheep exposure to lupine. Fifteen sheep (45 ± 3.8 kg body weight) were group housed …

Install Libkey Nomad Browser Extension For Quick Pdf Access, Joanne Romano

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

The TMC Library offers direct and fast access to e-journal collections through the browser extension LibKey Nomad.  When you install LibKey Nomad in your favorite browsers and connect the extension to the Texas Medical Center Library, you won't need to find the “Open Athens login” for most sites and you'll get PDFs even faster.

Ai Powered Research: Consensus, Joanne Romano

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

Consensus is an AI search engine for academic research. It searches over 200 million academic papers and uses language models to help find, understand, and synthesize peer-reviewed literature.

For every query, Consensus first retrieves the most relevant academic papers. It analyzes top results and generates a clear, cohesive synthesis of the findings. Every response includes citations, so you can trace each insight back to the original source.

Use Medical Mode to target your search in 1,000 top medical journals.

The Parthenon, April 08, 2026, Baylee Parsons, Kaitlyn Fleming, Abby Ayes, Ella Hatfield, Davina Synder, Scott Price, Trista Honaker, Tally Mamula

The Parthenon

No abstract provided.

Association Between Childhood Exposure To Family Substance Abuse, Mental Health Issues, And Cervical Screening Among Women Ages 18-65 In South Carolina, Ashley Laine Hamm

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated with adverse health outcomes in adulthood; however, less is known about their relationship with preventive health behaviors such as cervical cancer screening. The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to examine associations between selected ACEs and cervical cancer screening among women aged 18–65 in South Carolina. Data were drawn from the 2020 South Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and included 1,323 women. Binary logistic regression analyses were used to examine unadjusted and adjusted associations between ACE exposures and being up to date with Pap testing, controlling for age, race/ethnicity, income, …

The Association Between Advanced Technology Use And Quality Of Life Among Those With A Disability, Sarah Antus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Advanced medical technology use among individuals with physical disabilities remains understudied, creating a significant gap in understanding its impact on quality-of-life (QoL) outcomes across demographic and age groups. Guided by the social ecological model, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine associations between advanced medical technology use, disability status, demographic factors (age, gender, and race/ethnicity), and QoL outcomes using 2017–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. The sample included 9,254 individuals age 6 years and older with physical functional limitations and complete technology-use and QoL data. Advanced medical technology use was significantly associated with improved QoL (p < .001). Disability status demonstrated a statistically significant but modest association with technology use, OR = 0.84, 95% CI [0.83, 0.85], p < .001. Age-stratified analyses indicated that advanced technology use significantly predicted improved QoL among adults aged 20 years and older, OR = 6.90, 95% CI [6.89, 6.91], p < .001, but not among youths aged 6–19 years (p = .929). Gender was a significant predictor of technology use, with females having higher odds than males, OR = 1.07, 95% CI [1.06, 1.08], p < .001. Race/ethnicity was also significantly associated with technology use; compared with non-Hispanic White adults, Mexican American (OR = 0.43, 95% CI [0.42, 0.44], p < .001), other Hispanic (OR = 0.58, 95% CI [0.57, 0.59], p < .001), and non-Hispanic Black adults (OR = 0.79, 95% CI [0.78, 0.80], p < .001) had lower odds of advanced medical technology use. The study may inform health care stakeholders about strategies to promote equitable access to advanced medical assistive technologies for social change

Hispanic Students As Environmental Scientists: Culturally Sustaining Stem Pathways Through Raíces Y Ciencia, Uma Ganesan

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This study examines how culturally and linguistically sustaining environmental STEM education (CLSE-STEM) fostered student agency and environmental consciousness among Hispanic/Latinx students in Rio Grande Valley border schools. Through qualitative analysis of the Raíces y Ciencia project's water quality investigations, the research explored how teachers integrated students' cultural and linguistic resources with environmental science learning. Data from conference panel presentations, educator surveys, and classroom artifacts revealed three key themes: linguistic border-crossing as scientific understanding pathways, connecting family knowledge to environmental justice advocacy, and positioning students as community researchers. Findings demonstrate that centering Hispanic students' cultural assets while addressing local water quality …

Correction: Exploiting Prmt5 As A Target For Combination Therapy In Mantle Cell Lymphoma Characterized By Frequent Atm And Tp53 Mutations, Yuxuan Che, Yang Liu, Yixin Yao, Holly A Hill, Yijing Li, Qingsong Cai, Fangfang Yan, Preetesh Jain, Wei Wang, Lixin Rui, Michael Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

An Artificial Intelligence Optimized Hepatic Differentiation Unveils Nr5a2 And Ap-1 Transcriptional Regulation In Hepatic Maturation, Zijun Huo, Jian Tu, Wei-Lei Yang, Mo-Fan Huang, Ruoyu Wang, Chih-Wei Chu, An Xu, Yao Yu, Tara N Tavakol, Mikal Kizilbash, Megan E Fisher, Yu-Wen Huang, Dandan Zhu, Trinh T T Phan, Rachel Shoemaker, Ya-Wen Chen, Yang Zhang, Chad D Huff, Shih-Yu Chen, Tien-Jen Liu, Haipeng Xiao, Dung-Fang Lee, Ruiying Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The generation of hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) holds great promise for drug discovery and cell-based therapy for liver disease. However, current differentiation protocols are complicated and unstable, and the underlying gene regulatory mechanisms of hepatic differentiation remain incompletely defined. Here, we developed a machine learning-based artificial intelligence (AI) tool using phase-contrast images of hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs), which are essential for generating HLCs. The AI tool significantly improves the success rate of hepatic differentiation without the need for immunostaining or lineage tracing. By optimizing the methodology, we achieved an impressive purity of 90-95% for HLCs …

The Effects Of Orexin Receptor Antagonism During Early Withdrawal In Stimulant Use Disorder: Protocol For A Proof-Of-Concept Study, Heather Webber, Nikky Tran, Rita Blake, Sarah Goldman, Trevor George, Bill Bailey, Robert Suchting, Jin Yoon, Jessica Vincent, Michael Weaver, Joy Schmitz, Scott Lane

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Stimulant use disorders (StimUDs), including cocaine and methamphetamine use disorders, remain a major public health concern in the United States with no US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved pharmacological treatments. The early recovery period following stimulant use is marked by sleep disturbances, heightened stress reactivity, and dysregulated reward processing, contributing to high rates of resumption of use. Evidence from animal and human studies supports the orexin neuropeptide system as a promising therapeutic target for minimizing these disruptive mechanisms. Suvorexant, an FDA-approved dual orexin receptor antagonist for insomnia, has previously been shown to improve sleep, reduce stress, and attenuate craving …

2026-04-08 Whidbey Lab Leads Women’S Health Research On Campus, Kaitlyn Delfs

The Spectator Online

No abstract provided.

Midweek Memo, Georgia Southern University

Midweek Memo

• Applaud 
• Remember 
• Share 
• Experience 
• Around the Nest

Analysis Of The Effects Of Magnetic Field, Heat Transfer, And Thermal Radiation On Blood Flow Through Bifurcated Artery To Enhance Tumor Treatments, Abdullahi Isah, Dauda Gulibur Yakubu, Ali Musa

Tanzania Journal of Science

The work presents the effects of some pertinent parameters on blood flow through bifurcated artery to enhance tumor treatments. Combining appropriately the basic equations, together with the fractionalized Maxwell fluid model allow us to determine the velocity, temperature and concentration of blood flow through bifurcated artery. The study adopted the Atangana-Baleanu fractional time derivative on fluid model to describe the non-Newtonian behavior of blood flow. The numerical simulations were performed using the combined Laplace transform and the method of undetermined coefficients and the results obtained with the aid of Mathcad software were simulated and presented graphically. From the graphical results, …

President João Goulart And The Breakdown Of U.S.-Brazilian Relations, Jake Hall

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

The 1950s and 1960s were a tumultuous time for relations between the United States and Brazil. Following the Cuban Revolution and the rise of Castro in 1959, the United States felt vulnerable and feared that the Cuban Revolution would spread communism to other countries in Latin America. Meanwhile, Brazil was experiencing an economic crisis as former President Juscelino Kubitschek had engaged in expensive policies intended to grow Brazil’s economy and spur industrial development. These policies left the country with rampant inflation and an untenable amount of debt, which Brazil had no hope of paying off. President John F. Kennedy’s Alliance …

Street-Level Bureaucrats In Public Higher Education: The Ethical Obligations To Support Psychologically At-Risk Students, Michael Turtz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

To fill the gap in the current literature, the purpose of this dissertation was to explain how and why Street-Level Bureaucrats (SLBs) in public higher education helped psychologically at-risk students during the pandemic. This qualitative study was intended to examine the role of SLBs in public higher education as it relates to their utilization of administrative discretion when advising psychologically at-risk students. In addition to administrative discretion, this dissertation also explored the role of ethical obligations and the use of a therapeutic lens when SLBs are faced with some of the most difficult situations for which they were not equipped …

High-Throughput Multiplex Detection Of Respiratory Pathogens: Multicenter Evaluation Of The Nxtag Respiratory Pathogen Panel V2 Assay., Marisa C. Nielsen, Ping Ren, Sri Bharathi Kavuri, Karissa Culbreath, Rangaraj Selvarangan, Dithi Banerjee, Blake W. Buchan, Rachel Behounek, Janet Farhang

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Respiratory tract infections remain a major cause of global morbidity, highlighting the need for rapid and accurate diagnostic testing. This multicenter study evaluated the clinical and analytical performance of the updated NxTAG Respiratory Pathogen Panel v2 (RPPv2), a high-throughput multiplex molecular assay designed to detect 21 viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens. A total of 2,145 nasopharyngeal swab specimens, including both prospectively enrolled and archived specimens, were analyzed across five U.S. clinical sites. The NxTAG RPPv2 was assessed against FDA-cleared molecular assays and bi-directional sequencing, with contrived specimens used to supplement low-prevalence targets. Valid results were obtained for 99.7% of specimens …

Characterization Of Subclonal Variants In Hg002 Genome In A Bottle Reference Material As A Resource For Benchmarking Variant Callers., Camille A. Daniels, Adetola A. Abdulkadir, Megan H. Cleveland, Jennifer H. Mcdaniel, David Jáspez, Luis Alberto Rubio-Rodríguez, Adrián Muñoz-Barrera, José Miguel Lorenzo-Salazar, Carlos Flores, Byunggil Yoo, Sayed Mohammad Ebrahim Sahraeian, Yina Wang, Massimiliano Rossi, Arun Visvanath, Lisa Murray, Wei-Ting Chen, Severine Catreux, James Han, Rami Mehio, Gavin Parnaby, Andrew Carroll, Pi-Chuan Chang, Kishwar Shafin, Daniel Cook, Alexey Kolesnikov, Lucas Brambrink, Mohammed Faizal Eeman Mootor, Yash Patel, Takafumi N. Yamaguchi, Paul C. Boutros, Karolina Sienkiewicz, Jonathan Foox, Christopher E. Mason, Bryan R. Lajoie, Carlos A. Ruiz-Perez, Semyon Kruglyak, Justin M. Zook, Nathan D. Olson

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

We developed a benchmark set of subclonal variants in the Genome in a Bottle (GIAB) Consortium HG002 reference material (RM) DNA for evaluating lower-frequency variant callsets. We used a somatic variant caller with high-coverage (300×) whole-genome sequencing data from the GIAB Ashkenazi Jewish trio to identify potential subclonal variants in the HG002 RM DNA. Using orthogonal sequencing data and manual curation, we defined a benchmark set with 85 high-confidence subclonal single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) (allele frequency [AF] > 5%) and a benchmark region covering 2.45 Gbp of the autosomes. External validation supported that it can be used to reliably identify both false …

The Shadow Of The Rules Of Evidence On Adr, Henry Zhuhao Wang

Utah Law Review

Every day, millions of disputes arise globally, yet only a small fraction escalate into legal disputes, with an even smaller proportion reaching the courtroom, where substantive law, procedural rules, and rules of evidence are applied. For the vast majority of disputes, resolved through various alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) mechanisms, formal rules of evidence such as the Federal Rules of Evidence (“FRE”) generally do not apply. Despite this, a widely held belief persists that “rules of evidence cast a shadow on ADR,” implying that while these rules may not govern ADR processes directly, they continue to shape settlement dynamics. Legal scholars …

Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate And Xenograft Versus Autograft And Xenograft In The 3d Reconstruction Of Atrophic Maxillary Ridges: A Split-Mouth Randomized Controlled Trial, Moataz Bahaa, Ahmed Abdelmaksoud Dr., Mohamed Mounir Prof, Yasmin Nassar Prof, Mohamed Shawky Dr., Sara Elmoshy Dr.

Dentistry

To evaluate bone quality and quantity after 3D augmentation of vertically and horizontally atrophied maxillary ridges and compare the use of bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) and xenograft versus autograft and xenograft, both using prebent titanium (Ti) mesh over a virtually augmented model. Materials and Methods: Ten fully edentulous patients with severe maxillary vertical and horizontal bone loss were recruited. Virtual horizontal and vertical bone augmentation was performed for the deficient ridge to produce virtually augmented models for prebent Ti meshes preoperatively. Each patient was rehabilitated with BMAC and xenograft on one side of their mouth (test side) and with …

Constitutional Structure And Election Law, Manoj Mate

Journal Articles

Since Bush v. Gore, scholarship on election law has centered on a theoretical debate between rights-based and structural theory approaches, and the appropriate role and scope of judicial intervention in election law cases. However, these debates have not fully assessed the degree to which the Court’s approach to constitutional structure has fundamentally reshaped election law. Over the past two decades, the Court has increasingly emphasized the importance of constitutional structure-based approaches in election law cases.

This Article analyzes these dynamics and advances a typology of constitutional structure-based approaches in election law. Drawing on scholarship on modalities of interpretation and …

Overlapping Mhc Class I/Ii Epitopes Program Cdc1-Like Differentiation Of Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells Via Mtorc1 Signaling Inhibition, S B Amanya, A Murthy, N Bisht, Z N Bullock, K J Ernste, J Vasquez-Perez, W Liu, A Trivedi, D Oyewole-Said, A Paul, L Umokoro, V Akhanov, M Samuel, Z Shi, M H Nguyen, S Huang, M Jeong, P Iakova, K A Jain, K Pham, D C Kraushaar, V Konduri, W K Decker

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Viral infection polarizes monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDC) to initiate type 1 immunity. The availability of overlapping (homologous) MHC class I and II epitopes, an occurrence frequently and primarily associated with intracellular infection, significantly enhances this process; however, the underlying mechanism(s) are unclear. We demonstrate that moDC loaded with homologous MHC epitopes acquire a cDC1-like phenotype in a process governed by mTORC1. mTORC1 pathway inhibition leads to NF-κB-mediated expression of IL-12 and other type I immune polarizing genes. The observed cDC1-like gene signature was also significantly enhanced in clinical moDC vaccine products made through methodologies that enforced class I and II …

Costs, Demographics, And Causative Agents In Patients Hospitalized For Drug Induced Liver Injury: Trends In A Large Academic Healthcare System, Megan Kozar, Yunisse Gonzalez, Dina Halegoua-De Marzio

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening condition. To date, the burden of DILI on a single, large healthcare system has not been investigated, preventing adequate resource allocation. This study aims to quantify DILI-related healthcare utilization within the Jefferson Health System (JHS) and identify case-related factors associated with high resource requirements; such information is crucial to focus efforts toward resource reduction.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study characterizes trends of 48 DILI cases within JHS, including demographics, payer status, causative agent, and DILI pattern. These variables were correlated with length of stay (LOS) and cost relating to …

The Bg News April 08, 2026, Bowling Green State University

BG News (Student Newspaper)

The BGSU campus student newspaper. April 08, 2026. Volume 105-Issue 24.

What Are The Top 10 Global Research Priorities For Perianal Crohn's Disease? The Global Perianal Crohn's Disease Priority Setting Partnership, Theo Pelly, Parakkal Deepak, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Perianal Crohn's disease (pCD) is a debilitating condition with a prevalence of approximately 20% in patients within 10 years of diagnosis of CD. The condition significantly impacts patient quality of life, and there remain a number of unmet needs relating to its optimal management. A global Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) was established to identify the top 10 research priorities for pCD.

METHODS: The PSP followed standard James Lind Alliance (JLA) methodology. An initial survey was circulated to gather unanswered research questions from key stakeholders. From these responses, a longlist of summary questions was formed. These questions were …

From Competition To Complementarity: Narrative Review Of Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy, Focused Ultrasound, And Radiofrequency Ablation In Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, Tirath Patel, Hamza Yousuf Ibrahim, Tanzeela Khan, Tehreem Tabrez, Sara Hussain, Alishba Fatima, Aaliya Junaid Siddiqui, Nikhilesh Anand

School of Medicine Publications

Minimally invasive neurosurgical techniques have emerged as a transformative paradigm, offering alternatives to conventional open approaches. The demand for safer, less invasive procedures accelerated the development of laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT), focused ultrasound (FUS), and radiofrequency ablation (RFA), each employing a distinct mechanism with unique clinical implications. The objective was to critically evaluate and contextualize LITT, FUS, and RFA with emphasis on their comparative efficacy, safety, and roles as competing or complementary technologies in minimally invasive neurosurgery. Literature published between 2005 and 2025 was identified through PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, using keywords “LITT,” “FUS,” “RFA,” “minimally invasive …