Digital Commons Network^™

Parents' Views On Family Care At A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit — A Qualitative Study, Linea Grothe Larsen, Suzanne Forsyth Herling, Sanne Allermann Beck, Anne Brødsgaard, Jos M. Latour, Rikke Louise Stenkjaer

School of Nursing and Midwifery

PurposeThe current study aims to explore parents' views on family care at a neonatal intensive care unit.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative exploratory study with a descriptive approach based on open-ended written narrative responses from the Danish version of EMpowerment of PArents in The Intensive Care—Neonatology questionnaire. The study was conducted at a Danish level IV NICU working with family-centred care and family integrated care. The data was analysed using inductive content analysis by Graneheim and Lundman. The Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist was followed.Main FindingsIn total, 311/727 parents responded to the distributed questionnaire. Of those, 210 responded to the open-ended …

Data-Driven Analysis For Managing Causes Of Disputes In Nuclear Power Plant Construction Projects, Mahmoud S. Mansour, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Nuclear energy remains a key element of the energy mix in the United States (US) and other parts of the world, with renewed and increased interest in recent years, driven by rising energy demand across various sectors. This is due to its capabilities of generating a vast amount of reliable and carbon-free electricity, which are crucial advantages as compared to other energy sources. However, nuclear power plant (NPP) projects involve unique risks and complexities that have long hindered their progress and shaped dispute dynamics differently from other construction sectors. Despite extensive research on construction disputes, there is a lack of …

Towards Primary Health Care Education Reform: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis Of Nursing Supervisors' Perceptions, Experiences And Challenges, Debbie Procter, Mccullough, Debbie Massey, Karen Strickland

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aim: To explore Primary Health Care nurses' experiences of supervising nursing students on clinical placements and their perceptions of academic preparation for placement and future employment. Background: Primary Health Care nurses are essential workers within sustainable health systems but pre-registration educational preparation and access to clinical experiences can be limited. Previous research correlates positive clinical experiences with workforce intentions. Furthermore, nursing supervisors are pivotal to maximising student experiences and education, yet little is known about their perceptions, challenges, and views about how current curriculum prepares students to commence professional careers in primary care. Understanding their perceptions may inform curriculum, improve …

Homotopy-Safe Trajectory Planning And Attack Detection For Low-Altitude Uav Under False Map Information Injection Attacks, Chen Li, Qi, Juntao Zhao, Xin Yuan, Kai Wu, Wei Ni, Ren Ping Liu

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been extensively deployed in logistics support, surveillance, and disaster relief. However, their open communication networks and inherently vulnerable navigation systems render them susceptible to false map information injection attacks (FMIIA). To effectively mitigate the impact of FMIIA, this paper presents a UAV local flight trajectory optimization framework that integrates a robust attack detection method based on initial excitation (IE) and an efficient local path reconstruction approach utilizing the Marden theorem. First, an IE-based adaptive robust observer is formulated, where IE enhances the observability of the system's input-output responses, enabling joint estimation of the UAV's …

A Novel Mesoscopic Modelling Approach For Steel Fibre-Reinforced Concrete: Investigating The Effects Of Fibre Alignment On Flexural Performance, Ayman Mansour, Themelina Paraskeva, Nuha S. Mashaan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Traditional finite element modelling of Steel Fibre-Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) relies on homogenised macroscopic models that overlook localised effects such as fibre orientation. Although three-dimensional (3D) mesoscopic frameworks for SFRC have been developed, direct comparisons with homogenised macroscopic models under the EN 14651 flexural test configuration remain limited, particularly for variations in fibre orientations. Consequently, a comparative evaluation is essential to assess the mesoscopic model under EN 14651 conditions. To address this, this work introduces a 3D tensor-controlled mesoscopic modelling approach for SFRC that explicitly simulates individual fibres with random and preferential alignment, offering a more realistic representation of fibre bridging …

Allochthonous Particulate Organic Carbon In Blue Carbon Ecosystems: Implications For Accounting, Stability, And Policy, Anirban Akhand, Inés Mazarrasa, Stacey M. Trevathan-Tackett, K. M.G. Mostofa, Abhra Chanda, Hongbin Liu, Hiroshi Sakugawa, Si Liang Li, Cong Qiang Liu, Catherine E. Lovelock, Paul Lavery, Hilary Kennedy, Peter I. Macreadie

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) store a significant amount of organic carbon (OC) in their soils, including OC sequestered by other ecosystems and transported into these ecosystems, referred to as allochthonous OC. This study reviews the state-of-the-art knowledge on the abundance and sources (including still unexplored ones) of allochthonous particulate organic carbon (POC) and reviews the ways allochthonous POC is managed under the current blue carbon policy frameworks for carbon benefits accounting in blue carbon restoration and conservation projects. Based on a review of 102 studies, we find that 56 ± 25% of the soil organic carbon (SOC) deposits in BCEs …

Sonographer Clinical Skills Training: What Can We Learn From International Education And Clinical Training Models To Address The Workforce Shortage?, Jennifer Alphonse, Gill Harrison, Christopher Edwards, Rebecca Perry, Afrooz Najafzadeh Abriz, Ignatius Pereira, Tara Chegwin, Pauline A. Mitchell, Adrienne J. Young, Shelley A. Park, Kate Russo, Michelle Fenech, Ann Quinton

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: The sonographer workforce shortage is worldwide, with limited access to clinical training positions a major contributing factor to qualified sonographers entering the workforce. Our aim is to examine sonographer training models in English-speaking countries where sonographers are the primary providers of diagnostic ultrasound services and clinical training (work integrated learning/WIL) is embedded within accredited course curricula to troubleshoot the sonographer workforce shortage.

Methodology: An extensive search of Australian and international sonography course providers was performed. Accredited courses where WIL is a curriculum component and is assessable were included. Courses from Australia were compared to international courses and course elements …

Thermal Management Of Heat Sinks Equipped With Internal Cooling Mechanism: A Comparison With Advanced Heat Dissipation Techniques, Saif Ullah Khalid, Muhammad Ali Nasir, Mehmet Karahan, Muhammad Saleem Khan, Furqan Jamil

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Thermal management devices aim to remove extra heat from heat generation devices. There are numerous ways of heat rejection from the source, including active and passive cooling. The cooling techniques may be natural or forced, and the popular tools are heat pipes, heat sinks, and heat exchangers. In this piece of literature, several heat pipe and heat sink configurations are tested, including a novel internally cooled configuration using mono and hybrid nanofluids. Among heat sinks, solid finned and hollow finned configurations are mainly compared with the state-of-the-art heat pipes and thermal management systems for broader comparisons. Solid cylindrical fins are …

Trx Suspension Vs Swiss-Ball Core Training For Core-Muscle Endurance And Static/Dynamic Balance In Overweight Inactive Women: A Randomized Trial, Siavash Naddafha, Mona Sarhadi, Maryam Taherkhani, Abbas Biniaz

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: Prolonged sitting and physical inactivity are key risk factors for trunk-muscle weakness, impaired balance, and low-back pain in overweight women. Although unstable-surface training is widely prescribed, head-to-head comparisons between TRX suspension and Swiss-ball exercise are limited. We compared these modalities for effects on core-muscle endurance and balance.

Methods: Thirty overweight, inactive women (30 ± 5 years; BMI 27.3 ± 1.6 kg·m⁻2) were block-randomized (1:1) to 8 weeks (3 sessions/week) of TRX or Swiss-ball training using five matched exercises at Borg RPE 13–15 on the 6–20 scale. Outcomes were trunk-extensor (Biering-Sørensen), trunk-flexor (60° curl-up), and trunk-lateral (side-bridge) endurance; static balance …

Mda Insurance - Online Open Enrollment Now Available For Mda Health Plan, Craig Start

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Craig Start, President of MDA Insurance, discusses health insurance planning for dental practices and families, introducing a new secure online open enrollment process through Employee Navigator for the MDA Health Plan. Running through October and November 2026, this online portal coordinates plan sponsors and employees to adjust coverage and add dependents. The article highlights other critical 2027 health coverage enrollment timelines, including individual marketplace plans and Medicare supplement choices, and emphasizes the personalized, cost-free advisory and claims advocacy services provided by MDA Insurance agents to support informed decision-making.

Udm Dean's Report - A Look At The Student Of Today As We Prepare Them For Tomorrow, Mert N. Aksu Dds, Jd, Mhsa, Cert. Dph

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

UDM Dental School Dean Mert N. Aksu discusses the profiles, expectations, and challenges of modern dental students, highlighting their collaborative nature, tech-savviness, and focus on wellness and work-life balance. The report outlines UDM's clinical curriculum enhancements, including systems-based biomedical integration, and extensive clinical practice labs. Aksu addresses the substantial 58% inflation-adjusted rise in educational debt since 2008 and updates on community service rotations (Corktown Clinic, Titans for Teeth), the implementation of the new Vermont Track for rural care, the adoption of AI radiographic analysis, and comprehensive student mental health support programs.

Aall Nasig Liaison Quarterly Update, Rebecca Bearden

NASIG Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The People’S Liberation Army In A New Era: Individuals, Ideas, And Influence, Joel Wuthnow, Derek Grossman, Phillip C. Saunders, Andrew Scobell, Andrew N.D. Yang

Books

The People’s Liberation Army in a New Era: Individuals, Ideas, and Influence assesses how China’s military has changed under Xi Jinping and the extent to which those changes reflect his leadership versus longer-term institutional trends. The volume addresses PLA modernization, organizational reform, political control, joint operations, deterrence, artificial intelligence, officer careers and training, Taiwan, China-Russia military exercises, military aid, and overseas security activities. It argues that while Xi has played a major role in shaping the PLA, many developments build on earlier reforms, enduring strategic priorities, and institutional practices.

The Role Of Mxene In The Process Of Sintering Hpcs To Ceramic, Jianyu Dai, Congjie Wei, Jeremy Watts, Chenglin Wu

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This work presents a detailed investigation of the pyrolysis and sintering processes of hydridopolycarbosilane (HPCS) polymers, focusing on the formation of β-silicon carbide (β-SiC) and the influence of Ti₃C₂–Ox in this process. Due to the computational limitations of density functional theory (DFT), molecular dynamics methods with appropriate potentials are necessary for simulating large-scale systems, however, the available potentials are limited when the modeling process evolves relatively more element types or complex chemical-mechanical processes are studied. In this work, a machine learning based MACE (Multi-body ACE) model is adopted and trained to accurately capture the polymer's transformation …

Towards More Inclusive Ai Systems In Cities, Siew Ying Shee, Orlando Woods

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in urban infrastructures and governance, shaping how people, spaces, and futures are classified, prioritised, and managed. Yet, most AI systems are developed within a narrow set of linguistic and geopolitical contexts and exported globally, embedding particular epistemic assumptions into diverse urban environments. Even where formal inclusion metrics are met, such asymmetries can render certain populations and realities less legible within algorithmic systems. Prevailing approaches in digital inclusion—centred on fairness metrics, representation, or access—presume technologies as politically inert and bounded. Yet, the adaptive and probabilistic behaviour of contemporary AI disrupts this premise, challenging the idea …

Transitional Terrorism In South Asia: Understanding The Kuki-Chin National Front Using The Crime-Terror Nexus, Masrur Mahmud Khan

Journal of Strategic Security

The emergence of the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) within the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) has engendered considerable concern within the domains of domestic and national security. Although the group’s political objectives have evolved from secessionist ambitions towards demands for regional autonomy, KNF has simultaneously engaged in profit-driven criminal activities. Thus, KNF exemplifies a hybrid organization, embodying both political and economic imperatives and operating at the intersection of insurgency, terrorism, and organized crime. In this context, the present qualitative study adopts the ‘crime-terror nexus’ as its analytical framework, positing that KNF represents a hybrid entity defined by its dual political aspirations …

Parallel Failures: The Recurring Logic Of Interventionist Blunders From Ukraine To Mexico, Jerjes Aguirre Ochoa, Jorge Alejandro Vázquez Valdez

Journal of Strategic Security

This article argues that a potential US military intervention in Mexico, predicated on securitizing cartels as terrorist threats, would replicate strategic failures seen in interventions like Russia’s in Ukraine. Through a comparative framework of three variables—securitization, underestimated nationalist resistance, and neglected co-responsibility—the analysis shows how external force applied to structural crises provokes nationalist backlash. In Mexico, any intervention would reactivate historical memory of US interference, triggering broad institutional and social resistance. The core security challenge is not the cartels but Mexico's institutional fragility: systemic impunity, subnational governance deficits, and weak checks and balances. Therefore, militarized approaches are counterproductive. As a …

Complex Adaptive Resilience And Asymmetrical Balancing: Russia And The 2022 Sanctions Regime, Renny Puspitarini, Sartika Soesilowati, Kacung Marijan, Ahmad Iskandar Rahmansyah

Journal of Strategic Security

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted unprecedented Western sanctions, which amounted to more than 23,000 sanctions during 2022-2024. However, these sanctions failed to fulfill their designated objective of influencing the end of the Russia-Ukraine War. Russian responses to progressively augmented sanctions have sparked debates surrounding microeconomic sovereignty, macroeconomic adaptability, and, foremost, resilience. The article’s findings reveal that while sanctions have not brought the Russian Federation to acquiesce, they have catalyzed a structural, politically induced policy shift into a Complex Adaptive Resilience (CAR) framework. Russia's ability to build resilience against sanctions has been manifested structurally in its strategy to reinforce …

Between Markets And Maritime Might: India’S Engagements In The Indo-Pacific’S Emerging Order, Akriti Khajuria, Arushi Anthal

Journal of Strategic Security

In the strategic landscape of the Indo-Pacific, economic cooperation and security imperatives often converge in complex and sometimes conflicting ways. This strategic region has emerged as a critical arena where global and regional powers alike pursue economic engagement while recalibrating security postures in response to shifting geopolitical currents. Within this dynamic environment, India occupies a pivotal position as an emerging power seeking to reconcile its economic aspirations with evolving security challenges. This article explores how India negotiates the interplay between deepening economic integration, especially with major actors such as China and the US, while maintaining strategic autonomy and sovereignty. Anchored …

Structural Dependency: Nato, Defense Industry Politics, And Europe’S Stagnation, Diane M. Zorri

Journal of Strategic Security

Europe’s defense industrial base (DIB) weaknesses are commonly attributed to underinvestment, fragmented policies, or a lack of European cohesiveness. This article advances an alternative explanation: European defense industrial dependency has emerged through institutionalized alliance structures that systematically privileged US capabilities and incentives, becoming self-reinforcing and difficult for European actors to exit, even as their strategic preferences evolved. Drawing on dependency theory, path dependence, and theories of alliance politics, this article argues that transatlantic security arrangements established during the early Cold War, most notably NATO’s integrated command structures, defense procurement norms, and interoperability requirements, have generated long-lasting asymmetries in production, technology, …

Reinterpreting The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Dispute In The Nile Basin Through The Game Theories Of Attrition And Bargaining, Olileanya Amuche Ezugwu, Felix C. Chidozie, Adeola A. Adebajo

Journal of Strategic Security

Why have more than a decade of negotiations, mediation efforts, and diplomatic interventions failed to produce a binding agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)? This article examines the hydro-politics of the Nile Basin through the lens of game theory, focusing on how bargaining behavior, strategic persistence, and competing perceptions of gains and losses shape state interactions. Drawing on the game of attrition and the bargaining game, the study analyzes the evolving strategies of Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan in the context of dam construction, filling, and operation. Rather than viewing the dispute solely as a contest over water allocation, …

Teaching Strategic Intelligence In Political Transition, Henry W. Prunckun

Journal of Strategic Security

Scholarship on intelligence ethics centers on operations, leaving the ethics of intelligence education and capacity-building under-theorized. This article develops retrospective moral reappraisal (RMR): the delayed moral reclassification of earlier teaching as ethically compromised when political transition and new public knowledge recontextualize what that teaching may have enabled. It argues that RMR is a pathway to moral injury because the injurious event is later learning—not the original classroom act—that one’s contribution is now plausibly implicated in harm. Linking RMR to complicity and enabling under uncertainty, the article clarifies how foreseeability, professional role morality, and leverage shape responsibility without requiring causal certainty …

Borders And Bids: Assessing How Competition In Transportation Projects Is Shaped By The Presence Of Out-Of-State Contractors, Mariam Elazhary, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Competitive bidding in transportation construction is vital for securing better value for money and higher-quality proposals. Prior research has attempted to encourage more competition by proposing novel delivery methods, contractual incentives, or alternative bidder profiles. However, one viable bidder profile, which has received limited attention in the literature, is to encourage cross-border participation to expand the pool of qualified firms and thereby increase competition. While, in theory, this may improve economic efficiency, the inclusion of more out-of-state contractors (OSCs) is not costless. The goal of this paper is to assess whether participation by OSCs is associated with strengthening competition in …

Vascular Burden Attenuates The Tdp-43-Tmem106b Pathological Relationship In Neurodegenerative Disease With And Without Alzheimer Disease Neuropathological Change, Matthew B. Dopler, Cole Corbett, Angelique D. Gonzalez, Ali Ghaseminejad-Bandpey, Mallory Keating, Kyra M. Clarke, Oluwaseun B. Ogunbona, Gladys Maestre, Sudha Seshadri, Shahroo Etemadmoghadam, Margaret E. Flanagan

School of Medicine Publications

TMEM106B, a lysosomal transmembrane protein, is a risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer disease (ad) and TDP-43 proteinopathies. TMEM106B pathology occurs in normal aging and is increased in TDP-43 proteinopathy but its role in dementia remains unclear. Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) is a driver and co-pathology of dementia, yet its contribution to TMEM106B accumulation in the context of TDP-43 and ad neuropathological changes (ADNC) has not been explored. We analyzed post-mortem human hippocampal sections spanning not-, low-, intermediate-, and high-ADNC. In secondary analyses, cases ≥65 years were stratified by TDP-43 immunopositivity and CVD severity; cases < 65 years were included to contextualize age-associated effects. TMEM106B immunoreactivity was quantified using digital pathology. Linear regression models demonstrated that age and sex (higher in females) were independent predictors of TMEM106B immunopositivity whereas Braak stage, CERAD-NP score, and Thal phase were not. The positive TDP-43-TMEM106B association was attenuated with increased CVD pathology severity, suggesting that vascular burden modifies this relationship. Sensitivity analyses restricted to LATE-NC attenuated several associations, indicating that pooled TDP-43 findings should be interpreted cautiously given possible disease heterogeneity. TMEM106B immunoreactivity was most strongly associated with age and sex, while vascular burden, rather than ADNC level, modified its relationship with TDP-43 proteinopathy.

Possibilities Of Being: Black Women's Storytelling As Archival Undoing, Dasharah Green

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation constructs a discursive genealogy of Black women’s storytelling, positioning its art and aesthetics as a form of colonial archival undoing. Each chapter explores how transmission and documentation can transform—and circumvent—traditional colonial archives. Beginning at the start of the twentieth-century to present, this project traces the discursive legacies of Zora Neale Hurston, Audre Lorde, Michelle Cliff, and Staceyann Chin, examining each writer as a site of becoming as they individually (and collectively) seek to articulate an expansive idea of a Black world that constitutes a broader understanding of Black freedom. They each share a common goal of creating a …

Potential Energy Landscape Formalism For Quantum Liquids, Yang Zhou

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Atomic delocalization due to nuclear quantum effects (NQE) remains poorly understood in low-temperature liquids near the glass state and during vitrification. Many liquids can be described accurately by treating their nuclei as classical particles, but this approximation fails for light elements such as He and H₂, small hydrogen-containing molecules such as water, and systems in which zero-point motion or isotope-substitution effects are important. Developing a general thermodynamic and statistical-mechanical description of such liquids has been challenging. This dissertation extends the potential energy landscape (PEL) formalism, originally developed for classical liquids and glasses, to liquids that obey quantum mechanics and exhibit …

Rethinking Road Racing Standards: Comparing New York Road Runners Race Results To Running Industry Standards, Jennie Coughlin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Running has undergone a third boom in participation since 2020, driven largely by people seeking fitness options that were outside and socially distanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media has also allowed runners from groups that did not traditionally participate to find community. As the road racing population has expanded to include more people, some road racing industry standards have not kept up. This project assesses what the road racing community looks like and measures industry standards against the community of participants to see what changes in those standards would be needed to make them inclusive for all participants.

To …

Waltzing Into Silence: Time, Space, And The Afterword In Ravel’S Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales In Comparison With Schumann’S Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, Nora I. Bartosik

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation undertakes an analysis of Maurice Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales for piano against the backdrop of Robert Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, a work with significant parallels in structure, character, and narrative. The Davidsbündlertänze are examined as a model for the Valses nobles et sentimentales, with an emphasis on the two works’ use of the waltz form, their structure as a series of miniature dances composed as a single cohesive work, and their inclusion of an afterword, or epilogue. The analysis draws from the extensive literature on Schumann’s piano cycles in order to apply similar techniques to …

Analysis Of Diterpenoid Alkaloids From American Aconitum Using Lc-Ms Metabolomic Methods, Yi Zhao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Analysis of Diterpenoid Alkaloids from American Aconitum Using LC-MS Metabolomic Methods

by

Yi Zhao

Advisor: Edward J. Kennelly

Aconitum plants have been used as a traditional medicine in Asian countries for millennia to treat pain, rheumatism, syncope, fever, and other conditions. These therapeutic effects are mainly due to the bioactive diterpenoid alkaloids accumulated in the roots. Comparing with the large records and studies of Asian Aconitum and their medicinal use and the broad bioactive compounds, American Aconitum has been rarely investigated, not to mention how American Aconitum has been used medicinally. Based on previous phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic studies of Aconitum …

The Development And Piloting Of A Novel Client-Rated Trans And Gender Expansive Clinical Competence Scale For Mental Health Providers, Karen Abraham

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Transgender and gender expansive individuals (TGEI) are people who encompass a broad and comprehensive set of experiences of gender diverse individuals and identities that exist both within and beyond a binary framework. In the United States, the Williams Institute identified a proportion of 0.5% of American adults identifying as transgender (Herman et al., 2022). TGE samples report poorer physical and mental health than their cisgender counterparts across the lifespan (Rastogi et al., 2025; Reisner et al., 2015; Reisner, Poteat, et al., 2016). Health disparities of TGEI relative to their non-TGE counterparts can be seen in the prevalence of mood disorders …