Digital Commons Network^™

Comparative Analysis Of Mineral Content In Plant-Based Milk Alternatives: Implications For Renal Patient Education, K. Mitchell, A. Widaman, Ashwini Wagle

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The plant-based milk alternative (PBMA) market is expanding rapidly, offering a diverse range of options. However, the mineral composition of PBMA varies significantly across brands and milk types, posing challenges in educating individuals with renal disease. This study aimed to quantify and compare key minerals of concern for renal patients in commercially available PBMA using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry.

PBMA products available in the San Francisco Bay Area were purchased from chain grocery stores in spring 2023 and early January 2024. A total of 134 unique PBMA products from 28 brands and 11 different milk-alternative sources were analyzed. …

Effectiveness And Assessment Of A Culturally-Tailored Carbohydrate Counting Tool For South Asians With Diabetes: A Practitioner’S Evaluation, Ashwini Wagle

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

South Asians are at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes compared to many other racial and ethnic groups. Dietary patterns play a significant role and are a modifiable risk factor. This study aimed to evaluate a South Asian carbohydrate counting tool developed by the researcher, assessed by Registered Dietitians Nutritionists and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists. Using nutrition communication theory and the transtheoretical model, the tool included a comprehensive list of commonly consumed South Asian foods and sample vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals (1800e2100 kcal). Sixty-five participants received the tool and a training slide deck. A 40-item questionnaire assessed …

Developing Culturally-Tailored Diabetes Friendly And Heart Healthy Recipes For South Asians: Sensory Evaluation And Implications For Dietary Interventions, Ashwini Wagle, S. Starr, N. Goudarzi, G. Molina Martinez

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

South Asians have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than manyother racial or ethnic groups. Dietary patterns are a key, modifiable risk factor, and cultural influences strongly shape food choices and lifestyle decisions. Effective, long-term behavior change requires culturally meaningful interventions. This study aimed to develop culturally tailored recipes that comply with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines.

Recipes were selected from the published South Asian Carbohydrate Counting Tool, created by the researcher, and modified to enhance nutrient composition. Adjustments included ingredient substitutions, reduction or elimination of fat, salt, and sugar, and additions …

Machine Learning For Dissolved Oxygen Prediction In The Manawatu River Catchment, New Zealand, Imokhai T. Tenebe, Eunice O. Babatunde, Nkpa M. Ogarekpe, Egbe Etu Etu, Joshua Emakhu, Kindness E. Etu, Obiora B. Ezeudu, Oluwarotimi S. Oladele

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Uncontrolled anthropogenic activities have increased river pollution, resulting in poor water quality and a growing need for continuous monitoring, which is time-consuming and costly. This study evaluated the accuracy of machine learning (ML) models in predicting dissolved oxygen (DO) levels, aiming to reduce field monitoring efforts and minimize the number of measured parameters. Regression models (Huber, Linear, Ridge), Bagging methods (Extra Trees, Random Forest, Decision Trees), and Boosting techniques (Gradient Boosting, Light Gradient Boosting, AdaBoost) were tested using data from three sites in the Manawatu Catchment, New Zealand. Data spanning 1989–2014 included 12 water quality variables and was split into …

Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection For Previously Attempted Colorectal Lesions: An International Multicenter Experience., Suchapa Arayakarnkul, Hiroyuki Aihara, Alessandro Repici, Roberta Maselli, Antonio Capogreco, Leonardo Da Rio, Fabio Shiguehissa Kawaguti, Fauze Maluf-Filho, Makoto Nishimura, Sera Satoi, Sayaka Nagao, Shai Friedland, Robert Bechara, Norio Fukami, Sonmoon Mohapatra, Amit Bhatt, Abel Joseph, Alex Schlachterman, Anand Kumar, Andrew Y Wang, Ross C D Buerlein, Louis M Wong Kee Song, Fnu Deepali, Dennis Yang, Muhammad K Hasan, Nikhil A Kumta, David L Diehl, Edward J Despott, Alberto Murino, Alessandro Rimondi, Laura Lucaciu, Neil R Sharma, Christina Zelt, Ashley Rumple Rn, Bsn, David Leslie Carr-Locke, Reem Z Sharaiha, Srihari Mahadev, Kamal M Hassan, Mohamad-Noor Abu-Hammour, Carlos Robles-Medranda, Martha Arevalo-Mora, Juan Alcivar-Vasquez, Vivek Kumbhari, Jongkyu Park, Salmaan Jawaid, Mai A Khalaf, Kasenee Tiankanon, Sarah S Al Ghamdi, Mohamed O Othman, Saowanee Ngamruengphong

PCI Publications and Projects

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Salvage endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has been proposed for previously attempted colorectal lesions (PACLs), yet the extensive submucosal fibrosis impacts procedural difficulty and resection outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of salvage ESD for the treatment of PACLs.

METHODS: This international, multicenter study enrolled consecutive patients who underwent ESD to manage PACLs. Rates of en bloc, R0 resection, and local recurrence were assessed for efficacy. Safety was assessed by adverse events (AEs), procedure-related mortality, and the need for surgical management.

RESULTS: Of 415 lesions, en bloc rate was 83.4%, the …

Predicting Major Depression Among Diverse Online Gamers: The Role Of Internet Addiction And Spirituality, Lindsay Lundeen, John R. Mccall

Counseling, Leadership, and Research Methods Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study analyzed whether religious or spiritual affiliation and therapy enrollment protect against symptoms meeting Major Depressive Disorder criteria beyond demographic, Internet addiction, and described therapy enrollment. Findings illustrated one risk factor and one protective factor associated with experiencing symptoms that meet Major Depressive Disorder criteria: impairments and dysfunctional self-regulation increased participant probability and risk, while religious or spiritual affiliation decreased the probability of and protected participants from depressive symptoms. The findings underscore the complexities of Internet addiction and depression symptoms among a population of diverse online gamers, highlighting a critical need for tailored counseling interventions.

Improving Regulatory Notice, Joshua Ulan Galperin, E. Donald Elliott

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Effective notice of law is the cornerstone of any legal system, and yet many federal administrative agencies do not give small businesses, NGOs, and interested citizens notice of the vast amount of new or modified law they produce. They merely publish the text in the Federal Register, which works tolerably well for larger enterprises but not their smaller competitors and citizens' groups. Despite these facts, few scholars have explored how agencies provide notice of the law. Even fewer have proposed ways that agencies could improve the methods they use for giving more effective notice of significant regulatory changes and thereby …

Noise Law, Joshua Ulan Galperin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The rumble of traffic, the drone of air conditioners, the blast of construction equipment. These are the mundane sources of noise pollution that we all experience but rarely think about. Or, if we do think about noise pollution, we don't think of it as a central piece of federal environmental law. This Article, however, demonstrates that noise law is, or was, central to American environmental law, and it offers insights into how environmental protection and administrative governance work today.

In the 1970s, during the height of environmental activism and policymaking, lawmakers recognized noise as a serious pollutant alongside issues we …

How Shared Responsibility Is Perceived By Community Sector Organisations: Insights From A Qualitative Study Following The 2022 Queensland Floods, Monica Taylor, Fiona Crawford, Laurelle Muir, Oscar Davison, Rowena Maguire, Bridget Lewis

Department of Educational Foundations Scholarship and Creative Works

Studies of how Community Sector Organisations (CSOs) negotiate their role in placebased disaster risk reduction and resilience reveal a fundamental disconnect between the policy aspiration of ‘shared responsibility’ and its operational reality at a grassroots level. This paper presents findings from an empirical study in South East Queensland about how workers in frontline community sector organisations interpret the concept of shared responsibility. Seven representatives from 6 different community sector organisations were interviewed about what shared responsibility meant to them. The study found that these workers understand this term to involve horizontal service coordination and teamwork between service organisations rather than …

Exploring Undergraduate Early Childhood Education Students' Conceptualizations Of Stem In Early Learning Contexts, Melany Spiehs

Educational Leadership Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Early childhood is widely recognized as a critical stage for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning, yet many teachers feel underprepared to support children’s foundational knowledge and skills. This study examines how undergraduate students in early childhood education conceptualize STEM within early learning environments through an analysis of their coursework and field experiences. The investigation explores both students’ articulated beliefs about STEM (espoused theories) and how they enacted STEM teaching and learning in practice (theories-in-use). Data were drawn from course artifacts including journals, reflections, learning stories, lesson plans, and field observation notes. While much of the existing literature emphasizes …

Charting The Course: Understanding Key Elements, Stakeholder Insights, And Professional Perspectives In Establishing A Community College Court Reporting Program, Sherman P. Willis

Educational Leadership Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

There is a national shortage of court reporters. This study investigates which elements and essential factors, according to industry criteria and stakeholder feedback, should form the foundation of a community college court reporting program. The research question was decomposed into two components: examining key elements from existing programs; and identifying best practices from judge surveys and essential program components from court reporter interviews.

A mixed analysis included National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)–approved program document review, quantitative surveys of Nebraska judges, and qualitative interviews with Nebraska court reporters. The survey evaluated judicial perspectives on fundamental program components. Semi-structured interviews gathered information …

Serious Games And Complex Thinking: A Study On Gender Differences And Study Discipline In University Students, María Soledad Ramírez‑Montoya, Carolina Alcantar-Nieblas, Leonardo David Glasserman-Morales

Artículos científicos

Serious games are a fundamental tool to promote learning in a playful way and to develop a wide range of cognitive skills such as complex thinking. In this study we sought to first analyze the perceived achievement of complex thinking sub-competencies by majors, and we also aimed to investigate mean differences in the group of students coming from computer science and engineering related majors and by gender of the participants in complex thinking subcompetencies. 417 learners were part of this study, of which 65.7% were male and 34.3% were female. It was found that medical students perceived higher achievement in …

Sharksrx Newsletter Fall 2025, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Sharks Rx

No abstract provided.

The Lone Dissent, Grant Christensen, Anne Mullins

Washington and Lee Law Review

What can be learned when a Supreme Court Justice decides to write a lone dissent? There exists a powerful set of incentives for Supreme Court opinions to achieve consensus. Although closely divided cases grab news headlines, unanimous opinions are actually the most commonly issued judicial alignment, and cases in which a single Justice dissents are the most unlikely. Despite voluminous academic discussion of judicial behavior, no legal scholarship has focused on the lone dissent. This Article is designed to insert consideration of lone dissenting opinions into the broader discussion of judicial behavior.

Looking at the set of Supreme Court opinions …

From Disruption To Renewal: Harnessing Divine Interruptions And Strategic Leadership For Transforming Church Culture, Ryan Johnson

Great Commission Research Journal

Church revitalization is a field that addresses refreshing the church’s mission and vision by leaders who assess internal and external factors affecting the congregation’s current state. However, researchers in organizational culture argue that refreshed strategies will be ineffective without also addressing underlying cultural issues. This essay addresses the need for and the process of transforming church culture during the revitalization process. Pastors and leaders bring about cultural change by disrupting the status quo. This disruptive leadership is achieved through two approaches. First, leaders proactively and incrementally disrupt the status quo to influence cultural change through faithful pastoral practices. Secondly, leaders …

Book Review: Street Smarts: Using Questions To Answer Christianity’S Toughest Challenges By Gregory Koukal, Daniel Suter

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

I Was In Prison And You Educated Me: A Missiological Analysis, Paul H. De Neui

Great Commission Research Journal

With less than 5% of the world’s population, the United States incarcerates more than 25% of the world’s prisoners. The U.S. detains more of its own population than any other country in the world. Providing theological education to men and women who are incarcerated in U.S. prisons presents possibilities for mutual transformation, culture shaping, as well as numerous complex challenges. This article reviews the ten years of North Park Theological Seminary’s involvement in this effort in three state prisons in Illinois, drawing out lessons learned in the process. The opportunities and potential pitfalls are presented from a missiological perspective to …

A Brief History Of The American Society For Church Growth And Great Commission Research Network, Gary Mcintosh

Great Commission Research Journal

This article surveys the 40‑year history of the Great Commission Research Network, originally founded in 1985 as the American Society for Church Growth. It traces the Society’s origins in the vision of C. Peter Wagner, its early development alongside emerging academic and consulting roles in the Church Growth Movement, and its subsequent evolution through changing leadership, themes, and institutional partnerships. The narrative outlines major milestones, including organizational restructuring, name changes, expanding conference formats, and increasing collaboration with seminaries, denominations, and the Society for Church Consulting. Across four decades, the Society has produced significant research, cultivated key leaders, supported academic scholarship, …

Book Review: A New And Ancient Evangelism: Rediscovering The Ways God Calls And Sends By Judith Paulsen, Rhonda Haynes

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Generations: The Real Difference Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, And Silents – And What They Mean For America’S Future By Jean M. Twenge, H. L. Ward Jr.

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Evangelism In An Age Of Despair: Hope Beyond The Failed Promise Of Happiness By Andrew Root, Mark R. Teasdale

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Meaningful Outreach: An Essential Guide For Churches By Mark A. Wood, Glenn L. Campbell

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Preaching In A New Key, Crafting Expository Sermons In Post-Christian Communities By Mark R. Glanville, Bing Nieh

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

About The Great Commission Research Network Fall 2025, David R. Dunaetz

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Fall 2025 Complete Issue, David R. Dunaetz

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Population Health And Systems Science: Medical Student Feedback On A Novel Approach That Follows A National Curricular Framework, Jeffrey Levin, Gary Beck Dallaghan, Chaynee Atwood, Vanessa Casanova, Cynthia Ball, Theresa Byrd, Emmanuel Elueze, Michael Kennedy, Dalia Nessim, Peter Pendegrass, Yordanos Tiruneh

School of Medicine Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: Population Health and System Science, a longitudinal course at a new medical school in northeast Texas, incorporates case-based learning and experiential field visits during an 18-month pre-clerkship phase. The course integrates content from public and population health, preventive medicine disciplines, and health administration and leadership. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey assessed student self-reports on achievement of session objectives and introduction to national core curricular, cross-cutting, and systems thinking domains. Results: Of 36 students, 33 responded. Most rated objectives favorably. Open-ended responses highlighted relevance to future practice and requested more content on biostatistics, epidemiology, health equity, and healthcare economics, …

Hypogammaglobulinemia And Infection Rates In Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Treated With Ocrelizumab For Up To Six Years, B. Khatri, P. Van Zealand, S. Tarima, S. Schutten, A. Baker, T. Perea

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Objectives and aims: Ocrelizumab (OCR) is disease-modifying therapy that depletes B cells for the treatment of patients with relapsing and progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of this study was to evaluate occurrence of hypogammaglobulinemia and infection rates in patients with MS treated with OCR for up to 5.9 years in a real-world, single-center study. Methods: We assessed immunoglobulins IgG, IgM, IgA; CD19, CD4, CD8 cell counts, anti-JCV antibodies, at baseline and every six months prior to each OCR infusion. Mixed effects regression models controlling for random patient intercept were used to analyze immunological trends. Infections requiring oral or intravenous …

Physicochemical And Structural Optimization Of Date (Phoenix Dactylifera L.) Syrup: Impact Of Extraction Temperatures And Pectin Addition, Afna Thaivalappil Abdul Asiz

Theses

This thesis focuses on the optimization of date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) syrup, an emerging natural sweetener rich in glucose, fructose, and bioactive compounds, by investigating how extraction temperature and pectin incorporation influence its physicochemical and structural properties. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to examine how extraction temperatures (25°C, 50°C, 75°C, and 90°C), and the incorporation of lowmethoxyl pectin (LMP, DE 31%) and high-methoxyl pectin (HMP, DE 85%) prior to concentration, affect the quality, stability, and functionality of date syrup. The results showed that increasing extraction temperatures increased the total soluble solids (16 °Brix at 25°C to …

A New Multisystem Ercc1-Hepatorenal Syndrome: Insights From A Clinical Cohort, Molecular Pathogenesis, And Management Guidelines., Susan M. White, Annelotte P. Wondergem, Isa Breet, Maren Dittmaier, Katrina Bell, Christopher M. Richmond, Winita Hardikar, Kanika Bhatia, Catherine Quinlan, David Orchard, Areetha D'Souza, Walter J. Chazin, Christopher Smith, Rebecca Sparkes, Simon Lam, Alexandra Carter, Robert J. Hopkin, Leticia Khendek, Bonnie Sullivan, Naja Becher, Anne Katrine W. Simonsen, Helene Kvistgaard, Katherine Dempsey, Alexander G. Miethke, Pernille Axél Gregersen, Eliza Phillips, Martijn S. Luijsterburg

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

DNA repair disorders are a group of conditions characterized by progressive, multisystem phenotypes. Defining new clinical presentations of these disorders is essential for optimizing patient care. ERCC1-XPF is a multifunctional endonuclease involved in nucleotide excision repair (NER) and interstrand crosslink (ICL) repair. We sought to define a novel multisystem phenotype associated with biallelic ERCC1 variants and impaired DNA repair. Through international collaboration, we identified seven individuals from five families carrying biallelic ERCC1 variants, including p.Arg156Trp and p.Ala266Pro, who exhibited a distinct clinical phenotype. All individuals presented with growth restriction, photosensitivity, and kidney and liver dysfunction. Notably, three children required liver …

Recapitulating The Immune Microenvironment In Pediatric Brain Cancer: Preclinical Modeling Strategies., Adip G. Bhargav, Joseph S. Domino, David Akhavan, Jo Ling Goh

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Primary brain and CNS tumors comprise the most common tumors in children and are the most common cause of cancer deaths in this population. Pediatric primary malignant brain tumors including high-grade glioma and medulloblastoma account for a significant proportion of these cancer deaths. Advances in the surgical management and adjuvant treatment paradigms have improved the prognosis of many patients with these tumors, but there remains a subset of treatment-resistant tumors or tumors with unique genetics aberrations and aggressive phenotypes that confer a poor prognosis. Immunotherapeutic strategies have demonstrated promise in pre-clinical studies and early clinical trials. However, high-fidelity evaluation of …