Digital Commons Network^™

From Suitability To Invasion Risk: Integrating Correlative And Mechanistic Models For Predicting The Potential Distribution Of The Red Palm Weevil, Abdelmutalab G.A. Azrag, Komi Mensah Agboka, Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman, Rehemah Gwokyalya, Seid A. Kemal, Hamadttu A.F. El-Shafie, Mohamed A. Bob, Samira A. Mohamed, Sunday Ekesi, Abdou Tenkouano

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The red Palm Weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus is the most devastating pest of palm trees and is responsible for significant economic and biodiversity losses worldwide. The larvae bore deep into the trunk or crown for feeding, resulting in extensive tunneling and mortality of the trees. In this study, we developed a hybrid modeling framework for RPW that integrates ecological niche modeling (ENMs) with a temperature-driven risk index (RI). The ENM was developed from the RPW occurrence data, while the RI was driven from temperature-dependent life history traits of RPW. The two approaches were combined through a weighted additive method to …

Mitochondrial Phylogeography And Insecticide Resistance Of Aedes Aegypti In Kenya, Brenda Musimbi, Sandy Hickson, Trizah K. Milugo, Eleanor Robinson-Rice, Josephine Osalla, Gilbert Rotich, Frank Jiggins, David P. Tchouassi

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of arboviruses such as dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and chikungunya. Here, we investigate the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) structure and insecticide resistance of Ae. aegypti populations across Kenya. Using 175 newly sequenced Kenyan COI mtDNA fragments, along with global reference sequences, we assess maternal ancestry and phylogeographic structure. Genetic structure across Kenya was not well explained by isolation-by-distance alone, with several populations deviating from this pattern. Nairobi and Mombasa, separated by >400 km, showed greater maternal genetic similarity than expected under isolation-by-distance, a pattern that may reflect gene flow along transportation corridors. Conversely, Ukunda, around …

Quantile Normalisation Enables Interpretable Spatial Prioritisation Of Persistence-Related Mechanistic Suitability Under Uncertainty For Tomato Red Spider Mite (Tetranychus Evansi) In Africa, Komi Mensah Agboka, Luca Rossini, Quinto Juma Meltus, Bonoukpoè Mawuko Sokame, Abdulmutallab G.A. Azrag, Thomas Dubois, Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Mechanistic trait models are increasingly considered to estimate persistence-related suitability for invasive species, although translating reproduction metrics into operational indicators for spatial decision-making remains challenging. Branching-process transformations are widely applied to convert mechanistic reproduction numbers into probabilities of establishment; however, such transformations may compress spatial gradients when persistence is broadly feasible. Using tomato red spider mite (Tetranychus evansi) as a case study across Africa, this study developed an uncertainty-aware, physiologically-based model and generated spatially explicit estimates of expected reproduction (R0). We compared three representations: raw mechanistic suitability, branching-process persistence probability, and quantile-normalised suitability. Although all representations preserved rank ordering, branching …

Compliance And Systems Data Management Report: Monthly Waiver Participation Trends, September 2026, Tennessee. Department Of Disability And Aging

Compliance & System Data/Reports

This monthly report provides data on various aspects of the department's activities and programs.

Efficient Dynamic Mechanism Design Without A Common Prior, Dirk Bergemann, Marek Bojko

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

No abstract provided.

The Bridwell Quill, April-September, Issues 92–97, Anthony Elia

Bridwell Library Publications

No abstract provided.

Relationships Between Psychosocial Aspects Of Stuttering And Self-Disclosure Of Stuttering In A Japanese Sample, Daichi Iimura, Saburo Takahashi, Mizuki Aoki, Kentaro Yoshizawa, Kota Yanai, Shoko Miyamoto, Michael P. Boyle

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose We aimed to psychometrically evaluate a Japanese version of the Disclosure of Stuttering Scale, from Boyle et al. (2018), and identify the psychosocial factors associated with level of stuttering self-disclosure among adults who stutter.

Methods: Adults who stutter were recruited via stuttering self-help groups in Japan and the authors’ contacts. Participants completed their demographics, the Disclosure of Stuttering Scale and other psychological scales assessing affective, cognitive, and social aspects of stuttering via an online survey. We analyzed 180 participants after those with unreliable or duplicate responses were excluded. The scale’s reliability and validity were confirmed, and multiple linear regression …

Relationships Between Psychosocial Aspects Of Stuttering And Self-Disclosure Of Stuttering In A Japanese Sample, D Iimura, S Takahashi, M Aoki, K Yoshizawa, K Yanai, S Miyamoto, Michael P Boyle

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose: We aimed to psychometrically evaluate a Japanese version of the Disclosure of Stuttering Scale, from Boyle et al. (2018), and identify the psychosocial factors associated with level of stuttering self-disclosure among adults who stutter. Methods: Adults who stutter were recruited via stuttering self-help groups in Japan and the authors' contacts. Participants completed their demographics, the Disclosure of Stuttering Scale and other psychological scales assessing affective, cognitive, and social aspects of stuttering via an online survey. We analyzed 180 participants after those with unreliable or duplicate responses were excluded. The scale's reliability and validity were confirmed, and multiple linear regression …

Ask Dr. Wang: A Community Conversation On Ai At Cary Library, Stephen Yang, Zhengjia Yang, Julie Yin, Eric Gu, Jiawei Liu

Paul English Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute Publications

This report describes a community engagement project by the Youth STEAM Initiative (YSI) in conjunction with a public talk by Dr. Haixun Wang, “How AI Remembers, Imagines, and Creates,” held at the Cary Memorial Library in Lexington, Massachusetts. Prior to the talk, YSI collected questions and perspectives from community members through an online survey, gathering thirteen responses spanning students, parents, and professionals. This report summarizes the talk, themes that emerged from those responses, the community’s views on AI creativity, and reflections from the YSI team.

Constrained Multiview Contrastive Learning For Jointly Supervised Representation Learning, Siyuan Dai, Kai Ye, Kun Zhao, Yang Du, Haoteng Tang, Liang Zhan

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Purpose

Materials and Methods

Dancing In Circles: Bon Dance As Performance Of The Past, Travis Robb Kim

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone project traces the contours of the Japanese folk dance tradition of Bon Dance in Hawaiʻi through the nuances of public scholarship, diaspora, and racial capitalism by producing an original play which aims to perform the knowledge and praxis which the performance ritual puts forward. Treating Bon Dance as muse, the original play examines the necessity of turning to the past in order to disrupt a future made inevitable by oppressive systems; a fiction that comments on and critiques the predictive and generative technologies that have embedded themselves into society at large. Through intertwining conversations that explore prophecy and …

Impact Of Exercise On Mental Health In Inpatient Settings, Samuel Blake Rn, Nathaniel Clark Rn

Nurse Residency

In adult psychiatric inpatients with mental illness, how does participation in a structured exercise program compared with standard inpatient care affect depression, anxiety, and overall mental health outcomes during hospitalization?

Night Shift-Specific Training & Engagement, Keith Procell Rn, Kyleigh Keitel Rn

Nurse Residency

In night shift hospital workers (P) does mandatory daytime attendance for required education (I), compared to shift-aligned, asynchronous, or flexible scheduling of education (C), increase health risks associated with circadian disruption (O), as supported by current research?

Ask The Professor: How Will The Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decision In Sripetch Impact Future Sec And Cftc Disgorgement Cases?, Ronald Filler

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Stigma On The Mmpi-3 Scores Of An Indo-Caribbean Community Sample, Julia Persaud-Naipaul

Theses and Dissertations

Evaluation of personality and psychological disorders is accomplished through the use of psychometric measures. However, tests require interpretation of test responses using a normative criterion based on a particular population that may not fully consider the effect of cultural influences on an individual’s level of willingness to report psychological difficulties. For example, individuals in collectivistic cultures may not be as willing to self-report problems because mental illness is often perceived as a source of embarrassment and shame. One culturally unique population that has been overlooked in psychological assessment is the Indo-Caribbean population. Their specific cultural values, beliefs, attitudes, and practices …

Combining Acute Alcohol Administration With Accelerated Prefrontal Theta Burst Stimulation, Michael J. Wesley, William J. Mcgarrigle, Mark T. Fillmore

Psychology Faculty Publications

Introduction: Acute alcohol intoxication impairs inhibitory control. Intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex may alter executive control, but little is known about whether accelerated iTBS can be combined with controlled alcohol administration. Methods: This double-blind, sham-controlled pilot study evaluated feasibility and preliminary behavioral effects of accelerated left prefrontal iTBS during acute alcohol intoxication in healthy young adults (N = 10). Participants completed a Cued Go/No-Go task at baseline and near peak breath alcohol concentration after active or sham iTBS delivered in two bouts separated by 30 min. Results: All participants in the analytic sample completed both stimulation …

Nicotine Self-Administration Suppresses Both Pro- And Anti-Inflammatory Accumbens Cytokines But Does Not Induce Apoptosis In Female Rats, Ashley M. White, Daryl L. Richie, Percell T. Kendrick, Kathleen R. Mcnealy, Robert M. Flight, Hunter N.B. Moseley, Christa L. Corley, Cassandra D. Gipson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Nicotine can alter neuroimmune signaling within the brain reward pathway, and specifically, within the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Despite clinically meaningful sex differences in nicotine use as well as known sex differences in immune system function, no studies have evaluated NAc neuroimmune consequences following nicotine use in females. Thus, the present study evaluated cytokine expression and neuronal apoptosis in the ventral striatum (which encompasses the NAc) in ovary-intact female Long-Evans rats following nicotine or saline self-administration. Circulating cytokine levels were also evaluated in serum. Overall, pro-inflammatory cytokine levels were suppressed within the ventral striatum, with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) being the …

Tailoring The Unified Protocol For The Treatment Of Burnout, Athena Gândilă, Andrei Rusu, Zselyke Pap, Bogdan T. Tulbure, Delia Vîrgă, Shannon Sauer-Zavala

Psychology Faculty Publications

Burnout persists as an unresolved issue, as the effectiveness of interventions remains a subject of ongoing debate. To address the need for more suitable intervention approaches, this study describes a methodology for adapting the Unified Protocol (UP), an evidence-based cognitive-behavioral intervention, for group-based use to treat burnout. To ensure that the intervention reflected lived experiences, we employed a co-design methodology based on the Experience-Based Co-Design Framework. The sample comprised participants currently experiencing burnout or who had experienced it within the past year (n = 4) and a panel of experts (n = 4) actively working with individuals experiencing burnout. The …

Tennessee Archivist 45, No. 4, Society Of Tennessee Archivists

Tennessee Archivist newsletters

Fall 2026 issue of the Tennessee Archivist, a newsletter produced by the Society of Tennessee Archivists.

Identifying Influential Drivers To The Utilization Of Prefabrication On Student Housing At Cal Poly: A Case Study On The Delivery Method, Dominique Giang

Construction Management

As universities experience increasing enrollment and housing shortages, student housing projects require efficient delivery methods capable of meeting strict occupancy deadlines while minimizing disruption to active campus environments. This research investigates the influential drivers behind the utilization of prefabrication on an ongoing student housing project at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The seven-story project consists of 417 student beds and incorporates repetitive layouts and prefabricated building components. Through qualitative interviews with key project stakeholders involved in early decision-making and field execution, the study examines how project objectives, construction constraints, and delivery considerations influenced the decision to implement prefabrication. …

Whose Job Is It To Care For The Poor? Public Support, Private Charity, And Crowding Out In Canada Since 1960, Sandra J. Peart

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Executive Summary 

• This study explores whether increased public spending has “crowded out” private donations to charitable organizations. 
• Private charities emerged during industrialization to provide mutually beneficial services to individuals in need. 
• In Canada, government social spending increased both on a per capita basis and as a percentage of GDP after 1961. The percentage of GDP allotted to social spending rose and fell from then until the late 1990s, but rose thereafter, with a spike during the COVID years. It has fallen and risen gradually since 2022. 
• All in all, social benefit spending as a percentage of GDP has roughly doubled, …

Cattle Industry Funding Scheme 2024-25 Annual Report, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity published reports

The Cattle IFS addresses pest and disease threats relevant to the biosecurity of the WA Cattle industry and currently operates across the whole of WA. The IFS contribution is paid on the sale of cattle (0.20 cents per head/carcass) produced within WA.

Metrological Characterization Of Pavement Friction Measurements For High-Friction Surface Treatments: Si Traceability, Uncertainty Evaluation, And Adhesion–Hysteresis Separation Via Water–Soap Bpt Protocol, Alireza Roshan, Magdy Abdelrahman

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Laboratory friction measurements are central to material screening for High-Friction Surface Treatments (HFST), yet metrological aspects including a proposed metrological traceability framework or uncertainty, and reproducibility are consistently underreported. This study applies a metrology-aligned framework to British Pendulum Tester (BPT) measurements performed in three states: dry, wet (water), and water–soap to assess operational adhesion and hysteresis components, document traceability to the International System of Units (SI), and report GUM-style uncertainty with covariance for the adhesion difference. Measurements were obtained for calcined bauxite (CB) and rhyolite (Rhy) in HFST and Coarse gradations across seven polishing protocols (baseline; LAA-1000/2000; MDA-105/180; PSV-10 h/20 …

Optimization Of Bonding Behavior Of Crumb Rubber-Modified (Crm) Asphalt For Sustainable High-Friction Surface Treatment (Hfst) Applications, Abdallah Aboelela, Magdy Abdelrahman

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Binder bonding strength (BBS) is critical to aggregate retention and friction performance in high-friction surface treatment (HFST). Although epoxy resin is traditionally used, asphalt-based binders offer a sustainable alternative; however, their bonding behavior and influence on polishing performance remain insufficiently understood. This study investigated the evolution and optimization of BBS in crumb rubber-modified (CRM) asphalt for rhyolite-based HFSTs. BBS was measured under dry and wet-conditioned states for two CR contents (10% and 15%), two CR types (cryogenic and ambient), two interaction temperatures (170 and 200 °C), and interaction times from 10 to 240 min. HFST performance was assessed using the …

Flexural Performance Of Deficient Rc Beams Repaired With Gfrp Composite, Zena Aljazaeri, Hayder Alghazali, Zuhair Al-Jaberi, John J. Myers

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials have been improved for use in repairing and strengthening existing infrastructure over the past few decades. This case study focuses on the effect of confinement with GFRP strips on the structural performance of out-of-service beams in bridge applications due to the impact of over-height vehicles or inadequate lap-spliced reinforcements. In this study, beams with inadequate lap splices in the tension zone were utilized to mimic the damaged area in out-of-service RC beams. The proposed repair technique is a glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite in the form of longitudinal sheets and U-wrapped strips. The experimental study determined …

Nf1 Loss In Estrogen Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer Induces Osteoclast Formation And Immunosuppression To Promote Bone Metastasis, Zifan Zhao, Ze-Yi Zheng, Jonathan T Lei, Matthew J Baik, Yi-Hsuan Wu, Lauren K Somes, Andres F Mosquera Paternina, Omar A Harb, Owen A Chang, Fengshuo Liu, Matthew V Holt, Junkai Wang, Igor Bado, Hai Wang, George Miles, Zbigniew Gugala, Meenakshi Anurag, Ahmed Elkhanany, Yi Li, Valentina Hoyos, Xiang H-F Zhang, Eric C Chang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer exhibits a marked propensity for skeletal metastasis; however, the molecular drivers of bone colonization remain incompletely defined. We investigated the tumor suppressor neurofibromin (NF1), a dual repressor for RAS and ER signaling, whose inactivation promotes endocrine therapy (ET) resistance and is associated with inferior relapse-free survival. NF1 copy number loss was detected in 62% of ER+ patients who subsequently developed metastases and was associated with an increased likelihood of bone metastases at initial diagnosis. In mouse xenograft models, NF1-depleted ER+ breast cancer cells demonstrated enhanced dissemination to skeletal sites following surgical resection of primary tumors. …

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary’S Office Of Safety ‘Safety Academy’, Gabriel Dadi, Farshid Taherpour, Amanda Casolare

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) Safety Academy was developed to provide a structured and practical safety training program that strengthens safety leadership, planning, communication, employee engagement, hazard recognition, and continuous improvement across KYTC operations. The program was refined over the course of multiple discussions with Cabinet representatives to ensure that the content reflected the needs and responsibilities of KYTC personnel. The final Safety Academy consists of six modules: Safety Academy Welcome, Safety Leadership, Safety Planning, Safety Engagement, Hazard Recognition, and Safety Academy Closeout and Evaluation. The modules combine instructional content with discussions, practical examples, group exercises, and KYTC-related scenarios to …

Kentucky Traffic Collision Facts 2025 Report, Paul Ross, Eric Green, Tony Fields, Christopher Blackden, Kenneth Agent, Christopher Van Dyke

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Traffic Crash Data In Kentucky 2021-2025, Paul Ross, Eric Green, Tony Fields, Christopher Blackden, Christopher Van Dyke

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

No abstract provided.

Two-Dimensional Mo2b2tx Mbenes For Selective Sensing Of Disease-Associated Vocs In Cardiovascular Diagnostics, Puspamitra Panigrahi, Kulothungan Balasundaram, Yash Pal, Mukesh K. Choudhary, Hyeonhu Bae, Hoonkyung Lee, Ravindra Pandey, Akshaya Panigrahi, Tanveer Hussain

Michigan Tech Publications

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of global mortality, driving the need for non-invasive early detection methods. Analysis of specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath, such as acetone, hexane, hexanal, isoprene, and pentane, offers a promising diagnostic pathway. However, the selective detection of these low-concentration VOC biomarkers remains a significant challenge. This study employs a combination of theoretical approaches, such as density functional theory (DFT), STM-based tunnelling model aligned with the Tersoff-Hamann approximation, and thermodynamic analysis via the Langmuir adsorption model, to assess the sensing capabilities of two-dimensional (2D) MBenes (Mo2B2Tx) monolayers toward the targeted VOCs. The results …