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When Trees Disappear: Understory Successional Implications Of Sudden Oak Death And High-Severity Wildfire In Big Sur, California, Sam J. Balthazard

Master's Theses

The rapidly emerging disease sudden oak death, caused by the non-native pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, is transforming coastal California forests by driving extensive mortality of tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus) and increasing fire severity. As a novel disturbance, sudden oak death and its interaction with wildfire may catalyze unexpected shifts in successional trajectories and reconfigure forest understory communities. Furthermore, how tanoak influences the forest understory and how its decline might reshape understory dynamics remain poorly understood. We hypothesize that disease alone and the compounding disturbances of disease and wildfire alter successional dynamics, and that the potential functional extinction of N. …

A Single-Blind, Randomized, Controlled Contingency Management Trial On Physiological Indices And Biomarkers Of Cardiovascular Health In People With Cocaine Use Disorder, William W. Stoops, Thomas P. Shellenberg, Sean D. Regnier, David H. Cox, Reuben Adatorwovor, Lon R. Hays, Danielle M. Anderson, Joshua A. Lile, Joy M. Schmitz, Jennifer R. Havens, Travis R. Sexton, Mary B. Fisher

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Introduction: Limited prospective research has evaluated the health benefits associated with changing levels of drug use, aside from complete abstinence. This study determined whether lower levels of cocaine use impacted physiological indices (e.g., mean arterial pressure) and biomarkers (e.g., stromal cell derived factor-1a [SDF-1a], soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 [ICAM-1], neutrophil activating peptide-2 [CXCL7]) of cardiovascular health. Methods: Treatment seeking participants enrolled in a 12-week single-blind, randomized, controlled cocaine contingency management trial. Participants were randomly assigned to High Value Reinforcers for cocaine abstinence (n = 41), Low Value Reinforcers for cocaine abstinence (n = 33) or a non-contingent Control group (n …

Variation In The Potentially Inappropriate Use Of Antipsychotic And Benzodiazepine Medications Among Individuals Receiving Residential Medication Management Reviews, Mouna J. Sawan, Alexander J. Clough, Jodie Hillen, Andrew R. Zullo, Daniela C. Moga, Natalie Soulsby, Danijela Gnjidic

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Objectives To describe the variation in the use of potentially inappropriate antipsychotic and benzodiazepine medications in residents who have received a medication review and to evaluate the extent to which this variation is associated with aged care home (ACH) and resident characteristics. Methods This cross-sectional, retrospective study used pharmacist-extracted data from 15,442 residents across 342 Australian ACHs who had a medication review during 2019. The proportion of residents receiving ≥1 potentially inappropriate antipsychotic and benzodiazepine medication according to Beers criteria were classified into quintiles by facility usage (Q1-Q5). Quintile characteristics were compared using descriptive analysis of facility and resident data. …

Comparison Of The Association Between Covid-19 And New Onset Diabetes In A Regional And National Dataset, Mary E. Lacy, Aaron P. Smith, Lindsey R. Hammerslag, Kory R. Heier, James Aaron, Alicia Fields, John L. Fowlkes, Simon J. Fisher, Jeffery Talbert, Philip A. Kern

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Aims: This study examined new onset diabetes following COVID-19 infection in large datasets. Methods: A retrospective cohort study design was used in three distinct databases: data from a large academic medical center (University of Kentucky Healthcare, UKHC), claims data from privately insured patients in the Merative MarketScan (MarketScan) database, and a subset of the MarketScan database with lab tests. Control groups included patients from the prepandemic timeframe (prepandemic cohort), as well as COVID-era patients without documented COVID infection (COVID − cohort). Results: Incident diabetes in COVID infected patients was higher in all datasets. In the UKHC and MarketScan datasets, the …

Detecting Spatial Clusters Of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever In Iraq In 2023, Hanan Abdulghafoor Khaleel, Riyadh Abdulameer Alhilfi, Sabrina Brown

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: Since the start of the first large outbreak of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) in Iraq in 2022, there has been no assessment of clustering of cases by district. The aim of this study is to identify clusters of high and low incidences of human CCHF to guide preventive and control measures, and distribute limited resources. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of reported and confirmed CCHF cases in Iraq from January 1, 2023 to December 11, 2023. We used a retrospective purely spatial Poisson scan statistic model to identify clusters of high and low incidences of CCHF at …

Wetland Treatment Systems For Municipal Wastewater At A Bourbon Distillery And Potential Value Of Incorporating Stillage For Water Treatment Enhancement, Katherine Ristola, Tiffany Messer, Czarena Crofcheck, Tyler Barzee, Wayne Sanderson

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

The use of constructed treatment wetlands as a secondary treatment method for wastewater effluent from package treatment plants and distillery stillage has the potential to be an innovative, sustainable method for improving water quality. However, the use of constructed wetlands to treat bourbon whole stillage and a distillery bottling facility’s wastewater treatment plant effluent has been limited. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to (1) quantify constructed wetland water quality improvement as a secondary treatment method for a distillery’s municipal wastewater, (2) optimize treatment design to meet wastewater effluent discharge limits, and (3) quantify the potential to enhance constructed …

Uni Political Science Newsletter, V20, 2024-25, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Political Science.

Political Science Newsletter

Contents:

--- From the Department Head
--- UNI Creates Center for Civic Education, Hires Director
--- Panthers Vote Recognized
--- Deputy Secretary of State Visits Campus
--- Celebrating Leaders in Public Service
--- Women in Public Service
--- You're Next Leadership Conference 2025
--- Model UN
--- Vajpeyi Fellowship
--- Iowa Human Rights Research Conference
--- Student Research
--- Montalvo Receives Lux Service Award
--- Purple & Old Gold Award
--- Congratulations 2024-25 Graduates
--- Faculty Updates
--- Keller Receives Gold & Bold Award
--- Alumni, Friends Recognized with President's Distinguished Award
--- Alumni Updates

Rationale And Justification Of The Overarching Principles In The Governance Maturity Framework, Janna Wong, Eugene K. B. Tan, Steve Loh

Lien Centre for Social Innovation: Research

This research addresses the lack of a unified framework for measuring the governance maturity of impact organisations across countries with diverse legal landscapes and cultures, which complicates international assessment and collaboration. In response, we propose a governance framework tailored to the legal context of six countries: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Our analysis identifies six overarching principles embedded in the non-profit laws of the six countries: (1) purpose and impact, (2) leadership, (3) integrity, (4) communication, (5) efficacy, and (6) financial transparency and accountability. These six overarching principles form the proposed framework, which was operationalised and further …

Atomic Oxygen Considerations For Low Earth Orbit Spacecraft, Hannah Rost, Justin Self

Baker/Koob Endowments Awarded Projects

In Low Earth Orbit (LEO), spacecraft are exposed to a harsh environment which includes atomic oxygen (AO) and vacuum ultraviolet radiation (VUV). AO interaction with spacecraft materials results in erosion, structural, and optical property degradation. This damage is often accelerated during concurrent vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation exposure. This study utilized laboratory equipment in the Cal Poly aerospace and materials engineering departments to characterize changes in material properties after AO and VUV radiation exposure. This proposal requested funds for a replacement bulb that will allow for two separate but related studies that investigate synergistic effects of AO and VUV on spacecraft …

22q11.2 Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Pathway (Eras), Children's Mercy Kansas City

Clinical Pathways

No abstract provided.

A Post-Dobbs World: More Than One Right To Privacy Under Attack, Sarah Jane Catarozoli

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

Dobbs, State Policies, And Minors’ Interests In An Open Future, Lois A. Weithorn

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

The United States Supreme Court discarded five decades of established federal constitutional doctrine with its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Following Dobbs, legislators in some states rushed to restrict the decisions of pregnant persons. Litigation, executive actions, and voter initiatives, including attempts to amend state constitutions, quickly followed. At the time of this writing, access to abortion is severely restricted in large swaths of the country. Increasing numbers of pregnant persons have sought out-of-state services through telehealth or cross-border travel. Some states have created new forms of criminal or civil liability in an effort to prevent its …

Finding Peace, Karthik Saravanan

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

The American Dream, Kiran Kaur

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

Climate Change Threatens Water Resources For Major Field Crops In The Serbian Danube River Basin By The Mid-21st Century, Jamshid Jalali, Nishan Bhattarai, Jillian Greene, Tao Liu, Oskar Marko, Mirjana Radulović, Molly Sears, Sean A. Woznicki

Michigan Tech Publications

Study region: Serbian Danube River Basin Study focus: As climate change makes weather patterns more erratic, water supply for agriculture is becoming increasingly uncertain. This is concerning in the Serbian Danube River Basin, where crops are mainly rainfed and the growing season is becoming warmer and drier. Assessing the balance between future agricultural water demand and availability in a changing climate is critical to address agricultural water scarcity. To understand how changing climate will affect water availability during 2041–2070, we used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool+ hydrological model with field-scale crop rotations and irrigated extent data and forced with …

Riding For The Brand: Advancing Leadership Development In The Poly Royal Rodeo Program, Jack Busch

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

While the Poly Royal Leadership Class provides a valuable platform for student involvement in large scale event planning, the structure lacked consistency in leadership development methods, project management tools, and hands-on training simulations, resulting in uneven engagement, limited collaboration efficiency, and varied preparedness levels among student leaders and committee members.

Observational Predictions For Convective Common Envelopes, Nikki Noughani

Theses

Common envelopes (CEs) are thought to be the main method for producing tight binary systems in the universe, as the orbital period shrinks by several orders of magnitude during this phase. Despite their importance for many stellar evolution channels, direct detections are rare, and thus observational constraints on common envelope physics are often inferred from post-CE populations. Recently, galactic population observations suggest that the CE phase must be highly inefficient at using orbital energy to drive envelope ejection for low-mass systems and highly efficient for high-mass systems. Such a dichotomy has been explained by an interplay between convection, radiation, and …

Secretive Sheriffs: Opacity And Variation In California's Jail Responses To Covid-19, Aparna Komarla, Hadar Aviram

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Exonerations For Wrongfully Convicted Disabled Inmates: The Path To Salvation Is Paved With Bad Intentions, Marc Consalo

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Unarresting School Safety, Maryam Ahranjani

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Decades Of Indifference And Failures In Accountability In The Provision Of Medical Care In Federal Prisons, Nicole B. Godfrey

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Specialization Or Diversification? Creators’ Strategies On User-Generated Content Platforms, Ziwei Ye

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Recent advancements in digital platforms have reshaped content creation and distribution. User-generated content (UGC), created and shared by internet users, is transforming entertainment, communication, and information sharing. The rise of UGC has fueled the growth of the "creator economy"—an ecosystem of creators, users, and advertisers facilitated by platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. While prior research has primarily explored how UGC platforms incentivize content quantity and quality, this study advances the literature by examining how creators' content strategies influence consumer attention and how platform mechanisms shape this relationship, offering new insights into the interplay between creator behavior and platform design. …

Modeling Femtosecond Laser Interaction With Glass For Optical Fabrication, Nathan Klein

Theses

The fabrication of precision optics is critical for a wide range of applications, including biosensors, virtual and augmented reality, medical imaging, and micro-electronics. However, it is challenging to meet the demands of these applications with conventional chemical and mechanical fabrication methods, as they can introduce chemical waste, mid-spatial-frequency errors, and subsurface damage that degrades image quality. Femtosecond lasers have emerged as a promising alternative, offering fast, non-contact, and chemical-free machining with single digit nanometer precision. This thesis presents a computational model designed to investigate the interaction process between a high-intensity femtosecond laser pulse and dielectric material. A pulse propagation model …

Engineering Microphysiological Systems To Investigate Cellular Responses To Biophysical Cues In Human Tissue Microenvironments, Mehran Mansouri

Theses

Cells constantly sense and respond to biophysical cues in their microenvironment. Understanding how they interpret these mechanical signals is essential for advancing tissue modeling, studying disease mechanisms, and developing more predictive in vitro platforms. This dissertation presents a series of engineered microphysiological systems (MPS) designed to investigate how mechanical stimuli shape cellular behavior in distinct human tissue microenvironments. In Aim 1, I developed a reconfigurable microfluidic platform that mimics key features of human vascular barriers. This system supports the integration of porous membranes, 3D hydrogels, and flow channels, enabling precise control over both mechanical and biochemical cues. The modularity of …

Nd:Yag Laser Annealing: Impact On The Photoconductive Properties Of Cds Thin Films, Ausama Khudiar

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

This study investigates the effects of pulsed Nd:YAG laser annealing at a wavelength of 532 nm on the photoconductivity properties of cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films prepared by thermal evaporation. In addition, measurements at room temperature showed an ohmic behavior in the voltage-current characteristics of the CdS thin films. It was observed that after laser irradiation, the photosensitivity of the film increased due to the improved crystallinity and decreased defect density of the thin films, as shown by the increase in the ratio of light to dark current (Iph/Id) from 0.35 to 0.42. The photocurrent also follows the relationship (Iph∝FγI), …

Occupational Stress: Lifestyle And Health In Blue- And White-Collar Workers In The United States, Carice T. Craffey

Dissertations and Theses

ABSTRACT

Occupational Stress: Lifestyle and Health in Blue- and White-Collar Workers in the United States

by

Carice Craffey

Advisor: Catherine M. Schooling, Ph.D.

Background: Heart disease and diabetes are leading causes of death in the United States and globally, particularly heart disease in men. Employment conditions can contribute to illness and death. Occupational or job stress (OS) is a potential contributor to heart disease and diabetes, but its conceptualization and role for men and women remain unclear. To address this gap, I conceptualized OS, then examined the role of OS in heart disease and diabetes.

Methods: I used a literature …

Thriving In The Tropics, Hansika K. Herath, D. Nicholas Mcletchie

Biology Faculty Publications

Increasing frequency and intensity of global warming pose a profound threat to plant species persistence. Most investigations on plants' resilience to heat events focus on few genotypes of model species. Novel insights into resilience mechanisms will be gained by focusing on natural variation in thermotolerance and its relationship to local-abiotic factors. Additionally, studying species that survived 'ancient periods' of high temperatures provides insight into resilience mechanisms. Within a species, we assessed spatial thermotolerance variation, its association with temperature and light, while testing for thermotolerance sex differences and its relationship with population sex ratios. We used Marchantia inflexa, a species with …

Impact Of Extracellular Matrix Scaffold On Driveline Infection Rate In Patients With Left Ventricular Assist Devices, Mehmet H Akay, Mateja K Jezovnik, Rajko Radovancevic, Ismael A Salas De Armas, Maria Patarroyo Aponte, Marwan Jumean, Manish K Patel, Jayeshkumar Patel, Biswajit Kar, Igor D Gregoric

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is a life-saving procedure for patients with advanced heart failure. However, postimplantation complications such as driveline infections (DLIs) can significantly affect patient outcomes. We assessed whether placing an extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffold around the driveline during LVAD implantation reduces the incidence of DLIs in patients with LVADs.

Methods: This retrospective observational study included 196 consecutive patients with LVADs between January 2018 and June 2022. We compared the data of patients who received ECM implantation during LVAD implantation (ECM group, n = 69) with those who did not (control group, n = 127).

Results: …

Development Of A Health And Wellness Assessment For Kytc Personnel, Gabriel Dadi, Farshid Taherpour, Caitlin Pope

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Highway construction workers operate in high-stress, hazardous settings where they have to perform physically taxing labor in environments where exposure to variable weather conditions, heavy equipment, high volumes of vehicle traffic, and other conditions that induce stress and anxiety are the norm. Up to 70% of workers in this industry have reported experiencing mental health issues, including secondary traumatic stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders. Few state departments of transportation, however, offer adequate resources staff can draw on to effectively manage their psychological well-being. To help Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) roadway maintenance and construction workers develop …

Using Photovoice To Define “Community” In Substance Use Disorder Research Engaging Service Users, Providers, And Policymakers, Mcgladrey Margaret L, Marisa Booty, Ramona Olvera, Peter Balvanz, Hilary L. Surratt, Shannon Matthews, Susannah Stitzer, Owusua Yamoah, Sylvia Ellison, Kevin Campbell, Amy Farmer, Bethany Gealy, Mike Greenwell, Felicia Harris, Amy Kuntz, Sara Szelagowski, Alexandrea Shouse, Carrie B. Oser

Sociology Faculty Publications

(197 words)The ideals of community-engaged health research are challenging to realize ethically and methodologically, particularly when focused on substance use disorder (SUD), in which the power differentials inherent to stigma marginalize people with lived experience (LE) as full community participants. This study provides a typology and exploratory data generated through Photovoice to understand relationships among community members with different roles related to LE of SUD (i.e., SUD service providers, service users, and the public) in the context of a large-scale community-engaged opioid overdose reduction intervention. A team of 14 participants and researchers used an adapted thematic analysis method to interpret …