Digital Commons Network^™

Natural Resource Enterprises - Income Diversification And Conservation Practices Implemented On Private Lands In The United States, Daryl Jones

Journal of Extension

Wildlife-related recreation is popular with Americans spending over $150 billion dollars annually. I have conducted educational workshops (>100 events) to train U.S. landowners in natural resource enterprises development offering recreational hunting, angling, and nature tourism excursions along with conservation management practices to enhance wildlife habitats on their lands. To measure impacts, I conducted a comprehensive mail survey study with participants since 2010. Findings revealed that landowners who initiated these enterprises earned annual incomes and implemented conservation practices on properties. More training for landowners is recommended to increase income diversification and conservation of wildlife habitats and stewardship on private lands.

Parental Experience In 4-H And Its Effect On Youth Reenrollment, Jolynn Miller, Kendra Lewis, Jeannette Rea Keywood, Tim Ewers, Kali Trzesniewski, Sarah Hensley

Journal of Extension

Youth experience many benefits from participating in the 4-H program. It is unclear, however, what role parents play in their child’s reenrollment in the program. This study uses data from a multi-year multi-state study of youth retention in 4-H to examine the effects of parental expectations and experience on their intent to reenroll their child after their first year in 4-H. Results show a relationship between parental expectations and experiences on continued involvement. This study can be used to help 4-H programs recruit and retain more youth, as well as by other Extension programs to understand retention issues.

Kid Eats App: Supporting Parents And Children Cooking Together, Amy S. Muise, Gabrielle A. Longo, Pamela N. Martinez, Umekia R. Taylor, Linda E. Torv, Barbara A. Chamberlin

Journal of Extension

Kid Eats is a free app for iPad encouraging children and parents to cook together at home using fruits and vegetables. A preliminary study with parents and children showed children enjoyed using the app and that it provided useful information to support children’s involvement in the kitchen, including guidance around safety concerns. Every family in the study voluntarily completed at least one of the recipes with their child at least once following the in-person activity. Parents reported that their children actively asked to cook the recipes from the app and felt the app helped increase their time spent cooking with …

Reaching Tomorrow’S Extension Customer: A Food And Health Needs Assessment, Morgan Szczepaniak, Sarah L. Francis, Ruth Litchfield, Ulrike Genschel, Shannon Coleman, Anirudh Naig

Journal of Extension

The food and health needs and preferences of Iowans (n=452) were examined. The leading food and health information sources were online platforms, social media, and print media. Program topics with high participation likelihood were cooking, food preservation, food safety, and gardening. Short, low-cost, online programs were preferred. Extension use was more likely among those who identified as persons of color, Hispanic/Latino, or were food insecure (p < 0.030). Those with less education and chronic disease were less likely to be interested in Extension programming (p < 0.040). These results provide valuable information regarding future directions for Extension programming.

Are We Ready For Ai-Augmented Generalists?, Jiajie Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping medical practice and education by unifying the knowledge of medical specialties and subspecialties into a single, intelligent system. This system functions not only as an integrated knowledge base but also as an active cognitive collaborator. By bridging knowledge gaps beyond the capacity of any individual clinician, AI could enable physicians to function as AI-augmented generalists who can perform certain tasks that require specialist training. These generalists may help mitigate care fragmentation, but realizing their potential will require significant changes in medical education.

High Kynu Expression Is Associated With Poor Prognosis, Keap1/Stk11 Mutations, And Immunosuppressive Metabolism In Patient-Derived But Not Murine Lung Adenocarcinomas, Ling Cai, Thomas J Rogers, Reza Mousavi Jafarabad, Hieu Vu, Chendong Yang, Nicole Novaresi, Ana Galán-Cobo, Luc Girard, Edwin J Ostrin, Johannes F Fahrmann, Jiyeon Kim, John V Heymach, Kathryn A O'Donnell, Guanghua Xiao, Yang Xie, Ralph J Deberardinis, John D Minna

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background/Objectives: We aimed to discover genes with bimodal expression linked to patient outcomes, to reveal underlying oncogenotypes and identify new therapeutic insights in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD).

Methods: We performed meta-analysis to screen LUAD datasets for prognostic genes with bimodal expression patterns. Kynureninase (KYNU), a key enzyme in tryptophan catabolism, emerged as a top candidate. We then examined its relationship with LUAD mutations, metabolic alterations, immune microenvironment states, and expression patterns in human and mouse models using bulk and single-cell transcriptomics, metabolomics, and preclinical model datasets. Pan-cancer prognostic associations were also assessed.

Results: Model-based clustering of KYNU expression outperformed median-based dichotomization …

An Attention-Based Deep Learning Model For Remaining Useful Life Prediction Of Aero-Engine, Ahmed Darwish, Karam M. Sallam, Ibrahim Alrashdi

Sustainable Machine Intelligence Journal

The prognosis of remaining useful life (RUL) for the aero-engine plays an indispensable role in enhancing the safety of aircraft and diminishing maintenance expenses. Several deep learning (DL) methods have been recently employed to handle this prediction problem due to their adaptable architectures and superior performance in handling the nonlinear characteristics of prediction problems. However, those models still need further improvement to better predict the status of aircraft engines. Therefore, this paper presents a new DL model, dubbed attention residual block-adaptive long short-term memory (ARB-ALSTM), based on integrating the attention mechanism with the long short-term memory network (LSTM) model and …

Postoperative Calcium Supplementation Adherence In Total Thyroidectomy And Parathyroidectomy Patients - Risk Factors And Outcomes, Katelyn Ward, Cydney Mcchesney, John Nida, Negin Mohtashemian, Jacob Mesiti, Emmanuel Nageeb, Diane Studzinski, Rose Callahan, Peter Czako, Sapna Nagar

Conference Presentation Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Surgical Site Infection Bundle For Babies - Preliminary Data, Cullen Woodley, Katelyn Ward, John Nida, Alexis Lonjin, Diane Studzinski, Nathan Novotny, Pavan Brahmamdam, Begum Akay

Conference Presentation Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Having A Home To Come Home To: How Subsidized Housing Impacts Unhoused Pregnant Women, Stephanie O. Porvaznik

Master's Projects and Capstones

Community based organizations (CBOs) lead the charge in the fight to end housing insecurity and often must make up where local governments fall short. San Francisco is an example of a municipality that has a long history of addressing instances of housing insecurity for its residents, and where CBOs step in to provide housing support for populations with unique and special circumstances. One CBO that operates in San Francisco that I was interested in studying was the Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP), and the Jelani House, a housing subsidy that is funded and operated by the HPP for pregnant women who …

Lead And Iron Levels In Maternal And Umbilical Cord Blood In Basrah, Iraq, Balqees Kadhim Hasan, Jafar Sadek Abdulazeez, Meaad Kadhum Hassan, Hamid Jaddoah Abbas, Lamia Mustafa Al-Naama

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Objectives: Lead can pass from a mother to her developing foetus and is associated with well-established risks for the foetus. This study aimed to evaluate maternal and cord iron and lead levels and study the association of maternal and cord blood lead levels (BLLs) with newborn anthropometric measurements. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Basra Maternity and Children Hospital, Basrah, Iraq, and included women and their newborns over the period from January through June 2023. Blood samples from mothers and umbilical cords were collected and sent to determine the complete blood count and lead and iron levels. Linear …

Psoriasis Presenting As Koebner Phenomena, Zamzam Al Qutaiti, Ayida Al Khalili, Asem Shalaby

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Prophylactic Tranexamic Acid On Peripartum Changes In Haemoglobin Concentration After Vaginal Delivery, Ezukwa E. Omoronyia, Moses I. Ekuma, Edu Eyong, Sylvester E. Abeshi, Ubong B. Akpan

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of prophylactic intravenous tranexamic acid on postpartum haemoglobin (Hb) concentration values compared to a control group. Methods: This randomised controlled study took place from May to July 2023 and included parturients with no apparent risk for postpartum haemorrhage from the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital in Calabar, Nigeria. Participants were divided equally into 2 groups. Group A (intervention group) received 10 IU of intramuscular oxytocin along with 1,000 mg of intravenous tranexamic acid within 1 minute of vaginal delivery, while Group B (control group) received 10 IU of intramuscular oxytocin with 10 …

Prevalence Of Viruses In Odontogenic Cysts And Tumours: A Systematic Review Of Literature And Meta-Analysis, Deepak Pandiar, Divya Gopinath, Pinky Pavithran, Reshma Poothakulath Krishnan, Jishnu Krishna Kumar, Sajesh K. Veettil

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

This review aimed to assess the prevalence of oncogenic and non-oncogenic viruses in odontogenic cysts and tumours. A comprehensive database search was performed for published articles regarding the presence of viruses in all odontogenic cysts and tumours, following guidelines without date constraints, and was registered with PROSPERO. After screening 164 articles, 24 studies were included for systematic evaluation. A meta-analysis was performed to determine the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV), revealing an overall pooled prevalence of HPV in ameloblastomas of 18.21% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.36–33.73) while the prevalence of HPV in odontogenic cysts was found to be 1.51% (95% …

Urinary Tract Infections Among Patients In Primary Healthcare Centres In Bahrain: A Cross-Sectional Study, Mahmood Alawainati, Zahra Ayoob, Eman Almajed, Safaa Alkhawaja, Noof Abdulaal, Rehab Alkhnaizi, Hanin Shaheen, Fatema Hubail, Nermin Kamal Saeed

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the clinical and microbiological profiles of patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) in primary healthcare centres in Bahrain. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at 27 primary care centres in Bahrain between January and December 2022. All patients with positive urine cultures, defined as the presence of ≥100,000 colony-forming units/mL were included. Participants’ sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, risk factors for resistant uropathogens, uropathogen types and antibiotic sensitivity outcomes were assessed. Descriptive and inferential statistics were analysed. Results: A total of 1,985 patients were included, with an average age of 40.57 ± 20.18 years. Most …

Evaluating Rainfall Sensitivity Over Land To Tropical Cyclone Parameters Using Idealized Wrf, Madison C. Yawn

Theses and Dissertations

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are extreme weather events impacting the United States nearly every year. These events often cause severe damage due to the associated responses they produce including storm surge and rainfall, and the accurate estimation of these TC hazards is necessary to support coastal engineering, risk assessment, and emergency management activities. Evaluating TC-driven hazards is often done in combination with numerical models to simulate how environmental interactions alter the physical processes and responses of these storms. The purpose of this study was to simulate synthetic TC events using the Advanced Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to understand how …

Evaluation Of Municipal Solid Waste Gasification And The Water Gas Shift Reaction For Biomass Carbon Removal And Storage Via Pre-Combustion Carbon Capture, Colby Luke Freeman

Theses and Dissertations

The water gas shift reaction (WGSR) is a critical step in the pre-combustion capture of CO2 from syngas streams. Recent improvements in gasification technologies have improved the prospects of municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification as a tool for waste reduction and carbon dioxide removal (CDR). This study sought to improve the understanding of a biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) system in which MSW gasification is paired with the WGSR. Sixteen MSW samples were gasified in a bench scale semi-batch reactor. A promising copper based WGSR catalyst was tested for activity from 240-300 degrees Celsius and gas hourly space velocities …

Comprehensive Study On Bonding Performance, Durability, And Protective Measures Of Cross-Laminated Timber, Bradia Thelina Henfield

Theses and Dissertations

The increasing use of cross-laminated timber (CLT) in construction necessitates a deeper understanding of adhesive bonding properties, biological durability, and preservative treatments to enhance its performance. This dissertation investigates these aspects through three interrelated studies focusing on hardwood CLT and preservative-treated southern pine CLT. The first study evaluates the adhesive bonding performance of hardwood CLT fabricated from red oak (Quercus spp.), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), using southern pine (Pinus spp.) as a control. Shear block and delamination tests revealed significant variation in bond strength and moisture durability among species. While red oak exhibited the highest delamination, …

Biomechanics Of Softball Pitching And The Relationship Between Functional Field Tests And Pitching Performance, Joshua Spencer Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Over 2 million people in the United States play softball alone, yet softball literature in exercise science and biomechanics is still sparse. Research that exists for softball pitching has focused on injury mechanisms and prevention, with a small portion of the literature reporting on performance. Studies have reported evidence suggesting that vertical ground reaction forces of the stride leg are related to pitch velocity. However, no studies have investigated the role of the stride leg during the initial launch phase of the pitch. Research has investigated kinematics such as pelvic and thoracic rotation during the pitch, but no research has …

Establishing A Baseline For Detecting Lotl Attacks In Windows Operating Systems, Ashlyn Martin Phillips

Theses and Dissertations

There has been an increasing realization of the rise in living off the land (LOTL) attacks where adversaries misuse legitimate system tools, particularly with state-sponsored actors targeting critical infrastructure in the United States. These attacks are difficult to detect because they allow attackers to remain present in a system without the user’s knowledge for an extended period. This thesis establishes an initial baseline specifically for Windows operating systems to measure normal system activity, focusing on CPU usage, memory utilization, and process activity. It particularly examines the use of PowerShell alongside other applications. The findings from this baseline are used to …

The Relationship Between Internal Coherence And Student Learning In High Achieving Middle Schools: A Mississippi Study, Christina Coleman Reynolds

Theses and Dissertations

In order to determine ways in which Mississippi is improving in education, a quantitative research study was designed and conducted to examine ten high achieving middle schools in the state. The 10 schools had to obtain an A ranking or B ranking for the 2021-2022 school year and/or 2022 – 2023 school year from the MDE. The purpose of the study was to determine if relationships existed between the student achievement scores (Reading Proficiency, Reading Growth, Math Proficiency, and Math Growth) assigned by the state to each school and levels of Internal Coherence of the administrators and staff employed in …

Hyperglycemia Management In Patients Receiving Parenteral Nutrition: A Retrospective Review Of Glycemic Control Management, Grace Feigl, Beata Slomiany Mears

All Other Contributions

Purpose: Hospitalized patients receiving parenteral nutrition (PN) often require insulin to manage hyperglycemia. Glycemic control is crucial for improving patient outcomes, and insulin, administered either subcutaneously or within the PN, is the mainstay of treatment for hyperglycemia. No established standard of care exists for the preferred route of insulin administration in patients receiving PN.

Methods: A multicenter, retrospective review of patients receiving PN was conducted between August 31, 2023, and August 31, 2024, to compare the effects of two insulin regimens on glycemic control. This review included adults aged ≥ 18 years on continuous PN and had received insulin therapy, …

Drone Strikes In Pakistan, Muhammad Shumail

Capstones

my capstone maps all the drone strikes in Pakistan from 2004 to 2018. it show how many drone strikes were conducted during each president tenure and how many civilians were killed.

https://techman96.github.io/drone-strikes/

Building Community As A Christian Value: Exploring How A Private Catholic High School Fosters A Sense Of Belonging, Ruth M. Gomez

Master's Theses

This qualitative study explores the experiences of students of color at a private, predominantly White, Catholic high school. It analyzes how race influences how students feel a sense of belonging. The study focused on the sense of belonging at St. Rose Preparatory, a pseudonym for a Catholic, coeducational, and prestigious school in an affluent city in the Bay Area. The research is guided by three questions: (a) How do the institutional practices in a Private Catholic school impact how students of color (Black, Indigenous, LatinX, Asian, Pacific Islander) experience a sense of belonging that sustains students of color culture? To …

Re: Comment Letter For Draft Final Bpsou Unreclaimed Site Anderson Shaft Remedial Action Work Plan (Rawp) (Dated June 14, 2024), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Downstream Delays: Effects Of Flooding On Childrens Education And Time Use In Peru, Miki Robert Izu

Master's Theses

Flooding is a major cause of destruction and economic loss affecting over 80 million people annually. Flooding during childhood can lead to educational setbacks with long term economic impacts. This study investigates the causal impacts of flood shocks on educational achievement and children's time use using the Young Lives Survey, a panel dataset surveying children in Peru over 19 years of childhood. This study finds that flooding causes a temporary positive "spike" in girls hours of labor immediately after a flood which subsides by three to six years after flooding. The additional hours of labor does not reduce hours of …

Unequal Shocks: The Heterogeneous Impact Of Earthquakes, Claire Marie James

Master's Theses

What effect does neighborhood wealth have on disaster outcomes and disaster induced migration? Using the 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake in Southern Türkiye and Syria as a natural shock, I examine how the short term migration response to building damage and earthquake exposure differs by average neighborhood home prices. Using a panel dataset of population by bing tile, from Meta’s Data for Good Project, I employ time series and cross sectional regression analysis. I find that wealthy neighborhoods are better able to retain population than non-wealthy counterparts.

Weather Impacts On Migration And Food Insecurity In Bangladesh, Brendon M. Wong, Andrew Hobbs

Master's Theses

This paper analyzes the impact of weather shocks on household migration and food insecurity, and the mechanisms in which they do so. As climate change continues to impact weather patterns, subsistence farmers remain extremely vulnerable and can experience decreases in welfare. Using the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey, we construct a panel dataset to measure the effects of temperature and rainfall on remittance amounts, food consumption scores, and child wasting z-scores. We observe that weather has strong impacts on these outcomes but are dependent on the rice variety and growing season. We do not find strong evidence that the mechanism in …

Frannie Pearl Donaldson

African American Funeral Programs

Fannie_Pearl_Donaldson.pdf - Funeral program for Frannie Donaldson

Caminos*: An Ethnographic Study Of Latino And Ally Leaders Serving Rural Latino Communities Before And During The Pandemic, Ruben Viramontez Anguiano, Melissa Martinez, Jorge Chavez, Sarah M. Harrison

Journal of Extension

This study focused on rural Latino and ally leaders in the Midwest. The purpose of this study was to examine how Latino and ally leaders produced different forms of capital in serving and leading the Latino community over the decades prior to and during the pandemic. The sample consisted of 22 Latino and ally leaders. A culturally responsive ethnography and other qualitative methods were used to collect and analyze the data. The findings demonstrated that the rural leaders from different generations were generating social capital and other forms of capital to guide and serve the Latino community before and during …