Digital Commons Network^™

Meta-Transcriptomes Of The Microbial Communities Of The Different Developmental Life Stages Of Anastrepha Ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae), Erin L. Schuenzel

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences Faculty Publications

The Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens, is a polyphagous pest that is a constant threat to US agriculture because of its proximity to citrus production in border region of the United States and Mexico. Sterile Insect Technique has been used to manage and eradicate of the Mexican Fruit Fly. SIT, however, requires millions of sterile male flies to be released each week from mass-rearing facilities. The mass-reared colonies must deal with microbial infections that reduce survivorship, fecundity and male-male competition. Meta-transcriptomics joins culturing and next generation DNA sequencing techniques to understand these changing microbial communities. This study uses advances …

African American Adolescent Depressive Symptoms And Caregiver Perceptions, Katerina Marroquin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American adolescents with untreated mental health problems can have symptoms of depression. Depressive symptoms can persist in adulthood if untreated. Caregiver recognition is the strongest predictor of adolescent behaviors and depressive symptom outcomes. Caregivers can identify depressive symptoms in African American adolescents by focusing on met and unmet needs. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to ask about caregiver perceptions of African American adolescent depressive symptoms with focus on physiological needs, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization. The theoretical framework for this study is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Data analysis was conducted using NVivo to enhance the interpretation …

The Relationship Between Climate Change Awareness And Mental Health Among Adults In The United States, Stanley Nkemjika

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Understanding the connection between climate change awareness and overall well-being is crucial, particularly regarding its impact on the environment and mental health. However, there is a need for more research on this topic, especially within the American context. The mental health implications of climate change are not yet fully understood, and there is a gap in the literature. This gap was addressed by exploring climate change awareness effects on mental health among U.S. adults. The social ecological model provided a framework to examine the impact of climate change awareness on mental health, considering individual, interpersonal, community, and societal factors. This …

Multiple Sclerosis Cognitive Needs, Entitlements, And Policy, Sandy A. Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Women living with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience inequities, policy imbalance, and the feeling of overwhelming unfairness from those who govern policy. This qualitative phenomenological study was developed to focus on woman living with the disability of cognitive impairments in the MS paradigm that are not discussed, inadequately measured nor treated, making it difficult for those living with the disease to remain in the workforce and gain access to healthcare. Little research exists that identifies the unmet needs of those with MS and their relationship to cognitive impairments. Due to the progression of the cognitive impairments those living with MS have …

Effective Health Care Leadership Strategies For Increasing Nurses’ Retention Rates In Hospitals, Jennifer Cole

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some health care leaders lack effective strategies to improve and sustain nursing retention rates, resulting in significant operational costs. Grounded in the Herzberg’s two-factor theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore practical strategies health care leaders use to improve nursing retention rates in hospital settings. The participants were four health care leaders from California hospitals selected through purposive sampling based on their experience implementing successful retention strategies. Data were collected using semi structured interviews, and data triangulation was completed by utilizing the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, California state nursing board reports, and a professional nursing …

Best Practices To Expand Funding For Assisted-Living Facilities In Mississippi., Melissa Darlene Mason

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Background: Insufficient Medicaid reimbursement threatens the financial stability and quality of care in assisted-living facilities (ALFs). Fragmented funding, rising costs, and the absence of federal standards exacerbate financial challenges, highlighting the need for sustainable funding solutions. Purpose: This integrative review was conducted to examine Medicaid reimbursement challenges and to explore best practices for enhancing financial sustainability in ALFs through innovative funding strategies, alternative payment models, and policy reforms. Method: Using the Johns Hopkins evidence-based practice model, peer-reviewed literature from 2020–2025 was analyzed through the Donabedian model of healthcare quality to assess how Medicaid funding impacts care delivery and resident outcomes. …

Stereotype, Stigma, And Discrimination And Prep Use Among Black And Latino Men And Women, Aieshia Brooks Poole

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

HIV infections continue to rise in the Southern United States, with Black and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM), bisexual men, and women experiencing disproportionate impacts. Although pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective biomedical intervention for reducing HIV transmission, disparities in its uptake remain due to healthcare stereotype threat, felt stigma, and everyday discrimination. This quantitative cross-sectional study analyzed secondary data from the Generations: A Study of the Life and Health of LGB People in a Changing Society (2016–2019) to examine the relationship between these psychosocial barriers and PrEP use among Black/Latino MSM, bisexual men, and women aged …

Working Capital Management Strategies To Improve Private Healthcare Facilities’ Profitability In Southern Africa, Daina Zhira

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective working capital management is a critical business problem that negatively impacts organizational profitability. Private healthcare managers are particularly concerned with this issue because poor management of working capital can lead to reduced profitability, threaten operational sustainability, and ultimately compromise the quality of patient care. Grounded in the cash conversion cycle theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore the working capital management strategies managers used to improve profitability. The participants were eight private healthcare managers who had successfully implemented working capital management strategies to improve profitability. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and public records. Through …

Work-Life Balance Conflicts Parents Of Early Adolescents Faced During Covid-19 Lockdowns, Rodney Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Measures such as social distancing and lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic meant parents balanced their roles as educators, tech support, and employees in shared home offices. This qualitative phenomenological study was to investigate the work-life balance conflicts parents of early adolescents faced during the COVID-19 lockdowns, focusing on how parents managed the challenges of pandemic restrictions and their strategies for coping with cognitive, emotional, and physical fatigue for themselves and their families. This study was guided by the transactional theory of stress and coping. Twelve female parents were virtually interviewed, selected based on their having early adolescent children at home, …

African American Men’S Experiences In Mental Health Treatment Services In Rural Mississippi, Kimberly Jenkins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental health disorders affect African American men similarly compared to their racial/ethnic counterparts. The problem is African American men do not access and engage in mental health services continuously, which affects their mental health outcomes. Grounded in ecological systems theory, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore experiences of African American men, who have accessed and engaged in mental health treatment services. This study had three research questions focused on African American men’s perspectives on mental health services, personal experiences with mental health providers, and barriers they encountered when engaging in services. Participants were eight young adult African …

Utilizing Augmented Reality For Immersive Space Mission Design, Joseph Anderson

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Designing spacecraft mission trajectories is a complex, tedious, and stringent process that requires a strong background in astrodynamics and programming due to the complex dynamical environment of space. The current 2D visualization methods for displaying these geometrically abstract trajectories make it difficult to understand the true nature of more complex orbits. Advancements in immersive headsets and their intuitive interaction capabilities make them ideal for solving and understanding 3D problems that require complex spatial representations, revealing an innovative and unique opportunity for the astrodynamics and space mission planning field. This effort covers the development of an immersive space mission design tool …

Implementation Of The Extension For Community Healthcare Outcomes Model For Hypertension Education Of Frontline Health Care Workers In The Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria: Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Evaluation, Abigail S Baldridge, Mark D Huffman, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: The Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) model was adapted for hypertension education of community health extension workers in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, and delivered as a 7-part series.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate implementation outcomes of the hypertension ECHO series mapped to the first 3 levels of the Kirkpatrick model. Outcomes included reach, appropriateness (level 1), effectiveness (level 2), and penetration (level 3).

METHODS: From August 2022 to April 2023, 7 hypertension ECHO sessions were delivered via Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, Inc) to a health care worker audience including targeted community health extension workers at 12 …

Induction Of Cardiac Fibulin-4 Protects Against Pressure Overload-Induced Cardiac Hypertrophy And Heart Failure, E D Van Deel, C M Halabi, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The prevailing view of fibulin-4 deficient mice is that the cardiac phenotype is the result of aortic and/or valvular disease. In the present study, we have tested whether the cardiac phenotype is, at least in part, the consequence of primary cardiac effects of fibulin-4. We have found fibulin-4 expression to be activated throughout the myocardium in wildtype (fibulin-4

April 24, 2025, James Madison University

The Breeze, 2020-

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Age–Period–Cohort Effects Of Adult Cigarette Smoking In The United States, 1971–2020, Dinko Kranjac, Ashley W. Kranjac

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

The rates of cigarette use among American adults have dropped substantially throughout the last six decades, yet smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. It is crucial to identify the putative time-varying population-level factors of age, period, and cohort that influenced the decrease in smoking prevalence so we can maintain the downward trend. We used 49 years of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and hierarchical age–period–cohort (HAPC) analysis to examine lifecycle, historical, and generational distribution of smoking among Americans aged 18–74 years old. The prevalence of smoking has …

April 24, 2025, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

Proteomic Comparison Of Canine Gallbladder Versus Hepatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms, Nadia Richmond

LSU Master's Theses

Hepatobiliary neuroendocrine neoplasms (HBNENs) are uncommon tumors in people and dogs, and the limited understanding of their biologic behavior often poses a diagnostic and prognostic challenge in the clinical setting. Though only a low number of cases have been described in dogs, there is evidence to indicate that primary gallbladder NENs may carry a more favorable prognosis compared to primary hepatic NENs. The emergence of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) in proteomic analysis has permitted large-scale analysis of neoplastic proteomes, allowing for better understanding of tumor pathophysiology while simultaneously enabling the rapid identification of protein biomarkers. Previous work in our laboratory …

Relationship Between Within-Session Digital Motor Skill Acquisition And Alzheimer Disease Risk Factors Among The Mindcrowd Cohort: Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study, Andrew Hooyman, Matt J. Huentelman, Matt De Both, Lee Ryan, Kevin Duff, Sydney Y. Schaefer

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Background: Previous research has shown that in-lab motor skill acquisition (supervised by an experimenter) is sensitive to biomarkers of Alzheimer disease (AD). However, remote unsupervised screening of AD risk through a skill-based task via the web has the potential to sample a wider and more diverse pool of individuals at scale.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine a web-based motor skill game (“Super G”) and its sensitivity to risk factors of AD (eg, age, sex, APOE ε4 carrier status, and verbal learning deficits).

Methods:Emails were sent to 662 previous MindCrowd participants who had agreed …

High-Grade Astrocytoma With Piloid Features: A Single-Institution Case Series And Literature Review, Eric A Goethe, Subhiksha Srinivasan, Swaminathan Kumar, Sujit S Prabhu, Maria A Gubbiotti

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

High-grade astrocytoma with piloid features (HGAP) is a recently described primary brain tumor and the first requiring a specific methylation pattern for diagnosis, as its histologic features are often compatible with other tumors such as glioblastoma (GBM). Characterized by molecular alterations in CDKN2A/B, NF1, BRAF, FGFR1, and ATRX, they may be located anywhere in the CNS but show a predilection for the posterior fossa. Reports are limited to retrospective case series, and the standard of care is not yet established. We performed a retrospective review of electronic medical records of all patients with HGAP at our institution. Records were queried …

Dual Targeting Of Ezh2 And Ezh1 Drives Exit Of Leukemia Stem Cells From Quiescence And Potentiates Chemotherapy In Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Hiroki Akiyama, Yuki Nishida, Kyung Hee Chang, Andrea D Bedoy, Muharrem Muftuoglu, Mahesh Basyal, Daisuke Honma, Shinji Tsutsumi, Jing Wang, Weiguo Zhang, Xuelin Huang, Raajit K Rampal, Olalekan O Oluwole, Dale Lee Bixby, Naval G Daver, Michael Andreeff

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Idh Status Dictates Ohsv Mediated Metabolic Reprogramming Affecting Anti-Tumor Immunity, Upasana Sahu, Matthew P Mullarkey, Sara A Murphy, Joshua C Anderson, Vasanta Putluri, Jun Hyoung Park, Alexander L Ling, Benny A Kaipparettu, Ashok Sharma, Nagireddy Putluri, Pamela L Wenzel, Christopher D Willey, E Antonio Chiocca, James M Markert, Balveen Kaur

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Identification of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations has uncovered the crucial role of metabolism in gliomagenesis. Oncolytic herpes virus (oHSV) initiates direct tumor debulking by tumor lysis and activates anti-tumor immunity, however, little is known about the role of glioma metabolism in determining oHSV efficacy. Here we identify that oHSV rewires central carbon metabolism increasing glucose utilization towards oxidative phosphorylation and shuttling glutamine towards reductive carboxylation in IDH wildtype glioma. The switch in metabolism results in increased lipid synthesis and cellular ROS. PKC induces ACSL4 in oHSV treated cells leading to lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis. Ferroptosis is critical to launch an …

Skull Base Reconstruction With Nasoseptal Flap In Oncologic Cases: Can Narrow-Band Imaging Help? How We Do It, M Stavrakas, Y Kanaan, R Al-Ashqar, H Khalil, S Muquit

Peninsula Medical School

In cases in which the tumour involves the superior septum, careful planning of the flap and clear edges are of paramount importance (Figure 1). Our standard practice is to obtain tissue samples from macroscopically clear areas for frozen sections. This is an essential step to ensure avoidance of tumour seeding at the area of reconstruction. Following narrow-band imaging (NBI) mapping of the septum and nasal cavity, we take a biopsy from the superior edge of the proposed flap (Figure 2) for frozen section. Dual confirmation of the tumour-free edge helps us to proceed with safe reconstruction. The flap is raised …

Challenging Magicians’ Intuitive Insights: The Role Of Audience Participation In Experiencing A Magic Trick., Radoslaw Wincza, Gustav Kuhn

School of Psychology

Magic is a performance art that relies on tricking the spectator’s mind into experiencing things that seem impossible. Experience in performing these tricks in front of live audiences provides magicians valuable insights into how spectators experience such tricks. However, most of these assumptions have not been empirically tested. Three widely held assumptions were selected: active participation increases the sense of wonder that participants experience, naming a card feels freer to the participant than physically selecting a card from a deck, and a trick that happens in the spectator’s hand is more impressive than if it happens elsewhere. To validate those …

Investigating The Role Of Blood Models In Predicting Rupture Status Of Intracranial Aneurysms, Zonghan Lyu, Mostafa Rezaeitaleshmahalleh, Nan Mu, Jingfeng Jiang

Michigan Tech Publications

Purpose. Selecting patients with high-risk intracranial aneurysms (IAs) is of clinical importance. Recent work in machine learning-based (ML) predictive modeling has demonstrated that lesion-specific hemodynamics within IAs can be combined with other information to provide critical insights for assessing rupture risk. However, how the adoption of blood rheology models (i.e., Newtonian and Non-Newtonian blood models) may influence ML-based predictive modeling of IA rupture risk has not been investigated.Methods and Materials.In this study, we conducted transient CFD simulations using Newtonian and non-Newtonian rheology (Carreau-Yasuda [CY]) models on a large cohort of 'patient-specific' IA geometries (>100) under pulsatile flow conditions to …

Lifesaving Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: A Pilot Evaluation Of A Targeted Educational Intervention To Improve Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Provision In Volunteer Surf Lifesavers, David Reid, Katie M. Dixon, Leesa Equid, Chris Jacobson, Jasmin C. Lawes, Tracey Hare-Boyd, Andrew Chubb, Michelle Murphy, Kane Treloar, Pamela Simon, Ned Douglas

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Approximately 26,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in Australia each year, and only 13% of patients survive their event and return home. Survival variability from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests can be explained by a range of factors. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) education quality-improvement programs focusing on identified elements of basic life support provision in concert with resuscitation system interventions have been associated with significant improvements in survival after cardiac arrest. Surf Life Saving Australia members respond to approximately 65 cardiac arrests per year in the community while on duty and have successfully resuscitated many beachgoers over the years. In addition to this, …

Supply Chain Innovation: A Framework Of Public Procurement As A Demand-Side Innovation Driver, Peter Adjei-Bamfo, Hadrian Geri Djajadikerta, Ferry Jie, Kerry Brown, Reza Kiani Mavi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: Much of the supply chain innovation (SCI) literature has focused on innovation as driven by supply-side factors that often lead to incremental product changes. Such marginal innovation outcomes make suppliers less responsive to government buyers’ innovation needs for addressing societal challenges. Building on this observation, this article conceptualises how a demand-side innovation driver, namely public procurement, influences SCI radically and incrementally from downstream. Design/methodology/approach Employing the conceptual research approach and following established guidelines for building theory and conceptual development in management and supply chain research, we re-examine the SCI literature for existing assumptions about government innovation procurement and explain …

Fishing For Solutions: Compensation For Bycatch Reduction In The Gulf Of Mexico Shrimp Fishery, Daniel W. Harris

LSU Master's Theses

Bycatch, unintentionally caught non-target species, harms the profitability of commercial fishing operations and leads to death and injury of hundreds of thousands of marine animals per year. In the Gulf of Mexico, commercial shrimpers are required to use a bycatch reduction device (BRD). Better BRDs are being tested to further reduce bycatch. Because their use will not be mandatory, it is important to measure shrimper willingness to voluntarily adopt this conservation technology to predict potential fleet participation. This study uses contingent valuation to elicit commercial shrimpers’ willingness to accept compensation for using these new devices.

We employ an incentivized payment …

The Tale Of Two Forests: Oak Management In Memphis’S Urban Forested Natural Areas, Anna N. Vo, Lee E. Bridges, Allan Trently

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Management for oak (Quercus spp.) recruitment is difficult for many urban forested natural area managers (Piana et al., 2021a). A common theme in species composition of urban forested natural areas is dominance of oaks in the overstory with little to no oak regeneration (Pregitzer et al., 2019; Fahey et al., 2012). Developing urban silvicultural techniques that promote oak restoration that are also feasible at varying scales and socially acceptable has presented a challenge to managers (Piana et al., 2021b). The Memphis Botanic Garden and Overton Park Conservancy are combining their management and research efforts to improve understanding and management …

The P130cas-Crk/Crkl Axis: A Therapeutic Target For Invasive Cancers Unveiled By Collaboration Among P130cas, Crk, And Crkl., Pegah Farhadi, Taeju Park

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Numerous studies have documented the involvement of p130Cas (Crk-associated substrate) in a wide range of cellular processes across different types of cells. These processes encompass cell transformation, the connection between the extracellular matrix and the actin cytoskeleton, cell migration and invasion, and cardiovascular development. Moreover, p130Cas has been associated with the regulation of various physiological processes, including mammary, bone, brain, muscle, and liver homeostasis. The diverse functions of p130Cas can be attributed to its possession of multiple protein-protein interaction domains, which sets it apart as a unique class of adaptor protein. It is well established that p130Cas interacts critically with …

Differences In Hepatocellular Carcinoma Incidence Trends Across Us Census Divisions, 2001 To 2021, Hashem B El-Serag, Elyse Burgess, Abiodun O Oluyomi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background/Objectives: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer diagnoses and deaths in the United States. This study serves as an update on secular trends in national HCC incidence rates while exploring potential geographic and racial/ethnic differences across all nine US census divisions.

Methods: We analyzed HCC incidence data reported to the United States Cancer Statistics (USCS) database from 2001 to 2021 (excluding 2020 data, based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's cautionary recommendations for COVID-19 pandemic data usage for trend analysis). We performed trend analyses of age-adjusted incidence rates in the US overall, by census …