Digital Commons Network^™

Differences In Long Covid Severity By Duration Of Illness, Symptom Evolution, And Vaccination: A Longitudinal Cohort Study From The Inspire Group, Michael Gottlieb, Huihui Yu, Ji Chen, Erica S. Spatz, Nicole L. Gentile, Rachel E. Geyer, Michelle Santangelo, Caitlin Malicki, Kristyn Gatling, Sharon Saydah, Kelli N. O'Laughlin, Kari A. Stephens, Joann G. Elmore, Lauren E. Wisk, Michelle L'Hommedieu, Robert M. Rodriguez, Juan Carlos C. Montoy, Ralph C. Wang, Kristin L. Rising, Efrat Kean, Jonathan W. Dyal, Mandy J. Hill, Arjun K. Venkatesh, Robert A. Weinstein

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

Background: Although short-term outcomes of Long COVID have been described, longer-term physical and mental health outcomes of Long COVID are less well-established. This study sought to assess differences in long-term physical and mental health outcomes extending up to three years among those with current, resolved, and no Long COVID, as well as duration of Long COVID and vaccination status. Methods: This was a prospective, multisite, study of participants with SARS-CoV-2 infection from 12/7/2020-8/29/2022, with data collected through 4/2/2024. Surveys included validated tools for physical and mental health. Data were analyzed by Long COVID status (never-had, resolved, current), Long COVID duration …

The Great Scrape: The Clash Between Scraping And Privacy, Daniel J. Solove, Woodrow Hartzog

Faculty Scholarship

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems depend on massive quantities of data, often gathered by “scraping”—the automated extraction of large amounts of data from the internet. A great deal of scraped data contains people’s personal information. This personal data provides the grist for AI tools such as facial recognition, deep fakes, and generative AI. Although scraping enables web searching, archiving of records, and meaningful scientific research, scraping for AI can also be objectionable and even harmful to individuals and society.

Organizations are scraping at an escalating pace and scale, even though many privacy laws are seemingly incongruous with the practice. In this …

Unequal Ownership, Ofer Eldar, Rory Van Loo

Faculty Scholarship

Market concentration and weak competition do not just lead to lower efficiency but also result in corporate profits flowing primarily to wealthy households that own a disproportionate share of public corporations. We demonstrate that this is a growing distributional problem not only due to familiar reasons in the literature, most notably shifts in market power, but also due to changes in the socio-economic makeup of ownership. Over the past twenty years, households in the bottom 90 percent of wealth have seen their share of stock ownership decline by half. That is, the ownership of corporations has become increasingly concentrated among …

Bayesian Alloy Design With Additive Synthesis, Michael R. Sulwer

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

To reduce carbon emissions and increase power out, steam powerplants need to increase the operating temperatures and pressures of steam turbines to improve efficiency. This necessitates the development of high temperature alloys with superior strength and stability. This research aims to design a class of solid solution High Entropy Alloys (HEAs) to exceed the high temperature performance of commercial alloys like Haynes 230 while maintaining comparable costs for Advanced Ultra Supercritical (A-USC) steam cycles. This project integrates Bayesian optimization and Calculation of Phase Diagrams (CALPHAD) within an Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) framework to predict and optimize key material properties: …

Towards Developing Glut2 Specific Probes For Biochemical And Biomedical Applications, Abdelrahman Ismail

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Facilitated Glucose transporters (GLUTs) are membrane proteins responsible for the uptake of simple sugars and other structurally similar metabolites in all mammalian cells. One of the hallmarks of cancer is dysfunctional sugar metabolism, known as the Warburg effect, and one of the manifestations of that effect is abnormal GLUT expression. There are 14 known GLUT proteins with different expression patterns in different tissues, and tumors tend to express certain GLUTs that are not present in surrounding healthy tissue. Therefore, selective targeting of GLUTs presents a potentially powerful tool for diagnostics and treatment of cancer and other diseases. This has been …

Stability And Resonance Of Cylindrical Wave Energy Converters, Gregory M. Ballen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

With increased focus on wave energy converters that produce power in multiple degrees of motion, more tools are necessary to understand the behavior of these devices and cause them to reach critical resonance points. This thesis uses Floquet theory and a numerical solver to understand how a WEC of given parameters operating in surge, heave and pitch may approach points of instability using feedback control schemes. It finds that a WEC reaches these resonance points when the surge and pitch motions are driven to resonate at either the same frequency as the heave motion, or at half this frequency. This …

Energy Transitions In Underserved Communities: Meaningful Engagement To Address Energy Burdens And Air Pollution, Nyasha Milanzi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This report presents two connected studies focused on environmental justice and community engagement in energy transitions. The first study examines engagement practices in EPA-funded projects using interviews and public abstracts. Applying the EngageINFEWS framework, it analyses stakeholder dynamics and offers recommendations for working with underserved communities. Key insights include addressing power imbalances, securing funding, building capacity, and fostering communication. The second study centres on the REJuST project, which supports energy justice in a rural northern community impacted by public health concerns linked to a bioenergy facility burning wood, paper, plastics, and tire-derived fuels. I use survey data to explore resident …

Climate Planning, Energy Sovereignty, And Electric Vehicle Perceptions Among Michigan’S Tribal Nations, Alexis Belle Tater

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Climate change will especially impact marginalized communities and communities with less government support for funding climate adaptation actions. The first chapter of this report focuses on climate change responses, specifically Tribal Nations in the state of Michigan. In the current U.S. context, funding for large climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in Tribal Nations can be achieved through federal funding from the CPRG (Climate Pollution Reduction Grant), which requires an established PCAP (Priority Climate Action Plans) to guide decision making in alignment with identified priorities. I discuss the importance of Tribal sovereignty, the potential implications of its inclusion and exclusion …

Molecular Modeling Methods And Applications For Accelerating Polymerization And Pyrolysis Studies, Joshua D. Kemppainen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Polymer matrix composites and carbon-carbon composites play critical roles in the aerospace, automotive, and construction industries. Different matrix materials and processing conditions can lead to a large variety of composite materials and composite properties. Integrated computational materials engineering has been used to tailor PMC matrix materials and processing conditions to specific properties and manufacturing techniques. The integrated computational materials engineering process modeling framework uses molecular dynamics at the nanometer length scale to characterize the evolving thermo-mechanical properties of the polymer as it cures. Then finite element analysis is used at the micrometer length scale to adjust cure cycles to tailor …

Leveraging Product And Process Characteristics Across The Concrete Pavement Life Cycle To Integrate Global Warming Potential Into Project Procurement Processes, Michelle Annette Cooper

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The objective of this research is to support sustainable procurement of concrete pavements by linking materials-level global warming potential (GWP) to the project-level. Infrastructure owners require reliable environmental product declarations (EPDs) and methodologies for integrating GWP into the procurement process to ensure equitable decision-making. This work provides insights into current EPD reliability by assessing the sensitivity of concrete GWP to materials-level contributors to recommend a level of supply chain specificity needed to effectively communicate GWP. A benchmarking methodology was developed and implemented to establish reference values for procuring sustainable products. Having provided evidence towards EPD reliability, this work presents a …

Schaper Numbers, Palindrome Partitions, And Symmetric Functions, With Applications To Characters Of The Symmetric Group, Karlee J. Westrem

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Finding the decomposition numbers for the symmetric group is a difficult problem and has led to many different research directions. For a given Specht module, the Schaper sum formula can be refined with knowledge of the Schaper number for the particular partition to give more precise information about the decomposition numbers. In Chapter 2, we give a combinatorial formula for the Schaper number when the partition has at most two columns. At the end, we provide a conjecture for the Schaper number for the partition of shaper (3^n).

Chapter 3 covers the joint work with my advisor, David Hemmer, and …

Phase-Field Method Of Fracture In Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites: Theory, Modeling, And Validation, Akash Kumar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPCs) are widely used in aerospace, automotive, and civil engineering due to their high specific strength, stiffness, and durability. However, their anisotropic and heterogeneous nature makes fracture prediction challenging, with damage modes classified as intralaminar failure (matrix cracking, fiber breakage, fiber-matrix debonding) and interlaminar delamination. Delamination, driven by weak through-thickness strength and high interlaminar stresses, is a predominant failure mechanism in FRPCs. While cohesive zone models (CZMs) are commonly used for delamination, they are computationally expensive and inefficient for capturing intralaminar fractures where crack paths are unknown. To address this, we developed a unified phase field-based cohesive …

Distributing Composition: Rhetorical Agency In First-Year Writing, Elizabeth Novotny

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This project centers on engaging students in class lessons related to rhetorical agency. Typically understood as the capacity to act, within rhetoric, I define agency as the capacity to make meaning. In most traditional Western conceptions, agency is primarily located with the individual rhetor. However, these views were increasingly challenged throughout the later twentieth century as theorists from various traditions came to understand that discussing our agency as solely our own doing was insufficient. In contrast to an individualistic understanding of agency, theories that characterize rhetorical agency as more fragmented have evolved, where, instead of writing and rhetoric being …

Great Lakes And Its Regional Climate In The Future, Miraj Bhakta Kayastha

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The overarching objective of this dissertation is to enhance our predictive understanding of the Great Lakes regional climate by utilizing advanced modeling techniques and provide comprehensive insights into the future of the Great Lakes. This dissertation focuses on four areas pertinent to the future of the Great Lakes hydroclimate and extreme events, beginning with the derivation of robust water level projections for the Great Lakes in Chapter 2. Using a regional climate modeling system with a two-way coupled three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamic lake and ice model for the Great lakes, we analyze long-term future changes in the over-lake precipitation, lake evaporation, …

Near-Infrared Fluorescent Cyanine Probes For Monitoring Nad(P)H Dynamics In Living Cells And Drosophila Larvae, May Waters

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+/NADH) plays a critical role in cellular metabolism, with abnormally elevated NADH levels linked to disrupted metabolic processes and cancer. In this study, we developed near-infrared fluorescent probes to selectively measure NADH concentrations. We present five cyanine-based probes, which were optimized by modifying the connection bridges to fine tune electronics. Two NAD(P)H-biosensing probes consisting of 1,3,3-trimethyl-3H-indolium and 3-quinolinium acceptors, linked by thiophene, A, and 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene, B, bridges are detailed. They exhibit near-infrared fluorescence at 742.1 nm and 727.2 nm for probes A and B, respectively, and generate absorbance signals at 690.6 nm and 685.9 nm. Probe A …

From Plasmonics To Superfluorescence: Engineering Light- Matter Interactions For Quantum Optical Phenomena, Aaron J. Wildenborg

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This work presents different ways to engineer light-matter interactions by using nanostructures to exploit quantum-optical phenomena. First, sodium (Na) is predicted to be an ideal plasmonic material due to its ultra-low optical losses from the visible to the near-infrared (NIR). However, Na has practical limitations due to its high chemical reactivity. Using a scalable fabrication method for Na plasmonic nanostructures by combining phase-shift photolithography and a thermo-assisted spin-coating process, we produced nano-pit arrays of varying periodicities (300-600 nm), supporting tunable surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes spanning visible to NIR. These structures demonstrated SPP resonances as narrow as 9.3 nm, with …

Biomedical Applications Of Reactive Oxygen Species From Catechol Oxidation, Zhongtian Zhang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Catechol, a key functional moiety found in mussel adhesive proteins, undergoes oxidation to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can be leveraged for biomedical and environmental applications. By modifying catechol-based polymers, ROS generation can be controlled and applied toward organic compound degradation, antimicrobial treatments, and polymer crosslinking. This dissertation focuses on the design and application of catechol-based materials that leverage ROS generation for biomedical and environmental applications.

Linear Response Of Driven Non-Hermitian Photonic Systems, Lucas R. Simonson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The notion of non-Hermitian engineering in optics and photonics has attracted considerable attention in the past decade. From laser devices and sensing applications to light trapping and guiding, non-Hermitian engineering provides additional degrees of freedom that allows for more control over light-matter interaction. It is thus of great importance to develop a deep insight into the linear response of non-Hermitian optical systems. We begin by studying the linear response of non-Hermitian Hamiltonian systems under general conditions and derive an expression for its Green's operator in terms of its eigenvectors and its canonical Jordan vectors. Next, we investigate the quantum noise …

Ansi Z97 Impact Testing Of Thin Glass, Justin P. Anthony

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

To determine whether thin glass constructions can pass Z97 impact test to qualify as safety glass an extensive protocol was performed. Constructions including monolithic, chemically strengthened, filmed, laminated, and triple pane insulated glass units comprised of thin glass ranging in thickness between 0.50 mm and 1.6mm were evaluated. Test results indicate annealed specimens, and laminated specimens performed similar to constructions with 3 mm and 6 mm glass. Specimens with 0.2 mm film consistently performed as safety glass for thicknesses between 0.7 mm and 1.6 mm and similar performance for specimens with 0.1 mm film with thickness of 1.1 mm and …

Investigating Dimensions Of Social Vulnerability To Wildfire: A Case Study Of Western Montana, Ella Brodowski

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Communities across the US are facing increased wildfire risks due in part to historic fire suppression efforts, a warming climate, and an influx of people residing in wildland urban interface (WUI) landscapes. Because of these increasing risks, there have been growing concerns about the social factors that can increase individual and community vulnerability to wildfires. This research adds to the discussion of social vulnerability by examining how people living in a geographic area with heightened wildfire risk think about the ways in which people can be more or less vulnerable to wildfires. Using semi-structured interviews, round table discussions, and field …

Proximal Seismic Tracking Of Pyroclastic Density Currents At Volcán De Fuego, Guatemala, Jacob A. Krier

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Pyroclastic Density Currents (PDCs) are deadly flows of ash, tephra, gas, and solidified magma which predominantly occur when an ash plume collapses during a volcanic eruption. PDCs are also able to form when large deposits of ash at the summit of a volcano are displaced during an eruption and flow downslope. This is typically the mechanism behind PDCs that occur at Volcán de Fuego such as one that occurred in 2018 killing at least 430 people. The purpose of this paper is to track the propagation of PDCs that occurred at Fuego seismologically in order to better understand how they …

Relict Ponderosa Pine Mortality And Fuels Study In The Bob Marshall Wilderness, Montana, Usa, Laura K. Schimmel

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Many forests have historically experienced mixed-severity fire regimes that were disrupted during the 20th century due to fire exclusion policy. A stand of relict Pinus ponderosa in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex that burned in 2003, 2011, and 2018 provides a unique case study for investigating the effects of returned fire to the landscape. Many of the trees have fire scars or Indigenous bark-peeling scars, preserving valuable ecological and anthropological history. We sought to determine whether scarred trees were more susceptible to fire damage, if larger trees had greater fire resilience than smaller trees, and if fuel loads have changed …

Life Cycle Assessment And Techno-Economic Analysis Of Mine Tailings As A Sustainable Raw Material For Mineral Carbonation And Recovery Of Critical Minerals, Vida Amankwaa

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This study assesses the feasibility of using mine tailings for mineral carbonation and nickel recovery through a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA). The LCA quantifies greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and resource consumption, while the TEA evaluates capital investment, operational costs, and process efficiency. The conventional beneficiation process at Eagle Mine serves as a baseline, highlighting its environmental footprint and operational costs. Results indicate that tailings reprocessing incurs higher costs ($34.76 per tonne of tailings processed) compared to conventional ore processing ($25.90 per tonne) due to increased energy consumption and material handling requirements. Additionally, several mineral …

Developing A Graphql Mesh Federated Api Gateway: Rapid Integration Of New Endpoints Into A Predefined Schema, Noah Kolczynski

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Navy’s Undersea Warfare Decision Support System (USW-DSS) uses data from an ever growing number of sensors, accessible through an equally growing number of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Due to the lack of standardization among these sensors and APIs, as the system has continued to grow, the challenge of collecting and using these data has become increasingly prevalent. Previous work at Michigan Tech, in collaboration with engineers at ARiA (Applied Research in Acoustics LLC), introduced a GraphQL Mesh federated API gateway. The gateway would enable the combination of diverse API sources into a predefined hierarchical structure. This report follows the …

Knowledge Integrated Deep Learning For Enhanced Fault Diagnosis And Prognosis For Rotating Machinery And Its Applications On Marine Systems, Yunsheng Su

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation develops a knowledge-informed deep learning framework for robust fault diagnosis and prognosis across various engineered systems, including bearings, lithium-ion batteries, and mooring systems in wave energy converters (WECs). A deep transfer learning (DTL) method is first developed to improve bearing fault diagnosis by fusing data from multiple sources and extracting key features using convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Building upon this, a knowledge-informed deep network (KIDN) framework is proposed, integrating physics-based features with deep learning to enhance diagnostic accuracy and generalizability. A constrained Gaussian process (CGP) model is further employed to guide adaptive network design and reduce model tuning …

Computational Tools For Protein Classification In Metagenomes, Fawad Ullah

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Advances in genomic sequencing have dramatically increased the amount and the speed at which genomic data is being generated. These technological advances have enabled the ability to profile the genetic information of organisms and communities at unprecedented scales. Many methods have been developed to identify and classify genes within these datasets. However, many generic pipelines for gene annotation struggle to accurately predict specific protein classes that may not be represented in their databases. Two major challenges exist for classification of specific protein classes in metagenomic databases. The first is the fact that many metagenomic assemblies are highly fragmented with many …

Sugar Maple (Acer Saccharum Marsh.) Tree-Ring Growth And Carbon Stable Isotope Responses To Nitrogen And Climate, Libbie Ring

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dendrochronological and stable carbon isotope study used tree rings from sugar maple (Acer Saccharum Marsh.) collected at long-term nitrogen (N) amended sites throughout Michigan to understand N amendment and deposition, climate, and growth relationships. Climate responses varied by site, however, we found importance in grouping sites by “productivity” which is related to inherent N and soil nutrients. Our results did not detect an overall effect of N amendments on growth during the treatment period. However, data shows N amendments benefiting larger diameter trees, while smaller diameter trees responded more positively without amendments, especially on more productive sites. Results …

The Accidental School Nurse: How Australian Registered Nurses Enter School Nursing, Anita Moyes, Susan Karemba

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Australia has a long history of school nursing and a strong orientation to formal educational pathways for nursing specialization. Despite this, pathways for becoming a school nurse are lacking, and how Australian nurses became a school nurse is unclear. The aim of this study was to gain insight into this issue. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 Australian school nurses. Data was analyzed using inductive content analysis. Findings identified that Australian school nurses typically became a school nurse by accident, not design. They entered school nursing having already had a long and diverse clinical career and were drawn to school …

Needs And Pathways For Strengthening The Contribution Of Qualitative Methods Toward More Effective Impact Assessment Practice, Heidi Walker, A. John Sinclair, Alan P. Diduck, Alan Bond, Jenny Pope, Angus Morrison-Saunders, Francois Retief

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Many jurisdictions are looking to next-generation impact assessment (IA) that includes sustainability considerations that extend beyond biophysical. Subjectivity is inherent in many of these additional impact considerations, and they are often not easily nor effectively quantified. Delivering effective IA within this broadening scope requires new, innovative, and rigorous applications of qualitative methods that enable meaningful inclusion of diverse knowledges, values, and information. While many qualitative methods are available for IA, there remains a significant opportunity to strengthen their contribution toward more effective IA practice. As such, we establish in this paper needs that must be addressed if qualitative methods are …

Belongingness, Trust And Connection: Arts Teachers In Western Australian Schools Create Safe Learning Spaces, Christina Gray, Lisa Paris, Geoffrey Lowe, Angela Perry, Lara Warwick

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Central to this phenomenological inquiry is the question of how students’ fundamental needs of belonging, trust and connection are enacted in arts classrooms. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews, this research explores the teaching practices of 23 expert arts teachers in Western Australian schools, revealing strategies to sustain supportive and safe learning environments. The findings highlight the disconnection students face in their schools and the significance of trust in embracing diversity, cultivating quality relationships, and empowering student voice. Understanding these evolving practices can enable less experienced teachers to adapt arts-based approaches to foster inclusive spaces that prioritise student well-being and connection.