Digital Commons Network^™

First Record Of The Camphor Shot Borer, Cnestus Mutilatus (Blandford) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), In Massachusetts, Lawrence E. Barringer

Insecta Mundi

Cnestus mutilatus (Blandford) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) is reported from Massachusetts, United States for the first time. Brief trapping information is provided.

Pre-Service Teachers’ Questions About Literacy Instruction For Multilingual Learners, Lindsey W. Rowe, Oluwaseun Ayobami Oti, Katie Mcgee

Publications

As classrooms in the United States become increasingly linguistically diverse, teachers need to be prepared to provide equitable literacy instruction to multilingual learners (MLs). This paper explores the experiences of pre-service teachers (PSTs) in one elementary education course focused on literacy instruction for MLs, specifically asking: What questions do PSTs ask about literacy instruction for MLs? PSTs posed questions multiple times a week as part of their reading responses and post-class exit tickets, resulting in 1,375 questions for analysis. Open and pattern coding found that PSTs’ questions focused on: 1) students, 2) environment, 3) teaching practice, 4) self, and 5) …

Renewable Assignments: Comparing Faculty And Student Perceptions, Julie Lazzara, Matthew Bloom, Virginia Clinton-Lisell

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Faculty Publications

This study examined faculty and student perceptions of renewable assignments within an OER-enabled pedagogy framework. Building on Wiley and Hilton’s (2018) framework, this study focused on the subset of practices that result in renewable assignments. Renewable assignments leverage OER permissions (reuse, redistribute, retain, remix, revise) to produce student work with value beyond the classroom. The study compared college students’ (N = 24) perceptions of value, interest, motivation, and reward for renewable assignments versus those of the instructor (N = 1) in one online class. Students reported that the value, interest, motivation, and reward of the renewable assignment were somewhat better …

John Benscoter V. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co

2024 Decisions

USDC for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Thermotherapy Has Sexually Dimorphic Responses In App/Ps1 Mice., Samuel A Mcfadden, Mackenzie R Peck, Lindsey N Sime, Makayla F Cox, Erol D Ikiz, Caleigh A Findley, Kathleen Quinn, Yimin Fang, Andrzej Bartke, Erin R Hascup, Kevin N Hascup

Articles

A thermoregulatory decline occurs with age due to changes in muscle mass, vasoconstriction, and metabolism that lowers core body temperature (Tc). Although lower Tc is a biomarker of successful aging, we have previously shown this worsens cognitive performance in the APP/PS1 mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We hypothesized that elevating Tc with thermotherapy would improve metabolism and cognition in APP/PS1 mice. From 6-12 months of age, male and female APP/PS1 and C57BL/6 mice were chronically housed at 23 or 30°C. At 12 months of age, mice were assayed for insulin sensitivity, glucose tolerance, and spatial cognition. Plasma, hippocampal, and …

Cryo-Em Structure Of A Photosystem I Variant Containing An Unusual Plastoquinone Derivative In Its Electron Transfer Chain, Christopher J. Gisriel, Vasily Kurashov, David F. Iwig, Brandon P. Russell, David J. Vinyard, Gary W. Brudvig, John H. Golbeck, K. V. Lakshmi

Faculty Publications

Photosystem I (PS I) is a light-driven oxidoreductase responsible for converting photons into chemical bond energy. Its application for renewable energy was revolutionized by the creation of the MenB deletion (ΔmenB) variant in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, in which phylloquinone is replaced by plastoquinone-9 with a low binding affinity. This permits its exchange with exogenous quinones covalently coupled to dihydrogen catalysts that bind with high affinity, thereby converting PS I into a stable solar fuel catalyst. Here, we reveal the 2.03-Å-resolution cryo-EM structure of a recent MenB variant of PS I. The quinones and their binding environment are …

Student Chamber Music Recital, November 19, 2024 [Program], University Of Northern Iowa. School Of Music.

Music Recital Programs

Program of a music recital given by faculty, students, or guest artists from the School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa.

Redefining Research Impact: Developing And Evaluating Modified H-Indexes For Comprehensive Academic Assessment, Nash Mayhue Minton

Theses and Dissertations

In academic research, the h-index has gained prominence as a useful metric for gauging the impact and productivity of researchers. This thesis seeks to provide a general overview of the h-index by providing information on the positive applications that the h-index utilizes, as well as the faults and limitations that diminish its utility. This thesis aims to combat the bias of hyper-authorship, which inherently inflates researchers' h-indexes by disproportionately attributing credit to individuals in multi-author publications, as well as provide other indices that could prove to be a possible replacement index or to be used as a basis for creating …

Early Recognition And Management Of Aggressive Behaviors In Delirium, Melissa Dawn Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Patients experiencing delirium are challenging for nurses, especially when aggressive behavior is also present. Nurses from all specialties have the potential to encounter patients who have or develop delirium during their hospitalization, particularly in the intensive care unit. Nurses may lack the experience needed to recognize impending aggression which often presents as subtle cognitive changes or do not know the proper way to manage these types of patients. This makes standardized guidelines crucial for the safety of both the nurse and the patient. This project addresses that practice gap through developing an evidence-based clinical practice guideline (CPG) that will help …

Abstracttrace: The Use Of Execution Traces To Cluster, Classify, Prioritize, And Optimize A Bloated Test Suite, Ziad A. Al-Sharif, Clinton L. Jeffrey

Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Articles

Due to the incremental and iterative nature of the software testing process, a test suite may become bloated with redundant, overlapping, and similar test cases. This paper aims to optimize a bloated test suite by employing an execution trace that encodes runtime events into a sequence of characters forming a string. A dataset of strings, each of which represents the code coverage and execution behavior of a test case, is analyzed to identify similarities between test cases. This facilitates the de-bloating process by providing a formal mechanism to identify, remove, and reduce extra test cases without compromising software quality. This …

Akt Kinases As Therapeutic Targets, Dalal Hassan, Craig Menges, Joseph Testa, Alfonso Bellacosa

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

AKT, or protein kinase B, is a central node of the PI3K signaling pathway that is pivotal for a range of normal cellular physiologies that also underlie several pathological conditions, including inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, overgrowth syndromes, and neoplastic transformation. These pathologies, notably cancer, arise if either the activity of AKT or its positive or negative upstream or downstream regulators or effectors goes unchecked, superimposed on by its intersection with a slew of other pathways. Targeting the PI3K/AKT pathway is, therefore, a prudent countermeasure. AKT inhibitors have been tested in many clinical trials, primarily in combination with other drugs. While …

American Society For Metabolic And Bariatric Surgery Review Of Body Composition, Jonathan Carter, Farah Husain, Pavlos Papasavas, Salvatore Docimo, Vance Albaugh, Laura Aylward, Cynthia Blalock, Sue Benson-Davies

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Although the body mass index (BMI) has been used as a measure of obesity for decades, it is now possible to measure adiposity more directly with technologies that can quantitate body fat and other tissues. The purpose of this review is to understand body composition, describe the different ways to measure it, review changes in body composition after metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS), and provide guidance on how providers can introduce measurements of body composition into their everyday practice.

American Society For Metabolic And Bariatric Surgery Review Of The Body Mass Index, Jonathan Carter, Farah Husain, Pavlos Papasavas, Salvatore Docimo, Vance Albaugh, Laura Aylward, Cynthia Blalock, Sue Benson-Davies

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

The body mass index was first described almost 200 years ago and has since been used as a measure of obesity. This review describes the history, advantages, disadvantages, and alternatives to the body mass index in the care of the metabolic and bariatric surgical patient.

Ecolabel Persuasion Effect Across Cultures: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis, Franklin Velasco, Omar S. Itani, Paul Cajina

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose: Companies around the world have included ecolabels as a marketing strategy to convince consumers to choose products with lower environmental impact. However, the literature lacks a consensus on the effectiveness of ecolabels in persuading consumers to choose green products. The present meta-analysis addresses this gap by, first, evaluating the net persuasion effect of using ecolabels and, second, investigating the role of cultural orientations, operationalized at the country level, in this effect.

Methodology: This cross-cultural meta-analysis analyzed data from 26,116 consumers across 18 countries, encompassing 75 papers published between 1995 and 2023. Univariate and meta-regression analyses were utilized.

Findings: …

A Phenomenological Case Study Of High School Administrator Perceptions Of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports, Kimberly Renee Pittman

Student Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological case study explores the perceptions of high school administrators who have implemented Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) at the universal tier with fidelity. For this study, perceptions refer to the views and experiences of administrators implementing SWPBIS on the success and growth they have seen in their schools. The researcher was interested in determining whether these perceptions are related to the experienced successes. The study’s theoretical framework was derived from theories of motivation and reinforcement. SWPBIS is discussed in the study as a positive reinforcer to stimulate learners to show positive outcomes. It is also addressed …

Blended Learning In The Elementary Classroom: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study, Leslie Barger

Student Theses and Dissertations

The perceptions of Tennessee educators who successfully implemented blended learning in their classrooms were the main focus of this phenomenological study. Blended learning is a modality that uses stations which consist of a teacher-led station, an online station, and an off-line station. Teachers work in small groups with students while others in the class complete personalized lessons on the computer or in cooperative learning groups. Focus groups consisting of teacher volunteers from a Tennessee school district were interviewed to examine the perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the blended learning modality used in their classrooms, with a focus on educators teaching …

Bridging High-Performance Work System And Hotel’S Innovation Performance: A Serial Mediation Of Human Resource Flexibility And Knowledge Absorptive Capacity, Saad Hassan, Fatima Tahir, Zeeshan Ahmed, Saqlain Raza, Muhammad Kashif Nawaz

Plymouth Business School

Purpose: The study advances research on the high-performance work system (HPWS) and innovation performance (IP) linkage by empirically analyzing the serial mediation of human resource flexibility (HRF) and knowledge absorptive capacity (KAC). Previous research on the HPWS–IP linkage underscores the presence of a “black box.” Therefore, the present study aims to unravel the underexplored HPWS–IP relationship through HRF and KAC mediation in the context of the hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach: Survey-based time-lagged data were collected from 303 mid-level managers in the hotel industry. Structural equation modeling (SEM) using Smart-PLS 4 was used to test hypothesized relationships. Findings: The results reveal that …

Multi-Temporal Analysis Of Urbanization-Driven Slope And Ecological Impact Using Machine-Learning And Remote Sensing Techniques, Zhang Hao, Muhammad Haseeb, Zheng Xiangtian, Zainab Tahir, Syed Amer Mahmood, Aqil Tariq, Rana Waqar Aslam, M. Abdullah-Al-Wadud, Hesham El-Askary

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Rapid urbanization in Lahore, Pakistan, has led to significant ecological and thermal challenges, particularly the intensification of Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects and increased thermal stress as measured by the Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI). This study employs a multi-temporal evaluation of Landsat satellite imagery and GIS-based analysis to investigate the Spatio-temporal trends in land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes from 1994 to 2024. We detected substantial changes in urban growth, vegetation cover, and barren areas using supervised classification (Random Forest) methods and remote sensing indices such as NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), NDMI (Normalized Difference Moisture Index), NDBI (Normalized …

Association Between Spinal Manipulation, Butalbital Prescription, And Medication Overuse Headache In Adults With Tension-Type Headache: Retrospective Cohort Study, Robert J. Trager, Pratheek S. Makineni, Lindsay H. Morris

Faculty Scholarship

Background and Aims: Butalbital is an acute headache medication commonly prescribed for tension-type headache (TTH), although discouraged by guidelines due to a risk of medication overuse headache (MOH). Considering spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) may reduce TTH frequency and intensity, we hypothesized adults with TTH receiving chiropractic SMT would be less likely to receive a butalbital prescription over 2 years versus matched controls not receiving SMT. We secondarily compared likelihood of MOH between cohorts. Methods: We searched a United States medical records database of patients attending academic medical centers for adults with TTH, from 2013 to 2024, excluding those diagnosed with …

De-Identification Is Not Enough: A Comparison Between De-Identified And Synthetic Clinical Notes, Atiquer Rahman Sarkar, Yao-Shun Chuang, Noman Mohammed, Xiaoqian Jiang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

For sharing privacy-sensitive data, de-identification is commonly regarded as adequate for safeguarding privacy. Synthetic data is also being considered as a privacy-preserving alternative. Recent successes with numerical and tabular data generative models and the breakthroughs in large generative language models raise the question of whether synthetically generated clinical notes could be a viable alternative to real notes for research purposes. In this work, we demonstrated that (i) de-identification of real clinical notes does not protect records against a membership inference attack, (ii) proposed a novel approach to generate synthetic clinical notes using the current state-of-the-art large language models, (iii) evaluated …

Strategies For Information Technology Managers To Mitigate Data Manipulation Challenges Within Healthcare Cloud, Oluwtosin Joseph Adeola

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Healthcare information technology (IT) managers often lack effective protection strategies against cloud-based data manipulation, leaving their organizations vulnerable to significant financial, health, and privacy risks. Grounded in the technology threat avoidance theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore strategies healthcare IT managers have to mitigate data manipulation that threatens data integrity related to the healthcare cloud. The participants were four IT managers of healthcare organizations in the Central Texas region of the United States who had strategies to mitigate data manipulation in the healthcare cloud. The data were collected using semistructured interviews and reviewing journals available …

Validation Versus Gossip: A Fine Line Dilemma, Essraa Nawar

Library Articles and Research

"Years ago, a friend confronted me about something that shifted my perspective on communication. They told me I wasn’t validating them enough. Instead of listening to their frustrations, I would jump into 'fix-it' mode—offering solutions, mediating, or even defending the other person. At the time, I thought I was helping. But their frustration was clear: 'I don’t need you to solve this. I just need someone to listen.'

That feedback stayed with me. It made me wonder: What does it mean to validate someone’s feelings? Is listening enough? And what happens when validation crosses the line into gossip? This is …

Id1 And Id3 Functions In The Modulation Of The Tumour Immune Microenvironment In Adult Patients With B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, Nathaly Poveda-Garavito, Carlos A. Orozco Castaño, Yulieth Torres-Llanos, Nataly Cruz-Rodriguez, Rafael Parra-Medina, Sandra Quijano, Jovanny Zabaleta, Alba Lucia Combita

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Introduction: B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) in adults often presents a poor prognosis. ID1 and ID3 genes have been identified as predictors of poor response in Colombian adult B-ALL patients, contributing to cancer development. In various cancer models, these genes have been associated with immune regulatory populations within the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). B-ALL progression alters immune cell composition and the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment, impacting disease progression and therapy response. This study investigates the relationship between ID1 and ID3 expression, TIME dynamics, and immune evasion mechanisms in adult B-ALL patients. Methods: This exploratory study analysed BM samples from 10 …

A Tetramer Of Bcl11a Is Required For Stable Protein Production And Fetal Hemoglobin Silencing, Ge Zheng, Maolu Yin, Stuti Mehta, I-Te Chu, Stacy Wang, Alia Alshaye, Kirstin Drainville, Altantsetseg Buyanbat, Frédérique Bienfait, Karin Tenglin, Qian Zhu, Stuart H Orkin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Down-regulation of BCL11A protein reverses the fetal (HbF, α2γ2) to adult (HbA, α2β2) hemoglobin switch and is exploited in gene-based therapy for hemoglobin disorders. Due to reliance on ex vivo cell manipulation and marrow transplant, such therapies cannot lessen disease burden. To develop novel small molecule approaches, we interrogated the state of BCL11A protein in erythroid cells. We report that tetramer formation mediated by a single zinc-finger (ZnF0) is required for production of steady-state protein. Beyond its role in protein stability, the tetramer state is necessary for γ-globin gene repression, as an engineered monomer fails to engage a critical corepressor …

Digging For Literature On Tailoring Cultural Offers With And For Older People From Ethnic Minority Groups: A Scoping Review, Stephanie Tierney, Jordan Gorenberg, Marta Santillo, Debra Westlake, Geoffrey Wong, Kerryn Husk, Sofia Vougioukalou, Ruthanne Baxter, Shoba Dawson, Nia Roberts, Caroline Potter, Harriet Warburton, Beth Mcdougall, Johannah Latchem, Kamal R Mahtani

Peninsula Medical School

INTRODUCTION: Social prescribing addresses non-medical issues (e.g., loneliness, financial worries, housing problems) affecting physical and/or mental health. It involves connecting people to external support or services, including 'cultural offers'-events, groups and activities run within or by cultural organisations. Such offers need to be acceptable and accessible to diverse populations if forming part of a social prescription.

METHODS: A scoping review was conducted to identify what existing literature, conducted in the United Kingdom, tells us about tailoring cultural offers for older people (aged 60+ years) from ethnic minority groups. Relevant literature was searched for on electronic databases, through Google, via a …

Effectiveness Of Interventions To Address Nursing Students' Mental Health: An Integrative Review, Aimee Dickson, Shelby Carter

Master's Projects

Background:

The rigors of the nursing school curriculum are associated with higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression, resulting in unhealthy habits and ineffective coping strategies that lead to initial difficulties in the academic environment and burnout as professional nurses advance into their careers. This phenomenon further burdens the already taxed workforce, leading to ongoing turnover and compromising care. This integrative review aims to look at what coping strategies have proven most successful in fostering nursing students' well-being, leading to lifelong practices that promote strength while addressing the rigors of academia and, later, the workforce.

Methods:

The literature review search …

Staff Education Presentation: Addressing Polypharmacy As A Risk Factor For Falls Among Older Adults With Psychiatric Disorders, Yetunde E. Adegoroye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The focus of this doctoral project was to address the practice problem of polypharmacy and its association with falls among older adults with psychiatric conditions. The existing evidence shows that polypharmacy, which is defined as the concurrent use of five or more medications, increases the risk of falls, which leads to hospitalization, higher healthcare costs, and reduced quality of life (Varghese et al., 2024). Within the practice setting, it is Crucial to manage polypharmacy to enhance patient safety. The purpose of this project was to enhance medical staff knowledge regarding effective evidence-based strategies for reducing polypharmacy, through an educational presentation. …

Defining The Hospital Social Worker’S Role And Geriatric Depression, Cara M. Galob

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hospital readmissions, compliance issues, increased long-term nursing home placements, and social determinants of health are significant concerns that burden the hospital inpatient industry. A notable factor that may impact these outcomes is the surprisingly high rates of depression in older adults. In various settings, social workers have historically provided clinical assessments and interventions for people suffering from depression. This study examines how clinical social workers can be utilized in a hospital inpatient setting to identify and treat older adults suffering from major depression. Social work interventions can positively impact many hospitals' long-term goals, such as improving the patient experience, achieving …

An Assessment Of The Impact Of Fentanyl On Post-Mortem Interval From A Decomposition And Biochemical Perspective, Kaylene Mcdonald

Senior Honors Theses

In the realm of body decomposition, bodies undergo a plethora of different metabolic and chemical changes. The human body follows a very consistent pattern and predictable time frame, with the exclusion of extenuating circumstances. The presence of fentanyl at the time of death provides the possibility of changes in decomposition rates, potentially skewing the time of death estimations. This research analyzes the varying decompositional stages of a body and their subsequent close relations with activity in the environment around it, specifically investigating the impacts of fentanyl on those surroundings and postmortem interval estimation determinations. This research found evidence that fentanyl …

Charging During The Stay: The Effects Of Ev Chargers’ Availability And Pricing On Consumer Perceived Utilitarian Value And Behavioral Intentions, Wenjia Han, Cass Shum, Guoguang Wan

Hospitality Faculty Research

Hotels are increasingly hosting EV chargers. Yet, scant research examines the effects of EV chargers on consumer behavioral intentions toward the hotel. This study draws on the expectancy theory and examines the effect of EV chargers availability and the availability of surrounding chargers on consumer hotel booking intentions and willingness to pay a price premium. The results of two scenario-based experiments showed that free or paid EV chargers enhance consumers’ perceived utilitarian value and behavioral intentions. The effects are partially amplified when the availability of surrounding chargers is limited. This research contributes to the literature on hotel add-on services and …