Digital Commons Network^™

A Phenomenological Study Of The Influence Of Student-Centered Learners On Traditional Teacher-Centered Faculty In Medical Education, Michael Shan Deel

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover the challenges for traditionally teacher-centered medical faculty incorporating student-centered learning at the Pharmacy College. The theory guiding this study is Kolb's theory on experiential learning, as it shows how individual experiences provide insight into areas of challenges, especially in teaching methods. This study aims to answer the question of how traditional teacher-centered faculty incorporate student-centered learning experiences to ensure the end result for students in the medical education curriculum. This study includes 12 full-time faculty at a single rural graduate-level degree medical school. The medical institution of a rural graduate-level medical …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of College Graduates With Chronic Illnesses Who Faced Health Threats And Interruptions In Their Daily Activities, Paula J. Uzuka

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses who graduated from college while facing health threats that often interrupted their daily activities. The theory that guided this study was Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Bandura defined self-efficacy as what a person understands about their ability to accomplish specific goals. In addition, Leventhal's construct, the common-sense model of self-regulation, provided the substructure of Bandura's theory, illustrating that with the right guidance, individuals can make decisions and manage their own health. An individual can use the theory and model to determine the necessary actions to …

The House That Love Builds: An Allegorical Interpretation Of The Song Of Songs, Tricia Lee Kline

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Over the last two hundred years, natural interpretations of the Song of Songs have become predominant among scholars. Shying away from the earlier, sometimes fanciful, allegorical interpretations of ancient Jewish and Christian interpreters, these modern-day scholars have argued that the plain sense of the text is of an ideal marriage relationship between a man and woman, and that the Song of Songs is simply a picture of the beauty of love and sex. This dissertation challenges this more modern view and argues again for an allegorical interpretation in which the man represents God and the woman represents His faithful covenant …

A Position Of Strength: The Reagan Military Buildup And The Conventional Forces, Kevin D. Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Ronald Reagan's military program, commonly known as the buildup, was one of the most high-profile and enduring aspects of his presidency. Often characterized as “the largest peacetime buildup in U.S. history,” the program remains ill-defined in the extant historiography except concerning the strategic nuclear forces and total cost. This study provides a more in-depth examination of the greater fiscal beneficiary, the non-nuclear conventional forces. Fundamental questions are addressed on the rationale, necessity and destination of expenditures in the primary budget areas of Procurement, Research, Personnel, and Operations. Funding is analyzed in terms of linkage to the administration and the armed …

Pastor's Cultural Intelligence And Personal Character Influence Within Youth Ministries, Linwood J. Sealey Iii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Within this study, the logic was to understand the natural development of cultural Christlike character traits among youth pastors who serve in the 6th-12th grade youth ministry loneliness environment. The sample population comprised between 22 church pastors within the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The sample included participants with different experience levels in pastoral and bi-vocational pastoral ministries. The guiding rationale was that the pastor's cultural Christlike character should be a positive factor in their ministry in the loneliness environment of the youth they serve. The sample covered the geographical settings within rural, suburban, and city environments. A purposive …

African, American, And Southern: The Survivors Of The Clotilda And The Wanderer, Kirsten Chaney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the life experiences of first-generation enslaved Africans illegally brought to the United States of America after the passage of the 1808 Act Prohibiting the Importation of Enslaved Persons to the United States of America. The life experiences of those brought to the United States on board ships such as the Clotilda and the Wanderer create a stark contrast to the life experiences of multigenerational enslaved persons. The difference and Americanization can be viewed through the organization of the freedmen towns founded by each group, the education level achieved by the descendants of …

Anticoagulation Stewardship Initiative For The Outpatient Management Of Atrial Fibrillation, Ryleigh Hawker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Anticoagulation prescribing for patients with atrial fibrillation at a local primary care and urgent care office has largely been conservative and unstandardized, leaving patients at risk for cardioembolic strokes. As more and more patients are diagnosed with this condition, the greater the need becomes for appropriate management within these settings. This includes preventing strokes with anticoagulation and utilizing an integrative or collaborative approach between specialty and non-specialty centers. The Anticoagulation Stewardship Initiative is the first step in promoting effective and safe anticoagulation practices in primary and urgent care centers, while simultaneously streamlining care for newly diagnosed patients. Some of the …

Improving Use Of Water Immersion And Birth Satisfaction During The First Stage Of Labor Through An Educational Handout, Dana E. Taylor

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Although using the birthing tub for hydrotherapy during the first stage of labor has been proven to be a safe and effective method of low-intervention pain management, as well as research that indicates potential other benefits such as a reduction in the use of an epidural, improvement in breastfeeding rates, and promotion of physiologic birth, its use is often limited. Chief reasons for the lack of its use include difficulty and time constraints with tub set-up and lack of knowledge about its benefits, especially the length of time used. A quasi-experimental evidence-based project at a suburban magnet-designated hospital using a …

Challenges Faced By Adult Gifted Students Who Have Experienced Traumatic Brain Injury: A Phenomenological Study, Dawn M. Nessler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the educational experiences of gifted adult students who have experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI). The theory guiding this phenomenological study was Kazimierz Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration, with a focus on how the tragedy of various natures impacts the development of an individual's identity. This qualitative phenomenological study sought to understand the shared educational experiences of gifted undergraduate students who have experienced a TBI. 12 participants from Strong Minds, Kind Hearts, a Christian counseling and educational office located in Northwest Florida engaged in the study. Stratified sampling was used within the …

Virtual Versus Tangible Math Manipulatives: A Quasi-Experimental Study Comparing The Impact Of Different Types On Mathematical Understanding, Haley L. Gullion

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design study was to measure the effects of both types of manipulatives on student mathematical understanding of 1st and 4th grade, Title I students. This data is needed for teachers to make informed decisions regarding their instructional choices. 270 participants were separated into three groups based on which type of manipulative their classroom teacher used during instruction: physical, virtual, or both. After 10 weeks of instruction with these manipulatives, student achievement was calculated for each student utilizing the Universal Screeners for Number Sense, and the groups within each grade level band …

A Phenomenological Study Of Church Revitalization In Coastal North Carolina, Paolo Engle Santos

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Pastors and ministry leaders share the important responsibilities of church growth and revitalization. This research focused on overcoming decline and moving towards a season of strength and multiplication. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore church growth and revitalization within Southern Baptist churches in coastal North Carolina. The theory guiding this study was Rainer's (2020) central thesis about revived churches, which suggests that churches must adapt to cultural shifts and actively engage with the changing world. The study sought to gain insights into the perspectives and mindsets of full-time pastors and ministry leaders regarding numerical expansion, spiritual awakening, …

Risk Management In Human Resource Development And Talent Management, Kumba Bayoh

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Risk Management in human resource development and Talent Management enables organizations to identify, evaluate, analyze, monitor, and mitigate the risks that threaten their mission and strategic objectives. This research study examines the effect of risk management in human resources development and talent management in organizations including the Department of Finance and Administration. The development of this work encompassed a robust research effort that involved deep study, interview sessions, surveys, questionnaires, data analysis, and key conclusions. This is a transformative resource that enables entities to advance in their risk management visions and objectives.

An Alcohol-Related Liver Disease Multi-Stakeholder Hub (Arms-Hub) To Enhance Research Activity In Underserved Communities In The Uk, Ashwin Dhanda, Victoria Allgar, Neeraj Bhala, Lynne Callaghan, Joana Castro, Shilpa Chokshi, Amanda Clements, Wendy Clyne, Colin Drummond, Ewan Forrest, Lesley Manning, Richard Parker, Debbie Shawcross, Jennifer Towey

Peninsula Medical School

Background: Alcohol use is the third leading risk factor of death and disability in the UK and costs the NHS £3.5 billion per year. Despite the high prevalence and healthcare burden of Alcohol-related Liver Disease (ArLD), there has been minimal research addressing prevention, morbidity and mortality. Reasons for this include stigma and lack of interest from public, charitable and commercial funding bodies. The objectives of this project were to identify and develop interdisciplinary partnerships, to explore stigma in ArLD, to develop a representative Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) group, to build research capacity, and to develop interdisciplinary research …

Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals The Anti-Cancer Effect Of Gestational Mesenchymal Stem Cell Secretome, Marcos Quintela, Jing Xiao, Seydou Yao, Richard H Finnell, Robert S Conlan, Lewis W Francis, Bruna Corradetti

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The environment created during embryogenesis contributes to reducing aberrations that drive structural malformations and tumorigenesis. In this study, we investigate the anti-cancer effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from 2 different gestational tissues, the amniotic fluid (AF) and the chorionic villi (CV), with emphasis on their secretome. Transcriptomic analysis was performed on patient-derived AF- and CV-MSCs collected during prenatal diagnosis and identified both mRNAs and lncRNAs, involved in tissue homeostasis and inhibiting biological processes associated with the etiology of aggressive cancers while regulating immune pathways shown to be important in chronic disorders. Secretome enrichment analysis also identified soluble moieties …

Beta Activity In Human Anterior Cingulate Cortex Mediates Reward Biases, Anusha B Allawala, Raissa K Mathura, Victoria Pirtle, Ricardo Najera, Nicole R Provenza, Eleonora Bartoli, Andrew J Watrous, Denise Oswalt, Ron Gadot, Adrish Anand, Ben Shofty, Sanjay J Mathew, Wayne K Goodman, Nader Pouratian, Xaq Pitkow, Kelly R Bijanki, Benjamin Hayden, Sameer A Sheth

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The rewards that we get from our choices and actions can have a major influence on our future behavior. Understanding how reward biasing of behavior is implemented in the brain is important for many reasons, including the fact that diminution in reward biasing is a hallmark of clinical depression. We hypothesized that reward biasing is mediated by the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a cortical hub region associated with the integration of reward and executive control and with the etiology of depression. To test this hypothesis, we recorded neural activity during a biased judgment task in patients undergoing intracranial monitoring for …

Tractography-Based Modeling Explains Treatment Outcomes In Patients Undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation For Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Michelle Avendano-Ortega, Sarah Mckay, Kelly R Bijanki, Meghan E Robinson, Garrett Banks, Nicole Provenza, Eric A Storch, Wayne K Goodman, Andreas Horn, Sameer A Sheth

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established and expanding therapy for treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder. Previous work has suggested that a white matter circuit providing hyperdirect input from the dorsal cingulate and ventrolateral prefrontal regions to the subthalamic nucleus could be an effective neuromodulatory target.

METHODS: We tested this concept by attempting to retrospectively explain through predictive modeling the ranks of clinical improvement as measured by the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) in 10 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder who underwent DBS to the ventral anterior limb of internal capsule with subsequent programming uninformed by the putative target tract.

RESULTS: Rank …

Efficacy Of Liver Free And Chitosan Against Eimeria Tenella In Chickens, Zhang Yu, Abdulaziz Alouffi, Ebtsam Al-Olayan, Gungor Cagdas Dincel, G. Tellez-Isaias, Inkar Castellanos-Huerta, Danielle Graham, Victor M. Petrone-Garcia, Beniamino T. Cenci-Goga, Luca Grispoldi, Luis Madeiro De Carvalho, Saeed El-Ashram

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Eimeria spp. are the pathogen that causes coccidiosis, a significant disease that affects intensively reared livestock, especially poultry. Anticoccidial feed additives, chemicals, and ionophores have routinely been employed to reduce Eimeria infections in broiler production. Therefore, the shift to antibiotic-free and organic farming necessitates novel coccidiosis preventive strategies. The present study evaluated the effects of potential feed additives, liver free and chitosan, against Eimeria tenella infection in White Leghorn broiler female chickens. One hundred sixty-five 1-day-old White Leghorn broiler female chicks were divided into 11 groups (15 female chicks per group), including the positive control group (G1), the negative control …

Single-Cell Total-Rna Profiling Unveils Regulatory Hubs Of Transcription Factors

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Recent development of RNA velocity uses master equations to establish the kinetics of the life cycle of RNAs from unspliced RNA to spliced RNA (i.e., mature RNA) to degradation. To feed this kinetic analysis, simultaneous measurement of unspliced RNA and spliced RNA in single cells is greatly desired. However, the majority of single-cell RNA-seq chemistry primarily captures mature RNA species to measure gene expressions. Here, we develop a one-step total-RNA chemistry-based single-cell RNA-seq method: snapTotal-seq. We benchmark this method with multiple single-cell RNA-seq assays in their performance in kinetic analysis of cell cycle by RNA velocity. Next, with LASSO regression …

Systemic Interindividual Dna Methylation Variants In Cattle Share Major Hallmarks With Those In Humans, Chathura J Gunasekara, Uditha Maduranga, Justine C Galliou, Joseph W Mcfadden, Jessica R Waltemyer, Bruce Berggren-Thomas, Brianna N Tate, Hanxue Zhang, Benjamin D Rosen, Curtis P Van Tassell, George E Liu, Cristian Coarfa, Yi Athena Ren, Robert A Waterland

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: We recently identified ~ 10,000 correlated regions of systemic interindividual epigenetic variation (CoRSIVs) in the human genome. These methylation variants are amenable to population studies, as DNA methylation measurements in blood provide information on epigenetic regulation throughout the body. Moreover, establishment of DNA methylation at human CoRSIVs is labile to periconceptional influences such as nutrition. Here, we analyze publicly available whole-genome bisulfite sequencing data on multiple tissues of each of two Holstein cows to determine whether CoRSIVs exist in cattle.

RESULTS: Focusing on genomic blocks with ≥ 5 CpGs and a systemic interindividual variation index of at least 20, …

Graphany: A Foundation Model For Node Classification On Any Graph

Defensive Publications Series

Foundation models that can perform inference on any new task without requiring specific training have revolutionized machine learning in vision and language applications. However, applications involving graph-structured data remain a tough nut for foundation models, due to challenges in the unique feature- and label spaces associated with each graph. Traditional graph ML models such as graph neural networks (GNNs) trained on graphs cannot perform inference on a new graph with feature and label spaces different from the training ones. Furthermore, existing models learn functions specific to the training graph and cannot generalize to new graphs. In this work, we tackle …

Partial Models For Building Adaptive Model-Based Reinforcement Learning Agents

Defensive Publications Series

In neuroscience, one of the key behavioral tests for determining whether a subject of study exhibits model-based behavior is to study its adaptiveness to local changes in the environment. In reinforcement learning, however, recent studies have shown that modern model-based agents display poor adaptivity to such changes. The main reason for this is that modern agents are typically designed to improve sample efficiency in single task settings and thus do not take into account the challenges that can arise in other settings. In local adaptation settings, one particularly important challenge is in quickly building and maintaining a sufficiently accurate model …

Effective Protein-Protein Interaction Exploration With Ppiretrieval

Defensive Publications Series

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are crucial in regulating numerous cellular functions, including signal transduction, transportation, and immune defense. As the accuracy of multi-chain protein complex structure prediction improves, the challenge has shifted towards effectively navigating the vast complex universe to identify potential PPIs. Herein, we propose PPIretrieval, the first deep learning-based model for protein-protein interaction exploration, which leverages existing PPI data to effectively search for potential PPIs in an embedding space, capturing rich geometric and chemical information of protein surfaces. When provided with an unseen query protein with its associated binding site, PPIretrieval effectively identifies a potential binding partner along with …

Transfer Entropy In Graph Convolutional Neural Networks

Defensive Publications Series

Graph Convolutional Networks (GCN) are Graph Neural Networks where the convolutions are applied over a graph. In contrast to Convolutional Neural Networks, GCN’s are designed to perform inference on graphs, where the number of nodes can vary, and the nodes are unordered. In this study, we address two important challenges related to GCNs: i) oversmoothing; and ii) the utilization of node relational properties (i.e., heterophily and homophily). Oversmoothing is the degradation of the discriminative capacity of nodes as a result of repeated aggregations. Heterophily is the tendency for nodes of different classes to connect, whereas homophily is the tendency of …

Graph Neural Networks Do Not Always Oversmooth

Defensive Publications Series

Graph neural networks (GNNs) have emerged as powerful tools for processing relational data in applications. However, GNNs suffer from the problem of oversmoothing, the property that the features of all nodes exponentially converge to the same vector over layers, prohibiting the design of deep GNNs. In this work we study oversmoothing in graph convolutional networks (GCNs) by using their Gaussian process (GP) equivalence in the limit of infinitely many hidden features. By generalizing methods from conventional deep neural networks (DNNs), we can describe the distribution of features at the output layer of deep GCNs in terms of a GP: as …

Active Power Sharing Of Thermostat Device With Wax-Actuated Zone Valves, Andrew Chan, Aaron Okano

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes improved power stealing for thermostats coupled to wax-actuated zone valves. In some implementations, a thermostat that is coupled to a wax-actuated zone valve may further be coupled to a zone controller. In this case, a leakage current from the zone controller is employed to prevent an inrush limiter from discharging and causing a voltage spike. Alternatively, when the thermostat is not coupled to the zone controller, an Active Power Steal (APS) is disabled when the wax-actuated zone valve is in a powered state such that the inrush limiter charges smoothly without a voltage spike.

A Single Sign-On Mechanism For Pre-Boot Authentication Integrated With Bitlocker* Pre-Boot Pin Feature, Hp Inc

Defensive Publications Series

The protection of a business’s data is a primary concern and in many cases this is done with Microsoft BitLocker*. Unfortunately, there are a wide variety of physical attacks that could be performed to potentially leak the BitLocker* keys or allow exfiltration of the data. Two examples are:

• TPM Bus Snooping where they keys are read as they are transferred across the bus
• “Cold-Boot” attacks where a memory freezing technique is used to access the contents of DRAM (including but not limited to BitLocker* decryption key and other potentially sensitive data on the PC)

The standard mitigation for these types …

Dynamic Warming Adjustment Intended To Equalize Drop Weight Difference Along Printing Swath., Hp Inc

Defensive Publications Series

In thermal inkjet printing systems, drop weight depends on the temperature of the DIE, besides of other factors. The temperature of the DIE depends on the content which is fired all the time, because ejecting ink is heating the system itself. Temperature differences are causing drop weight increase , creating then a difference on drop velocity. But, when the swath is built around two staggered printheads addressing the same color, and one of these printheads is partially used, then exists a bias on temperature each other, creating then line banding while printing. Ideally the system should fire with the same …

Reformulating Pharmaceuticals In Low Gwp Propellants, Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

Studies are being carried out in developing formulations for current and proprietary active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to be delivered by a metered dose inhaler in HFC-152a or HFO-1234ze. Studies are being carried out on reformulating existing API formulations, in particular existing marketed inhaled formulations in 134a or 227ea, with HFC-152a or HFO-1234ze. The API formulations may be in any suitable form, such as in solution or suspension.

Detachable Clip-On Horn For Wearable Device Audio Amplification, Tim Gladwin, Jesse Lippert, Rajiv Gomes

Defensive Publications Series

Audio output from speakers of compact wearable devices such as a smartwatch, is often of poor quality due to various reasons such as small form factor, impedance mismatch, etc. This disclosure describes a detachable clip-on horn that can be coupled to a wearable device such as a smartphone to improve audio output. The horn can be magnetically coupled utilizing pre-existing magnets on the wearable device, or by other suitable mechanisms. The utilization of a tapered horn coupled to the device improves impedance matching between the device speaker and open air, providing a smooth transition for sound waves from the small …

Operating System With Automatic End-To-End Encryption (E2ee) For User Content, Dave Kleidermacher

Defensive Publications Series

While end-to-end encryption (E2EE) can prevent access to user data by unauthorized parties, E2EE is supported by a limited set of applications. Retrofitting existing applications and services to support E2EE is expensive. This disclosure describes techniques that provide E2EE for user personal data across applications and services at the level of the operating system of a user device by automatic detection and/or manual specification of such content. With user permission, personal data is detected automatically by the operating system, e.g., using on-device machine learning or heuristics. When such data is detected, prior to sharing the data with another user, the …