Digital Commons Network^™

Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma Has Superior Response Rates To Vinorelbine Compared To Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma In Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Disease: A Meta-Analysis, Wendy Allen-Rhoades, Philip J. Lupo, Michael E. Scheurer, Yueh-Yun Chi, John F. Kuttesch, Rajkumar Venkatramani, William H. Meyer, Leo Mascarenhas

Pediatrics Research and Scholarship

BACKGROUND: Patients with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) have inferior outcomes compared to patients with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) and more effective chemotherapy options are needed for these patients. Vinorelbine is a semisynthetic vinca alkaloid that has clinical activity in relapsed rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) when used alone or in combination with cyclophosphamide.

AIMS: The goal of our study was to evaluate whether RMS histology subtype influences response rate to vinorelbine alone or in combination.

MATERIALS & METHODS: Five Phase 2 trials that enrolled RMS patients were included in the meta-analysis. Two studies evaluated vinorelbine alone, two studies evaluated vinorelbine in combination with low dose …

The First Surs World Congress Of Robotic Surgery At Mount Sinai Hospital In New York City: A Tribute To The Past And The Future Of Robotic Urologic Surgery, Raghav Gupta, Deepak Chopra, Ashok K. Hemal, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Craig G. Rogers, Chandru P. Sundaram, Ashutosh K. Tewari

Urology Articles

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Near-Façade Flow In Wind-Dominant Single-Sided Natural Ventilation For An Isolated Three-Storey Building: An Les Study, Nima Najafi Ziarani, Malcolm J. Cook, Farnood Freidooni, Paul D. O'Sullivan

Publications

Wind-driven single-sided ventilation is present in many existing buildings globally, and its performance can be unreliable and challenging to improve. To address these performance challenges, a better understanding of the interconnected relationship between the external and internal flows is required. Therefore, a detailed assessment of this type of natural ventilation is vital. A detailed CFD analysis of wind-dominant single-sided natural ventilation is presented by adopting the Large Eddy Simulation method, validated using previous wind tunnel studies. An isolated cube, representing a three-storey building, was used to investigate four case studies with different opening positions on the building façade. The …

Using Transformative Leadership To Understand White Male Community College Presidents And Their Efforts To Improve Outcomes For All Students, Ruthanne Keenan Orihuela

Dissertations

This critical constructivist study was grounded in the belief that there is an urgent need to address attainment gaps between White students and students of color at community colleges, that equity-minded leadership is needed to address these gaps, and that the call for transformative leadership must be answered not solely by leaders with minoritized identities alone but also by leaders with privileged social identities who comprise the majority of community college presidents. The intent of this study was to examine the ways in which White male community college presidents come to understand their privilege and navigate their roles as leaders …

Technology Integration In School-Based Physical Activity, Taemin Ha

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the current practice of technology use for physical activity promotion in K-12 schools in the United States by conducting two studies. Using a quantitative research design, study one aimed to identify the current practice of technology use in school-based physical activity promotion. Study two investigated what attributes contribute to the use of technology in schools for physical activity facilitation and promotion. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study design was used for study two, and Rogers’ (2003) diffusion of innovations theory served this study as a theoretical framework. A total of 367 registered Active …

The Intersection Of Queer And Atheist Identities: A Critical Inquiry, Jennifer Geiman

Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to explore the lived experiences of queer atheists, to examine how they were impacted by various oppressive systems, and how to assess their needs might be better met by counseling psychologists and other mental health clinicians. The two research questions of focus were: Q1 What are the lived experiences of individuals who hold intersecting queer and atheist identities? Q2 How might individuals who hold intersecting queer and atheist identities be better served by counseling psychologists? While extant literature on the experiences of queer people and how to support them clinically has grown in the …

A Double-Edged Sword: Lived Experiences Of Hispanic/ Latino Nursing Students Who Speak English As An Additional Language, Esmeralda Araceli Clark

Dissertations

As the population of the United States continues to become more diverse, the nursing profession is working toward diversifying its nursing workforce. Diversification of the nursing profession is linked to improved patient outcomes and culturally competent care. The experiences of minority nursing students with English as an additional language (EAL) have been studied including some interventional studies. Still, there is a gap in exploring the experiences of Hispanic/Latino nursing students with EAL. The literature described EAL as the most significant risk factor for non-acceptance into a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program for any group of otherwise qualified applicants. Since …

Fragment Based Drug Development Based On 6,7-Dimethoxyquinazoline As A Core Scaffold, Cody M. Orahoske

ETD Archive

The work entitled “Fragment Based Drug Design based on 6,7- Dimethoxyquinazoline core structure” presents a unique approach to drug discovery, specifically focusing on the pharmacophore 6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline. This study explores the structural diversity of 6,7-Dimethoxyquinazoline derivatives to identify other pharmacologically relevant targets, with evidence indicating that this core structure possesses intrinsic properties that make it suitable as a base structure of small molecule drugs. Furthermore, this pharmacophore has been observed in various approved therapeutics or drug candidates under investigation, highlighting its importance in drug discovery. My research showcases of 6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline core structure been derivatized to generate an anti-trypanosomiasis drug candidates and …

Compounding And Melt Blending/Extrusion Of Polyether Ether Ketone (Peek) And Amorphous Magnesium Phosphate (Amp) For Fused Deposition Modelling (Fdm) Based 3d Printing, Vijay Kumar Bokam

ETD Archive

Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is a high-performance polymer material for developing implants for orthopedic, spinal, cranial, maxillofacial, and dentistry applications. However, the major limitation of PEEK implants is their bio-inertness, i.e., their incapability to integrate with tissues. Therefore, prior efforts have always focused on developing Hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings on PEEK or PEEK-HA composites or sulfonation of PEEK surface or plasma treatment. As opposed, in this study, we engineered a highly novel bio-ceramic known as amorphous magnesium phosphate (AMP), which surpasses the bioactivity and biodegradation kinetics of HA. In this study, we employed High energy planetary ball milling, a mechanical alloying …

Evaporation And Condensation From Epiphytes During Saturated Conditions In A Maritime Live-Oak Forest (Georgia, Usa)., Akosh Raffai

ETD Archive

Most of the rain that falls over land, falls over forests, which cover approximately one-third of global land surface. Significant immediate and wide-ranging impacts are exerted on hydrological, ecological, and societal systems due to canopyrainfall interactions, altering rainwater supply to the surface. All storm-related hydrological processes are impacted by the relative rates that canopy surfaces retain, evaporate, and redistribute rain. Many forest canopies host a community of plants called epiphytes that are generally capable of storing and evaporating substantial water. Epiphytes are comparatively under-researched regarding their role in rainfall partitioning compared to bark and leaves. Skidaway Island in Savannah, Georgia, …

Narratives. Anthropocentrism, And The Fall Of Man In Matt Bell's Appleseed, Jessica L. Tresko

ETD Archive

Both literary and scientific texts often demonstrate the powerful role that stories serve in helping to shape humanity’s beliefs and behaviors. In his climate fiction novel Appleseed (2021), Matt Bell deploys the polyphonic method to follow three main character storylines. This technique provides the opportunity for heteroglossic dialogue, and Bell also utilizes metaponsdialogue to ensure the reader is invested and understands his/her complicity and function in the climate emergency, which leads to a reflection on personal responsibility and culpability. Theories from Mikhail Bakhtin’s essay “Discourse in the Novel” from his collection called The Dialogic Imagination support the examination of multi-perspective …

Before And After The World Turned Virtual: Examining Intimate Partner Violence And Problematic Alcohol Use Before Versus During The Covid-19 Pandemic In A Couple's Based Sample, Ishita Munshi

ETD Archive

About 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men report experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime. For several decades, problematic alcohol use is a consistent predictor of IPV perpetration. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the romantic lives of people, it is crucial to investigate how it may have altered the prevalence of IPV perpetration and the link between IPV perpetration and problematic alcohol use. Among a sample of dating young adult couples, this study compared the IPV prevalence pre-COVID-19 pandemic (Wave 1) to during COVID-19 conditions (Wave 2). Furthermore, the study examined if problematic alcohol use …

Autonomous Raman Hyperspectral Imaging And Analysis; Advances Towards Mapping Crystalline Character In Biologically Important Polymers, Sadeq H. Alkhalifa

ETD Archive

Poly-l-lactic acid has been of a great interest to the medical profession in recent years because of its biodegradability and biocompatibility. The biodegradation rate can be controlled by its crystallinity content. One method to modify its crystallinity content is by cold drawing. Raman spectroscopy is utilized to distinguish between the different crystalline content on the sample. However, a chemical imaging method is needed to characterize the polymer on the macro level. Chemical imaging using Raman spectroscopy is an important method of characterization that is non-invasive and non-destructive. The emphasis of my research has been to develop a method to characterize …

The Relationship Between Perception Of Barriers And Life Satisfaction As Mediated By Coping Efficacy, Lela L. Pickett

ETD Archive

This study examined the relationship between life satisfaction and perception of educational and career-related barriers. Perceived barriers threaten career development and can subsequently enhance negative appraisals of personal worth and ability. Coping efficacy, an individual's belief or confidence in their ability to manage and overcome challenging or stressful situations, was evaluated as a mediator of this relationship among a sample of 208 undergraduate college students.

The findings of this study suggest a significant negative relationship between the perception of barriers and life satisfaction, which indicates that individuals with higher levels of perceived barriers endorsed lower life satisfaction and vice versa. …

Interior Architectural Facades: A Study Into The Visual Impact On Emotional Experience, Bailey Gocke

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Emotion is a vital process in which the body interprets environmental stimuli and generates a corresponding bodily response. The interpretation of stimuli determines the emotional reactions experienced by individuals, making it crucial for designers to influence these interpretations and subsequent reactions. Architectural facades, both interior and exterior, have a significant impact on the user's perception and overall experience of a building. However, limited research exists on the integration of emotion research in architecture, particularly regarding the study of facades and emotions.

To address this critical research gap, this thesis aims to investigate the emotional impact of interior facade conditions on …

Designing The American Dreamscape: Suburbs Of Worship And The American Dream, Rebecca Virgl

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

This thesis explores suburbia as the physical manifestation of the American Dream as a pseudo-religious system. This religious system and contemporary suburban ideology are explained and disseminated through a historical review and analysis of suburban media. Pop culture serves as a signpost that directs public opinion and cultural value; much of media today wrestles with the ideas of the American Dream, fore fronting these cultural values in our collective identity. Once the baseline of socio-economic religious ideology has been established in the American Dream, the extremes of these beliefs were explored in three suburban environments: home, labor, and retail. Each …

Nevaeh Braucks Honors Portfolio, Nevaeh Braucks

Honors Capstone Portfolios

Nevaeh Braucks' honors portfolio captured in May 2023.

The Weaponization Of Attorney’S Fees In An Age Of Constitutional Warfare, Rebecca Aviel, Wiley Kersh

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

If you want to win battles in the culture war, you enact legislation that regulates firearms, prohibits abortions, restricts discussion of critical race theory, or advances whatever other substantive policy preferences represent a victory for your side. But to win the war decisively with an incapacitating strike, you make it as difficult as possible for your adversaries to challenge those laws in court. Clever deployment of justiciability doctrines will help to insulate constitutionally questionable laws from judicial review, but some of the challenges you have sought to evade will manage to squeak through.

To fully disarm your opponents in an …

Peer Advisors: Our Importance And How We Benefit Institutions, Students, Advisors, And Ourselves [Poster], Marah Schmitz

Graduation with Distinction Posters

Peer advising programs support academic advising in higher education settings. The benefits of these programs are endless and contribute to the students', advisors', and institutions' overall academic and social success. It is important to understand the goals of academic advising and how peers can supplement those overarching goals. My research and presentation briefs and analyzes benefits of peer advising programs to further encourage institutions to implement them nationwide.

In-Service Education And The Provision Of Educational Materials To Improve Awareness Of Chronic Wasting Disease Management Efforts In Arkansas, Mary Claire Stewart

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a disease caused by an accumulation of misfolded prions throughout the nervous system. This disease affects animals within the Cervidae Family, which includes deer, elk, moose, and caribou. This disease is fatal and physical symptoms often do not materialize until the animal is near death. CWD has become an increasing issue in Arkansas since an elk (Cervus canadensis) in Newton County tested positive for CWD in 2016. Since then, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) has worked with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture (UADA) and others to develop management strategies to slow …

Peaks Island Star : May 2023, Vol. 43, Issue 5, Service Agencies Of The Island

Peaks Island Star, 2023

The Peaks Island Star is the newsletter of the island's service agencies and other community news.

Relationship Between Consumer Confidence Index And Leading Sectors In Turkey, Erhan Aslanoğlu, Yasin Enes Aksu, Jonberk Okan

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

As a leading indicator, the ability to measure the predictive power of consumer surveys are very important for economic policy makers, especially to capture a forward-looking perspective on consumer trends. Trends in leading sectors such as real estate, automobile and consumer electronics are expected to signal direction of consumption demand in an economy. Within this framework, whether the consumer confidence signals the trends in leading sectors or the trend in leading sectors effect the consumer sentiment are vital questions to detect the dynamics of domestic demand. Macroeconomic cycles like high and volatile inflationary environments might create counter effect to determine …

Regime-Dependent Financial Risk Transmission And Connectedness In Mena Economies: A Smooth Transition Threshold Vector Autoregressive Analysis, Mehmet Balcilar, Ojonugwa Usman

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

This study examines the impact of global financial market conditions on risk connectedness and transmission among MENA economies. Using weekly stock market volatilities and a smooth transition threshold vector autoregressive model, the authors analyze risk transmission under varying financial stress levels. Results show stronger risk interdependency during high-stress periods, with Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the UAE as net risk transmitters. The regime-dependent model reveals stronger risk transmission compared to the overall mean-based VAR model.

The Impact Of Financial Development On The Attractiveness Of Foreign Direct Investment In The Mena Region, Trojette Ines, Nestor Odjoumani

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

This paper analyzes the role of the quality of governance on financial development to create favorable conditions to attract FDI in the MRNA region. Using a panel data and GMM method from 1985 to 2021, results show that the banking development variables (credit to the private sector) and capital account openness improve the attractiveness of FDI inflows. This effect is higher for countries above the governance threshold. However, the effects of the stock market variables (stock market value traded and capitalization) are significant and positive only in the developed group beyond a certain level of governance. Besides, the impacts of …

Green-Inclusive-Finance: The Case Of Selected Mena & Ssa Countries, Noha Emara, I-Ming Chiub, Sheila Warrick

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

Using System General Method of Moments approach estimation methodology on annual data 73 developed and developing countries including 12 Middle East and North African (MENA) and 45 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, the study estimates the impact of green finance on the eradication of extreme poverty by 2030, the first goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Using green bond issuance as a measure of green finance, the results indicate that the penetration of green finance measure has a positive, statistically significant impact on reducing extreme poverty for the full sample, but not in the MENA and SSA countries. Policy considerations …

Urban Insecurity And Security Expenditures In Turkiye, Gulay Gunluk-Senesen, Yasin Kutuk

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

The majority of the world's population now lives in urban areas, making cities targets of warfare and areas of insecurity in recent years. This has led to a growing interest in urban security and a shift towards the militarization of traditional police forces. However, the relationship between urban security and securitization is not well understood in the literature, and research on the implications of public resource allocation is limited. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of public security spending in reducing insecurity in urban areas in Turkey, against the backdrop of increased securitization in the 2000s. The study uses …

The Effect Of Innovation On Employment In Turkiye, Hakki Kutay Bolkol, Ece Handan Guleryuz

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

In this paper, we examine the impact of innovation on employment in the Turkish labor market between 1991 and 2021 by using monthly patent grants and annual R&D expenditure statistics. We employ ARDL (autoregressive distributed lag) approach to carry out the empirical analysis. Our results differ mainly depending on the analyzed time period and analyzing innovation with two different proxies that give the same result, which is an indication of the robustness of the results. When the long-run model and the short-run model are analyzed separately, it is found that while the effect of innovation on employment is negative in …

Of Humans, Machines, And Extremism: The Role Of Platforms In Facilitating Undemocratic Cognition, Julia R. Decook, Jennifer Forestal

Political Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The events surrounding the 2020 U.S. election and the January 6 insurrection have challenged scholarly understanding of concepts like collective action, radicalization, and mobilization. In this article, we argue that online far-right radicalization is better understood as a form of distributed cognition, in which the groups’ online environment incentivizes certain patterns of behavior over others. Namely, these platforms organize their users in ways that facilitate a nefarious form of collective intelligence, which is amplified and strengthened by systems of algorithmic curation. In short, these platforms reflect and facilitate undemocratic cognition, fueled by affective networks, contributing to events like the …

Variation In Leg Tissue Dielectric Constant Values Of Healthy Young Adult Females With And Without Compression Bandaging., Suzie Ehmann, Harvey N. Mayrovitz

HPD Articles

Background The clinical efficacy of a compression application has been often limited to the assessment of the change in limb volume, change in clinical symptoms (i.e., wound size, pain, range of motion, incidence of cellulitis), or vascular hemodynamics of the whole limb. Assessing compression-related biophysical changes of a localized area, such as around a wound, or in an area outside of an extremity cannot be objectively assessed by these measurements. Tissue dielectric constant (TDC) values, which provide a measure of the local tissue water (LTW) content, offer an alternative method to document variation in the LTW content of the skin …

Disparities In Women With Endometriosis Regarding Access To Care, Diagnosis, Treatment, And Management In The United States: A Scoping Review., Shannon Westwood, Mackenzie Fannin, Fadumo Ali, Justice Thigpen, Rachel Tatro, Amanda Hernandez, Cadynce Peltzer, Mariah Hildebrand, Alexnys Fernandez-Pacheco, Jonathan Raymond-Lezman, Robin J. Jacobs

HPD Articles

Endometriosis is a benign gynecological condition that elicits chronic pain in 2-10% of reproductive-age women in the United States and exists in approximately 50% of women with infertility. It creates complications such as hemorrhage and uterine rupture. Historically, the gynecologic symptoms of endometriosis have been associated with economic strain and inferior quality of life. It is suspected that endometriosis diagnosis and treatment are affected by health disparities throughout gynecological care. The goal of this review was to collate and report the current evidence on potential healthcare disparities related to endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, and care across race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. …