Digital Commons Network^™

Striving To Improve Hypertension Inequities - Finding Joy In The Process, Chiamaka Ogemdi Isiguzo, Victoria Gillet, Latanya Cherry, Tiffany Adams, David Hamel, Deborah Simpson

Aurora GME

No abstract provided.

Remote Sensing For Cost-Effective Blue Carbon Accounting, Martino E. Malerba, Micheli Duarte De Paula Costa, Daniel A. Friess, Lukas Schuster, Mary A. Young, David Lagomasino, Oscar Serrano, Sharyn M. Hickey, Paul H. York, Michael Rasheed, Jonathan S. Lefcheck, Ben Radford, Trisha B. Atwood, Daniel Lerodiaconou, Peter Macreadie

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Blue carbon ecosystems (BCE) include mangrove forests, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows, all of which are currently under threat, putting their contribution to mitigating climate change at risk. Although certain challenges and trade-offs exist, remote sensing offers a promising avenue for transparent, replicable, and cost-effective accounting of many BCE at unprecedented temporal and spatial scales. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has issued guidelines for developing blue carbon inventories to incorporate into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Yet, there is little guidance on remote sensing techniques for monitoring, reporting, and verifying blue carbon assets. This review constructs a …

Why The 30 Percent Mansfield Rule Can't Work: A Supply-Demand Empirical Analysis Of Leadership In The Legal Profession, Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio

Fordham Law Review

The Mansfield Rule proposes that if 30 percent of the candidate pool is drawn from underrepresented groups, then a legal workplace will become more diverse and inclusive as a result. However, across the legal profession, statistics related to the numbers of women and other underrepresented groups in leadership roles continue to paint a bleak picture of diversity and inclusion. Professor Cecchi-Dimeglio’s Essay presents a supply-demand empirical analysis of the legal profession at the leadership level, and argues that the 30 percent Mansfield Rule ultimately does not enhance diversity in the legal profession, especially in leadership positions.

Rhode Was Right (About Character And Fitness), Leslie C. Levin

Fordham Law Review

In this Essay, Professor Leslie C. Levin revives Professor Deborah L. Rhode’s forty-year-old critique of the character and fitness process and shows that not much has changed. Levin exposes the process’s core problems, including the lack of public information available about character and fitness decisions, the process’s subjectivity, the disconnect between information sought and future lawyer misconduct, and the deterrent effect on individuals considering a legal career. Levin proposes that task forces reexamine problematic application questions, such as those targeting decriminalized conduct and mental health, and push for more transparency and disclosure.

An Employment Discrimination Class Action By Any Other Name, Ryan H. Nelson

Fordham Law Review

In a few years, four out of every five nonunion workers in America will have been forced by their employers to sign an individual arbitration agreement as a condition of employment. This new reality, coupled with the U.S. Supreme Court’s fealty to compelled arbitration and cramped reading of Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Rule 23”), has killed the employment discrimination class action. But that does not imply the death of collective redress for workers suffering from discrimination. In that spirit, this Article engages in two analyses to keep equal employment opportunity alive at scale.

First, it …

Rationalizing Relatedness: Understanding Personal Jurisdiction's Relatedness Prong In The Wake Of Bristol-Myers Squibb And Ford Motor Co., Anthony Petrosino

Fordham Law Review

Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court marked a watershed in the U.S. Supreme Court’s personal jurisdiction jurisprudence. There, the Court came to a reasonable conclusion: Ford, a multinational conglomerate carrying on extensive business throughout the United States, was subject to personal jurisdiction in states where it maintained substantial contacts that were related to the injuries that prompted the suits. This was so, even though the business it conducted in those states was not the direct cause of the suit. While justifying that conclusion, however, the Court drastically altered the personal jurisdiction inquiry’s relatedness prong, which concerns whether …

التكییف القانوني للعقود المتصلة بالتطبیقات الحدیثة للنقل البري للأشخاص, ودیمة أحمد الدرعي

Theses

As a result of the huge development of technology, modern models have emerged in land transportation of persons, such as Uber and Lyft applications. Through this application, the driver in his own vehicle transports customers who requested transportation service from the application. The transportation companies claim that the drivers are independent contractors, while on the other hand, the drivers claim that they are employees so that they are covered by the rights guaranteed in the Labor Law. This study aims to show the legal nature of these contracts between the companies related to the modern electronic applications of land transport …

Intrinsic Programmed Death Ligand 1 (Pd-L1) Role In Promoting Triple Negative Breast Cancer (Tnbc) Progression, Duaa Salem Alkaabi

Theses

This thesis is concerned with Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), which is characterized by lack of estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors expression, making targeted drugs ineffective. TNBC has a high proliferative rate, which results in a poor prognosis. Chemotherapy, the primary treatment for metastatic breast cancer, is not an ideal choice due to its toxicity towards normal cells. Therefore, Cancer-targeted therapy has been developed to improve the specificity and strength of the immune system against cancer cells. PD-L1 is an immunosuppressive protein that inactivates T cells by binding to the inhibitory receptor PD-1. The clinical use of PD-L1 blockade agents …

The New Model For Medicine Distribution By Combining Of Supply Chain And Expert System Using Rule Based Reasoning Method, Mufadhol Mufadhol, Mustafid Mustafid, Ferry Jie, Yuni Noor Hidayah

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The medicine distribution supply chain is important, especially during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, because delays in medicine distribution can increase the risk for patients. So far, the distribution of medicines has been carried out exclusively and even some medicines are distributed on a limited basis because they require strict supervision from the Medicine Supervisory Agency in each department. However, the distribution of this medicine has a weakness if at one public health center there is a shortage of certain types of medicines, it cannot ask directly to other public health center, thus allowing the availability of medicines not …

Molecular Characterization Of Germination Of Date Palm Seeds Maintained At Microgravity In Outer Pace (International Space Station), Wesam Izzeldeen Khader

Theses

Over the past decade, the UAE has experienced unprecedented innovations in the space sector. Collaborating closely with universities and space agencies around the world, the country's efforts have advanced steadily but quietly under the public radar. The proposed research focuses on basic research to complement the UAE initiative to send date palms to Mars for future space missions. Plant growth analysis of date palm seeds was performed after maintaining at zero gravity in outer space in the International Space Station (ISS) and simultaneously under normal gravity at ground level. In this context, this work was carried out to analyze the …

Feasibility Study On The Characterization Of Mars Atmospheric And Surface Features In Spacecraft Images By Machine Learning And Similar Automated Methods, Hind Hassan Alriyami

Theses

This thesis is focused on automated detection of Mars atmospheric and surface features in spacecraft images based on machine learning and similar automated methods using crater detection algorithm (CDA) software, named DeepMars2 algorithm. The purpose of this study is to perform machine learning to detect coarse and high-resolution topography craters on mars. The algorithm is applied to two digital elevation models (DEMs) of the Mars surface with high and coarse resolution in order to identify craters using machine and deep learning methods. The DEMs are based on the satellite instruments MOLA/MGS (Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter/Mars Global Surveyor) and HRSC/MEX (High …

Hearing Healthcare Professionals’ Views About Over-The-Counter (Otc) Hearing Aids: Analysis Of Retrospective Survey Data, Vinaya Manchaiah, Anu Sharma, Hansapani Rodrigo, Abram Bailey, Karina C. De Sousa, De Wet Swanepoel

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

Over-the-counter hearing aids have been available to consumers in the US since 17 October 2022 following a ruling by the Food and Drug Administration. However, their reception by hearing healthcare professionals (HHP) has been mixed, and concerns have been expressed by many HHPs. The aim of this study was to examine the concerns that HHPs have towards over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. The study used a retrospective survey design. The survey data of HHPs (n = 730) was obtained from Hearing Tracker. A 22-item structured questionnaire was administered using a Question Scout platform. Descriptive analyses examined reported areas of concern and …

A Novel Mpi-Based Parallel Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Framework With Dynamic Load Balancing For Free Surface Flow, Guixun Zhu, Jason Hughes, Siming Zheng, Deborah Greaves

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

This paper presents a new Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) parallel framework, which is designed for free surface flows and is scalable on a High Performance Computer (HPC). The framework is accomplished by adopting a Message Passing Interface (MPI) approach with a domain partitioning strategy. A regular background grid is used to partition the entire computational domain and each subdomain is labelled using an index ordering method. Adjacent subdomains can be determined by the index list, and avoid global communications in the particle distribution process. Within the local grid, the grid is divided into an internal grid as well as an …

March 2023 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

Reviving A Dying Church: The Role Of Leadership, Jane Thayer

Faculty Publications

A pastor known for his church planting skills was brought into a declining/dying church in Maryland, USA, and with his leadership team, turned the church around in three-and-a-half years. A case study method was used to explore this pastor and congregation’s willingness to “pay the cost” to bring new people into the church. They focused on children’s ministry, evangelism, discipleship, prayer, small groups, meals, and vision—knowing why they engaged in each ministry.

Efficiency And Equity In Regulation, Caroline Cecot

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Biden Administration has signaled an interest in ensuring that regulations appropriately benefit vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. Prior presidential administrations since at least the Reagan Administration have focused on ensuring that regulations are efficient, maximizing the net benefits to society as a whole, without considering who benefits or who loses from these policies. Critics of this process of regulatory review have celebrated President Biden’s initiative, hoping that distributional analysis and the pursuit of equity will displace traditional tools and interests such as cost-benefit analysis and the pursuit of efficiency. Meanwhile, supporters of the current process are concerned that pursuing equity …

Taking Stock Of Startup Stock Options: Addressing Disclosure And Liquidity Concerns Of Startup Employees, John R. Dorney

Vanderbilt Law Review

U.S. capital markets are becoming increasingly private. Initial public offerings have steadily declined since the 1990s, and private companies are remaining private over twice as long as they have in the past. Furthermore, private company financing has reached unprecedented levels. Private securities offerings now greatly outpace the value of publicly traded securities. Additionally, recent regulatory changes seem to be accelerating this shift from the public to the private markets. One result of this shift is that private company valuations have grown immensely, so much so that private companies with valuations of over $1 billion exist and are known as “unicorns.” …

The Limits Of Portfolio Primacy, Roberto Tallarita,

Vanderbilt Law Review

According to the “portfolio primacy” theory, large asset managers, and in particular large index funds, can and will undertake the role of “climate stewards” and will push corporations to reduce their carbon footprint. This theory is based on the view that index fund portfolios mirror the entire market and therefore have strong financial incentives to reduce market-wide threats, such as climate change.

But how much can we rely on portfolio primacy to mitigate the effects of climate change? In this Article, I provide a conceptual and empirical assessment of the potential impact of portfolio primacy on climate change mitigation by …

What’S In The Contract?: Rockefeller, The Hague Service Convention, And Serving Process Abroad, Thomas G. Vanderbeek

Vanderbilt Law Review

Today’s global economy relies on transnational commerce. The Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (“Hague Service Convention”), implemented in 1965, encouraged transnational commerce by establishing a streamlined mechanism for serving foreign parties with process. More reliable international service methods helped ensure parties that they could resolve disputes with foreign parties through the courts. The Hague Service Convention thus created a bridge between civil and common law procedures on service while reducing some of the risks of engaging in business with foreign parties.

At the same time, the Hague Service Convention frequently …

Insights Into Receptor Structure And Dynamics At The Surface Of Living Cells, Frederik Steiert, Peter Schultz, Siegfried Höfinger, Thomas D. Müller, Petra Schwille, Thomas Weidemann

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Evaluating protein structures in living cells remains a challenge. Here, we investigate Interleukin-4 receptor alpha (IL-4Rα) into which the non-canonical amino acid bicyclo[6.1.0]nonyne-lysine (BCNK) is incorporated by genetic code expansion. Bioorthogonal click labeling is performed with tetrazine-conjugated dyes. To quantify the reaction yield in situ, we develop brightness-calibrated ratiometric imaging, a protocol where fluorescent signals in confocal multi-color images are ascribed to local concentrations. Screening receptor mutants bearing BCNK in the extracellular domain uncovered site-specific variations of both click efficiency and Interleukin-4 binding affinity, indicating subtle well-defined structural perturbations. Molecular dynamics and continuum electrostatics calculations suggest solvent polarization to determine …

Flextype: Flexible Text Input With A Small Set Of Input Gestures, Dylan Gaines, Mackenzie M. Baker, Keith Vertanen

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

In many situations, it may be impractical or impossible to enter text by selecting precise locations on a physical or touchscreen keyboard. We present an ambiguous keyboard with four character groups that has potential applications for eyes-free text entry, as well as text entry using a single switch or a brain-computer interface. We develop a procedure for optimizing these character groupings based on a disambiguation algorithm that leverages a long-span language model. We produce both alphabetically-constrained and unconstrained character groups in an offline optimization experiment and compare them in a longitudinal user study. Our results did not show a significant …

Understanding Adoption Barriers To Dwell-Free Eye-Typing: Design Implications From A Qualitative Deployment Study And Computational Simulations, Per Ola Kristensson, Morten Mjelde, Keith Vertanen

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Eye-typing is a slow and cumbersome text entry method typically used by individuals with no other practical means of communication. As an alternative, prior HCI research has proposed dwell-free eye-typing as a potential improvement that eliminates time-consuming and distracting dwell-timeouts. However, it is rare that such research ideas are translated into working products. This paper reports on a qualitative deployment study of a product that was developed to allow users access to a dwell-free eye-typing research solution. This allowed us to understand how such a research solution would work in practice, as part of users' current communication solutions in their …

Moisture Sources Of Precipitation In The Great Lakes Region: Climatology And Recent Changes, Zhao Yang, Yun Qian, Pengfei Xue, Jiali Wang, T. C. Chakraborty, William J. Pringle, Jianfeng Li, Xiaodong Chen

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Given the critical role of precipitation on hydroclimate, we quantified the contributions of moisture source regions to precipitation in the Great Lakes Region (GLR) using multiple reanalysis data sets. Results show that the Great Plains (GPs) and the GLR itself are the primary sources of moisture. The moisture sources for the double peaks in the GLR precipitation that occur in June and September are identified, which is caused by a shift in the peak timing of moisture contribution from the GLR and GPs. In particular, moisture from the GPs contributes more to the heavy precipitation, while moisture from the GLR …

Challenges, Choice, & Change: Experiences And Reflections From The First Semester Of A Technology And Human Futures Course, Briana Christina Bettin

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Society's rapidly increasing reliance on technology has created urgency for future leaders to understand these technologies' potential impacts. News of technical and algorithmic concerns in society are frequent, highlighting the real impacts to real people. Learners may approach computing in order to feel prepared for careers and life in modern society. These learners benefit from understanding the many ways technology may be part of their future careers, their lives, and the lives of others. Beyond this, many wish to use computing to solve problems - but complex societal problems may feel too overwhelming to solve. Greater understanding of the technologies …

Coarse Woody Debris And Carbon Stocks In Pine Forests After 50 Years Of Recovery From Harvesting In Northeastern California, Jianwei Zhang, Deborah S. Page-Dumroese, Martin Jurgensen, Matt Busse, Kim G. Mattson

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The long-term effects of harvesting on stand carbon (C) pools were assessed in a dry, interior pine-dominated forest at the Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest in northeastern California. Six 8-hectacre plots, established in 1938–1943, were treated as either an uncut control or a heavy-cut harvest (three-quarters of the stand volume removed). Response variables included C pools in overstory tree and shrub, coarse woody debris (CWD), forest floor, mineral soil (to 30 cm depth), cubicle brown root fragments of wood, fine roots, and ectomycorrhizal root tips. CWD was further classified as intact wood or more highly decayed brown rot or white rot …

Can Biodiversity Of Preexisting And Created Salt Marshes Match Across Scales? An Assessment From Microbes To Predators, Friedrich W. Keppeler, James R. Junker, Margaret J. Shaw, Scott B. Alford, Annette S. Engel, Linda M. Hooper-Bùi, Olaf P. Jensen, Katelyn Lamb, Paola C. López-Duarte, Charles W. Martin, Ashley M. Mcdonald, Jill A. Olin, Audrey T. Paterson, Michael J. Polito, Nancy N. Rabalais, Brian J. Roberts, Ryann E. Rossi, Erick M. Swenson

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Coastal wetlands are rapidly disappearing worldwide due to a variety of processes, including climate change and flood control. The rate of loss in the Mississippi River Delta is among the highest in the world and billions of dollars have been allocated to build and restore coastal wetlands. A key question guiding assessment is whether created coastal salt marshes have similar biodiversity to preexisting, reference marshes. However, the numerous biodiversity metrics used to make these determinations are typically scale dependent and often conflicting. Here, we applied ecological theory to compare the diversity of different assemblages (surface and below-surface soil microbes, plants, …

Perceptions Of Quality Of Healthcare Using A Trauma-Informed Care Perspective Among Trauma Survivors, Jane Axelle Komen

Theses and Dissertations

Trauma is an all-too-common occurrence with the potential for several farreaching, deleterious effects both mentally and physically. Several studies have found an association between exposure to trauma and cardiovascular, immune, and musculoskeletal system complications. It has also been linked to chronic pain, cancer, and obesity, in addition to several functional and structural neurological effects. Trauma survivors have also been found to utilize healthcare services at a higher rate than those who have not reported experiencing trauma. Trauma-informed care is a relatively novel concept that has been introduced to increase the sensitivity with which these individuals are treated when attending healthcare …

Predictors Of Probation Outcome And Recidivism Among Nonviolent Drug Offenders In Mandated Treatment, Kira Elisabeth Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Since the early 1990’s, the criminal justice system has been attempting to address the growing numbers of drug crimes and incarcerations resulting from policy decisions meant to discourage drug use and trade. To address resulting overcrowding in the prison system, drug courts and state mandated drug programs were devised to supervise and treat offenders in the community. Many factors have been identified that affect recidivism and related outcome measures for those mandated to drug treatment programs and probation terms, including age, gender, race, duration of treatment, and dosage of treatment. The current study found that age, gender, treatment duration, and …

Prevalence Of Long-Term Physical Sequelae Among Patients Treated With Multi-Drug And Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Ty Akalu, Aca Clements, Hf Wolde, Ka Alene

Peninsula Medical School

Background Physical sequelae related to multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) are emerging and under-recognised global challenges. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to quantify the prevalence and the types of long-term physical sequelae associated with patients treated for MDR- and XDR-TB. Methods We systematically searched CINAHL (EBSCO), MEDLINE (via Ovid), Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception through to July 1, 2022, and the last search was updated to January 23, 2023. We included studies reporting physical sequelae associated with all forms of drug-resistant TB, including rifampicin-resistant TB (RR-TB), MDR-TB, Pre-XDR-TB, and XDR-TB. The primary …

Design And Assessment Of A Leo Gnss Miniconstellation For Positioning, Navigation, And Timing (Pnt), Mariya Abdulkhaleq Mohamad

Theses

Recently, there has been a resurgent demand in the United Arab Emirates for more accurate positioning, navigation, and timing signals, especially for some targeted applications such as autonomous vehicles and flying taxis. The existing Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provide real-time positioning accuracy for up to several meters, while the targeted applications require fast convergence of centimeterlevel positioning accuracy. Recent studies have shown that transmitting GNSS signals from a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) instead of a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) would enhance positioning accuracy. The main objective of this thesis is to design and simulate an optimum scenario of a …