Digital Commons Network^™

Transitional Car Living, Between Homelessness And Permanent Shelter, Isaac Hertzson

Theses

The worsening eviction crisis facing countries like the United States is caused by a variety of factors. The increasing costs of the housing market as large multi-national investing firms speculate on value of housing, to soaring rental prices, stagnating wages, inflation, and the devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Eviction creates destructive ripple effects throughout society as it often begets a negative feedback loop in which the evicted face housing discrimination leading to further eviction. Eviction is causally linked to issues with both mental and physical well being. To help those facing eviction this project proposes the creation of a …

Identification Of Essential Gene Relations For Lung Adenocarcinoma Therapy Targets By Cross-Referencing Literature-Mined And Rnaseq Data, Mariel V. Pridmore

Theses

Lung adenocarcinoma is the most frequently diagnosed subtype of lung cancer, and while the disease itself can be strenuous, the typical treatments such as chemotherapy are also known to cause whole body harm to the patient due to its systemic nature. Target therapies are increasingly gaining popularity for their ability to selectively apply the therapy to a specific cell. In terms of cancer, this method would lessen some, if not all the painful side-effects of chemotherapy and enhance a patient’s quality of life. Narrowing down what genes are deemed to be essential to the operation of the cell can help …

Eliminating Moisture In Military Footwear: An Air Flow Solution For Soldiers Perspiring Feet When Training In Extremely Cold Weather, Mingshuo Li

Theses

Ground soldiers in extremely cold environments could easily suffer terrible foot conditions because of the wet environment inside their boots produced by generated perspiration. The current winter military boot products on the market focus more on warmth and weather protection, eliminating moist air and functional design is lacking in winter boot products. A military boot system is proposed that will absorb and eliminate foot perspiration and provide a warm and comfortable environment for feet. This proposed design is to add an airflow system to the midsole of the shoe, pushing the air inside the shoe by naturally squeezing the airbag …

Cat-Oriented Design: Redesigning The Living Space For Cats For Travel, Daheng Tong

Theses

In recent years, increasing numbers of people keep cats, especially young people who study or work away from home. Having a cat can provide them with warmth and company when they are lonely. But keeping a cat also brings problems and responsibility, especially for young people, who move often and change jobs frequently. Moving with a cat is not easy for the cat or the owner. For cats, during the journey, any change in the environment can be frightening, and some of the more serious uncertainties can even lead to death. For the cat owner, in addition to having to …

Intelligent Relaxation System For Information Anxiety, Xiuyu Shi

Theses

The development of information technology has brought a lot of convenience to people's lives and changed the way we work. There are many people who use cell phones and computers every day, which has caused many health problems, and information anxiety is one of them. This paper discusses a project that proposed to help with the problem of information anxiety among workers and investigates the root causes of information anxiety among IT workers. After user testing and design, this project gives a potential design solution that uses sensory feedback. In addition, this paper gives some insights into the negative effects …

How To Help Students Who Live In Rural Areas Get Equal Education Resources., Shunjie Yang

Theses

With the development of China's economy, the imbalance between the east of China and the west of China appears. Developed cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen attract more people to work and live. As a consequence of the good economy, the education in those cities is professional. Students in those cities kept the best education resource. Unfortunately, students who live in rural areas or the west of China cannot share the same education re- source. The coming of the coronavirus exceeded the inequality of education resources since a lot of rural schools closed. That means students who live in rural areas …

Comparative Effectiveness Associated With Buprenorphine And Naltrexone In Opioid Use Disorder And Cooccurring Polysubstance Use, Kevin Y Xu, Carrie M Mintz, Ned Presnall, Laura J Bierut, Richard A Grucza

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Importance: Despite prevalent polysubstance use, treatment patterns and outcomes for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) and cooccurring substance use disorders (SUD) are understudied.

Objective: To evaluate the distribution of buprenorphine and naltrexone initiation among individuals with OUD with vs without cooccurring SUD and to assess the comparative effectiveness associated with buprenorphine and naltrexone against drug-related poisonings.

Design, Setting, and Participants: This observational comparative effectiveness study used insurance claims from 2011 to 2016 from the US IBM MarketScan databases to study initiation of medications for OUD (MOUD) among treatment-seeking individuals aged 12 to 64 years with a primary diagnosis of …

Racial And Ethnic Differences In Rural-Urban Trends In 5-Year Survival Of Patients With Lung, Prostate, Breast, And Colorectal Cancers: 1975-2011 Surveillance, Epidemiology, And End Results (Seer), Marquita W Lewis-Thames, Marvin E Langston, Saira Khan, Yunan Han, Lindsay Fuzzell, Shuai Xu, Justin Xavier Moore

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Importance: Considering reported rural-urban cancer incidence and mortality trends, rural-urban cancer survival trends are important for providing a comprehensive description of cancer burden. Furthermore, little is known about rural-urban differences in survival trends by racial and ethnic groups.

Objective: To examine national rural-urban trends in 5-year cancer-specific survival probabilities for lung, prostate, breast, and colorectal cancers in a diverse sample of racial and ethnic groups.

Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used an epidemiologic assessment with 1975 to 2016 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data to analyze patients diagnosed no later than 2011. Patients were classified as living …

Association Of Inappropriate Outpatient Pediatric Antibiotic Prescriptions With Adverse Drug Events And Health Care Expenditures, Anne M Butler, Derek S Brown, Michael J Durkin, John M Sahrmann, Katelin B Nickel, Caroline A O'Neil, Margaret A Olsen, David Y Hyun, Rachel M Zetts, Jason G Newland

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Importance: Nonguideline antibiotic prescribing for the treatment of pediatric infections is common, but the consequences of inappropriate antibiotics are not well described.

Objective: To evaluate the comparative safety and health care expenditures of inappropriate vs appropriate oral antibiotic prescriptions for common outpatient pediatric infections.

Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study included children aged 6 months to 17 years diagnosed with a bacterial infection (suppurative otitis media [OM], pharyngitis, sinusitis) or viral infection (influenza, viral upper respiratory infection [URI], bronchiolitis, bronchitis, nonsuppurative OM) as an outpatient from April 1, 2016, to September 30, 2018, in the IBM MarketScan Commercial Database. …

Timing Of Medicaid Enrollment, Late-Stage Breast Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment Delays, And Mortality, Evaline Xie, Graham A Colditz, Min Lian, Tracy Greever-Rice, Chester Schmaltz, Jill Lucht, Ying Liu

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Disrupted and delayed Medicaid coverage has been consistently associated with lower rates of cancer screening and early-stage cancer diagnosis compared with continuous coverage. However, the relationships between Medicaid coverage timing, breast cancer treatment delays, and survival are less clear.

METHODS: Using the linked Missouri Cancer Registry-Medicaid claims data, we identified 4583 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2007 and 2016. We used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) of late-stage diagnosis and treatment delays for prediagnosis (>30 days, >90 days, and >1 year before diagnosis) vs peridiagnosis enrollment. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the …

System And Method For Providing Validation Services To A Customer, Andrew Chen, Junjun Yu, Danielle Cole, Aravind Srivatsa

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure provides a method and validation system for providing validation services to a customer during purchase of NFT. The method includes receiving request from the customer for validating the seller of the NFT. The NFT is created for a digital good. The method includes obtaining information of the seller and creator of the digital good from a contract and validates the seller and the creator. The method includes utilizing transaction history of the seller and creator information which is stored in a registry for validating. Upon validation, the method includes providing seller score for the seller. Also, the …

Text Cutoff Detection For Document Images, Avisek Lahiri, Xinwei Yao, Tianli Yu

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes techniques for detection of text cutoff in captured images of documents that include text. Optical character recognition (OCR) is applied to an input image. A bounding box for each text character (OCR symbol) is determined, defined by x and y coordinates of its four corners. A feature vector is determined and utilized to represent the spatial location of OCR symbols extracted from the image. The feature vector is constructed based on OCR symbol coordinates and is provided to a trained classifier to determine a class label for the input document, indicating whether the document includes text cutoff. …

Arthur Cotton And The Development Of Public Works, Justin Patty

SMU Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the long history of violence and cruelty that defined the period of British rule in India, Arthur Cotton is one of the few men remembered today not for his crimes, but for the good he did for the people of India. Cotton’s irrigation projects protected millions of Indians from the threat of famine, but the true legacy of his work is global in scope. As a major figure in the development of India’s infrastructure for most of the nineteenth century, Cotton witnessed the British Empire struggle with questions about its role in facilitating public works projects. Despite the Empire’s …

Btk: A Case Study In Psychopathy, Matthew S. Hutnyan

SMU Journal of Undergraduate Research

Psychopathy and serial murder have been topics of great public interest and media attention for several decades. Dennis Rader, a serial killer well-known by his pseudonym “BTK,” was responsible for the gruesome torture and murder of ten people between 1974 and 1991. Although some information is known about him through media accounts, little work has been done to synthesize information about his life and crimes, and to examine him as a case study of psychopathy. Through careful literature review and analysis, this study aims to provide insight into Rader’s life and crimes, and to delineate his psychopathology to gain a …

The Little God Of England: The Divine Right Of James I And The English Response, Nathan Greenhaw

SMU Journal of Undergraduate Research

This paper analyzes the development of James I’s theory of divine right in England and how its application elevated the sovereignty of the monarch to the extent of absolutism in the early seventeenth century. Since divine right ultimately conflicted with the ancient laws and customs of the English government, James’s theory provoked newfound interpretations of the political and judicial authority of the ruler. From a plethora of political treatises, religious sermons, and parliamentary records, these interpretations ultimately affected how governmental institutions, such as Parliament and the courts, interacted with the monarchy. Parliamentarians became more submissive to the king's will, the …

Conceptualization Of An Assessment System To Measure Vocabulary In Science (Project Melva-S), Sisi Kang

SMU Journal of Undergraduate Research

This paper aims to report the conceptualization of a web-based Automated Speech Recognition Scoring System, project MELVA-S (Measuring the English Language Vocabulary Acquisition of Latinx Bilingual Students), to measure the science vocabulary of second- and third-grade Latinx students. ELVA (English Learner Vocabulary Acquisition First Iteration) and ELVA-2 (English Learner Vocabulary Acquisition Second Iteration) focused on student’s learning and comprehension on science vocabularies. Both of the iterations are the foundation to build MELVA-S, which intends to measure and evaluate student’s answers with greater accuracy with Machine Learning. As a web-based agent, this system increases satisfaction for both teachers’ and students’ User …

Design And Development Of Ruthenium-Based Catalysts For Enabling Hydrogen Storage, Isabelle Beaudoin

SMU Journal of Undergraduate Research

For past decades, hydrocarbon-based fuels have been the primary source of energy as a necessity for modern machines and automotive vehicles. Despite use in combustion engines and power plants, fossil fuels reserves are unpredictable and the associated CO₂ emissions are now causing terrible effects on the environment and human health. Researchers have realized H₂ as a potentially safe and efficient energy source, with an energy density of 33.3 kWh per kg. Moreover, H₂ is significantly more environmentally friendly as H₂O is the only by-product. Currently, the development of on-board storage technology is progress for use …

Volume 7, Issue 2 Front Matter, Hannah Webb

SMU Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Airline Mile Finder Web Extension Development, Shane Panchot

Computer Science Research Seminars and Symposia

In the demonstration, I will go through the development of a Firefox extension I came up with for my project in the Algorithms and Complexity course this semester. The demonstration provides an overview of the Web Extension API. It also covers the use of data structures and algorithms implemented in the project.

Partnering With A Purpose: Developing Teachers And Leaders Through A Faith-Based And Public Partnership, Shari Farris, Cammy Purper

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

The challenges of maintaining a strong teacher pipeline are significant and have far-reaching consequences. Teachers who receive effective training, mentor support, and meaningful professional development are more likely to remain in the field. One way of supporting new teachers is through the development of public-private partnerships. This essay describes and discusses the successful partnership established between a faith-based university and a local school district to provide educational and training opportunities to new teachers.

Plan Integrated Lessons For Deep Learning And Life Change, Delta Cavner, Julie Bryant

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

God has given everyone the capacity to learn deeply so that we will follow Him with “a whole heart and with a willing mind” (2 Chron. 28:9). This essay focuses on lesson planning that draws students to learn deeply and develop skills and habits that lead to life change. It first explores the background of integrated learning by analyzing models endorsed in the field of education. It introduces a lesson plan that integrates the head, heart, hands and habits and that promotes a heart response for each phase of learning. Finally, it reminds teachers how essential it is to prayerfully …

Easter 1945: A Call For Christian Intellectualism, Patrick Otto, Janet George

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

There is an urgent need for Christian intellectualism to find its voice again. Institutions of higher education in America today are facing the onslaught of conflicting worldviews. In 1945 C.S. Lewis warned the Church about watering down the faith. In a postmodern world that is trying to be ‘good without God’, for the sake of their students and the Church, Christian educators must hold firm to scripture. There are several cultural challenges that inhibit the progress of Christian intellectualism, but if Christians learn to ‘think Christianly,’ and are “unafraid to articulate their own faith assumptions…(thereby allowing) the academic enterprise to …

Computing Technologies And Paperless Classroom In Library Schools In Rivers State, Anthonia Omehia, Onyema Nsirim

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Paper has been a convenience medium of communicating information, accessing information, as well as delivering and receiving lecture. However, as time changes, the mode of communication and instructional methodology takes a paradigm shift. This has resulted to the use of paperless classroom. Paperless classroom is the use of computing and communication technologies to replace the traditional method of teaching and learning in the classroom. It offers speed and ease of using electronic means in delivering lecture to a large number of students which is cost effective to students and lecturers. Consequently, schools are using computing technologies to ease the cost …

New Mixture Of Two Beta Exponential Distributions And Income Distribution, Mahmoud Riad Mahmoud, Nesma Mamdouh Amer

Journal of Statistics Applications & Probability

Due to its nice mathematical properties and its usefulness for modeling failure time data, the beta exponentiated distribution is utilized to construct a mixture distribution that would be useful in a variety of applications. Describing income distributions is one of these applications. For this purpose a mixture of the beta exponential and inverted beta exponential distributions is constructed and studied. Approximate formulas for the expected value of the mixture are obtained. The model parameters are estimated using maximum likelihood and applied to real data as well as simulated data.

P624. Risk Prediction For Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Following Trauma Exposure, Raphael Kim, Lauren Mckibben, Tina Lin, Gehao Pang, Andrew S. Tungate, Phyllis L. Hendry, Michael C. Kurz, David A. Peak, Jeffrey Jones, Niels K. Rathlev, Robert A. Swor, Robert M. Domeier, Marc-Anthony Velilla, Christopher A. Lewandowski, Elizabeth Datner, Claire Pearson, David C. Lee, Patricia Mitchell, Samuel A. Mclean, Sarah D. Linnstaedt

Emergency Medicine Meeting Abstracts

Background: Posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are common following trauma exposure. Identification of individuals with PTSS at the time of emergency care is important to enable preventive interventions. In this study, we used baseline survey data from two large prospective cohort studies to identify the most influential predictors of PTSS at the time of presentation for emergency care and to develop a clinical decision support tool to identify individuals who develop substantial PTSS.

Methods: Self-identifying white and black American men and women (n=1,546) presenting to one of sixteen emergency departments (EDs) within 24 hours of motor vehicle collision (MVC) trauma were …

Epigenetic And Transcriptional Dysregulation In Cd4+ T Cells In Patients With Atopic Dermatitis, Amy A. Eapen, Sreeja Parameswaran, Carmy Forney, Lee E. Edsall, Daniel Miller, Omer Donmez, Katelyn Dunn, Xiaoming Lu, Marissa Granitto, Hope Rowden, Adam Z. Magier, Mario Pujato, Xiaoting Chen, Kenneth Kaufman, David I. Bernstein, Ashley L. Devonshire, Marc E. Rothenberg, Matthew T. Weirauch, Leah C. Kottyan

Allergy & Immunology Articles

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the most common skin disorders among children. Disease etiology involves genetic and environmental factors, with 29 independent AD risk loci enriched for risk allele-dependent gene expression in the skin and CD4+ T cell compartments. We investigated the potential epigenetic mechanisms responsible for the genetic susceptibility of CD4+ T cells. To understand the differences in gene regulatory activity in peripheral blood T cells in AD, we measured chromatin accessibility (an assay based on transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing, ATAC-seq), nuclear factor kappa B subunit 1 (NFKB1) binding (chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing, ChIP-seq), and gene expression levels (RNA-seq) …

The Effect Of A Standardized Training Program To Enhance The Therapeutic Alliance In Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Mixed Methods Analytical Approach, Marino Bucci, Dominick Haynes, Megan Cundiff

UCF DPT Research Capstone

Background: Chronic low back pain (cLBP) affects up to 84% of adults. Evidence suggests a strong therapeutic alliance (TA) enhances care in a variety of ways. While themes associated with strong alliances have been identified, few studies have provided instructions on utilizing this information to craft a strong TA in physical therapy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to look at the effectiveness and feasibility of a training protocol to enhance the TA in patients with cLBP.

Methods: A total of 19 practicing physical therapists and 16 physical therapy students completed a TA training course with a pre and …

Emg Amplitude During Fatiguing Low-Load Versus High-Load Biceps Curls, Jeremy S. Wydra, Jacob C. Gilbert, Allison P. Mann

UCF DPT Research Capstone

The role of load in strength training is being debated in the literature, with studies reporting similar changes in skeletal muscle size following fatiguing low-load and high-load training. Electromyographic (EMG) signal recording can be utilized to compare muscle activity between fatiguing low-load and high-load training, but little is known about the behavior of the biceps brachii muscle during shortening (concentric) and lengthening (eccentric) muscle actions. We sought to compare changes in EMG amplitude throughout fatiguing low-load versus high-load resistance training during both concentric and eccentric muscle actions.

METHODS: Nine men and eight women, all resistance trained, participated in this study. …

Patteson, Joseph. Drugs, Violence And Latin America: Global Psychotropy And Culture. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022. 249 Pp. Isbn 9783-0306-8924-7, Brandon Bisbey

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Whole New World: Understanding The International Student Experience In The United States Through Acculturation, Identity, And Support, Maria W. Nessim

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

This study explores the feelings and opportunities that international students experience while they are studying abroad. Specifically, it investigates acculturation and adaptation to the host country, the students’ cultural identity and sense of belonging, as well as implications for support provided by the host institution.

In order to evaluate these components, an online survey, compiled of 24 open-ended and multiple-choice questions, was distributed to international students at the University of San Diego, asking them to describe their experiences and any indications of challenge and support from the institution in relation to their sense of belonging. The outcomes of this research …