Respiratory Health And Environmental Risks Among California Children: The Role Of Socioeconomic Status, Wen Chieh Chia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract Air pollution has been cited as a factor in the development of respiratory illness in children. Socioeconomic differences can intensify the effects of air pollution exposure on low-income children compared to higher-income children. This correlational study examined the relationship between air pollution exposure and respiratory health outcomes among California children, as well as the moderating role of socioeconomic status. The study was guided by the environmental health disparities framework and used secondary data from the California Environmental Health Tracking Program, analyzing data from 49 California counties (n = 49). Independent variables were PM2.5 concentrations and the number of ozone …

Strategies To Reduce Safety Accidents In Chemical Facilities, Travon Eshawn Herriotte

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Chemical-industry accidents remain a persistent threat capable of injuring workers, damaging communities, and destabilizing organizations, despite decades of safety regulations and technological advancements. Chemical facility managers, workers’ families, emergency responders, local communities, and entire supply chains bear the burden of every preventable failure. Grounded in human capital theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic research project was to identify and explore effective strategies that managers use to reduce safety accidents in chemical facilities. The participants were six managers from chemical facilities in the eastern United States. Data were collected using semistructured and publicly available documents. Through reflexive thematic analysis, five …

Lived Experiences Of Caregivers Navigating The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act For Their Disabled Children, Natasha Weber Holmes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was designed to guarantee equitable access to special education services for children with disabilities. Yet, disparities persist in how caregivers navigate protections. They often face barriers related to limited legal knowledge, inconsistent school support, and systemic inequities, leaving many unable to fully advocate for their children. The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis study was to explore lived experiences of caregivers as they engaged with the IDEA to secure services for their children with disabilities. Guided by the legal consciousness and empowerment theories, the study involved examining how caregivers interpret and act upon …

Can I Freeze-Dry That? A Practical Guide To Safe And Effective Freeze-Drying, Victoria Carlile, Morgan Wayment, Jose Brandao

All Current Publications

Freeze-drying can preserve most everyday foods, but not all foods work well. Whether you are preparing for a long trip or are interested in long-term storage, it is important to know which food can be freeze-dried safely and which ones should not be attempted. This knowledge helps ensure food safety, quality, and success. This fact sheet provides information on how freeze-drying works, the risks involved, and which foods can be more challenging to freeze-dry.

Regeneration Of Swimming Antennae After Partial Amputation In Long- And Short-Lived Daphnia, Charles Schumpert, Rekha C. Patel, Jeffry L. Dudycha

Faculty Publications

Regeneration, the ability of an animal to restart a developmental process and thus rebuild itself following injury or loss, is generally thought to be inversely related to aging, the progressive decline of organismal functions and fitness that occurs as adults get older. We sought to test whether recently evolved differences of aging in the crustacean Daphnia were accompanied by evolutionary divergence of regenerative ability. Using the short-lived D. pulex and the long-lived D. pulicaria, we conducted an assessment of regenerative ability in which we amputated part of the swimming antenna and observed subsequent regeneration. In four clones isolated from …

Civic Center Curriculum Committee Agenda January 13, 2026, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Call to Order
• New Business
• Coursedog Submission Deadlines
• Developing Guiding Principles
• Course Titles and Descriptions
• Adjourn: 10:00 am

Molecular Survival Strategies Against Kidney Filtration: Implications For Therapeutic Protein Engineering, William Heaps, Anna Elise Packard, Kristina M. Mccammon, Tyler P. Green, Joseph P. Talley, Bradley C. Bundy, Dennis Della Corte

Faculty Publications

The glomerular filtration barrier poses a significant challenge for circulating proteins, with molecules below ~60–70 kDa facing rapid renal clearance. Endogenous proteins have evolved sophisticated evasion mechanisms including oligomerization, carrier binding, electrostatic repulsion, and FcRn-mediated recycling. Understanding these natural strategies provides blueprints for engineering therapeutic proteins with improved pharmacokinetics. This review examines how endogenous proteins resist filtration, evaluates their application in protein engineering, and discusses clinical translation including established technologies (PEGylation, Fc-fusion) and emerging strategies (albumin-binding domains, glycoengineering). We address critical challenges of balancing half-life extension with tissue penetration, biological activity, and immunogenicity—essential considerations for the rational design of next-generation …

Device For Taking Images Of An Aircraft Engine, Julian Radziwill

Defensive Publications Series

A device for taking images of an aircraft engine, comprising a. a frame (1), in particular a mobile frame (2); b. a rotatable beam (2), in particular rotatably mounted to the frame, comprising i. a plurality of attachment elements, each attachment element configured to allow for a camera module (3) to be releasably mounted thereto.

Predictive Cost-Benefit Routing For Multi-Tier Risk Decisioning Systems, Subhadip Mitra, Kerrie Hudson, Archanaa Ravikumar

Defensive Publications Series

The real-time risk decisioning systems can encounter a trade-off between the high cost and latency of certain accurate analytical systems and the speed of simpler, deterministic rules, as some escalation methods may not account for the financial context of individual transactions. A disclosed technology provides a multi-tier risk decisioning system managed by a predictive, cost-benefit routing engine. This engine can calculate an expected return on investment for a transaction before escalating it to a more computationally expensive analytical tier. Escalation may proceed if the potential financial benefit of a more accurate decision is determined to outweigh the operational cost of …

Automated Rule Generation For Tiered Systems Using Multi-Stage Failure Learning, Subhadip Mitra

Defensive Publications Series

In multi-tiered anomaly detection systems, a challenge may exist in balancing the operational cost of accurate analytical models with the accuracy of less expensive rule engines, where manual rule creation can be slow. A described technology can address this by, for example, monitoring a multi-stage processing cascade and employing multi-stage failure learning. A system can identify instances where a low-cost analysis tier does not detect an anomaly that a higher-cost tier subsequently identifies. The system may then extract the successful detection pattern and use a generative model to formulate a new, low-cost rule that codifies this logic. This process can …

Method And System For Secure Re-Registration Of Unified Payments Interface Accounts, Alok Roy

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure relates to a secure method and system for re-registration of a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) account, which employs a Cloud-Backed Device Continuity Token (CDCT). The method includes generating the CDCT during initial user registration using a one-way hash function based on a random number, a mobile number, and a timestamp. The CDCT is securely stored in both a backend server of a UPI payment application provider and in a user cloud identity vault. During a re-registration attempt on a new device, the presence and authenticity of the CDCT are validated. If the token matches, re-registration is allowed, …

“Process For Preparation Of Crystalline Tafamidis”, Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of crystalline tafamidis.

Ai-Guided Controlled Web Exposure Framework For Early Detection Of Web-Based Malware, Chiranthan Niranjan

Defensive Publications Series

The rapid growth of web-based services has significantly increased the attack surface for malware distribution, particularly through non-secure or poorly protected websites. Traditional antivirus and endpoint protection systems are largely reactive, often detecting threats only after widespread infection has occurred. This delay allows emerging malware to compromise a large number of users before effective countermeasures are deployed.

The presented disclosure propose an AI-guided controlled web exposure framework designed to proactively identify emerging web-based malware and evaluate antivirus effectiveness under high-risk conditions. The proposed system operates within fully isolated virtual environments and utilizes multiple controlled administrator-level user accounts to simulate realistic …

System And Method For Emotion-Gated Linguistic Model Training Using Multimodal Emotional Confidence Evaluation, Chiranthan Niranjan

Defensive Publications Series

The presented proposal discloses a system and method for controlling linguistic model training using multimodal emotional confidence gating. The proposed system receives audiovisual media comprising spoken dialogue and associated visual, acoustic, and contextual signals, and automatically segments the media into scene portions based on detected emotional stability characteristics. A multimodal emotion analysis module generates an emotional confidence score for each scene portion by fusing facial expression features, vocal prosody parameters, temporal emotional consistency indicators, and contextual correlation data. A training control module compares the emotional confidence score against a configurable threshold and selectively authorizes or suppresses linguistic parameter updates of …

Delta-Driven Data Rebuilding System With Integrity Verification Via Layered Checksum, Alok Roy

Defensive Publications Series

A system and method for reconstructing and validating versions of a data record. The system continuously monitors and stores data records, data changes and checksums of a plurality of versions of each data record after every operation. Upon receiving a request from a user device to roll back to a target version of the data record the system determines proximity of the target version to first and last versions of the data record and determines traversal direction based on the proximity of the target version. The system generates target version of the data record by traversing through data changes in …

System For Context-Aware Payment Recommendations Using Retrieval-Augmented Generation, Zeyu Luo, Dinoop Dayanand, Adam Chiu, Summer Xia, Aimee Katz, Kushagra Patel

Defensive Publications Series

A system can generate context-aware payment recommendations to assist users in selecting a suitable payment method, which may be beneficial given the complexity of financial product benefits. The system may employ a multi-stage processing pipeline where, for example, an intent classifier can first infer a user's need from a transactional context. A request may then be processed by a handler that can query a retrieval-augmented generation system to obtain relevant data from a knowledge base. A large language model may synthesize this data to generate a structured output, such as a JSON payload containing both human-readable text and machine-readable user …

Assessment Of Engine Performance And Characteristics Of Soot And NoX Emissions In The Vcr Engine Fuelled With Different Sustainable Fuel Blends, Mohammed A. Fayad, M. A. I. Al-Hamid, Shaimaa B. Al-Baghdadi, Suha A. Mohammed, Amani Ahmed, Hind A. Al Salihi, Hussain Ali Hussain, Salman Hussien Omran, Francisco J. Martos

Terra Joule Journal

In last few decades, many researchers working on the alternative fuel such as biodiesel that used in CI engine. It is proposed that the biodiesel can be good replace to the diesel due to the lower exhaust emissions, agricultural origin and improve the combustion process and engine performance. Rapeseed methyl ester (RME) blended with diesel fuel as sutainable fuel by 10% R10D, 20% R20D and 30% R30D in this study. Various compression ratio (CR) of 15 and 18 and different engine loads (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) with keep engine speed constant. The results showed that the BTE increased with …

Hydrogen Energy As Sustainable Energy: A Comprehensive Review, Talal Yusaf, Kumaran Kadirgama, Hayder A. Dhahad, Abd Rahim Abu Talib, L. Samylingam, Navid Aslfattahi, Maryam Sadat Kiai, Chee Kuang Kok

Terra Joule Journal

Hydrogen is increasingly recognized as a cornerstone of the global transition toward a low-carbon and sustainable energy system. This review synthesizes recent advances across the hydrogen value chain—from production and storage to utilization and policy—while highlighting the opportunities and challenges shaping its large-scale deployment. We compare the main production routes, including reforming, gasification, and electrolysis, with particular attention to green hydrogen derived from renewable energy. Advances in storage technologies, such as compressed, liquid, and solid-state systems, are critically assessed in terms of efficiency, safety, and scalability. The analysis extends to hydrogen’s emerging roles in hard-to-abate sectors including industry, heavy transport, …

Effects Of Green Human Resource Management On Green Innovation In Pakistani Textile Industries: The Mediating Effect Of Green Behavior, Saeeda Mirza, Shazia Parveen

Business Review

In the textile sector, employees' green behavior and green innovation are currently receiving more attention as contributing factors. Consequently, firms are launching a variety of sustainable development initiatives and developing green business plans. This study seeks to fulfil the identified need and contribute to theoretical advancement by examining the underlying mechanisms that explain the determinants of green innovation among managers of the textile sector, utilizing the framework of Ability, Motivation, and Opportunity theory. Purposive technique and two-wave sampling methodologies were employed to gather data via self-report survey questionnaires. Data were collected from a total of 310 textile managers. The primary …

Confluence, Vol. 4, Iss. 2, Full Issue

The Confluence

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Analysis Of Eyewitness Testimony Accuracy: Victims Versus Bystanders, Allyson Phillips

The Confluence

Eyewitness testimony is a vital yet fallible component of the criminal justice system. This study investigates differences in eyewitness testimony accuracy between two witness types: victims and bystanders, adding to the scarce literature regarding the subject. Participants were assigned to either the Victim or Bystander Group and participated in a memory test. During the memory test, a staged intruder entered the room and stole either a gift card belonging to the participant (Victim Group) or me (Bystander Group). Following the theft, participants were given an eyewitness testimony survey and photo lineup to assess their memory of the theft and intruder. …

Evaluating Lunch Plan Data In The St. Charles School District (Scsd), Maddy Alexander, Guillermo Bilbao Olarreaga, Duncan Krige, Alyssa Schreiber, Nick Wintz, Wojciech Golik

The Confluence

The SCSD is a public school district in St. Charles, with, on average, 4500 students a year. The SCSD is subdivided into an early childhood center, six elementary schools, two intermediate (5-6,7-8) schools, and two high schools. Vocational schools are also within this district but were not included in this report. The SCSD is concerned with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their district’s population and on the number of students that needed assistance with lunch. They have asked Lindenwood’s 2024-25 PIC Math group to analyze their data from the years 2020-25 and identify any trends. Identifying these trends …

A Tiny Battle: Conflict, Structure, And Satire In "The Rape Of The Lock", Helen R. Ball

The Confluence

Writing in London during the eighteenth-century, the poet Alexander Pope earned an enduring reputation in literary canon as a master of satire. His well-loved poem The Rape of the Lock exemplifies his biting wit and characteristically satirical heroic rhyme couplets. In my article, I use a formalist literary approach to examine Pope's stylistic, literary, and rhetorical strategies throughout the climactic third canto of the poem. Performing a close reading, this essay analyzes the intricacies of the poem through its use of diction, rhyme, and dramatic subject matter, ultimately arguing that Pope achieves a complex balance of satirizing and sympathizing with …

Lucy Wortham James And The Gospel Of Wealth: A Case Study Of Female Philanthropy In Rural Missouri During The Progressive Era, Jacob F. Rinehart

The Confluence

Various historical scholars have examined the role of Andrew Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth on philanthropic attitudes and endeavors of affluent Americans during the Progressive Era. Modern developments, driven by post-structural feminist theory, have shown that rural-born Missouri women, exemplified by Phoebe Apperson Hearst, acted as complementary equals to Carnegie through their humanitarian efforts by uniquely interpreting and implementing his social doctrines. However, the existing scholarship has focused substantially on coastal developments, neglecting the role of this benevolence in rural Missouri communities. By examining the philanthropic endeavors of Lucy Wortham James, both during her life and post-mortem through her endowment of …

Beyond The Gap: Bridging Student Habits And Librarian Vision, Stephanie J. Hallam, Sophia E. Du Val

Navigating the Future Together: Student Success Symposium

What if the key to unlocking stronger student success lies in the gap between how students think they use the library and how librarians see that engagement? At a small liberal arts university, researchers compared student self-perceptions of library visits, resource engagement, information literacy, and AI use with national survey data of academic librarians.

Findings revealed notable differences in how students and librarians view their interactions with libraries, information, and AI. However, students who developed library habits and skills valued resources and services in ways that closely mirrored librarian perspectives. This alignment points to a promising opportunity: fostering more intentional …

Connecting Students To Support: The Help Yourself Campaign's Role In Holistic Student Wellness And Resource Awareness At The University Of North Texas Libraries, Brea Henson

Navigating the Future Together: Student Success Symposium

Short Description

Students can face many challenges and situations while in college. Unfortunately, students are often unaware of all the campus resources available to them, as well as how the library fits into these care networks. The Help Yourself Campaign (HYC) aims to bridge the gap between students and student support offices.

Abstract

Students can face many challenges and situations while in college. Unfortunately, students are often unaware of all the campus resources available to them, as well as how the library fits into these care networks. This is especially true for large campuses, such as the University of North …

Student Voice And Choice In Creating Learning Objects To Teach Subject-Specific Databases, Bradley Dusing

Navigating the Future Together: Student Success Symposium

Subject-specific databases can be challenging to navigate due to their unique functionalities and types of information they contain. Allowing students to explore in small groups and facilitating their ability to draw their own conclusions are successful pedagogical approaches in constructing an understanding of subject-specific databases.

Fostering Belonging: Translating Data Into Inclusive Teaching Practices, Jen Pesek, Dominique Dozier

Navigating the Future Together: Student Success Symposium

How can belonging survey data be leveraged to foster inclusion and belonging in the library classroom? Information literacy one-shots for first-year students are the perfect environment for foundational inclusion. First-year students, especially those from underrepresented communities, are just beginning their journey into identities as scholars and researchers. This is a critical time to invite, affirm, and reflect them by creating a classroom of inclusion and belonging.

Our library ran a survey of underrepresented students and their sense of belonging in the library. We wondered if this data could be leveraged to improve belonging and inclusion in our library instruction. We …

From Belonging To Leadership: Empowering Students Through Mcmaster University Library’S Library Ambassador Program, Ariel Stables-Kennedy, Victoria Flores

Navigating the Future Together: Student Success Symposium

At McMaster University Library, the Library Ambassador program places students at the center of engagement, belonging, and leadership development. Designed as a peer-to-peer initiative, the program hires and trains undergraduate students to represent the library, support outreach activities, and create welcoming experiences for their peers. More than just a job, the program builds confidence, cultivates transferable skills, and fosters a sense of belonging for Ambassadors.

Victoria Flores, a student leader instrumental to the program's development and success, will share how the Library Ambassador program contributes to student success on multiple levels: it provides meaningful paid experiential learning, amplifies student voices …

Guiding Global Learners: Librarians And Study Abroad Success, Lynne Lambdin

Navigating the Future Together: Student Success Symposium

In higher education, study abroad programs give students the chance to expand their learning beyond the United States while immersing themselves in new cultures and academic contexts. These programs are often led by faculty members who design courses around the unique opportunities of the destination. While such experiences foster invaluable hands-on learning, student success can be further strengthened through collaboration with librarians. By integrating librarians into study abroad programs, students gain access to specialized research support, curated resources, and critical information skills that enhance their ability to engage deeply with their coursework and surroundings. Faculty who partner with librarians not …