UAB Digital Commons (Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham)
Not a member yet
32303 research outputs found
Sort by
Validation of Task-Based Risk Assessment (TaBRA) as an Effective Risk Evaluation Tool for Manufacturing Machinery Systems
Full text link2025 ASEM 620 Capstone Projecthttps://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/asem/1006/thumbnail.jp
Integrating Learner-Centered Teaching Practices With Saudi Arabia’S National Curriculum In Early Childhood Education: A Mixed Methods Study
No full textThis study explores how early childhood educators in Northern Saudi Arabia implement learner-centered teaching (LCT) within the framework of the National Curriculum. Employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the research first collected quantitative data via a survey of 260 teachers, followed by qualitative data through interviews with eight participants. The integrated findings offer a comprehensive understanding of how LCT is practiced in early childhood education. The findings reveal that educators generally recognize the benefits of LCT, particularly in fostering independent learning, critical thinking, and active student participation. Teachers reported using strategies such as open-ended questioning, collaborative learning, and activity-based instruction to support diverse learning needs. However, several barriers hindered full implementation, including large class sizes, limited resources, insufficient professional development, and inconsistent administrative support. Qualitative insights highlighted teachers’ efforts to adapt the National Curriculum in ways that align with student interests and inquiry-based approaches. Many educators view the curriculum as flexible and capable of accommodating child-centered methods. Despite the availability of training opportunities, professional development was often voluntary, leaving gaps in teachers’ preparedness for effective LCT integration. Support mechanisms such as peer collaboration, both online and in-person training, and administrative facilitation of experiential learning activities were also noted. Nevertheless, the inconsistency in access to these supports points to the need for more structured and mandatory professional development programs. Overall, the study underscores both the promise and challenges of implementing learner-centered teaching in early childhood education in the region. While teachers are conceptually aligned with LCT principles, practical constraints and limited institutional backing hinder their ability to apply these methods consistently. These findings suggest a need for policy enhancements that prioritize resource allocation, compulsory teacher training, and structural support to promote meaningful adoption of LCT across early childhood settings
Effect Of Pre-Treatment Lab-Based Comorbidities On Treatment Related Outcomes Among Patients With Cancer
Full text linkCancer is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in the United States. In addition to their cancer, nearly 50% of individuals have a comorbid condition. This adds complexity to the treatment of these patients as it may delay cancer diagnosis or treatment or prevent treatment all together. Lab-values are an important tool to measure comorbidities and end-organ damage as they are routinely captured as part of standard of care and the basis of clinician decision making. However, despite the widespread multimorbidity and how crucial they are to decision making, few studies assess the association of lab abnormalities with treatment outcomes. In addition, clinical trials often exclude patients with lab abnormalities despite these patients potentially receiving the treatment after it is put on the market. There have been many calls to broaden exclusion criteria in respect to lab-values in cancer clinical trials. Therefore, this dissertation contains three research projects to better understand the relationship between routinely captured lab-values and treatment-related outcomes in patients with cancer. First, we will compare the time-to-treatment discontinuation and overall survival for those with and without lab abnormalities. Second, we will examine an optimal cut-point at which an abnormal lab-value is associated with worsening symptoms after cancer treatment initiation. Third, we will use lab values alongside other patient demographic and clinical information to create patient profiles and assess these profiles for risks of dose modifications. These contributions will help in our understanding of how patients with lab-abnormalities fair on their cancer treatment and provide more crucial information in the call to modernize cancer clinical trials
Comparison Of Shear Bond Strength And Compatibility Of Dual-Cure Resin Composite Core Build-Up Materials Using Various Adhesive Systems: An In Vitro Study
No full textObjectives: The primary aim of this study was to measure the shear bond strength (SBS) of various dual-cure resin composite core build-up (CBU) materials bonded to caries-free dentin via their self-curing mechanism(s) of action using different self-etching universal adhesives (SEUA). This study also examined the translucency, radiopacity, and microhardness of the tested dual-cure resin composite core build-up materials. Methods: Non-carious molars and premolars were mounted into acrylic blocks. A flat dentin bonding surface was obtained by grinding the specimens with a model trimmer and sanded to 320-grit with a polishing wheel. The specimens were assigned to a dual-cure CBU material group (Table 1) and assigned to a SEUA subgroup (Table 2). Within 4 hours of surface preparation, the SEUA corresponding to the specimen’s subgroup (Table 2) was applied and light cured per manufacturer’s IFU. Composite buttons for the assigned dual-cure CBU material of each group were placed using a bonding clamp apparatus and allowed to self-cure for 2 hours in an incubator at 37 °C. The bonded specimens were unclamped and stored in water in an incubator at 37 °C for 24 hours to allow for bond maturation. The specimens were mounted to a testing clamp, and a universal testing machine with a fixture featuring a circular notched-edge blade was used to apply load at a crosshead speed of 1mm/min until bond failure. The load (MPa) at the time of bond failure was recorded. The data was analyzed via 2-way ANOVA, 1-way ANOVA, and Tukey’s post-hoc analyses. Results: Analysis of SBS via 2-way ANOVA determined statistically significant differences in SBS between the adhesives, the CBU materials, and their interaction (p\u3c.05). Individual 1-Way ANOVAs determined significant material groups for each self-etching universal adhesive. Conclusions: The results of this in vitro study suggest a material incompatibility can exist between self-etching universal adhesive systems and dual-cure resin composite CBU materials when utilizing their self-curing mechanism(s) of action
Synergistic Effects Of Hyaluronic Acid And Mechanical Strain On Ovarian Cancer Cell Behaviors
Full text linkOvarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological cancer, but despite this, the effects of the ovarian tumor microenvironment (TME) on disease progression are poorly understood. The TME consist of the extra cellular matrix (ECM), cellular components, and mechanical forces. Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are stromal cells that secrete several ECM components including collagen, fibronectin, and hyaluronic acid (HA). CAFs also have increased motility and contractility, this increased movement creates micro-strains experienced by the tumor cells in the TME. HA interacts with cancer cells as both a serum and stromal component. Increases in stromal HA in the ovarian TME are associated with a more progressed disease state and a worse 5-year survival rate, but serum HA does not have these same correlations. HA influences cancer cell behaviors through cell surface receptor CD44. The intracellular domain of CD44 interacts with Src which links CD44 to oncogenic pathways including MAPK, PI3K, and Rho/Roc. Through these mechanisms, the HA/CD44 signaling axis alters ovarian cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and drug resistance. It is known that Src is mechanically sensitive but the mechanism in which HA plays a role in this sensitivity is not well characterized. We hypothesize that tension through HA in the ovarian TME alters CD44 signaling and further downstream functional outcomes. In a 2D platform we modeled the combined effects of tensile strain and serum or stromal HA. We evaluated altered CD44 and downstream Src expression and expanded our studies into a complex microphysiological system that allowed us to evaluate how combined strain and stromal-like HA alter CD44 functional effects including proliferation, migration, and response to chemotherapy treatment. Our results show that a stromal-like HA presentation works synergistically with tensile strain to increase CD44 expression and increase pro-cancer cellular behaviors. These results highlight the importance of including not only biochemical but also biomechanical factors when modeling ovarian cancer. Our findings help elucidate the role of the TME in disease progression and gives valuable insight for potential therapeutics that target the HA/CD44 axis
Unveiling the Other: Feminine and Colonial Subjugation in Mary Elizabeth Braddon\u27s England
Full text linkJust a few years after England experienced major societal shifts, both domestically in the passage of revolutionary women’s rights legislation and internationally in the Indian Mutiny, Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret (1862) offered Victorian readers a way to confront their anxieties and uncertainties about the nation’s future. The traditional power structures of British imperialism and patriarchy faced growing resistance as Indian rebels and women’s rights reformers challenged their assumed natural authority. Past scholarship contextualizes the novel within these major historical events, viewing them in relation to each other in which the struggles of Indian colonial subjects equate to those of Victorian wives. My analysis expands on this scholarship by investigating the novel’s broader treatment of otherness, especially as it pertains to its titular character, Lucy Audley. Applying the critical framework of Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism and Simone de Beauvoir’s concept of the Other, I argue that the novel portrays Indian colonial subjects and English women as the racial and female Other to unveil that the patriarchal British Empire both constructs and mirrors these marginalized identities to reveal that the very flaws projected onto the oppressed exist within the ruling class
Data worth saving: Building a lightweight dataset catalog in Digital Commons
Full text linkMany academic libraries are compiling dataset catalogs using a variety of approaches to gather metadata for dataset records which may be hosted on one of several platforms. Our approach is to develop Python code and leverage APIs to locate relevant datasets, then harvest and clean the associated metadata. The cleaned metadata is then manually curated and enhanced before being added to the Dataset Catalog. We employ the hosted institutional repository Digital Commons to display the dataset records. Digital Commons is a widely used platform which requires no coding background and little technical overhead. Combining API harvesting and automated data cleaning with the batch upload feature of Digital Commons yields efficient ingestion of many dataset records, allowing us to prioritize manual curation and enhancement of the dataset metadata. This methodology is ideal for institutions unable to dedicate large teams of specialized personnel or significant amounts of technical resources to launching a dataset catalog. We hope to eventually make the code we have developed available for reuse in other institutions. The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Research Data Catalog currently contains over 100 dataset records from multiple repositories. This project was supported through the Data Services Continuing Professional Education (DSCPE) program.
Presented at the Data Discovery Collaboration (DDC) meeting on April 4, 202
Building Your Scholarly Narrative: The Power of Publishing Metrics
No full textThe webinar focused on the importance of publishing metrics in building a scholarly narrative, covering various types of metrics including journal impact factors, H-Index, and altmetrics. The presenters discussed how these metrics can be used to assess research impact, support career advancement, and enhance grant applications, while emphasizing the need for context and appropriate use across different disciplines. The session also addressed questions about open access publishing and its potential impact on citation rates and research visibility.https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/osc/1007/thumbnail.jp