Mitchell Institute

Improved specificity of a probe-based real-time PCR for the detection of Dirofilaria immitis in canine blood

Abstract Background Dirofilaria immitis is a vector-borne filarioid nematode distributed worldwide and endemic across most of North America. In dogs, it is considered the most important parasite and a known cause of acquired cardiomyopathy. Clinically, canine heartworm disease ca...

The impact of work from home on urban expansion: a GIS simulation via an intelligent self-adapting multiscale agent-based model

Urban land use is increasingly shaped by evolving work modalities, particularly the rise of Work from Home (WFH) arrangements. This study introduces a hybrid Artificial Neural Network – Agent-Based Modeling (ANN – ABM) framework to simulate urban expansion under differentiated wo...

Dissociable Roles of Primary Motor and Supplementary Motor Cortex in Shaping the Neural Drive to Muscle

Abstract The primary motor cortex (M1) and supplementary motor area (SMA) are critical for motor execution and planning, yet their distinct causal contributions to modulating the neural drive to muscles remain incompletely understood. To dissociate their roles, we applied inhibit...

Examining smartphone-assessed executive function metrics and intrinsic resting-state functional connectivity in depression

<title>Abstract</title> Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a common and costly mental health condition that is often associated with deficits in executive function. Smartphone applications (“apps”) have emerged as promising methods for assessing mental health-related outcomes in...

EduCase: A Systematic Framework for Developing Educational Case Studies in Construction and Engineering Education

Abstract Despite the critical role of educational case studies in construction and engineering education (CEE), there is a lack of systematic frameworks for developing effective educational case studies. This study introduces the educational case study development (EduCase) frame...

Constraint-Based DEM Enhancement Using LiDAR Data at Sparse Highway-Bridge Locations

Abstract Digital elevation models (DEMs) are essential for infrastructure design and flood modeling, yet publicly available DEMs typically exhibit vertical accuracies of one to three meters, insufficient for these applications. This study develops and systematically evaluates a c...

Detailed study of non-equilibrium characteristics of quasi-neutral TNSA plasmas

In an experiment performed in November 2022 at the petawatt (PW) laser facility at Vega III located in Salamanca-Spain, we have studied the successful production of several radioisotopes using protons accelerated by the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) mechanism (Rodrigue...