Digital Commons Network^™

Infertility And Mental Health, Laynie Pugmire

Family Perspectives

No abstract provided.

Fatherhood Redefined: How Paternity Leave Shapes Relationships, Olivia Flores

Family Perspectives

Paternity leave remains limited in the United States, with relatively few fathers granted paid time off following the birth of a child. This literature review examines how paternity leave shapes marital relationships by influencing parental mental health and couple communication during the transition to parenthood. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, the paper synthesizes evidence indicating that fathers’ use of paternity leave is associated with higher marital satisfaction and greater relationship stability. These benefits are largely mediated by improvements in both maternal and paternal mental health, as paternity leave reduces role overload, stress, and symptoms of anxiety and depression for both partners. …

The Effect Of Singlehood On Socioemotional Health, Alexa Garner

Family Perspectives

No abstract provided.

Why Yelling Feels Like The Only Option (And What To Try Instead), Vanessa Brouse

Family Perspectives

No abstract provided.

Integrating Traditional Samoan Music With School-Aged Children In Fostering Culturally Appropriate Behaviors Within The Framework Of Fa'afaletui And Multimodal Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Stormi Rachelle Winscot

Theses and Dissertations

Fa’aSamoa, the cultural framework shaping Samoan values, relationships, and daily life, deeply informs educational experiences in American Samoa. Music, as both cultural expression and communal practice, offers a powerful lens through which student engagement can be understood. This exploratory study employed multimodal interpretative phenomenological analysis (MMIPA), guided by the Fa’afaletui framework, to examine how Samoan and Pacific Islander students responded in embodied ways to traditional Samoan, culturally adapted Western, and other Western (folk, classical, pop) music in classroom settings. Drawing on focus group interviews and systematic observations, the study centered students’ movement, vocal expression, rhythmic participation, and peer interaction as …

Comparing The Effectiveness Of Telehealth Training For Parents Using “Help Is In Your Hands”: Joint Attention And Mands, Vivian Desiree Cortez Dominguez

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to compare the effects of remote parent training for parents of autistic children in Peru, ages 2-4 years old. Using the Spanish version of the digital program called “Help is in Your Hands” (Rogers & Stahmer, 2026; 3C Institute, 2026), three mothers were trained on how to support their child's ability to participate in joint attention and mand. Autism is a condition in which children present with challenges in engaging with others, such as sharing joint attention and using mands. Several evidence-based trainings target these difficulties. However, accessing these trainings can be expensive and time-consuming. In less-developed …

Shame On You! The Socialization Of Self-Conscious Emotions In Early Childhood, Ashton K. Allen

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how parents and children discuss self-conscious emotions across early childhood. Self-conscious emotions such as shame, guilt, embarrassment, awe, and pride play a critical role in children's social and emotional development. Although prior research has demonstrated links between parent and child emotion talk about basic emotions such as happiness, anger, disgust, fear, sadness, less is known about how parents and children talk about self-conscious emotions. Participants for the current study were 247 parent-child dyads. The dyads completed a wordless storybook task designed to elicit discussion of five self-conscious emotions (shame, guilt, embarrassment, awe, and pride) annually across three …

Affective Archives: Friendship And Material Intimacy In The Manuscripts Of Dora Wordsworth And Maria Jane Jewsbury, Madison Elizabeth Maloney

Theses and Dissertations

Manuscripts have long been analyzed for how they circulated alongside traditionally published texts, with scholars taking an interest in both the content and material form of such documents. In a print-centric era like the early nineteenth century, the surplus of published writing was sometimes framed as impersonal and generic. As such, material elements of manuscripts like paper, ink, and handwriting were increasingly valued as affective reflections of authors' bodies and circumstances. For example, tear stains on a letter might allow for a more personal and meaningful connection between writer and reader than the homogeneity of mass-produced texts. In a project …

"But Will I Get In Trouble?": Negotiating Teacher Identity And Self-Censorship Amid Book Bans In Utah, Annika Nielson

Theses and Dissertations

Book banning is becoming an increasingly prominent and contested issue in the United States. The focus usually lies on school and district policy, banned book lists, and state legislation, but the impact on the daily lives of teachers is often overlooked. Their decision-making processes are key to determining the books that make it into classrooms, and self-censorship often occurs prior to formal book bans (Watkins & Ostenson, 2015; Woo et al., 2023). This study examines how teachers experience book banning in their individual lives through the way they navigate competing pressures and values when selecting books to teach. Utah teachers …

Metonymy In Sound: A Neurolinguistic Study Of Al-Mullalah Soundscape Using Fnirs, Rand Naser Muflih

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis offers an interdisciplinary exploration of the semantic and neurolinguistic development of Al-Mullalah, a traditional Palestinian "coded" song type. By combining metonymy, soundscape analysis, and functional neuroimaging, the study traces the evolution of Al-Mullalah from a localized, covert means of communication tied to historical struggle to a globally recognized auditory symbol of collective resilience. The research uses a multi-method approach. First, soundscape analysis demonstrates how Al-Mullalah functions within Palestinian aural counterpublics, strengthening communal memory through various uses. Second, a qualitative analysis of semantics and themes examines how the text's metonymic structures change over time. Lastly, a Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy …

Silicon Dioxide Multimode Interferometer Spectrometers, James Harkness

Theses and Dissertations

Multi-mode interferometer (MMI) spectrometers are a type of reconstructive micro-spectrometer based on imaging light propagation patterns in MMI waveguides. This dissertation describes how the MMI spectrometer was implemented for the first time using a silicon dioxide core. This approach showed a 6 dB improvement in SNR over SU-8 core devices. To implement the silicon dioxide MMI spectrometer, a fabrication technique for selectively roughening the surface of the waveguide needed to be developed. SU-8, a photosensitive polymer, was etched with oxygen plasma to create grass-like nanostructures. SU-8 grass can then be used as a transfer mask to plasma etch a surface. …

An Examination Of K-12 Administrators' Philosophical Views On Music Education, Kathryn Ann Smith

Theses and Dissertations

K-12 administrators' beliefs about the purpose and value of music education have resulted in inconsistent support for students' access to music education in public schools. This study sought to examine administrators' philosophical views about music education and factors that may influence those beliefs, contributing the first known application of a praxial framework in assessing administrator belief systems. I developed a survey incorporating Song's (2025) Philosophical Beliefs Scale (Ph.B. Scale) to measure utilitarian, aesthetic, and praxial philosophical perspectives, along with key demographic and contextual characteristics. Participants (N = 65) were recruited via e-mail and K-12 administrator Facebook groups and represented a …

Tracing Microplastics From Polymer-Coated Urea: Urban To Agricultural Pathways And Environmental Fate, Caden Joseph Seely

Theses and Dissertations

Polymer-coated urea (PCU) is widely used as a slow-release nitrogen (N) fertilizer because it improves N use efficiency and reduces losses through leaching, denitrification, and volatilization. However, the polymer coating raises concerns about potential microplastic (MP) transport to surface waters following fertilizer application. This thesis evaluates the off-site transport of MPs and associated nutrient and sediment losses from PCU in both urban landscape and agricultural systems. In the urban landscape study, treatments included sod, mulched beds, and water-efficient ground cover receiving uncoated urea, PCU, or liquid slow-release N at 225 kg N ha⁻¹ (with reduced rates for beds and ground …

Toward A Horizonal "I": The Infinite Subject In William Wordsworth's The Prelude, Gabriella Lee Schwartz

Theses and Dissertations

In an 1805 letter to Sir George Beaumont describing his autobiographical poem The Prelude, William Wordsworth remarked that it was "a thing unprecedented in literary history that a man should talk so much about himself." Since then, critics have only affirmed Wordsworth's reputation as a poet, if not the poet, of selfhood and consciousness. Perhaps the most renowned scholarship on Wordsworthian subjectivity was produced by the so-called "Yale School" of the late twentieth century, as J. Hillis Miller, Harold Bloom, Geoffrey Hartman, and Paul de Man all published influential works on the topic. The latter two staked out stances on …

Motivating And Empowering Language Learners: Increasing Wtc Through Project-Based Open Badges, Käri Tanner

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

This design project investigates the use of project-based Open Badges to increase secondary students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language. Drawing on research identifying motivation and confidence as key predictors of communicative competence, the project integrates Project-Based Learning (PBL) with digital badging to support meaningful language use.

The intervention was piloted in a 9th-grade Spanish classroom in Davis School District, Utah. Six badges were developed across two instructional units, requiring students to complete authentic, performance-based tasks such as interpersonal conversations and presentational speaking. Students submitted evidence and reflections through a Canvas-integrated badging platform.

The design emphasized learner autonomy, …

Implementing The Safe System Approach For Speed Management In Utah, Kezia Isabelle Tripp

Theses and Dissertations

Speed management is central to reducing fatal and serious injury crashes. The Safe System Approach, an emerging roadway safety paradigm in the United States, recognizes human error and vulnerability and focuses on minimizing crash severity through coordinated policy, design, and operational strategies. This thesis examines how Safe System Approach principles can be applied to speed management, with a focus on identifying practical countermeasures and implementation strategies relevant to the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT). A compendium of practice was conducted to evaluate speed management countermeasures and document how cities and state Departments of Transportation are implementing Safe System Approach-based strategies. …

Toward Human-Like Robot Behavior In Co-Manipulation: Learning From Human Dyad Performance, Adam Kenneth Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

Co-manipulation requires two or more agents to coordinate through a shared object while exchanging information through motion and force. Although this capability is routine for humans, robotic systems still struggle to participate in such interaction naturally and effectively. This thesis addresses that gap by studying human co-manipulation behavior, developing methods to quantify performance, collecting a leader-follower dataset that isolates haptic communication, and training data-driven controllers from human demonstrations. First, cumulative and real-time metrics were developed to quantify human dyad performance. In particular, the behavioral modes "quickly" and "smoothly" were formulated as measurable performance objectives using completion time and squared jerk. …

Physics-Based And Data-Driven Low-Order Modeling Of Centrifugal Compressors, Chase Oliphant

Theses and Dissertations

Centrifugal compressors serve as critical components across many applications, yet their design and performance prediction present significant challenges. While computational fluid dynamics provides high-fidelity predictions of compressor behavior, its prohibitive computational cost renders it impractical for preliminary design phases where rapid exploration of the geometric and operating space is essential. Conversely, existing low-order models have enabled efficient performance estimation but suffer from limited accuracy and poor interpretability, particularly when applied to novel geometries or off-design operating conditions. This dissertation addresses these limitations through three complementary contributions that bridge the gap between high-fidelity CFD and preliminary design tools. The first contribution …

Nature Nearby: Use Of Green Spaces Mediating The Relationship Between Access To Green Spaces And Health, Sydney P. Goodson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Access to green spaces has been consistently linked to improved physical and mental health, yet the mechanisms driving this relationship remain underexplored, particularly in the United States. Using data from the 2018 General Social Survey (N = 1,045), this study examines whether time spent in natural environments mediates the relationship between access to green spaces and self‑rated physical and mental health. Linear regression models with robust standard errors reveal that time spent in natural environments mediates the relationship between access to green spaces and both health outcomes. These findings suggest that proximity to green spaces alone is insufficient to produce …

Family Processes As A Protective Factor Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Adolescent Delinquency, Tessa Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores whether family processes (i.e., parental attachment and parental discipline/monitoring) serve as protective factors between the relationship of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adolescent delinquency. Prior research has established an association between ACEs and many negative life outcomes, including delinquent behavior, while strong parental attachment and parental discipline/monitoring are linked to lower rates of delinquency. However, the interplay of these three factors has been understudied. Drawing on data from the 2024 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) (N=22,016), this study examines the relationship between ACEs, family processes, and delinquency using negative binomial regression models. Results indicate that parental …

Fabrication Of Su-8 Electrically Actuating Membranes, Tyler James Adams

Theses and Dissertations

This work investigates SU-8 polymer waveguides as a fabrication platform for integrated optical structures. Surface roughening using oxygen plasma etching is used to induce controlled optical scattering, enabling direct observation of guided modes and providing insight into waveguide behavior. Building on this, waveguide geometry is modified through an elevated scattering region (ESR) design, which reduces transition losses and improves scattering efficiency by preserving optical volume within the guiding region. In parallel, suspended SU-8 membranes are fabricated and evaluated for mechanical stability, providing a platform for integrating optical structures beyond conventional substrate-bound configurations. These membranes are further characterized under electrostatic actuation, …

Understanding The Role Of Tiktok As A Source Of Support For Cyberbullying Victims, Saba Iqbal

Theses and Dissertations

Cyberbullying poses a significant threat to teenagers and young adults, who often seek support and advice online. Little is known about the support and advice shared online for victims of cyberbullying and whether it is helpful. In this study, we used qualitative thematic analysis to examine a sample of 150 TikTok videos that give support or advice for cyberbullying victims. We identify 33 unique pieces of support and advice across 5 categories, with differences in tone and delivery among different types of videos. We then evaluated the quality of 33 unique pieces of cyberbullying advice in a user study with …

Democratizing National Water Model Streamflow Forecasts Through Cross-Platform Mobile Application Development, Jerson J. Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

The National Water Model (NWM) provides operational streamflow forecasts for 2.7 million stream reaches across the continental United States, yet technical barriers prevent widespread public access to this hydrological infrastructure. This paper presents RIVR (River Information Visualization and Risk), a cross-platform mobile application that transforms National Water Model forecasts into an accessible interface for non-technical users. Built with Flutter, the application deploys to iOS and Android from a single codebase and integrates NOAA forecast APIs, CIROH return-period thresholds, and interactive vector-tile mapping. Performance evaluation across six metrics: application size, startup time, memory consumption, rendering frame rates, API response times, and …

Hybrid Bermudagrass Dormancy Management In A Cool-Season Climate, Clarissa H. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

Hybrid bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers. × C. transvaalensis Burtt Davy) (HBG) is a water efficient warm-season turfgrass increasingly adopted in cool-season and semi-arid regions due to climate change and the demand for reduced irrigation inputs. However, prolonged winter dormancy limits its visual quality (verdure) and seasonal performance. This thesis evaluated multiple management strategies to modify dormancy dynamics and improve off-season turf quality in a cool-season environment. Field experiments assessed the effects of growth covers, fertilizers, colorants, surfactants, organic acids, and overseeding with cool-season species on HBG dormancy over two seasons. Dormancy responses were quantified using normalized difference vegetation index …

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Fingerprinting: Techniques For Attacker-In-The-Middle Proxy Detection, Evasion, And Counter-Evasion, Jensen George Wood

Theses and Dissertations

Attacker-in-the-middle (AitM) phishing toolkits have emerged as a critical threat to enterprise and individual security by enabling adversaries to bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA) and compromise cloud-based accounts at scale. Traditional detection techniques--such as IP blocklists or content-based detection methods--are often ineffective against these increasingly sophisticated attacks. We propose a novel method that detects malicious proxies by identifying artifacts they introduce into HTTP request headers. To evaluate our approach, we systematically analyze traffic passed through several open-source AitM toolkits and proxies, identifying distinct modifications to header structures and content, then formalize these features as YARA rules for automated use. To validate …

Language And Emotional Experience: A Worldwide Study, Natalie Lorange, Chelsea Romney

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

This qualitative study explored how native language influences emotional experience. Fourteen participants from diverse countries were recruited to capture a range of linguistic perspectives and experiences. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, resulting in four key themes: (1) shared experience as central in creating emotional meaning, (2) the power of words in shaping emotional experience, (3) stronger emotional resonance in native or frequently used languages, and (4) the importance of regional differences in emotional experience. Findings suggest that while emotions may be largely universal, linguistic and cultural differences play a significant role in an individual's emotional identity. The study highlights …

Real-Time Data Collection System For Low-Cost Diesel Emissions Monitoring, Zachary Driskill

Theses and Dissertations

Diesel trucks are a major source of pollutants, including particulate matter (PM) and NO$_x$. Roadside emissions monitoring can identify high-emitting diesel vehicles, but conventional sensing systems rely on expensive, complex sensing instruments that limit widespread deployment. Low-cost sensors offer increased scalability due to their small size, low cost, and low power consumption, but they have lower accuracy and slower response time. This thesis presents the design and evaluation of a low-cost roadside emissions monitoring system, establishing the foundation for a scalable and widely deployable alternative. We apply machine learning calibration to roadside emission monitoring to improve the usability of low-cost …

Implementation And Evaluation Of Alternative Methods For Simulation Of Sidescan Sonar, Blake Paul Romrell

Theses and Dissertations

The original sonar implementation for the HoloOcean simulator was built upon a cached octree representation of the world. On first runs, building the cache was prohibitively slow, and the cache had a major memory footprint. This work presents alternative implementations for the sidescan sonar using direct raytracing on the CPU and rendering on the GPU. To evaluate and compare the implementations, timing tests on comparable parameters, as well as sweeps on resolution and range parameters, were performed. The render-based GPU implementation outperformed the others in the timing tests.

Leveraging River Forecast Center Knowledge To Improve Large-Scale Hydrologic Model Performance Through Bias Correction, Ian Mathews

Theses and Dissertations

The National Water Model (NWM) provides continental-scale streamflow predictions but exhibits bias and reduced skill in highly regulated and snow-driven basins. In contrast, River Forecast Center (RFC) models incorporate decades of local calibration and regulatory knowledge but are limited in spatial coverage to specific points of interest. This study evaluates whether hydrologic knowledge embedded in RFC-calibrated simulations can be transferred to improve NWM performance at unmonitored locations using the Streamflow Analysis for Bias Estimation and Reduction (SABER) framework. Using Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC) simulations as surrogate reference data, we applied SABER to the NWM 44-year retrospective model simulation …

Asynchronous Scenario-Based Training Resources For Domestic And International Mentors, Benjamin W. Davis

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

The following design report details the development of training resources for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help in-field mentors learn and improve specific job tasks. In 2025, the client hired over 400 new employees as it expanded to support regions around the globe. This necessitated enhanced training resources which mentors could access on demand during their weekly professional development time. In response, I developed and delivered asynchronous training materials through an internal SharePoint page. These materials include a self-assessment, instructional videos, practice activities in Microsoft PowerPoint modules, and job aids.

This report begins with a description …