Digital Commons Network^™

Do Voters Shake Off Policy Stances? A Look Into The Impact Of Celebrities On Policy Recall, Alyssa A. Noe

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Celebrities try to influence politics by leveraging their ability to command attention. But does a celebrity’s endorsement of a policy impact citizens’ ability to recall the policy? This paper examines if people’s information processing, specifically policy recall, is impacted by a celebrity’s endorsements. Data was collected at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln during the fall 2024 semester using a student sample. Participants were randomly assigned into three experimental groups. I hypothesize that the more recognizable a celebrity is the more likely people are to be able to recall the policy they posted. By using Taylor Swift as the well-known celebrity and …

Heartbeat Of The Heartland: Sonic Engagement With Hip-Hop In The American Midwest, Lauren R. Millhorn

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project analyzes Hip-Hop artists from the American Midwest through the context of the Midwest’s construction as a nostalgic, peaceful area where conflict seems nonexistent. This study applies Adam Ochonicky’s concept of nostalgic spatiality, or “instances in which nostalgia is projected onto a physical environment, thereby altering the perception, understanding, and/or experience of that space and its accompanying cultural sphere” (Ochonicky 29) to close readings on Midwest Hip-Hop texts. In the case of the Midwest, projected nostalgia is rooted in whiteness and propels the narrative that the Midwest is predominantly occupied by white people who maintain its peace and serenity …

Coming Back To Bite: Reflecting On Constructs Of Adolescence And Girlhood In Young Adult Vampire Media, Gwendolyn Grace Klinkey

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The YA vampire genre has experienced a great amount of success throughout the past two decades with titles including Joss Wheadon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy. Within this group, two of the most widely successful examples are Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga and the CW’s The Vampire Diaries, both of which have had a significant impact on Western popular culture. In this thesis, I use these two texts to explore the constructs of adolescence and girlhood that manifest as a result of the literary moves the writers seem to make in an effort to invite …

Identification Of Antigens For Food Allergy And Food Allergen Detection, Ellenor Sell

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Antibody-based allergen testing is an essential part of allergen management in the food industry. These methods directly detect one or more molecules of the allergenic foodstuff (target’ molecule(s)) and the presence of the allergenic foodstuff is inferred. The identity of these target molecules is crucial to the performance of the method and the interpretation of results. The goal of this study was to develop protein/antibody capture methodology for the identification of antibody binding partners using mass spectrometry.

This study is broken down into three separate projects: the characterization of the antigen-antibody complexes present in sandwich ELISAs, LFDs, and human sera. …

The Influence Rural Leaders Have On Local Population Change: A Two-Part Study, Nichole T. Reiner

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This two-part research study aims to understand factors that influence a rural community population and how local leaders believe they can influence those factors to impact population changes. The first study focuses identifying factors that predict population change using a linear regression model. The second study is a multiple case study focused on three communities, where a mix of secondary data and community leader interviews provided an in-depth understanding of how local leaders perceive their capacity to influence factors influencing population change in their communities.

Advisor: LJ McElravy

Modules Of Finite Projective Dimension And Singularities, Nawaj Kc

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

In the first part of this thesis, we study liftings of modules of finite projective dimension. We introduce a notion of “Serre liftable” modules and deduce applications to multiplicity conjectures in local algebra. In the second part, we introduce and study a module of mixed K\"ahler differentials for finite algebras over ramified discrete valuation rings of mixed characteristic. We state and prove a Jacobian criterion for computing the singular loci of such algebras.

Advisors: Jack Jeffries and Mark Walker

Sociological Understandings Of Entrepreneurial Action And Intention, Jeffrey Cavanaugh

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Entrepreneurship as a trend has emerged across many different disciplines, drawing on theory from psychology, economics, and sociology. Importantly, sociologic aspects of entrepreneurship remain hidden from scholarship, as existing topics are often vague or narrowly partitioned. In my dissertation, I utilize sociological understandings of human interactions which define entrepreneurial intention and action. Specifically, I explore how entrepreneurs’ religion, rurality, and social media use influences their behaviors. Throughout these three quantitative essays, I contribute to a better understanding of the social psychology of entrepreneurship, and why entrepreneurial pursuits are so intricately linked to every aspect of society. Throughout my research, which …

Creed And Variations: Tracing The Divergence Of Christian Traditions In Select Piano Works Of Arvo Pärt, Olivier Messiaen, And J. S. Bach, Rebekah E. Stiles

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Within the classical music universe, the works of J. S. Bach, Olivier Messiaen, and Arvo Pärt stand apart as particularly evocative of the divine. Much has been written on these three men’s integration of faith with musical practice, exploring how their music is not only spiritual in nature but distinctly Christian. But in comparing the three, one encounters deeply rooted distinctions between their religious worldviews, a distinction not only found in their personal testimonies but actually heard in their music. Their compositional languages reflect three traditions: Protestantism (specifically Lutheranism), represented by Bach; Roman Catholicism, represented by Messiaen; and Eastern Orthodoxy, …

Using Permutation Groups To Identify Family Of Capacity Achieving Codes, Daniel Joseph Welchons

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

When communicating over a noisy channel, the probability of message interference sets a maximum possible transmission rate known as the channel capacity. Any family of codes which have rates converging to the channel capacity and arbitrarily low probability of decoding failure is called capacity achieving. Such codes have been known to exist since the birth of information theory but are difficult to find explicitly. It has recently been shown that the permutation groups of a family of codes can be used to show that the family is capacity achieving on the q-ary erasure channel.

This this thesis seeks to …

A Study Of Rachel Galinne’S Dybbuk For Solo Clarinet: A Classical Work With Klezmer Influences, Rachel S. Levison

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Composer Rachel Galinne self-identifies first and foremost as an Israeli with Swedish roots. She was born and raised in Sweden to Holocaust survivors and always felt a deep connection to Jewish traditions and culture, leading her to immigrate to Israel. Her compositions are derived from her formal education in musicology and composition in contemporary music, as well as from her Jewish community. Her Jewish heritage is represented in her compositions through text, motivic ideas, and specific topics. Dybbuk for solo clarinet is an excellent example.

This solo follows the perspective of Leah, one of the main characters in Solomon Ansky’s …

A Study Of Ultrafast, Intense-Field Photodynamics In Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Disulfide, And Select Substituted Benzenes, Joshua Edwin Beck

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The study of the photodynamics of molecules in ultrashort pulses of intense radiation continues to be of interest. Electric field strengths in such pulses can approach or exceed the typical electric field strengths binding the electrons to the nuclear framework (ke/a²₀ ≈ 5 × 10⁹ V/cm). The resulting excitation, ionization, and dissociation of molecular targets is of interest in many areas including attosecond science, femtochemistry, atmospheric science, high harmonic generation, and many other fields.

This dissertation investigates the photoionization and photofragmentation behavior of carbon dioxide, carbon disulfide, and the substituted benzenes nitrobenzene, aniline, as …

Harnessing The Affordances Of Whatsapp For Online Learning, Ogbonnaya B. Akpa

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The perennial problem of inadequate funding of public universities in Nigeria hinders their ability to implement online learning using conventional platforms and tools. Educators are compelled to explore alternatives for the cost-effective implementation of online learning. WhatsApp is a tool faculty and students at universities in Nigeria already use, which may be adopted for online learning implementation. This study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the usefulness of WhatsApp for online learning as perceived by faculty members and students at a Nigerian public university.

Findings of the study revealed that both students and faculty members perceived WhatsApp as a highly …

Mujeres En Movimiento: La Posmigración En Obras Contemporáneas De Hijas De Inmigrantes En España Y Estados Unidos, Olatz Sanchez-Txabarri

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation investigates contemporary works of daughters of immigrants in Spain and the United States. Through a postmigration approach, this study delves into the analysis of Ser mujer negra en España (2018), by Desirée Bela-Lobedde, Hija del camino (2019), by Lucía Mbomío, A Cup of Water Under My Bed (2014), by Daisy Hernández, Juliet Takes a Breath (2016), by Gabby Rivera, La hija extranjera (2015), by Najat El Hachmi, Hija de inmigrantes (2022), by Safia El Aaddam, and the documentaries Fruits of Labor (2021), by Emily Cohen Ibáñez and Vida diferida (Life, Deferred) (2017), by Brenda Ávila-Hanna. I …

Support, School Climate And Teacher Wellbeing In The Wake Of Covid-19: A National Study Using Ntsp Data, Annastashia M. Teepe

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Research indicates a significant number of teachers planned to leave the profession following the COVID-19 pandemic, with national surveys in 2021 revealing about 25% considering departure. Stress, low pay, remote teaching demands, and lack of support contributed to attrition, impacting school climate, which influences productivity, collaboration, and job satisfaction, and is inversely related to turnover. The shift to remote learning also demanded new skills and exposed technological disparities. This quantitative study examined the pandemic's impact on teachers' perceptions of school climate, support, resources, job satisfaction, burnout, and intent to leave using the 2020–2021 National Teacher and Principal Survey. Factor analyses …

Maggot Mass Effect On The Development And Survival Of Forensic Blow Flies, Akomavo Fabrice Gbenonsi

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Forensic entomology scientists use blow flies' developing patterns to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI). However, larval aggregations produce metabolic heat, resulting in complex microclimates that may change growth timetables. This study investigates how larval density and associated temperature changes affect the development and survival of two forensically essential blow fly species, Lucilia sericata and Calliphora vicina.

This study examined how larval density and associated thermal profiles affect the development of both blow fly species. Using a split-plot design, we tested four larval densities at 25°C and 30°C, with temperature gradients measured via thermocouple at four mass positions three times …

Leveraging Historical Data For Estimating Genetic Gain And Implementing Genomic Selection In A Student Led Barley Breeding Program, Sydney Graham

Department of Statistics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In Nebraska, winter feed barley presents an emerging market for producers and an opportunity to diversify cropping systems. The University of Nebraska Barley Breeding Program aims to develop high-yielding, winter-hardy varieties. A unique aspect of this program is that doctoral students serve as barley breeders and are responsible for crossing, data collection, and advancement decisions. While this provides hands-on experience for the students, the impact of student leadership has not been examined.

This study used a historical data set to evaluate the realized genetic gain of the breeding program, and as a training population for genomic selection. The dataset consisted …

A Comparative Analysis Of Women’S Health In Latin America And The United States: Geographical Context And Preventative Actions, Holly J. Robinson

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Cervical cancer, breast cancer, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), pregnancy complications, and gender-based violence are dangers faced by women everywhere. However, the severity of these risks can increase significantly due to a country’s geography, government control, and level of development. This thesis expands upon information gained directly from on-site experiences with medical professionals and locals (including doctors, nurses, nutritionists, and patients) in Peru, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, and further research to look at Latin America as a whole, in relation to the United States. Both the US and Latin America exhibit problems with their healthcare systems. The United States is more …

Through Every Door A New Story: An Advertising Campaign For Francie & Finch Bookshop, Aislinn T. Sullivan

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

More and more of our world is run by algorithms. What we see, what we buy, and what we share. Online retail has sent ripples through the book-selling industry, but the algorithms can’t replicate the feeling of tangible discovery and shared experience.

As more free time is taken up by digital entertainment, moms are seeking to create personally resonant experiences for those they love. This campaign strives to introduce Francie & Finch as the stage for the target market, moms ages 35-50, increasing brand awareness.

These moms remember the things that tightened their bond with their loved ones like …

The Commodification Of Native American Remains: The Use Of Native American Remains Within Educational Institutions And The Implementation Of Nagpra, Molly Nowak

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Indigenous communities have been commodified within educational institutions such as museums, universities, and governmental agencies throughout American history. Unethical collection practices have allowed for a disproportionate representation of Indigenous remains and materials within educational institutions. Indigenous bodies, funerary objects, religious materials, and other important cultural materials have been stolen from their communities and used for scientific discovery and education. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), passed in 1990, created legal protections for Indigenous graves and remains and instigates the return of the stolen materials. This project reviews the historical contexts behind the collection of Indigenous remains, the …

Espn Navigates A New World Order, Grace Rowe

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

ESPN has been at the top of sports broadcasting for decades. Recently, there has been a shift in consumer behavior towards preferring digital streaming instead of cable television. In this report, I will discuss the background of the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) and its competitive advantages. I will analyze the situation using a strategic framework to take a closer look at what solutions ESPN could implement. Finally, I will recommend how to successfully transition from the crown jewel of cable bundles to an online streaming platform. After looking at the PESTEL framework, Porter’s Five Forces, the VRIO framework, …

Drainage Area Limitations Of Single Watershed, Peak Flow Estimates From Nrcs Methods, Timothy A. Maughan, Rollin H. Hotchkiss, Riley Hales

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Most state Department of Transportation roadway design sections predict peak flow for culvert design using, amongst other approaches, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) TR-20 technology. Even though this technology is more than 50 years old, there are no clear guidelines for how large a single watershed drainage area may be while remaining appropriate for predicting peak discharge with this method. Our objective was to identify the drainage area where TR-20 peak flow predictions significantly deviate from flow frequency predictions. We developed flow frequency estimates for 130 small-area stream gage sites in rural Nebraska and compared the calculated return period discharges …

A Machine Learning Framework For Packet Anomaly Detection In Smartgrid Substation Networks, Sowmya Bandari

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The increasing reliance on Smart Grid Substation Networks for efficient electricity distribution has amplified cybersecurity vulnerabilities, particularly within Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. The IEC 60870-5-104 (IEC-104) protocol, widely adopted for communication between Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) and Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs), lacks inherent encryption and authentication mechanisms, rendering it susceptible to sophisticated cyberattacks. Threats such as False Data Injection Attacks (FDIAs), command injection, covert attacks and replay attacks pose significant risks by manipulating grid control signals, potentially leading to undetected operational disruptions, cascading failures, or system-wide instability. Conventional signature-based Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) often fail to identify zero-day …

Urinetown: A Lighting Designer’S Process, Caroline Nowak

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This thesis describes the design and production process of the lighting design for the musical Urinetown, written by Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, featuring music by Mark Hollmann, produced by The Nebraska Repertory Theatre in collaboration with the University of Nebraska Glenn Korff School of Music, performed in the Howell Theatre from April 25th, 2025, to May 3rd, 2025. Urinetown was directed by Ann Marie Pollard, with musical direction by Suna Gunther. The creative team included scenic designer Sariah Roberts, costume designer Breeanna Pierce, and lighting designer Caroline Nowak. The production team included technical director Ashley Faulkner and stage …

Treading Lightly: The Ethics Of Instructor Il/Legibility And Neutrality In The Classroom, Marcus A. Woodman

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Instructors in the classroom often describe their experiences teaching as being a performance, which often combines authenticity with boundaries to keep certain aspects of the instructor’s life out of the classroom. For queer instructors, their performance may be especially complicated; since queer identity is less visible than other types of identities, instructors must also weigh whether or not to come out to their students. In our current political moment, where queerness has yet again become a scrutinized topic (especially when in proximity to youth), teachers have an even more difficult decision to make.

This thesis uses queer theory and queer …

Kansas City, Kansas, Vida Davidović

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

KANSAS CITY, KANSAS is a thesis that operates in the tradition of expressionist dramaturgy and playwriting, taking up themes of abuse, imperialism, war, trauma, womanhood, Balkan identities, history of the Balkans, as well as the discourses of psychoanalysis and postcolonial theory. The use of different theoretical frameworks related to both international and personal politics, which are shown to be intertwined, suggests a strong relationship between political processes in the Second World Countries that had experienced many occupations throughout their history and the way women in those countries relate to the questions of body, authority, feminity, and interpersonal relationships. The play …

Walleye And Sauger Movement And Entrainment In Lewis And Clark Lake, William Joseph Radigan

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Walleye Sander vitreus and Sauger Sander canadensis are both socioeconomically important sportfish species in Lewis and Clark Lake, an interjurisdictionally managed mainstem Missouri River reservoir fishery. Since 2011, adult catch per unit effort (CPUE) of both Walleye and Sauger has remained at approximately 50% of pre-2011 levels. A presumed reason for the suppressed CPUE of adult Walleye and Sauger is substantial entrainment of larval and adult fish resulting from the reservoir’s high turnover rate (7.2 d). Acoustic telemetry was used to quantify adult movement and entrainment and ichthyoplankton trawls were used to assess larval entrainment. Relative importance of factors driving …

Physics Embedded Neural Network: A Novel Data-Free Numerical Method For Solving Computational Physics Problems, Pawan Gaire

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

A novel approach for solving partial differential equations (PDEs) using neural networks for scientific computing is introduced. The proposed approach, referred to as physics-embedded neural network (PENN), features a unique architecture that incorporates the PDE and boundary conditions information directly within the final fully-connected layer of the feed-forward neural network (NN). The key aspect of PENN is the parallel numerical embedding of a differential equation associated with physical problems within the activation function of the network’s final layer. This integration leads to a new class of computational solvers competitive with classical methods like the Finite Element Method (FEM) and capable …

Planting The Seed: Rumors And Ceo Dismissal, Diego Villalpando

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Researchers have investigated the short-term performance implications of CEO dismissals as assessed through investor reactions to CEO dismissal announcements. While the corporate governance mechanism of dismissal that boards orchestrate when CEOs underperform could be positively perceived by investors, empirical evidence suggests that a positive association between CEO dismissals and investor reactions is equivocal. Thus, in my dissertation, I examine investor reactions to S&P 500 dismissal announcements and further understanding about this intriguing relationship through the development of theory that incorporates the important theoretical mechanism of information uncertainty. Since it is increasingly hard for boards to reduce the information uncertainty surrounding …

The Global Classroom: A Phenomenological Study Of International Student Experiences In A Reimagined Intercultural Communication Course, Crystal Bock Thiessen

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation examines the experiences of multilingual international student participants who took part in a semester-long intercultural communication course that was purposefully designed and implemented with half enrollment each of domestic and international students at a Midwestern American university. Despite university efforts towards internationalization, they often fall short of the meaningful engagement needed truly promote intercultural and mutual understanding. International and domestic students share classroom and other spaces on campus, yet they remain overwhelmingly disconnected from one another. Using phenomenology and Baker’s (2011) model of Intercultural Awareness, this study analyzed the international students’ experience in this course to learn more …

Youth Sport Participation And Cognitive Development: The Need For Improved Measurement, Amelia Anne Miramonti

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Background: Youth sport participation is associated with numerous positive developmental outcomes, including potential cognitive benefits. However, research examining sport-cognition links often uses simplistic operationalizations of sport participation and cross-sectional designs, limiting causal inference and understanding of specific sport characteristics' roles. This study aimed to develop and compare a novel, nuanced sport participation scoring method against common operationalizations in predicting cognitive outcomes in a large youth sample, while controlling for general physical activity and health as a first step towards more robust longitudinal analyses.

Methods: Data were drawn from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study Year 2 follow-up …