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“The Left Leg Is Not Well”: Identity, Economy, And Ability In Early Modern Drama, Emma D. Whaley

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The human reality of the disabled experience often goes overlooked by scholars analyzing early modern literature. Most scholarship seems to interpret disability as metaphorical without examining the human who experiences it. In this paper, I will be examining disability in three early modern texts as literal and inquire into the realities of the disabled experience for the characters. A Larum for London, The Shoemaker’s Holiday, and The Fair Maid of the Exchange all prominently feature a disabled character—Stump, Ralph, and Cripple respectively. These characters offer a depth of personhood rarely examined in early modern literary scholarship, even in …

Corrupt, Control, Repress, Noah Schimenti

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

This three-article dissertation discusses the competition for power and resources in regimes with weak or nonexistent democratic accountability. I begin with an overview in the introduction and then turn to the individual articles in each chapter. In chapter 2 I investigate the composition of post-conflict transitional power-sharing governments. I hypothesize that a greater number of rebel organizations included in the transitional government is associated with increased corruption levels. Using data on 44 post-conflict countries, I find little support for this hypothesis; the number of rebel organizations in the transitional cabinet has no effect on corruption levels.

In chapter 3 I …

Bass Numbers Of Veronese Submodules And Lifting The Frobenius Trace, Taylor Jeffrey Murray

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

The first part of this thesis is inspired by the works of G. Lyubeznik, C. Hunkeke, R. Sharp, and L. Núñez-Betancourt on Bass numbers, associated primes, and injective dimension of local cohomology modules. In particular, we study the question: how do Bass numbers behave under the Veronese functors? We show for a positive integer n, a reasonably nice, graded, finitely generated algebra over field R, and a graded module M, that if the Bass numbers of M are finite over R, then so are the Bass numbers of Mⁿ/Rⁿ; this recovers …

On The Transport Of Chloroplast Lipids, Cailin Smith

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

Chloroplasts are green, photosynthetically active organelles ubiquitous to the plant kingdom. Owing to their cyanobacterial origin, chloroplasts consist of three membranes: the outer envelope, the inner envelope, and the thylakoid, the latter of which is the site of the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis. Not only do the lipids that make up these membranes delineate aqueous compartments, but they also respond dynamically to developmental and environmental cues, constitute the matrix that scaffolds protein machinery, and even serve as functional components of some proteinaceous complexes. However, while lipids are of vital importance to the structure and function of the chloroplast, the mechanisms …

Awareness, Protest, And Action: Women Science-Fiction Writers As Writer Activists, Carolyn Nolte

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

Following the end of World War II, science-fiction literature, which was mostly dominated by white male writers, experienced an increase in stories written by women writers. Of these postwar stories written by women, the three women writers in this dissertation imagined how their present-day experiences informed the future by exploring their concerns about humanity’s collective trajectory. By analyzing how their stories dramatize possible future social, psychological, biological, and environmental harms, this dissertation argues that these women writers’ works distinguish them as writer-activists, a concept I borrow from Rob Nixon’s work Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor.

I …

Patient Facing Physical Therapy Clinicians’ Experience Of Leader Development Across Their Professional Span: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Judith R. Gelber

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

While healthcare professions call for leadership among its practitioners as a key function of practice, hospital systems typically employ a top town leadership structure. In physical therapy, leadership is centered around managers and educators. This leaves a gap in understanding about leadership at the level of the patient facing clinician. This study explored the experience of leader development across the career span of experienced patient facing physical therapists in the United States. The study used a hermeneutic phenomenological approach undergirded with leader development, experiential learning, and distributed leadership theories. Participant recruitment focused on patient facing physical therapists with ten or …

Cohomological Support Varieties Along Ring Maps, Ryan Watson

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

Inspired by Quillen’s geometric approach to study group cohomology, Avramov introduced the theory of support varieties to study finite modules over local complete intersection rings. Geometric properties of the variety encode important homological information, and this theory has been a useful tool in studying complete intersection rings leading to many advances in local commutative algebra. By the work of several authors, this theory has now been expanded to encompass any noetherian local ring. Notably, Pollitz developed the theory of cohomological support varieties over Koszul complexes and used them to answer a question of Dwyer, Greenlees, and Iyengar regarding the structure …

Parents Under Pressure: Social Media’S Impact On Parents’ Mental Well-Being, Ali E. Shull

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

The rapid growth of social media has transformed how parents access information, evaluate their practices, and compare themselves to others. Although parenting content is widely consumed, limited research has examined its immediate psychological and physiological effects. The present mixed-methods study investigated how exposure to parenting-related social media content influences parental stress responses, affect, and parenting self-efficacy. Participants (N = 83) were randomly assigned to view either parenting-related videos (experimental condition) or non-parenting crafting videos (control condition). Physiological stress responses were assessed using heart rate variability (HRV) during baseline and video exposure. Participants also completed measures of negative affect and …

Histopathology Image Classification Using Machine Learning, Mohammed H. Alali

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

Histopathology image classification is a critical component of cancer diagnosis. However, the gigapixel scale of Whole-Slide Images (WSIs) and the high variability in tissue staining and scanner quality across medical centers present significant computational challenges. This dissertation proposes a comprehensive machine learning framework to address these challenges, bridging the gap between theoretical models and practical clinical deployment.

First, to manage the massive dimensionality and noise inherent in WSIs, this research develops a robust feature extraction methodology. The pipeline implements a stringent tile filtering technique to eliminate physical artifacts and resolve severe class imbalances. It integrates ConvNeXt alongside an attention-based pooling …

Integration Of Bayesian Networks And Neural Networks For High-Dimensional Data Analysis, Cooper Schmer

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

High-dimensional biomedical datasets, such as omics data, present significant challenges for predictive modeling due to noise, redundancy, and computational complexity. This thesis proposes a hybrid framework that integrates Bayesian Networks (BNs) and Artificial Neural Networks (NNs) to improve classification performance of such data sets while reducing input dimensionality. Central to this work is a novel feature selection method based on d-separation, a structural property of Bayesian networks that encodes conditional independence relationships.

The proposed approach introduces a count-based d-separation metric to quantify the relevance of variables to a target outcome, along with a thresholding scheme to balance feature selection robustness …

Bright Star: A Scenic Design, Sariah M, Roberts

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

This thesis documents the process and paperwork of the scenic design and ends with a reflection on how the process affected the final product.

Director, Bobby Pieranunzi

Stage Manager, Savannah Stermer

Lighting Designer, Dean Bressler

Costume Designer, Jamie Bullins

Technical Directors, Bryce Allen, Hayden Honomichl, and Shelby Hindman

Thesis advisor: JD Madsen

Strategic Audit - Lululemon, Jared M. Loos, David Goldsmith, Madelyn Martin, Grant Taylor, Carson Downs

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of State And Federal Policies On Academic Researchers: Findings From A National Survey, Dylan Ruediger, Chelsea Mccracken, Jonathan Barefield

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Key findings

● State and federal policies targeting divisive concepts or DEI are shaping research agendas at scale and across disciplines. Twenty percent of all respondents, and 29 percent of researchers working in states with divisive concepts or similar laws, reported having avoided certain research topics because of state laws and policies.

● Eight percent of respondents representing a wide range of disciplines reported having had a federal grant cancelled in 2025.

● Eleven percent of respondents reported that federal and state policies restricting research activities are compelling them to seek employment out of state, to leave the academy, or …

Costa Rican Oboe Music By Mario Alfagüell: A Performance Guide, Ruth Moreno Calderon

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

It was not until 1972 that the modern oboe achieved a formally established professional presence in Costa Rica. This does not suggest that the instrument was absent from the country prior to this date; rather, its professional consolidation occurred with the arrival of two foreign oboists (Claudio Bondy and David Busch) and whose activities marked the beginning of systematic performance, pedagogy, and institutional continuity. As a result, the professional history of the oboe in Costa Rica has been established for only a few decades.

A central challenge is the limited size of the Costa Rican oboe repertoire and the absence …

An Evaluation Of The Nebraska Ffa Launch! Program, Miranda M. Hornung

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this program evaluation was to discover the experiences of entrepreneurial education received in the Nebraska FFA Launch! Program in relation to future decisions for high school students about entrepreneurship. The Launch! Program aims to provide an educational experience for youth to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and view entrepreneurship as a possible career pathway. This focus addresses the opportunity to potentially help solve the issue of brain drain in rural Nebraska communities. A program evaluation was conducted by story harvesting from past participants through Zoom interviews to understand personal experiences and takeaways from their time in the Launch! …

Inclusive Special Education: Changing Mindsets And Practices To Improve Student Achievement, Nicole S. Pechous

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

Decades after federal mandates for special education services, students with disabilities (SWD) continue to lag significantly behind their peers in academic achievement and post–school outcomes. This quantitative study explores how the inclusive mindsets and collaborative practices of general and special education teachers from a medium–sized, suburban Midwestern district improved after participating in a year-long training series on inclusive practices. The study also explores the impact of increased inclusive mindsets and practices on student reading achievement, particularly for students with disabilities. Using a quantitative design, changes in inclusive mindsets and practices for participating teachers were analyzed. Findings indicated that participation in …

David Berkowitz, Enzyme-Assisted Organic Synthesis & Nsf Officer, Mark A. Griep, David B. Berkowitz

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Interviews

Dr. Dave Berkowitz was born in Urbana, Illinois. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago, where he did undergraduate research. Next, he earned his doctorate from Harvard University. However, his advisor, Steve Benner, moved from Harvard to ETH Zurich, also called the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Dave accompanied him to Zurich, where he completed his dissertation work. When Dave returned to the U.S., he did a postdoc with the legendary Samuel Danishefsky at Yale University. In 1991, he joined UNL as an assistant professor of chemistry and quickly rose through the ranks. Dave is …

Transport Phenomena Of Multiphase Flow And Slippery Microsphere Suspensions In Confined Space, Ryan Haggerty

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

Understanding multiphase flow has many important environmental and engineering applications. For example, understanding gas flow in porous media is useful for energy storage, petroleum engineering, and contaminant cleanup. Nano- and microparticle transport is vital for enhanced oil recovery techniques and environmental contamination. Despite their relevance to environmental engineering, multiphase flows, especially with concentrated particle suspensions, are still a complex and developing topic. Additionally, hydrophobic surfaces are a relatively new area of research, for while the effects of hydrophobicity are observable, the mechanisms may occur on several scales. Hydrophobicity leads to a property called “slip,” which contradicts the traditional treatment of …

Interview With Orca Award Winner Paul Olson, Unl English; Literature, Curricular Reform, Great Plains Studies, Mark A. Griep, Paul A. Olson

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Paul Olson was awarded the ORCA in 1984. He was born in 1932 in Washburn, Wisconsin. During his youth, his family also farmed in Nebraska and South Dakota. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. Next, he earned a master’s in English from the University of Nebraska, had a Fulbright fellowship to spend a year at London University in England, and earned his doctorate in medieval and Renaissance studies from Princeton University in New Jersey. In 1957, he joined UNL as an assistant professor of English and was soon promoted to full professor. One of his …

Beyond Green: Re-Reading "Wicked" As Anthropological Text, Tan Gia Bao Huynh

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This paper examines "Wicked" through the lens of cultural borderlands, revealing how the musical dramatizes the creation and navigation of social boundaries. By analyzing Elphaba's journey, the research demonstrates how her green skin serves as a powerful metaphor for cultural otherness, while her experiences at Shiz University and beyond illustrate strategies of resistance, accommodation, and identity formation familiar to those navigating between dominant and marginalized spaces. Particularly significant is the paper's examination of Oz's propaganda system, which demonstrates how cultures manufacture monsters and heroes through selective storytelling and public ritual. This analysis offers fresh insights into "Wicked's" enduring appeal, suggesting …

Identifying And Prioritizing Habitat For Ring-Necked Pheasants (Phasianus Colchicus) Conservation In Nebraska, Allison Joy Barg

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

As competing demands grow on agricultural landscapes, optimizing land use for economic and environmental benefit is crucial. A key way to improve conservation outcomes on working lands is to strategically target conservation efforts to land that is likely to provide the maximum benefit; however, this approach requires sufficient data to predict the outcomes of varying management decisions. Ring-necked pheasants are a recreationally and economically valuable species that were historically abundant in the agricultural regions of North America. The intensification and simplification of farm systems over the last half century have caused pheasant populations to decline, and while conservation programs such …

Physical Space And Democratic Citizenship: Third Place Usage And Civic Engagement Among Undergraduates, Justin L. Fintel

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This thesis examines the relationship between third place usage and civic engagement levels among undergraduate students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Drawing on urban planning and political science literature, I hypothesize that students who more frequently use and interact with campus third places—which are informal communal spaces that foster community, such as coffee shops, libraries, and student unions—demonstrate higher levels of civic engagement. Using survey data from thirty-eight undergraduates and ordinary least squares regression analysis, I find strong support for my hypothesis. Third place usage significantly predicts civic engagement (β = 0.609, p < 0.001) statistically, and this relationship remains robust even after controlling for family socialization and socioeconomic status. The findings suggest that physical spaces on college campuses play an independent role in promoting democratic citizenship beyond students' pre-existing characteristics. These results have important implications for university and urban planning, while highlighting the value of investing in communal campus spaces as mechanisms for promoting civic participation.

The Effect Of Cerebral Somatosensory Network Priming On Language Function In Chronic L-Mca Ischemic Stroke: A Companion Case Study, Mandelin E. Wollesen

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Chronic aphasia following a left middle cerebral artery (L-MCA) stroke is often associated with limited recovery beyond the acute phase, necessitating interventions that target neuroplastic mechanisms. This study examined the effects of somatosensory pneumotactile stimulation paired with cognitive-linguistic tasks on functional language performance in an individual with chronic aphasia. Using a single-subject pre-post design, the participant completed a 10-week intervention protocol involving repeated pneumotactile stimulation via the GALILEO system combined with language and motor tasks. Outcomes were assessed using standardized measures, discourse-based language samples, oral reading, repetition, and phonemic verbal fluency. Discourse was analyzed using Correct Information Units (CIUs), words …

Addressing Legal Uncertainties In Article Versions And Institutional Copyright Policies To Support Immediate Public Access To Federal Grant-Funded Publications, Yuanxiao Xu

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

New federal public access policies—mandated by the 2022 OSTP Memo and already adopted by several key federal grant-making agencies—require authors funded by federal grants to deposit peer-reviewed publications for immediate public access. This paper explains how grant- receiving institutions and their affiliated authors can dispel legal uncertainties and comply with the new public access policies. Section I delineates how valid prior licenses enable public deposit of manuscripts notwithstanding later publishing agreements transferring copyright to the journals. Section II discusses the different versions of a manuscript created during the publication process. Section III describes the different types of third-party contributions incorporated …

Antecedents And Consequences Of Consumer Behavior In Circular Fashion: Cognitive, Normative, And Behavioral Pathways Shaping Purchase And Participation Intentions, Mahmudul Hasan Sabuj

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The increasing environmental impact of the fashion industry has intensified the need for a systemic transition from linear to circular production and consumption models. Despite growing interest in circular fashion, there remains a limited understanding of the underlying behavioral dimensions that drive consumer engagement in sustainable practices. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Norm Activation Theory (NAT), this study examines consumer behavior through an integrated framework capturing cognitive, social, and normative influences.

Using data collected from a structured online survey (N = 575), the study employs Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), reliability analysis, and multiple regression techniques to …

Unl Emeriti And Retirees Association Newsletter, Spring 2019

UNL Emeriti and Retirees Association: Newsletters and Other Materials

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Emeriti and Retirees Association Newsletter, Spring 2019

Water Current, Volume 58, No. 1, Spring 2026

Water Current Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Guidance For Left-Turn Flashing Yellow Arrow (Fya) Implementation In Nebraska, Aemal Khattak, Li Zhao, Frank Selase Dzawu

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

This research evaluates the safety performance of flashing yellow arrows (FYA) and driver behavioral responses in Nebraska, using data from 324 FYA intersections (Lincoln 160; Omaha 164) to develop evidence-based implementation guidance. The study addresses critical knowledge gaps in local driver acceptance patterns, the effectiveness of phasing configurations, and a comprehensive safety assessment that integrates crash and conflict analyses. The methodology employed four complementary analyses: (1) negative binomial crash frequency modeling of 3945 unique left turn crashes (2015-2024) across Lincoln and Omaha; (2) binary logistic regression of 948 gap acceptance decisions across 43 intersections; (3) linear regression of post-encroachment time …

Update Of Intersection/Interchange Guidelines For Rural Expressways In Nebraska, Aemal Khattak, Mm Shakiul Haque

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) staff frequently decide on changes to existing two-way stop- controlled (TWSC) intersections on rural expressway to alternative facilities, such as a restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT), a roundabout, a signalized intersection, or an interchange. As Nebraska makes progress toward completion of its expressway system, updated and defensible decision-making is essential for conversion of TWSC highway intersections. NDOT’s existing guidelines, developed in the 1990s, no longer reflect current operations, safety performance, or modern intersection designs.

This project updated and expanded NDOT’s guidance using contemporary traffic operational and safety data, combined with robust microsimulation and safety performance modeling. …

Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (Uhpc) For Bridge Deck Overlay And Structural Deck Repair, Jiong Hu, George Morcous, Akbota Aitbayeva, Ming Gerges

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is an advanced cementitious material known for its exceptional strength and durability, making it an ideal material for bridge deck overlays and repairs that address the common issue of premature deck deterioration. Conventional UHPC is typically flowable and self-leveling, which makes it unsuitable for deck surfaces with cross-slopes and/or sloped vertical profiles. Therefore, a highly thixotropic UHPC that responds well to vibration while remaining stable on sloped surfaces is needed for overlay applications. Mixtures with varying binder content, water-to-binder ratio, fiber content, and dosages of admixtures were developed and evaluated. Two of the most effective and economical …