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Improving Colorectal Cancer Screening Adherence, Albin Abraham

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Background

As the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent but highly preventable form of cancer (American Cancer Society National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable [ACSNCCR], 2026; Maratt et al., 2024). Screening for CRC is fundamental to prevention and early detection. Despite advances in screening measures, CRC screenings remain suboptimal (Tonini & Zanni, 2024). In the US, more than one in three adults 45 years or older are not screened as recommended (ACSNCCR, 2026).

Purpose

As a safety-net county health network primarily serving the under-resourced population, the organization is uniquely positioned to impact …

Implementing A Nurse-Led Multimodal Pain Management Toolkit To Enhance Recovery After Outpatient Urologic Surgery, Danielle Cirlos-Valles

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Purpose To evaluate the impact of a nurse-led multimodal postoperative pain management toolkit on recovery outcomes among adults undergoing same-day urologic surgery.

Design Quality improvement project using a pre–post implementation design in an outpatient perioperative setting.

Methods An evidence-based toolkit grounded in Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) principles was implemented over eight weeks, incorporating scheduled non-opioid analgesics, nonpharmacologic strategies (thermal therapy, guided breathing, early mobilization), standardized patient education, and 24-hour follow-up calls. Outcomes included Visual Analog Scale (VAS) pain scores at discharge and 24 hours, escalation pathway utilization, and nurse knowledge competency. Descriptive statistics and paired t tests were used. …

Implementing An Anxiety Management Bundle In Long-Term Nursing Facilities, Sundan G. Bryson

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

There is currently a gap in accurate screening and treatment of anxiety in Long-Term Care (LTC) nursing facilities. The question for this quality improvement project was: Will implementing interventions for long-term care residents aged 65 and older improve anxiety screening, non-pharmacological interventions, and mental health referrals by 10% compared to current practices? Interventions to enhance anxiety screening included the Geriatric Anxiety Scale-Long Term Care (GAS-LTC) tool to assess and score anxiety. In addition, a Non-Pharmacological Intervention (Non-PI) tool was created to evaluate interventions performed by facility staff. Referrals to the mental health care provider were submitted if a resident scored …

Tiny Heart Bundle Qi Project: 3d Modeling To Improve Care Of Cardiac Nicu Patients, Stacy Ranee Harris

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Background—Infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) are being care for in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) by increasing numbers of novice nurses. Understanding complex cardiac anatomy is imperative to novice nurses’ readiness to care. Parents of infants with CHD may not understand their child’s anatomy, which impacts many facets of their care.

Purpose— The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to determine if education, including 3D heart models improved novice nurse readiness to care for NICU patients with CHD and if parental understanding improves after receiving education with 3D heart models.

Methods— This was a plan-do-study-act (PDSA) …

The Unspoken Workweek: Understanding The Impact Of Menstruation On Work Experiences, Cherie Kuriakose

Psychology Theses

Menstruation remains an underrecognized factor in workplace well-being, despite affecting a large portion of the workforce. Existing research shows significant gaps in understanding employees’ lived experiences and organizational responses. This qualitative study aims to explore how menstruation influences work life, productivity, and perceptions of support within U.S. workplaces. Thirty menstruating employees were recruited using convenience and purposive sampling to participate in semi-structured virtual interviews, and data were analyzed thematically, guided by grounded theory principles. Findings revealed three central themes: (a) stigma and non-disclosure, shaped by internalized norms and workplace culture; (b) invisible effort and struggles that impact work, including productivity, …

Data-Driven Prediction Of Concrete Bridge Deck Corrosion Using Ground Penetrating Radar (Gpr), Nafisa Shafiullah

Civil Engineering Theses

Corrosion detection remains a crucial factor in the proper maintenance of Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures. While several studies have used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for corrosion detection, quantitative models for prediction are still limited. This study presents an approach for the quantitative prediction of rebar corrosion in concrete using GPR data obtained from a prior experimental program involving accelerated corrosion. A total of 36 RC samples were cast, varying in cover depth, rebar diameter, and concrete porosity. The samples were subjected to an impressed current of 0.65 A in a 5% NaCl solution over three phases: 10, 20, and 30 …

Developing Design Principles For Multimodal Connection: A Case Study Of The Commerce Bridge Corridor In Dallas, Texas, Panisa Thanpaisarnsamut

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses

Downtown Dallas has undergone substantial growth, yet major streets and bridge corridors continue to prioritize vehicular movement, resulting in fragmented and uncomfortable pedestrian environments. This condition is especially evident along the Commerce Bridge corridor, where narrow sidewalks, high traffic volumes, and unclear crossings limit safe and accessible movement between Downtown and West Dallas. Although several parks and public spaces lie in close proximity, the lack of continuous and legible routes prevents these areas from functioning as a connected system.

This thesis investigates how the Commerce Bridge corridor can be transformed into a multimodal connection that supports movement, safety, and user …

Can Feedback Framing Improve Creative Problem-Solving? Examining The Effects Of Valence And Format, Ellie H. Tran

Psychology Theses

This study examined the role of feedback valence (positive vs. negative) and format (question vs. statement) in influencing creative performance. Grounded in self-determination theory, the study also tested whether feedback acceptance mediated the effects of feedback characteristics on creative outcomes. Psychology undergraduate students (N = 308) completed a creative task in which they generated and developed ideas for community-based projects addressing psychological issues. Participants were randomly assigned to receive positive or negative feedback presented either as a statement or a question, or to a no-feedback control condition. Creative performance was evaluated across three dimensions: originality, quality, and elegance. Results showed …

Optimizing Efficiency In Joint Injections In An Outpatient Orthopedic Oncology Clinic Using Lean Six Sigma, William Alexander Byrd

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Prolonged in-room wait time in an outpatient orthopedic oncology clinic was identified as an important driver of dissatisfaction and operational inefficiency. Baseline in-room times in this setting were reported as M=96.2 minutes for patients receiving injections and M=92.9 minutes for those not receiving injections. This quality improvement project used Lean Six Sigma (LSS) DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) framework to streamline clinic workflow for the joint injection process. Over an eight-week period, four key interventions were introduced: a standardized order set for medications, pre-bundled supplies and portable supply toolbox, telephone pre-consenting of patients, and optimized scheduling of …

Advancing Menstrual Health And Hygiene In Rural Kenya: A Guideline Based Approach, Tessia R. Winnfield

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Objective: To develop an evidence-based clinical practice guideline for menstrual health management addressing menstrual education, teacher training, menstrual school absenteeism, male student engagement, pain management, and provision of menstrual kits with product options.

Design: This evidence-based practice guideline development project used the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Framework and the Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model (JHNEBP). I conducted a systematic literature review and a critical appraisal to identify best practices for menstrual hygiene interventions in rural communities.

Setting: The guideline development occurred within an academic Doctor of Nursing Practice program focused on rural communities.

Participants: Seven stakeholders …

Magnetic Anisotropy Engineering In Rare-Earth-Free Iron-Based Magnetic Materials, Pramanand Joshi

Physics Dissertations - Archive

The development of high-performance, rare-earth-free hard magnetic materials is critical for next-generation energy, information, and spin-based technologies. This dissertation investigates structure-property relationships in iron-based magnetic systems, including iron carbides, Fe-Co-B boride alloys, hexaferrites, and FeCo nanostructures, synthesized via chemical and metallurgical routes. Through controlled synthesis and comprehensive structural and magnetic characterization, this work demonstrates that magnetic anisotropy, coercivity, and thermal stability can be systematically controlled through morphology design, compositional tuning, microstructural refinement, and interparticle interaction modulation.

Morphology-driven enhancement of magnetic properties, particularly coercivity and blocking temperature, is established in phase-pure Fe₅C₂ nanostructures. By precisely controlling particle geometry, …

Applications Of Doppler Broadening Spectroscopy For The Characterization Of The Surface And Near Surface Of Two-Dimensional Heterostructures, Hany M. Mahdy

Physics Dissertations

This dissertation describes experiments and the analysis of Doppler broadening spectroscopy applied to metal surfaces (Cu, Ag, Au), graphene/Cu heterostructures, and SiGe heterostructures, with particular emphasis on the development of new approaches for extracting quantitative information from annihilation spectra.

The first part establishes the capability of Doppler broadening spectroscopy, particularly coincidence Doppler broadening (CDB), as a surface-sensitive technique. Measurements on clean and adsorbate-covered Cu, Ag, and Au surfaces demonstrate that Doppler-broadened annihilation spectra retain element-specific signatures from the topmost atomic layer. New analysis methods based on ratio-curve modeling enable identification and quantification of sub-monolayer adsorbates, including sulfur, oxygen, selenium, and …

Status Anxiety And Public Support For Reactionary Political Movements, Timothy E. Randall

Political Science Theses

In this enquiry, I explore the conditions that make members of the public receptive to the appeals of reactionary political movements. I also explore the means by which reactionary movements leverage those conditions to gain support. I argue that crisis and status threat conditions prime members of the public to be receptive to the appeals of reactionary movements and that the strategic leveraging of these conditions in their narratives gives rise to status anxiety which, in turn, moves members of traditionally dominant groups to support these movements. I develop an explanatory theoretical framework for understanding status anxiety and its role …

Set-Theoretic Reachability-Informed Model Predictive Control For Mechanical And Aerospace Systems, Jinaykumar Nitinkumar Patel

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations

Modern mechanical and aerospace systems increasingly operate autonomously in environments characterized by nonlinear dynamics, uncertainty, and safety constraints. In these settings, estimation and control methods based on nominal models and single-point trajectory predictions are usually insufficient to ensure safe and reliable operation. This dissertation uses a set-theoretic perspective, in which the system state, uncertainty, and admissible behavior are described by sets instead of point estimates. The key question is not only what the state is, but what set of states remains consistent with the dynamics, disturbances, control limits, and available measurements. This provides bounded descriptions of uncertainty and supports control …

Meta-Analysis Of Probiotic Yeast Factors And Methodologies, Mones J. Hajizadeh

Biology Theses

In recent years, there has been an expanding interest in ameliorating the gut microbiome through the use of yeast probiotics, in contrast to the general focus on bacterial probiotics. The goal of this paper is to determine trends and variations in the probiotic evaluation of the yeast species Kluyveromyces marxianus, Pichia kudriavzevii, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii across 48 studies, and determine probiotic gene homology amongst the three yeasts. Much of the literature on novel yeast strains employs various approaches to assess probiotic efficacy. In this study, the evolutionary divergence of these three species of interest was also evaluated. Furthermore, …

Timing, Orbital Pacing, And Provenance Of Late Paleogene Loess In The Western United States, Xiangwei Guo

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations - Archive

This project examines the timing of loess emergence, the nature of the fluvial–eolian transition, orbital forcing on dust accumulation, and sediment recycling in the late Paleogene White River Formation (Group) of Wyoming and Nebraska, western United States. By integrating traditional sedimentology with machine learning–enhanced grain-size analysis, this research shows that loess accumulation at Flagstaff Rim in central Wyoming began during active fluvial deposition at approximately 35.8 Ma, indicating a gradual transition from fluvial to eolian conditions. Machine learning complements field sedimentology and granulometric interpretation while enabling the development of new, testable hypotheses. Extending this framework eastward to Toadstool Geologic Park …

Occurrence Of Microplastics In The Urban Air And Water Systems And Associated Exposure Risks, Jenny K. Nguyen

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses - Archive

Microplastics (MP) pollution is an emerging health concern that affects humans and the environment. Urban areas are high exposure zones due to consistent anthropogenic and industrial activity. With air and water as important MP transport and exposure pathways, monitoring and estimating their human exposures are necessary. Air samples were collected from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Houston in Texas and Cusco, Peru and water samples were from Tarrant County (DFW), Texas. The samples were analyzed using the pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Pyr-GC/MS) and the EDI (estimated daily intake) of inhalation and ingestion (normal and high exposures) were calculated. PS, PP, PE, PVC, …

Mitochondria In Local Control Of Programmed Cell Killing & Resilience, Rashna Sharmin

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Specialized cells are commonplace and defined by different compartments. Organelle transport across cell compartments is critical for cell function, as in morphologically complex neurons. Specialized cells can undergo programmed elimination, an essential facet of normal development. My central thesis question asks how intracellular transport of mitochondria, the cell’s energy producers, regulate fated elimination of complex cells. I explored this using the specialized tail-spike cell (TSC) of the roundworm C. elegans. The TSC dies embryonically through the novel ‘tripartite’ developmental killing program, Compartmentalized Cell Elimination (CCE).  In my study, I defined and characterized events at the CCE initiation compartment of the …

Protecting Wetlands In The State Of Texas: Assessing Gaps In Regulations, Knowledge, And Professional Roles And Responsibilities, Grace A. Moy

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses

Wetlands rank among earth's most productive ecosystems, providing crucial ecological services such as hydrological regulation, water purification, and habitat support (US EPA, 2015). In Texas, however, rapid urbanization, inconsistent policy enforcement, and the absence of statewide protection frameworks of hastened wetland degradation (Brody & Kang, 2011). Without a robust state regulatory framework (Environmental Law Institute [ELI], 2020), these ecosystems face increasing threats from development and hydrological disturbances.

This thesis aims to identify regulatory and knowledge deficiencies that influence Texas’ current wetland protection status and to offer targeted professional recommendations for landscape architecture professionals to address these shortcomings in future public …

Visual Word Recognition And The Role Of Diacritics: Evidence From Arabic Vowelization., Maram Alharbi

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the role of vowelization diacritics in Arabic visual word recognition and their contribution to early stages of lexical processing. Across writing systems, diacritical marks differ in their functional role and in whether they are part of letter identity, raising fundamental questions about how such features are encoded during word recognition. Arabic provides a particularly informative testing ground for these questions: vowelization diacritics in this language carry rich phonological information yet are systematically absent from the texts that skilled readers encounter daily. This interaction between the linguistic value of vowelization and its near-total omission in naturalistic reading positions …

In The Circle Of My Sistas: Blackmotherscholars (Re)Defining Scholarly Identity, Dawn Stephens Jenkins

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

This dissertation examines how Black mothers in doctoral programs develop scholarly identities at the intersections of race, gender, and motherhood within historically white academic spaces. Grounded in endarkened narrative inquiry, the study centers the lived experiences and collective reflections of BlackMotherScholars to interrogate how racialized and gendered mothering shapes scholarly becoming. The research responds to a gap in the literature that overlooks Black maternal experiences as sites of intellectual production and identity formation in doctoral education.

Findings indicate that Black mothering serves as an onto-epistemological foundation for scholarly identity development, shaping participants’ ways of knowing, research commitments, and sense of …

Differences In Comorbidities, Presenting Symptoms, Demographics, And Patient Reported Outcomes In Long Covid By Initial Test Status, Stephanie Georgoudiou

Nursing Dissertations - Archive

Importance Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), remains a major global health concern. Recovery may result in persistent symptoms known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), or long COVID. Most studies focus on individuals with laboratory-confirmed infection; however, some patients with COVID-like illness and negative tests also develop persistent symptoms. Testing status should not delay appropriate interventions or specialist referrals. Early, symptom-based care is essential to improve outcomes.

Objective To compare patient-reported outcomes and demographics between long COVID patients who tested positive versus negative during their initial illness.

Design, Setting, and Participants This secondary …

Ai Data Center Dynamic Load Effects On Current Transformer Saturation, Sergio A. Hernandez

Electrical Engineering Theses

AI data centers can produce rapid changes in electrical demand that may influence current transformer performance during faults. This study evaluates the effect of an AI data center transient on CT saturation during single line-to-ground faults using a 400 V, 60 Hz grid connected inverter model in MATLAB/Simulink. The normal condition transient produced a maximum RMS current rate of approximately 211 A/ms, which was used along with the maximum power condition to define fault inception cases. A MATLAB time-domain CT model then swept the fault current DC offset coefficient to determine the minimum offset required for CT saturation. The calculated …

Navigating Academic Accommodations For Students With Chronic Illnesses In Higher Education: A Scoping Review, Lauren M. Sutton

Social Work Theses

College is a very important and exciting chapter in students’ lives, one that will prepare them for a career and the rest of their lives. For one student population though, this also comes with additional unknowns, obstacles, and institutional barriers. This student population is students with disabilities. For a student with a disability pursuing a degree in higher education, there are institutional barriers that can be addressed by receiving academic accommodations, reducing or removing institutional barriers that disproportionately affect these students. The barriers faced by a student with a disability vary greatly by student, their disability, their major or program, …

Experimental Thermal Characterization And Comparison Of Direct Liquid Cooling And Air Cooling For A High-Density Gpu Server Thermal Test Vehicle, Oluwagbolahan Esan

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses

As the power density of artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) servers escalates, air cooling is approaching fundamental scaling limits set by air's low convective heat transfer coefficient and rising parasitic fan power. This thesis presents an experimental comparison of direct-to-chip liquid cooling and air cooling for a high-density GPU server, using a Thermal Test Vehicle (TTV) that emulates the device layout and power-density regime of an 8-GPU SXM5-class baseboard (eight emulated GPU blocks and four NVLink Switch modules). The liquid configuration was tested at 8.8 kW (8.0 kW GPU, 800 W switch) across three Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) …

The Ecological Consequences Of Horizontal Transmission Of Symbionts, Bibek Singh Parajuli

Biology Dissertations

Most multicellular organisms depend on their microbial symbionts for various functions, such as digestion, nutrient supplementation, pesticide degradation, and defense. While many insects acquire their symbionts vertically from their parents, thousands of species of true bugs (Hemiptera) across different families acquire their microbial symbiont, Caballeronia, from the environment each generation. Acquiring symbionts from the environment (horizontal transmission) has various ecological consequences for the host. In this study, I used the bug-Caballeronia model 1) to understand whether the free-living symbionts benefit from association with multicellular hosts, 2) to evaluate whether host specialization on symbiont strains varies across taxonomic levels, …

Effects Of Fermented Soybean Products On The Human Gut Microbiome, Microbial Metabolism, And Host Physiology, Shannon Moncier

Biology Dissertations

Fermented soybean products (FSPs) contain soybean-derived substrates, fermentation-associated microorganisms, and bioactive compounds that may interact with the human gut microbiome and host physiology. However, despite the growing interest in FSPs, longitudinal human studies specifically evaluating traditional Korean-FSPs (K-FSPs), particularly among United States-based populations, remain limited. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of three K-FSPs, including Cheonggukjang, Gochujang, and Doenjang, on host physiological responses, gut microbial community structure, predicted microbial functional potential, and fecal butyrate responses in healthy adults. Three independent dietary intervention cohorts were conducted using FSP formulations produced either by traditional artisan methods (Product A) …

Rewards That Resonate- How Incentivized Online Reviews Shape Customer Loyalty And Review Outcomes, Sameeha Khizindar

Marketing Dissertations

In today’s competitive marketplace, online reviews have become a central feature of consumer decision-making and business strategy. Research consistently documents that online reviews have a positive impact on outcomes such as review volume and product sales, underscoring their critical role in shaping firm performance. However, the majority of consumers do not voluntarily write reviews, posing a challenge for companies that rely on user-generated content. To address this issue, companies often offer incentives to motivate customers to write reviews. Despite their widespread use, research on their impact remains limited. This dissertation is comprised of two essays that examine the impact of …

End-To-End Development And Experimental Validation Of A 1/10-Scale Autonomous Vehicle, Rikkin Pankaj Panchal

Electrical Engineering Theses

Autonomous vehicle development demands vast resources, making scaled down platforms a critical alternative for solving core algorithmic challenges. The primary contribution of this thesis is the end to end development and validation of a complete real time autonomous driving pipeline deployed on a one tenth scale vehicle. To streamline platform development, an AI assisted annotation framework automates dataset generation, significantly reducing manual labor while improving training data quality. The system perception stack features a reinforcement learning guided online multi camera calibration framework that enables adaptive surround view stitching without the need for offline recalibration. This is paired with robust lane …

The Presence Of Predators Moderates Evolutionary Responses Of Trinidadian Killifish To A Novel Parasite, Anne E. Christian

Biology Dissertations

The Healthy Herds Hypothesis suggests the idea that prey populations derive a benefit from their predators: predators reduce the exposure of their prey to infectious disease, both by limiting prey population densities and by eliminating sick individuals. Much research has focused on the balancing effect that predators have on ecosystems. There is a current need for research into whether these effects cause evolutionary shifts in prey populations, where strong predation pressure prevents prey species from evolving physiological tolerance or resistance to infectious agents. Parasites especially often have rapid effects on host evolution, due to exploitative interactions.

I seek to address …