Digital Commons Network^™

Commissioning & Daily Qa Of Converted Linac For Electron Flash, Tomaj Javidtash

Theses and Dissertations

Ultra-high dose rate (FLASH) radiotherapy has demonstrated promising normal tissue sparing in preclinical studies; however, the lack of standardized dosimetry, commissioning, and quality assurance (QA) methodologies remains a major barrier to its reproducible and safe implementation. In particular, conventional clinical commissioning and QA protocols are not directly applicable at FLASH dose rates due to challenges associated with detector response, dose-per-pulse effects, and beam control limitations.

This thesis presents the commissioning of a converted Varian 21EX linear accelerator for electron FLASH operation within the Division of Medical Physics at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Department of Radiation Oncology. Comprehensive beam characterization …

Development Of A Practical Lu-177 Activity Calibration Protocol For Clinical Nuclear Medicine: Dosimetric Impact Analysis And Implementation Tools, Azam Almolaiki

Theses and Dissertations

Lutetium-177 (Lu-177) is widely used in radionuclide therapy, where accurate activity measurement prior to administration is essential for safe and effective treatment delivery. However, variability in dose calibrator response due to measurement conditions and source geometry remains a practical challenge in routine clinical settings. This study presents a practical clinical calibration strategy under real-world constraints for Lu-177 activity measurement using standard nuclear medicine instrumentation. A vial-based approach was implemented using a well-type ionization chamber (Capintec CRC-15R) to evaluate measurement repeatability, temporal stability, and geometry dependence. All measurements were performed under consistent conditions with appropriate decay correction applied using the physical …

A Mutant Perfect, Amelia R. Baxter

Theses and Dissertations

A Mutant Perfect examines how embodied knowledge can be made visible and transmissible through ceramic figures. The research asks what forms emerge when making is understood as a mode of thinking rather than a vehicle for pre-formed ideas, and how those forms might activate somatic recognition in a viewer. The primary method is coil-built ceramic sculpture. Color is applied in layered coats and removed by hand-sanding to expose varying strata beneath, producing a speckled, worn surface. In a second approach, pigment is built directly into the clay body through coil construction, making color structural rather than applied. Narrative prose and …

Restructuring Actor Training For Psychological Wellbeing, Caroline C. Byce

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis highlights the importance of performer mental health as it relates to performance pedagogy. Based on a comprehensive review of traditional western actor training methods, survey data, and interviews, this research proposes a framework through which educators, directors, and performers alike can acknowledge both the artistic value and psychological harm prevalent in many prominent acting techniques. The insights put forth by this thesis extend beyond theatre acting and into television and film acting respectively, culminating in a series of practical steps -transferrable to any medium - for implementing a restructured and more human-centered approach to classrooms, workshops, and rehearsal …

My Mouth Is A Glutton, My Mouth Is A Lover., Cole Kamerick Eller

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a reflection on my relationship with jewelry. I discuss the impact of jewelry

and its materials. What are the ramifications of these objects? Politically, socially, and

spiritually. I reflect on material agency, cultural unconscious, and value systems, and

how I relate to jewelry, my love for it, and my grief for it. This work is the result of ritual

and impulse. The writing is my reflection on the results of that ritual.

Daisyworld, Eva Foldy

Theses and Dissertations

Daisyworld explores how painting can represent ecological and sociopolitical crisis without relying on narratives of total collapse as a catastrophic end, instead framing the present as a condition of ongoing, uneven transformation. Drawing on ecological models of adaptation, interdependence, and planetary self-regulation, it uses plant fasciation as both a biological reference and speculative metaphor for distorted yet generative forms of survival. Situating painting within a broader history of visual culture, it examines how images function as accessible systems of knowledge while challenging colonial and human-centered modes of representation. In dialogue with contemporary, systems-based artistic practices, the project repositions painting as …

Spilt Milk, Fatima Kaleem

Theses and Dissertations

Spilt Milk explores how institutional discipline is rehearsed across the Pakistani home, school, and television soap opera. These seemingly domestic spaces converge at the military-industrial complex, where media propaganda (ISPR) and consumer commodities collaborate to manufacture a unified national identity.

Through an installation of school desks and re-fabricated cereal boxes, this project examines the ‘cereal/serial’ as a site of ideological consumption. By refabricating these boxes with embroidery, drawing, lace, and synthetic hair, the work subverts state-mandated narratives. These material interventions replace assembly lines with spills of hair and sweat to highlight the vulnerability of the body under surveillance. This project …

In-Between Echoes, Jiayi Liang

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I explore memory, diaspora, labor, and intergenerational trauma through constructed photography and experimental film. Informed by Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of the Third Space, I examine how identity is shaped through displacement, cultural negotiation, and inherited memory. Drawing from my relationship with my grandmother and my experience as a Chinese woman living in diaspora, I consider labor as both survival and care, tracing how domestic gestures and emotional structures continue across generations. Through collage, reconstruction, and animation, I rework fragments of family archives, colonial landscape imagery, and personal photographs to address grief, racialized perception, belonging, and the …

Between The Veins: Materializing Memory In The Age Of Digital Storage, Alice Mohammed Aslem

Theses and Dissertations

What happens to a childhood stored behind a password? This thesis began with a simple moment of scrolling through my son’s photographs on my phone. As the images multiplied, they began to lose clarity, turning into an overwhelming digital archive. This made me ask: What kind of memories am I preserving for him?

Having grown up between analog and digital worlds, Between the Veins explores how I navigate memory through material objects and digital archives. Using weaving, images are transferred onto screw pine and palm leaves. In this process, digital files of his childhood are translated into organic fibers of …

Plumbed 3-Manifolds And Neumann Moves, Noah J. Pope

Theses and Dissertations

We give a constructive proof that every weakly negative definite plumbing tree can be transformed into a negative definite one by a finite sequence of Neumann moves. The argument combines Neumann’s plumbing calculus with the diagonalization algorithm of Duchon, Eisenbud, and Neumann, which extracts the eigenvalues of the framing matrix directly from the combinatorics of the tree. We show that any positive eigenvalues are supported on linear branches and can be eliminated systematically via controlled applications of Neumann moves. This provides an explicit algorithm reducing weakly negative definite plumbing trees to negative definite ones.

The Transition From School To Work For Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders: Examining The Lived Experiences Of Students In Private Day Schools, Gabrielle S. Pickover

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of young adults with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD) as they transitioned from private day school settings into sustained employment. Guided by Schlossberg’s Transition Theory, the study explored participants’ perceptions of the barriers, supports, and strategies that shaped their transition experiences. Data were collected through twelve semi-structured interviews with six participants who maintained at least one year of continuous employment following high school. Analysis revealed four primary themes: structure as a stabilizing force, resilience developed through adversity, experiential learning as a pathway to employment, and employment as identity and independence. Findings suggest …

Substance Use Behaviors And Treatment Engagement In Individuals With Severe Psychopathology With And Without Comorbid Obesity, Rachel M. Madera-Arnold

Theses and Dissertations

Research has found significantly higher rates of both substance use and obesity among individuals with SMI compared to population samples which in turn can lead to worsening health outcomes. Despite this, there is limited research on the co-occurrence of obesity, substance use, and SMI and how these conditions may interact to affect patient outcomes. In addition, there are many gaps in the research regarding the relationship between substance use and body weight, appetite and/or eating behaviors. This study conducted a secondary analysis of the NSDUH 2021 survey that characterized substance use and disorders among individuals who had severe psychopathology, examined …

Cb1 Allosteric Modulation: Preclinical Insights Into Therapeutic Potential And Misuse Liability, Mohammed A. Mustafa

Theses and Dissertations

Cannabinoid type-1 (CB1) allosteric modulators represent a promising approach to modulate CB1 receptor signaling by binding to distinct receptor sites, without producing adverse cannabimimetic and dependence-related effects associated with Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other CB1 agonists. This dissertation investigates the pharmacological, behavioral, and dependence-related profiles of CB1 allosteric modulators for their therapeutic potential and misuse liability. Presented here, the chiral CB1 positive allosteric modulator (PAM) ZCZ011 was resolved into its R- and S-enantiomers and characterized across in vitro and in vivo assays. Both enantiomers enhance CB1 agonist activity and produce intrinsic effects in vitro. Behaviorally, they produce antinociceptive effects in the …

Munajat: Design As A Dialogue With The Divine, Shawky Abdalla

Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary design discourse remains grounded in functional, seemingly user-centered paradigms, often neglecting what lies beyond the tangible within a human experience. This research challenges such frameworks by positioning design as a dialogue with what exceeds the physical, moving toward the experiential, where meaning precedes and informs form. Drawing on Islamic philosophy, particularly the relationship between zahir and batin (outward form and inward meaning), the study repositions design as a medium for remembrance (dhikr) rather than mere utility.

Through a critique of modernist and postmodernist principles, the research proposes a series of objects that engage with memory, introspection, and transcendence in …

Within The Ruin: A Modern Brewery Rebirth, Karim Asarzadeh

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project focuses on the revitalization of the historic ruins of the James River Steam Brewery in Richmond, Virginia. The project transforms the forgotten industrial structure into a modern brewery with a second-floor restaurant addition and community gathering spaces while preserving the historic masonry ruins. It showcases a holistic design approach that considers all aspects of the building, including its connection to the urban context and landscape, as well as its architecture, interiors, and furniture. The project demonstrates how a holistic design approach can create stronger spatial connections and more cohesive environments. In particular, it offers a strategy for …

Will You Let Me In?, Irene Piazza

Theses and Dissertations

Imposed borders are everywhere: The borders created by stanchions during bureaucratic lines, the borders of a country, the borders of a page. Humans are forced to follow them. Borders are imposed structures that dictate a way to move, a way to write, a way to be confined. But what happens when those borders aren’t followed? What happens when someone decides to walk through the stanchion belt by crouching under it or sliding its buckle open? What happens if a person decides to walk outside of the paved pathway? What happens if someone crosses a border or writes beyond the page …

Contours Of Duration: Movement Authored Through Form—A Behavior Archive, Jood Senussi Elbeshti

Theses and Dissertations

Insect anatomy offers an elegant example of motion derived from structure. Inspired by insect movement, Contours of Duration employs a cam-and-follower system consisting of moving, leg-like parts, designed to engage a series of rotating cams, such that the shape of each cam’s surface activates the legs in unique ways, generating repetitive movement, and demonstrating how geometry produces distinct motion behaviors over time. Through iterative experimentation and controlled variation, trace emerges as a central methodology, whereby movement, over time, creates a distinct pattern of marks, making motion legible and reflecting how subtle changes to surface and form generate different behavioral outcomes. …

Fused Filament Fabrication Additive Manufacturing Of 17-4 Ph Stainless Steel: Process–Structure–Property Relationships In Magnetic Materials, Maanav Patel

Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM) enables the fabrication of complex metallic components through layer-by-layer processing directly from digital models. Among AM techniques, material extrusion–based processes such as fused filament fabrication (FFF) provide an accessible method for producing metal parts using filament feedstocks composed of metal powders and polymer binders. When applied to precipitation-hardening stainless steels such as 17-4 PH, the processing route and heat treatments can influence the resulting microstructure and functional properties. This work investigates the magnetic behavior of 17-4 PH stainless steel fabricated using FFF and evaluates how heat treatment conditions influence measured magnetic properties. Samples were produced and analyzed …

Spell Of Forty Small Failings, Erin B. Ehren

Theses and Dissertations

Spell of Forty Small Failings is a collection of images and writings that draws from an unruly range of literary forms, academic disciplines, and religious cannons in order to address the Divine—all that which exists on account of the phenomena of what it is to see and be seen: to hear and be heard: to touch and be touched: to know and be known, and through that knowing proceed beyond mediation. I wrote this thesis for me in the hopes that all along I was writing for you.

Tms Phantoms For Investigating Multimodal Neuromodulation Procedures, Wesley H. Lohr

Theses and Dissertations

Evidence suggests that combining deep brain stimulation (DBS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is potentially unsafe for certain TMS target locations, though TMS can alleviate several DBS-resistant PD symptoms such as speech impairment, freezing of gait, and dysphagia. Addressing this issue, head phantoms designed for TMS with embedded electric field (E-field) triaxial dipole probes (TDPs) are used to investigate a tunable magnetic shield that can protect implants from periphery E-fields and focalize magnetic fields. Through segmentation of MRI files, 3D printing, and injection molding of CNT-PDMS conductive composites, anatomical head phantoms are created. Anchoring TDPs to clinically relevant regions in …

A Mathematical Frameworks For Singular, Nonlinear Phenomena: Applications To Nematocyst Firing And Inhomogeneous Nls With Coulomb Potential, Abdulrahman Alharbi

Theses and Dissertations

Nematocysts are specialized cellular organelles found in all cnidarians, including corals and jellyfish, as well as in some single-celled protists such as dinoflagellates. These organelles display remarkable diversity in morphology and function, playing roles in prey capture and defense. The firing of a nematocyst is one of the fastest accelerations in nature, yet the underlying physical mechanisms remain not fully understood. In this work, we address key questions: how sufficient force is generated to overcome the fluid boundary layer, whether fluid–structure interaction models can reproduce observed dynamics, and what mechanisms trigger discharge.

Our research investigates models based on osmotic pressure …

Waxing And Waning: Hidden Interiors Of Grassroots Expression, Asmita Baskar

Theses and Dissertations

Concealed interiors historically emerged from necessity in response to dominant systems around surveillance, control, and visibility. These hidden spaces carefully regulated access, cultivated intimacy, and enabled self-expression within grassroots groups and marginalized communities. Operating free from surveillance and in contrast to surrounding architectural and urban systems, these concealed spaces were not formally “interior designed”, yet they reveal how communities activate the interiors they encounter to retain agency.

Scholarship on grassroots resistance is largely examined through sociology, anthropology, psychology, or political science, with limited literature directly linking interiority, interior design, and resistance within covert spaces. This thesis addresses the gap in …

Internalizing Symptoms In Lgbtq+ Young Adults: Understanding The Roles Of Social Support And Resilience To Social Stigma, Chloe M. Sobolewski

Theses and Dissertations

LGBTQ+ young adults are at increased risk of adverse mental health outcomes including internalizing symptoms. The current study seeks to better incorporate strengths when modeling internalizing symptoms outcomes in LGBTQ+ young adults. The present study is secondary analysis of data collected as part of a three-wave longitudinal study. LGBTQ+ young adults (N = 250) completed baseline questionnaires assessing resilience to social stigma, types of perceived social support (i.e., family, friend, significant other), and internalizing symptoms. Moderation models were not practically or statistically significant; however, covariates (i.e., age, socioeconomic standing, and childhood basic needs) stood out in their significant contribution in …

Vitality: Wellness For Female Collegiate Athletes, Kristin Beach

Theses and Dissertations

Vitality is a wellness center for female collegiate athletes. It is rooted in female oriented design strategies for comfort, recovery, and wellbeing. This project aims to provide an inclusive environment in which women within the VCU athletics department can come and support their health and wellbeing.  Spaces include physical therapy, academic support, movement studios, gathering lounge, locker room, private therapy, and grab and go food options. This program aims to provide spaces that support the busy schedule of a collegiate athlete, while using design strategies that enhance social, mental, and physical wellbeing while visiting. Located in a historic sauers building, …

Machine Learning-Based Spatio-Temporal Modeling Of Climate Dynamics And Desertification In The Sahara–Sahel Region, Stephen M. Tivenan

Theses and Dissertations

Arid climate classifications are threshold-dependent and easily interpretable mappings that are widely used in ecological, agricultural, and climate-related studies. These classifications inform scientific understanding, support policy and land management decisions, and provide an intuitive summary of environmental conditions. Despite their usefulness, traditional arid climate classifications often fail to quantify uncertainty, incorporate spatial context, or account for complex relationships among relevant environmental variables. Existing approaches to uncertainty assessment have largely relied on comparing classifications across multiple datasets or alternative formulas, but these methods generally overlook important spatial dependence and latent structure in the data.

This dissertation develops three machine learning-based statistical …

Characterization Of Growth, Motility And C-Di-Gmp In Selenomonas Sputigena Atcc 35185, Margaret E J Stiker

Theses and Dissertations

Selenomonas sputigena is an obligate anaerobic, Gram-negative pathobiont that transitions from a low-abundance commensal bacteria to a structural component in dysbiotic oral biofilms associated with early childhood caries and periodontitis. Analysis of S. sputigena ATCC 35185 cultures optimized in TYGVS media revealed robust growth, characteristic crescent morphology with flagellar tuft motility, and strong monospecies biofilm formation comparable to Streptococcus mutans via crystal violet assays.

ELISA quantification demonstrated significantly elevated c-di-GMP levels in sessile biofilm fractions relative to motile planktonic cells (p=0.0009), establishing the secondary messenger’s correlation with the motile-sessile lifestyle switch. Recombinant expression and purification yielded PilZ-domain effector proteins, Selsp_1666 …

"It's The People, Not The Place:" Queering Shared Space In Richmond, Virginia, Kathleen Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The intersection of queerness and planning is an understudied subject area that has implications for equity and access. Queer communities face real barriers to equitable access of resources that stem from a long history of legal, cultural, and economic marginalization. Experiences of shared spaces for queer groups and organizations is important to understand, as outward expressions of queerness are not always welcome in shared spaces, depending on sociopolitical context. Richmond, Virginia has a rich queer history both filled with challenges as well as examples of queer success and joy that makes it a prime case study selection.

This thesis utilizes …

The Mundo I Imagine, Angeliky Castrellon

Theses and Dissertations

My work investigates the human experience of belonging and how the force of displacement alters the perception of one's present and enables dissociation. After leaving my home and starting a new life overseas, coming back never felt the same; I couldn’t find peace and comfort anywhere. This made me create an imaginary world called “Mundo.” Shelters for the souls of the displaced, looking for comfort. As I became a graduate student in the Craft/Materials Studies department, my perspective widened, and my work itself answered a question for me: I want to be comfortable everywhere; how can my home be everywhere …

What’S Sleep Got To Do With It? A Mixed Methods Exploration Of The Feasibility, Acceptability, And Initial Outcomes Of Group Cbt For Insomnia In Parkinson’S Disease, Claire M. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is commonly associated with sleep disturbances, affecting up to 80 percent of individuals with Parkinson’s. Effective and accessible treatments for sleep problems in Parkinson’s disease remain limited. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi) is a well-established, non-pharmacological treatment for insomnia but has been minimally studied in Parkinson’s populations. This study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of a group-based CBTi intervention adapted for individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Participants engaged in a six-week group intervention that incorporated Parkinson’s-specific adaptations. Preliminary findings indicated that the adapted group CBTi intervention was generally feasible and …

Exploring, Understanding, And Supporting Academic Help-Seeking In Context, Molly L. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Conceptualized as a self-regulated learning (SRL) strategy, academic help-seeking is a fascinating behavior because it is self-directed while also reliant on social interactions with help-givers (Karabenick, 2004). What is known about help-seeking in academic settings largely revolves around individual traits, strategies, motivations, beliefs, and identities, and how each of these constructs influence help-seeking outcomes (Bornschlegl et al., 2020; Fong et al., 2023; Karabenick & Gonida, 2018). What is underexplored in these areas, however, is how features of the learning context interact with student-level factors to shape academic help-seeking behaviors and beliefs. This dissertation attempts to address some of these gaps …