Digital Commons Network^™

Pattern Recognition In Experienced Pediatric Nurses, Kathleen Wilson Neal

Dissertations

Little is known about how nurses build their knowledge beyond skills and tasks. Nurses may develop the ability to use a number of objective and subjective information sources to recognize the patterns of healthcare, behavioral, and social issues. The purpose of this study was to describe the development of pattern recognition in pediatric nurses in an acute care setting.

Adaptive Inter-Vehicular Collaboration For Level 5 Autonomous Driving, Sumbal Malik

Dissertations

The evolution of sensor technologies, mobile networks, and artificial intelligence has significantly expanded the horizons of various sectors, notably in autonomous driving. According to the World Health Organization, over 1.3 million people succumb to traffic accidents annually, predominantly due to human negligence. Complex urban environments, characterized by mixed traffic flow involving Human Driven Vehicles and Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, intricate traffic patterns, frequent lane changes, and slow speeds, face escalating challenges related to traffic accidents and congestion. These challenges lead to wasted time, increased fuel consumption, and heightened pollution emission levels. Hence, the development of a safe and robust version …

An Aviation Curriculum For An Urban Diverse School District: The Need And Possibility, Stephanie Kiley

Dissertations

The aviation industry expects over two million new personnel in the next twenty years to ensure safe commercial travel and support long-term growth. However, the industry needs more diversity. This study gathered information from administrators and educators in a large, diverse urban school district to address this issue through questionnaires and focus groups. The study aimed to highlight the need for more aviation-related opportunities. The research questions focused on identifying factors that could support or hinder high school aviation programs, perceptions of educators and administrators on introducing an aviation curriculum, and influences that lead students to choose aviation as a …

Understanding Dual Language Teachers' Language Ideologies Using Translanguaging Theory And Pedagogy: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Joseph P. Elliott

Dissertations

The purpose of this explanatory, mixed-methods research study was to understand dual language teachers’ language ideologies using a pluralist theory of bilingualism called translanguaging (García et al., 2017). Translanguaging is also a pedagogy that teachers can employ to help emergent bilingual students grow and learn. The research design employed two phases: Phase One used survey research and confirmatory factor analysis to analyze data from 110 dual language teachers across the United States regarding their translanguaging beliefs, attitudes, policies, and practices. Phase Two used one-on-one interview data from three dual language teachers who completed the Phase Two survey. Using these data, …

Effective Risk-Based Decision Making In Quality Risk Management, Valerie Mulholland

Dissertations

Patients expect safe, effective, high-quality medicines that are available when needed. Meeting these expectations is increasingly challenging in a global pharmaceutical supply chain, as evidenced by persistent product quality and supply issues. A key contributory factor to these issues is disruptions in manufacturing operations, which in turn are often caused by a hesitancy to change and to continuously improve approved processes. Regulatory agencies repeatedly indicate that they will consider increased autonomy for post-approval changes, if pharmaceutical manufacturing operations can demonstrate the effectiveness of Quality Risk Management (QRM) within the Pharmaceutical Quality System (PQS). Thus, the question was posed by Dr …

Development Of Methods To Quantify The Affective Response To Food Product Consumption Based On Kansei Engineering And Their Application In New Product Development, Dietmar Weiss

Dissertations

Consumer research, crucial to the success of new products, relies traditionally on rational judgements and opinions, which may not reflect the real reasons for consumer choice. The goal of this research was to apply and further develop the concepts of Kansei engineering to quantify an emotional response to product use. In addition to the application of the traditional Kansei engineering methods, three innovations were introduced. Firstly, the use of images instead of words to define the emotional space and further limit the interference of cognitive processes in the outcome. Secondly, the application of orthogonal arrays in product designs. Thirdly, the …

Enabling Outer Planet Exploration : Performance And Feasibility Of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion For Rendezvous Missions, Saroj Kumar

Dissertations

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) provides the compelling alternative between the chemical and electric propulsion systems for outer planet robotic missions. High-thrust and high-specific impulse (over twice the best chemical propulsion engine) NTP systems can enable outer planet missions that have been limited due to the large ΔV requirements. This dissertation identifies an enabling mission architecture and NTP engine thrust class for rendezvous missions to the Gas giant and Ice giant systems. The work presented in the dissertation demonstrates the performance impact of the NTP system and its feasibility for robotic missions using a systems engineering model driven by the model …

Design, Modeling, And Experimental Realization Of Tunable Fabry-Perot Nanocavities For Broadband And Narrow-Band Applications, Kirtankumar Pravin Dixit

Dissertations

Efficient control of light absorption at the nanoscale has become a popular area of research, leveraging metal, semiconductor, and dielectric thin film technologies to engineer multilayer structures that modulate light through interference. A Fabry-Perot nanocavity can be configured with a dielectric or semiconductor layer sandwiched between two metal layers to exploit interference. This necessarily involves multiple optical paths through a spacer medium. The ensemble structures can be configured for anti-reflection, high-reflection, and dichroism. This dissertation is structured around four main objectives, each aimed at demonstrating the advanced capabilities of these nanocavities in manipulating light. The goals specifically focus on showcasing …

A Computational Investigation Of Firebrand Dispersion And Deposition In Areas With Cubic Structures, Aditya Prakash Mankame

Dissertations

The spread of wildland and wildland urban interface (WUI) fires can be caused by spotting, where embers from a primary fire ignite spot fires. This study investigates the dispersion and deposition of firebrands over cubic structures in WUI regions under wind condition. Large eddy simulation was used for turbulence while tracing firebrands in Lagrangian framework, employing the open source software Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). The software program was revised to include a firebrand model where the rotational motion and thermal degradation of firebrands were taken into account in addition to the translation motion. This was used for simulation of cylindrical. …

Liner Implosion Of Magneto-Inertial Fusion Plasmas Across The Periodic Table, Brian Dale Taylor

Dissertations

The goal of achieving net energy production from fusion reactions would have many positive and transformational impacts upon society and is therefore of great interest. Magneto-Inertial Fusion may be a path to achieving the high energy density requirements. One possible method for reaching the necessary plasma conditions is through a z-pinch driving a magnetized liner to compress and heat the fusion fuel. Progress has been made through both modeling and experiment, largely through Sandia National Laboratories, in recent years in developing this process and achieving neutron yields in the range of 1013 neutrons per pulse. Magnetized liner z-pinch experiments have …

The Structural Basis Of Inflammation : Computational Characterization Of Molecular Mechanisms, Sara W. Jackson

Dissertations

Computational tools are useful in the interpretation and analysis of experimental data. In the world of structural biophysics, computational tools go a bit further: they can simulate atomic motions and molecular interactions based on experimentally-determined biomolecule structures, therein describing natural phenomena, and inspiring the formulation of new hypotheses. In this work, computational structural biology tools are used to answer questions about molecules of inflammatory importance. Quantum chemistry computational tools are used to determine the electronic structure of sesamin, a component of many diets which may be a modulator of an enzyme involved in the metabolism of inflammation mediators. Virtual docking …

Perceptions Of High Stakes Testing And Burnout As Predictors Of Quality Of Life Among Primary School Teachers In Trinidad And Tobago, Victoria Patricia Elder

Dissertations

Problem

This study explored how high-stakes testing (HST) and burnout affected the quality of primary school teachers in Trinidad and Tobago. HST refers to school exams often required by government agencies that are used to make key decisions pertaining to students, teachers, and schools (Embse & Hanson, 2012). Burnout is defined operationally as a psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and impaired personal accomplishment induced by repeated workplace stressors (Maslach & Schaufeli, 2017). Quality of life (QoL) is the measure of an individual’s ability to function physically, emotionally, and socially within his/her environment at a level consistent with his/her own …

Maternal Involvement, Parenting Styles And Socioeconomic Status As Predictors Of Academic Achievement Of Standard 5 Students In Trinidad And Tobago, Edison Greenaway

Dissertations

The Problem

Underachievement remains a long-standing issue for the Ministry of Education in Trinidad and Tobago. This has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which deleteriously impacted the education system. School closures became mandatory, and online learning was implemented throughout the education system. The results of the 2022 sitting of the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exams emphasized the issue of underachievement, with a significant decline in performance. Only 37.06% of students scored above the 50% mark. Familial factors such as parenting styles and parental involvement have been noted in the literature to positively impact students’ academic achievement (Borup et al., …

Jointly Operating A Merged Junior Academy: A Case Study Of Interracial Cooperation In Seventh-Day Adventist Education In North America, Fabian S. Reid

Dissertations

Problem

Despite the landmark 1954 US Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that rules segregated schools unconstitutional, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America continues to operate segregated schools in close proximity, a practice rooted in a 1944 General Conference vote that allowed the establishment of separate regional (predominantly Black) and state (predominantly White) conferences within the same geographical regions (a conference is a group of churches, schools, and other institutions within a specified geographic region with one central administrative body). This dual system persists even as declining enrollments and frequent school closures prompt consideration of school …

How Can A Cloud Computing It Framework Be Created And Applied Effectively In The Online Printing Industry?, Stefan Meissner

Dissertations

This research aims to design a cloud computing IT framework for the online printing industry based on a detailed literature review, the development of proof of concepts (PoC), and the conduction of a focus group. The framework can be adopted by the online printing industry or by vendors of print-specific applications to optimize their products for the online printing industry. The author has been working in the online printing process optimization and automation since 2007. During this time, he got deep insight into many industry-specific applications, their architectural design, and their challenges being used in the context of online printing. …

Quantitative Characterization Of Non-Bonded Interactions In Proteins Affecting Human Health And Disease, Maher Mansur

Dissertations

Non-bonded interactions are fundamental forces that govern molecular relationships between two or more molecules. These interactions contribute to the stability of complex biological structures like DNA, RNA, and proteins, and control various biological processes. Almost all of these processes are significantly influenced by protein-protein and protein-ligand intermolecular interactions. Here, the interactions of various proteins with other proteins, peptides, and/or ligands were quantified computationally to tackle human health-related problems. For estimating the intermolecular interactions, a number of computational approaches including protein structure modeling, molecular dynamics simulations, molecular docking, ensemble docking, semi-empirical methods, etc., were used. The basics of Molecular Mechanics and …

Benefits Of Quadratically Tapered Flexures For Mems Resonators And Gyroscopes, Brian Grantham

Dissertations

An investigation into the benefits of quadratically tapered flexures for MEMS resonators and gyroscopes is performed and compared to the traditional non-tapered flexure design. Quadratically tapered flexures exhibit constant strain along the outer edge of the flexure whereas non-tapered flexures have significant stress concentration near the base of the flexure. The investigation considers peak stress, thermoelastic damping (TED), nonlinearity, and sensitivity to manufacturing variations. The impact of inside corner fillets on peak stress, TED, and resonant frequency is also investigated. Five new anti-phase lever mechanism (APLM) configurations for resonators and gyroscopes are designed and analyzed using CoventorWare 10. Fabrication experiment …

Developing Geopolymer-Based Adsorptive Materials For Nutrient Removal From Agricultural Runoff And Drainage, Gabrielle Jacquelle Savoir

Dissertations

With the rise of population placing strain on food supplies and the failure of current prevention strategies to mitigate effects of agricultural pollution, research is needed to develop new technologies for the removal and recovery of nutrients from agricultural runoff and drainage. Geopolymer, an alkali-silicate material polymerized within an acidic or alkaline medium, is promising as an adsorptive substrate due to its multifaceted customizability, cost effectiveness, and adsorptive properties. Hence, the objective of this research was to develop porous metakaolin (MK) geopolymer based adsorptive materials with high affinities for phosphate and ammonium/ammonia to act as nutrient control within agricultural runoff …

Nonlinear Dynamics Of Acoustic Fluctuations In One-Dimensional Ducts With And Without Unsteady Combustion, Swarnalatha Kathalagiri Vasantha Kumar

Dissertations

The overall objective of this research is to analyze the nonlinear dynamics of combustors in one dimensional Cartesian coordinate. This research was carried out in four parts, with each successive part building on the previous one. The first part begins with investigation of the coupled nonlinear evolution of acoustic modes in a quasi 1-D duct with axially inhomogeneous mean velocity and mean thermodynamic properties. A novel modification of the Krylov--Bogoliubov method of averaging (KBMA) is developed to analytically solve the modal-amplitude equations that are linearly and nonlinearly coupled with both quadratic and cubic nonlinearities. Approximate analytical solutions based on the …

The Role Of Surface Processes In Modulating Land-Sea Breeze Circulation : An Observational And Numerical Modeling Study In Java, Georgios Priftis

Dissertations

In the Maritime Continent (MC), sea and land breezes (SLB), shaped by its numerous islands, are key drivers of the tropical climate. Island morphology, terrain, land cover, and orientation relative to prevailing winds affect these breezes and associated convection. While research has largely focused on larger islands, smaller islands like Java remain understudied. Java features a mountainous chain with several gaps and experienced significant land use and land cover changes (∆LULC) over the past two decades. This dissertation aims to: 1) adapt observational methods to detect mesoscale boundaries in numerical models, 2) analyze the role of Java’s topography and cloud- …

Online Learning For Adaptive Control : Stable Learning And Control For Aerospace And Robotics, Jacob G. Elkins

Dissertations

Aerospace and robotic systems perform various tasks in uncertain, dynamic environments. Further, the data that a system encounters in the real-world is often the most valuable. The most advanced aerospace and robotic systems of the future will be able to learn online, during operation, from this real-world data. Aerospace and robotic systems are often expensive and difficult to model, and the controllers of these systems thus require rigorous control proofs and safety guarantees. Recently, general research in artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) has made significant strides in developing learning-based systems and controllers. However, much of this research has focused …

The Zero Forcing Number Of Graphs With Prescribed Girth, Paige Gant

Dissertations

The zero forcing number is a graph parameter that was introduced in 2008 to study the minimum rank of matrices. Since then, it has garnered attention due to its applications in search problems, control theory, and power grid monitoring as well as a subject of theoretical interest in its own right. We denote the zero forcing number of a graph Z(G). Consider a subset Z of the vertex set of a simple graph G and color the vertices in Z pink. If a pink vertex has exactly one uncolored neighbor, then that pink vertex forces its sole uncolored neighbor to …

Leading From The Middle: Arts Administrators' Beliefs About The Impact Of Arts Education On High-Needs Students, Sofia Fojas

Dissertations

Research on arts education notes the positive impact of arts education on educational outcomes for students, particularly students of color, students in poverty, and students needing additional academic support. Students living in low-income communities receive different educational opportunities than those in high-wealth districts. This disparity is especially true for highly mobile and high-needs students of color. Arts education has made positive differences in student outcomes. This qualitative study examined the beliefs of county arts leads, leaders in the middle, situated between the California Department of Education and their local school districts, and how they can be empowered to be change …

Development Of A Continuum Damage Constitutive Model And Simulation For Brittle Materials In Space Infrastructure Application, Luis Eduardo Deganis

Dissertations

The purpose of this work is to develop a continuum damage constitutive material model and apply it to structural response characterization of brittle materials for in-situ construction of space infrastructure. This research improves and expands the utility of the physics-based dominant crack algorithm (DCA) model in order to account for very low-strain rate phenomena in plain concrete structures. The DCA model is strain-rate dependent and has been effectively utilized for highly dynamic phenomena. The model has a strong basis in micromechanics and is able to capture the strain-softening response of brittle materials. The newly developed constitutive model can be easily …

Application Of A New Scale-Resolving Turbulence Model To Supersonic Retropropulsion Flows With Chemistry, Gabriel C. Nastac

Dissertations

Turbulent compressible flows are ubiquitous in many engineering applications of flight and propulsion. Computational fluid dynamics simulations are commonly performed to analyze these flows. Scale-resolving turbulence models inherently better capture various flow phenomena, including separation and mixing, as well as enable predictions of fluctuations, which can be critical for design compared to traditional steady-state turbulence models. In this work, new scale-resolving blended Partially-Averaged Navier-Stokes (BPANS) turbulence models are developed to account for compressibility effects and are employed to efficiently simulate turbulent compressible flows. Specifically, supersonic retropropulsion flows are investigated. Supersonic retropropulsion is a key technology for next-generation rockets. The new …

Modeling On-Demand Meal Delivery With Multi-Modal Couriers: Considering Both Certain And Uncertain Orders, Zohre Noormohamadzade

Dissertations

The on-demand meal delivery sector has experienced significant transformation, reshaping consumer dining habits and operational practices in the food delivery industry. This dissertation explores the changing landscape of on-demand meal delivery services through two interrelated topics, namely Modeling On-demand Meal Delivery in a Link-Node Based stochastic User Equilibrium with certain demand and Modeling On-demand Meal Delivery with different vehicle modes and uncertain demand, aiming to address the evolving challenges and opportunities in this dynamic industry. The rest of this dissertation is composed of two parts. The first part addresses the integration of internal restaurant couriers and third-party platform couriers to …

Rocketship Education: An Exploratory Public Policy Case Study, Vladimir Gresham Ivanovic

Dissertations

This dissertation is an exploratory case study of the finances of the Rocketship charter school chain, especially those related to real estate. Rocketship is a not-for-profit charter management organization, one of the first in Santa Clara County, California. This study seeks to determine if the financial transactions related to Rocketship charter schools yield profits for investors, despite Rocketship itself being a non-profit entity, and if they do, how and where do they do so. In order to characterize fairly and completely the profits of Rocketship Education itself and Rocketship-related entities, this study uses publicly available documents to track money flowing …

In Their Words: Voices Of High School Graduates Who Were Labeled English Learners, Yolanda K. Jimenez

Dissertations

This research captures the experiences of high school graduates who were labeled English Learners while they were enrolled in a public high school in the greater Sacramento area of California. The study examined what these bilingual high school graduates report as beneficial and detrimental experiences faced while completing the course requirements for high school graduation. This study builds on research that includes secondary classroom teachers and their perceptions of English Learners, classroom teaching and learning, and experiences of emergent bilingual students. The study expands the body of research and informs praxis pertaining to supporting emergent bilingual students as they attempt …

Reporting And Addressing Sexual Harassment At Four Institutions Of Higher Learning In Zambia: A Quantitative Study Of Related Attitudes And Perceptions, Earlymay Chibende

Dissertations

Problem

Sexual harassment is a social ill that exists across nations, socio-economic backgrounds, races, nationality, ethnicity, age groups, and sex. Although both male and female members of society experience sexual harassment, research shows that a greater percentage of sexual harassment victims are women (Whitley & Page, 2015; CharterJee, 2018). A comparison of the prevalence of sexual harassment at workplaces and educational institutions shows that sexual harassment is more widespread at institutions of learning than at workplaces. Research on the prevalence of attitudes and or perceptions toward sexual harassment in institutions of higher learning shows that between 10%- 68% of female …

A Fully Automated Global Post-Hoc Method Based On Abstract Argumentation For Explainable Artificial Intelligence And Its Application On Fully Connected Dense Deep Neural Networks, Giulia Vilone

Dissertations

Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) has rapidly grown in the past decade due to the prevalence of machine learning, especially deep learning, in fields like healthcare and finance. While these models excel in accuracy, their complexity hampers transparency and interpretability. Ensuring understandable explanations for AI predictions fosters trust, prevents errors, complies with regulations, and enhances model refinement. The research project outlined in this thesis unfolds in phases. It commences with a comprehensive review of existing XAI studies, contributing to the field’s knowledge by proposing a taxonomy that organises theories and notions related to explainability, the evaluation approaches for XAI methods, and …