Digital Commons Network^™

On Phishing: Proposing A Host-Based Multi-Layer Passive/Active Anti-Phishing Approach Combating Counterfeit Websites, Wesam Harbi Fadheel

Dissertations

Phishing is the starting point of most cyberattacks, mainly categorized as Email, Websites, Social Networks, Phone calls (Vishing), and SMS messaging (Smishing). Phishing refers to an attempt to collect sensitive data, typically in the form of usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, bank account information, etc., or other crucial facts, intending to use or sell the information obtained. Similar to how a fisherman uses bait to catch a fish, an attacker will pose as a trustworthy source to attract and deceive the victim.

This study explores the efficacy of host-side APT (Anti-Phishing Techniques) based onWebsite features like Lexical, Host-Based, or Content-Based …

What Covid-19 Tweets Reveal About Risk Perception And Safety Preventative Measures And Behaviors Two Years Into A Pandemic, Elizabeth Vargas

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine individuals Covid-19 risk perceptions two years into a long running pandemic. Data was collected analyzing risk perception and safety preventative measures to understand how individuals communicated risk in a health crisis that lasts more than two years. 116,401 tweets were collected from March 7-18, 2022, and analyzed utilizing a qualitative content analysis design. Four main classes were identified from the data which looked at how individuals perceived risk, how individuals determined risk from information that was shared, what preventative measures individuals were utilizing, and how individuals were living after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic …

Physiological, Ecological, And Microbial Factors Shaping Thermal Tolerance And Performance In Ectothermic Vertebrates, Jason Warren Dallas

Dissertations

Temperature represents a major driving force in biology as it influences essential functions across multiple levels of biological organization. The role of temperature is especially important for ectothermic animals, whose biotic processes are dependent on both body and environmental temperature. Assessing the relationship between temperature and organismal performance represents an important research direction as temperatures continue to warm under anthropogenic climate change. Chapters two and three are focused on a recently colonized population of the invasive Mediterranean House Geckos at the northern edge of their invasion front. These chapters examine the ecological and physiological factors that enable these lizards to …

“‘State Of War’: British Racial Construction, New World Slavery & The Impact Of Somerset’S Case In The Anglo-American Diaspora", John David Kemp

Dissertations

On Monday 22 June 1772, the English jurist William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, delivered his oral verdict as Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench in the famous case involving the enslaved Afro-British servant James Somerset to declare that only an Act of Parliament could legalize domestic bondage and that Somerset was a free man. For the estimated 15,000 captives living in the English metropole, Somerset v. Stewart effectively undercut the Anglo-Atlantic slavocracy that had hid behind legal technicalities and extrajudicial decrees defending domestic bondage since the last quarter of the seventeenth century. In order to offer a …

Kukama Radio: The Politics And Aesthetics Of Indigenous Media In Peruvian Amazonia, Gabriel Torrealba Alfonzo

Dissertations

This dissertation is about the political and aesthetic dimensions of Indigenous media in Peruvian Amazonia. It explores how Kukama media-makers use aesthetic mastery to engage in three key political fields in Amazonia: indigeneity, historicity, and environmentalism. I specifically examine the audiovisual discourses and media-making practices coming from an Indigenous radio station called Radio Ucamara, located in the town of Nauta in Northeastern Peru (Loreto region). Drawing on place-based ethnography and digital research methods, I analyze the way this radio station instrumentalizes multiple digital and non-digital media forms to make visible (and also audible) their identities, violent histories, and cosmological worlds …

Experiences With Writing And Reading Neuropsychological Reports: Neuropsychologist And Parent Perspectives, Zsofia Imre

Dissertations

Researchers have described common problems with psychological reports over the past several decades. Some of these issues can contribute to difficulties for neuropsychologists (e.g., efficiency, insurance reimbursement). Additionally, these problems contribute to difficulties with feasibility, readability, and satisfaction for the readers of psychological reports. However, research has been limited on the perceptions of neuropsychological reports specifically, especially related to parent experiences with neuropsychological reports. Hence, this study sought to understand the current report-writing trends, parents' experiences and satisfaction, and neuropsychologists' openness to adjusting their report-writing styles. Data were obtained through surveying parents and neuropsychologists on their experiences reading and writing …

Acting Locally: Vegetable Gardening In Southern Illinois, Aimee L. Trojnar

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the everyday practice of home and community vegetable gardening in a small southern Illinois city. The project engages with questions of how diverse elements of practice interact over time in the development of both gardens and gardeners, dwelling particularly on how the material agency of nonhumans contributes to what emerges. Combining a broad investigation of societal influences and constraints involved in gardening practices with a granular focus on material interactions in the garden, I consider the kinds of relationships individuals forge with the nonhuman environment in a modern, Western context and how they do so. Understanding such …

Fat And Queer: A Qualitative Exploration Of Womens' Experiences Of Fatphobia, Jaidelynn Keeley Rogers

Dissertations

A paucity of psychological research exists on the topic of fatphobia, a type of pervasive oppression that occurs for people with plus-size, large, and/or fat bodies. Much of the research that exists about fatphobia focuses on medical ideals, the associated weight stigma, and how these are related to fat people’s physical health. Medical researchers have determined that weight stigma is actually more harmful to fat people's health than being fat. Fatphobia impacts women at disproportionate rates. Plus-sized, queer, lesbian, bisexual, and pansexual (LGBTQ+) women may be at a heightened risk for experiencing marinization as a result of their intersecting identities …

The Aesthetics Of News: Narrative Construction And Media Illiteracy In Contemporary India, Shashidhar Nanjundaiah

Dissertations

Amidst the public’s declining trust in news, media prosumers—that is, media consumers who have also become producers of mediated texts—are not equipped with any credible alternative mechanism to better understand the world around them. Prior academic studies of news and its delivery have not adequately explored the ideological framework we need to confront this frightening situation. This dissertation does so. I problematize the narration of news as an aesthetic process. Such mass-mediated narration stitches together our world in ideological ways. A tidal flow of stories highlights and obscures selected truths in a frenzy of “new” news cycles, the frequency of …

A Rudimental Drumming Vocabulary Applied To The Folk Music Of Argentina, Justin Sherrod

Dissertations

This dissertation examines the methods and approaches used by Argentine percussionist Mr. Sebastian Hoyos to incorporate rudimental drumming into the composition Soy de Salta: Suite para percusión criolla y orquesta. The study demonstrates the steps taken to employ Argentinian folk music content through four folk styles: Baguala, Zamba, Chacarera, and Carnavalito. The bombo legüero, one of Argentina's most well-known and essential folk percussion instruments, plays a supportive and dominant role in Soy de Salta, introducing rudimental components into the music. This original research therefore addresses rudiments, variations of rudiments, and simple and complex writing styles for the snare drum …

Reducing Stress And Burnout In Hospice And Palliative Care Through Education, Marvet Wint

Dissertations

Burnout, a syndrome described as a state of mental and or physical exhaustion, impacts the workforce of hospice and palliative nurses where employees' behaviors and professional efficacy reflect poorly on their work. The prevalence of burnout among hospice nurses led to the development of this project. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) served as a reference guide for developing the content, which addressed whether a staff education program at this Southeastern United States facility, would affect a change in knowledge among hospice nurses reduce burnout. Knowles's theory of adult learning framed this education program on self-care and stress management. Focus was …

Missing Value Imputation For Single Omics And Multi-Omics Data, Meng Song

Dissertations

The integration analyses of multi-omics data have the advantages of extending our understanding of biological system across multiple omics layers, unraveling the functional mechanism of complex disease development, and refining the discovery of novel drug targets. However, multi-omics studies often face challenges such as data heterogeneity, missing values problem, interpretability, and imbalance classes. Among these challenges, the missing values problem is a critical issue for large cohort studies as not all samples will get a complete measurement for all the omics layers. To address the problem of missing values in multi-omics data, I focused on the imputation of completely missing …

Neurodiverse Perceptions Of Inclusivity In The Workplace, Shannon Lively

Dissertations

The increase in neurodivergent professionals in the workplace has led to a significant need for researchers to examine neurodiversity inclusion in the workplace. Research has portrayed workplace inclusion as the perception that the individual is a valued member of a workgroup through satisfactory experiences of belongingness and uniqueness. Through semi-structured interviews with 20 neurodivergent professionals, this study examined how they view inclusion, exclusion, and cope with exclusion in the workplace. The neurodivergent participants identified six inclusion and six exclusion categories. Results were largely consistent with previous inclusion research, however, one novel category, flexible accommodations, suggests the importance of considerate accommodations …

Educating Nurses On Workflow Changes From Electronic Heath Record Adoption, Rhoda Lynn San Jose

Dissertations

Workflow issues related to adoption of the electronic health record (EHR) has led to unsafe workarounds, decreased productivity, inefficient clinical documentation and slow rates of EHR adoption. The problem addressed in this quality improvement project was nurses' lack of knowledge about workflow changes due to EHR adoption. The purpose of this project was to identify changes in workflow and to develop an educational module to communicate the changes. This project was guided by both the ADDIE model (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) and the diffusion of innovations theory.

An Analysis Of Capital Flow To Construct An Economic Typology In A Comparative Case Study Of Three Ancient Cities: Third Kingdom Of Ur, New Kingdom Of Thebes, And Classical Athens, Darrell Gremillion

Dissertations

This dissertation adds to the literature on Economic Development through the development of a Typology of Economy applicable to the earliest cities. Understanding the evolution of these early economies is a crucial step in understanding the past to assist in the establishment of policies for the future. This is especially important in the light of the environmental and sustainability challenges facing the globe today.

The cities in the comparative case study include the Third Dynasty of Ur in Mesopotamia, the New Kingdom of Thebes in Egypt, and Classical Athens in Greece. These cities are chosen for the case study for …

Losing Face-To-Face Selling In A Digital World: An Empirical Investigation Of Relationship Selling In The Independent Insurance Agency, Casey Bell

Dissertations

Over the past 20 years, our economy has transformed into a service-based economy as opposed to the previous industrial-based economy. The service industry is growing and rapidly becoming one of the primary sectors of the economy. Relationship selling is crucial to the service industry, especially the property and casualty insurance market—because it involves complex, highly intangible services. Even though consumers use the internet before reaching out to an insurance agent, this does not mean relationship selling is unnecessary. With complex products like property and casualty insurance, relationship selling is crucial to grasp what consumers truly need and understand. The purpose …

Predictors Of Nurse Practitioners' End-Of-Life Communication Behaviors With Adults Who Have End-Stage Renal Disease, Joanne V. Payongayong

Dissertations

The scope of end-of-life (EOL) communication is not well known among advanced practice nurses (APNs) who care for adults with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior, the aims of the study were to examine the independent effects of knowledge, attitude, and perceived behavioral control on APNs' engagement in EOL communication and the mediating and moderating effects of attitude and perceived behavioral control between knowledge and EOL communication. A theoretically derived 17-item survey measuring the concepts of interest was developed and administered to a convenience sample of 127 APNs.

Technology In Nursing Classrooms: A Qualitative Phenomenological Interpretative Study, Ose G. Martinez

Dissertations

Nursing students have to learn how to critically think and pass a licensure examination to practice their profession. Current students seem to be bored by lecture strategies most commonly applied by seasoned nurse educators. A gap in the literature regarding lived experiences of seasoned nursing faculty members applying technological applications when teaching nursing topics. The purpose of this phenomenological interpretative study was to understand the lived experiences of seasoned nursing educators using technology in nursing classrooms. Seventeen seasoned nurse educators participated in semistructured interviews. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed with the NVIVO 11™ software. During the interpretative analysis, eight …

Advance Care Planning In Advanced Heart Failure: A Relational Exploration Of Autonomy, Tieghan Killackey

Dissertations

Advance care planning (ACP) is the process of understanding and sharing personal values and goals to ensure people with serious illnesses receive healthcare and treatment that is consistent with their goals and preferences. With the increasing number of treatment options available to patients living with advanced heart failure (HF), ACP is regarded as a means of preserving individual autonomy throughout the illness trajectory. Despite significant public awareness campaigns, research and interventions developed to increase participation in ACP, this practice remains severely under-utilized by those who are chronically ill. This gap in practice highlights the need for further exploration of how …

The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership And Attachment Theory Among Field Grade Officers In The U.S. Army, Rebecca Ochs

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine what relationship exists between U.S. Army field grade officers’ self-reported scores on the five domains of the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) (Kouzes & Posner, 2002) and their self-reported scores on the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR) (Brennan et al., 1998). Methodology: This study used a correlational approach to collect quantitative data from U.S. Army field grade officers. Using the LPI, a self-report transformational leadership measurement tool developed by Kouzes and Posner (2002), that measures five domains that include: (a) model the way, (b) inspire a shared vision, (c) …

The Perception Of Army Counselors On The Impact Of Emotional Intelligence Training On Army Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership Decision-Making Effectiveness, Geraldine Turituri

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to describe the perception of Army counselors in the Military Family and Life Counselor (MFLC) program about the impact of emotional intelligence (EI) training on Army non-commissioned officer (NCO) leadership decision-making effectiveness in their supervision of the soldiers they are responsible for. This study also researched the perception of these counselors about the benefits and challenges of incorporating EI leadership preparation with traditional Army training for NCOs.

Methodology: This qualitative phenomenological study explored Army counselors’ perceptions about the need for EI training for Army NCOs to perform as effective decision-makers. Since …

Tobacco Use And Secondhand Smoke Exposure Among Women In Aleta Wondo, Ethiopia: An Exploratory Study Of Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs And Behaviors, Anne Berit Petersen

Dissertations

By 2030, sub-Saharan Africa is projected to be the epicenter of the tobacco epidemic. In Ethiopia there is an opportunity to avert an increase in tobacco-induced diseases; however, local data is needed to inform proactive contextualized tobacco control interventions. This cross-sectional community-base study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (KABs) related to tobacco use and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure of women in the Aleta Wondo region.

Allied Health Faculty Members’ Perspective On Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, Prajakta Khare-Ranade, Margaret Newsham Beckley, Mary Geders Falcetti

Dissertations

A framework for interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) (WHO, 2010) in response to the need to address the complicated conditions that exist in today’s health systems. Much of the focus of today’s health service delivery is predicated on the social determinants of health (Barzansky et al., 2019), which refer to the environmental conditions associated with where people are born, live, go to school, work, play, age, and worship that have an impact on health, function, quality of life, and risks (Healthy People 2030, n.d.). IPCP is thought to be the only approach effective …

A Development And Validation Of The Advance Planning Preparedness Scale (Apps), Renee Mcleod-Sordjan

Dissertations

Delayed advance care planning and costs of aggressive life sustaining treatments at end of life significantly contribute to the economic burden of healthcare in the United States. Dying trajectories, in most chronic conditions, have terminal prognostic uncertainties that do not address advance care planning by clinicians in a timely manner. Clinician and nursing barriers include perceptions of inappropriate timing, lack of skills in end-of-life communication and viewing readiness as a behavior rather than a death attitude. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate the measurement of psychological preparedness for ACP to aid in the understanding of readiness …

Up The Bayou Without A Paddle: A Historical Case Study Of Black Catholic Education In New Orleans Post-Katrina, Anisha Morrell

Dissertations

By concentrating on one of the tenets of Critical Race Theory (Harper et al., 2009), counter-narrative, this study focused on: (1) the history of New Orleans prior to the Louisiana Purchase; (2) the inception, history, and advancements of Black Catholic education prior to Brown v. Board of Education; and (3) controversies in Black Catholic education post-Katrina.

By delving into the history of New Orleans, I will assert that The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans struggled with whiteness as property and an ardent desire to present a narrative embodied by interest convergence in historically-Black Catholic secondary schools since each school’s …

Effect Of An Education Intervention On Nursing Students' Knowledge Of And Attitudes Toward Caring For Transgender And Gender Nonconforming People, Tanya N. Carmichael

Dissertations

Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people experience inequities in accessing health care, quality of care, and health outcomes. Rates of stress, depression, suicidal ideation/attempts, smoking, alcohol and substance use, and certain sexually transmitted infections are higher among TGNC people. Barriers to accessing care for TGNC people include social and economic marginalization; fear, stigma, and discrimination; and health care professionals (HCPs) with limited experience and knowledge about caring for TGNC people. Lack of knowledge and biased attitudes toward gender minorities within health care contribute to care that is substandard, delayed or refused outright; non-use of existing evidence-based guidelines for TGNC-related care; …

Topological Data Analysis Of Convolutional Neural Networks Using Depthwise Separable Convolutions, Eliot Courtois

Dissertations

In this dissertation, we present our contribution to a growing body of work combining the fields of Topological Data Analysis (TDA) and machine learning. The object of our analysis is the Convolutional Neural Network, or CNN, a predictive model with a large number of parameters organized using a grid-like geometry. This geometry is engineered to resemble patches of pixels in an image, and thus CNNs are a conventional choice for an image-classifying model.

CNNs belong to a larger class of neural network models, which, starting at a random initialization state, undergo a gradual fitting (or training) process, often a …

High Resolution Intracavity Laser Absorption Spectroscopy Of Transition Metal-Containing Diatomic Molecules, Kristin Bales

Dissertations

Three transition metal-containing diatomic molecules have been studied using intracavity laser spectroscopy. Many of the transitions were recorded using a Fourier-transform spectrometer for detection, allowing collection at Doppler-limited resolution for the gas phase molecules. Several vibrational bands in two electronic transition systems of tantalum fluoride (TaF) have been analyzed, and new molecular constants provided. Transitions involving six electronic states of tungsten sulfide (WS) have been analyzed, with new and updated constants provided, including a deperturbation analysis of three vibrational bands in two of the states. Finally, a fresh perspective on two electronic states of tungsten oxide (WO) included a deperturbation …

Exploring The Development Process Of Undergraduate Nursing Students, Loretta J. Aller

Dissertations

Current healthcare trends such as greater technological advances, patients with higher acuity, and shorter employment orientation periods have impacted the work environment of newly graduated nurses entering the workforce. Evidence shows that these issues contribute to newly employed nurses leaving the workforce within 1-2 years of entering the profession (Cleary, Horsfall, Jackson, Muthulakshmi & Hunt, 2013; Flinkman & Salantera, 2015; Robert Wood Johnson, 2014; Tuckett, Winters-Chang, Bogossian & Wood, 2015). Current theoretical foundations for nursing education need updating within the context of a dynamic healthcare environment burdened by a nursing shortage that is already struggling to meet the demands of …

Effect Of The Diverse Standardized Patient Simulation (Dsps) Cultural Competence Education Strategy On Nursing Students' Transcultural Self-Efficacy Perceptions, Eda Ozkara San

Dissertations

Nursing students find it challenging to provide culture-specific care for patients representing diversity in ethnicity, race, language, socioeconomic status, religion, gender, sexual orientation, immigration history, and lifestyle and frequently lack confidence in their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Simulation has become a useful strategy for teaching nursing students assessment skills, technical skills, teamwork, delegation, self-efficacy, and professional communication. An alarming gap exists within the literature concerning innovative teaching and learning strategies that are carefully designed, implemented, and evaluated and follow a conceptual model, guidelines, and standards to enhance cultural competence development of diverse student groups, who must work with patients from …