Digital Commons Network^™

The Occurence Of Expansive Clay Soils In Illinois And Their Effects On Shallow Lightly Loaded Foundations, Greg James Gollaher

Masters Theses

"The damage caused to shallow foundations and slabs on grade by the shrink-swell activity of clay soils is well documented across the United States. There are local and national resources available that delineate areas that are problematic and areas that are not. These resources paint Illinois as an undemanding foundation environment. However, our experience differs from this. Our experience tells us that damage related to the shrink-swell activity of clay soils is widespread, and commonly severe causing not only cosmetic damage to structures and hard improvements but also affecting the serviceability and longevity of structures. My goal is to accurately …

General Approach To Determining The Embodied Energy Of Refractory Products, Jacob A. Kerr

Masters Theses

"Refractories are an important group of engineered materials that are critical for sustaining life in the modern age. These products are key components in many industrial processes, such as the production of steel, cement, glass, aluminum, copper, lead, and many others. It is estimated that 50 million tons of refractory products are produced and used around the world every year. Of this, an estimated 28 million tons of spent refractory is generated after use, much of which ends up in landfills all over the globe. By utilizing embodied energy methodologies, a complete sum of energy inputs can be mapped throughout …

The Turning Of The Years, Katie L. Smith Lopez

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the exquisite interplay of moments that matter in brief human interactions. The Critical Paper focuses on the contrasting literary theories of Reader-Response Criticism and Psychoanalytic Criticism, which illustrate the varying ways readers engage with written works. The Artist Statement provides insight into the origin story of the writer and the variety of influences that led to the lyrical field of writing. The Creative Manuscript features a substantial portion of the writer’s memoir. Titled “The Turning of the Years,” this memoir-style work is anchored by significant life events that occurred near the writer’s impactful birthdays. An undercurrent of …

Tracing The "Growth Of The Poet's Mind" In The 1850 Version Of The Prelude, Karen F. King

Masters Theses

This work compares the 1805 and 1850 versions of William Wordsworth's autobiographical epic The Prelude to reveal that the revisions he made evidence his poetic growth. Critical scholarship has long discussed the poet's revisional habits, offering various rationales for his motivation and often dogmatically choosing a preferred version based on those assumptions. This paper first addresses these perspectives, then examines the structural details of Wordsworth's revisions through analysis of significant events in the poet's life that he relates in the epic, his "spots of time". Finally, I discuss the role of imagination as an influencer on the poet's growth. Although …

Beheld To Behold: A Rhetorical Theology Of Otherness In Acts, Hannah E. Gross

Masters Theses

The phenomena of otherness foundationally grounds this work. A micro-concept of Martin Buber’s I and Thou Theory, otherness is central to this study particularly as it is rhetorically situated in the work of Acts. The research draws from ideological criticism to produce a rhetorical theology. Findings uncover two primary relational dynamics of otherness: (1) God to the believer to the unbeliever and (2) God to the believer to the believer. These constructions of dialogical engagement in Acts are donned witness and withness, offering keen insight on a rhetorical theology of otherness.

Anvilstorm: The Dweller's Crown, Todd Gaige

Masters Theses

The thesis explores a personal vision for the original manuscript of The Dweller’s Crown, and the impact of setting in literature and world-building. The thesis also shares a variety of characters and how they represent themes of belonging, acceptance, unity, faith, and friendship. From the very beginning, the strong bonds between Araad, Thomble, Atlee, Sylvan, and Mereth distinguish the world of Thir Thodim apart. This thesis and the following chapters focus on the characters' deep desire to protect their beloved world. It is through their faith in one another and shared goals of survival and preservation that they set out …

Sustainability Without Sacrifice: Rethinking Convenient Eating For Young Professionals, Teresa E. Michael

Masters Theses

Young professionals want to eat more sustainably– but life gets in the way. Between long hours, limited budgets, and an overwhelming stream of content, sustainable choices often fall apart in favor of convenience. This research explores that gap between values and behavior, asking: How do young adults actually make food decisions, and how can we help those decisions become more sustainable without demanding perfection? To answer that, I grounded my work in a literature review focused on food literacy, convenience culture, digital media, and behavioral psychology. I also conducted three case studies of food-tech companies (Too Good To Go, Misfits …

How A Loving God Can Send People To Hell: Exploring C.S. Lewis's Arguments On Divine Justice, Free Will, And Eternal Punishment., Christina Everette Little

Masters Theses

The realization that God is all-loving when faced with the reality of hell has been a longstanding conflict in debates surrounding the doctrine of hell. This thesis will explore how Christian and skeptics both struggle with the conflict that arises between the belief in all-loving God and the existence of hell by focusing on arguments developed by C. S. Lewis. Using a collection of his literary works, such as The Problem of Pain, The Great Divorce, and Mere Christianity, the thesis will investigate Lewis’s attempts to reconcile God’s love with His justice, human free will and the reality of eternal …

Homemade For Change: Addressing The Barriers To Home Cooking Among Emerging Adults For Better Health, Finances, And Well-Being, Sarida Smitthimedhin

Masters Theses

This study investigates how a visual approach—combining design, photography, and illustration with nutrition—can encourage home cooking. In today’s fast-paced society and overabundance food culture, many emerging adults struggle to prepare meals at home. This study examines how food industry practices and cultural trends shape the eating habits of emerging adults by exploring the reasons behind the decline in home cooking and its adverse effects on health, finances, well-being, and the environment.

Although research indicates that most adults recognize that home cooking is the healthiest choice, they often do not practice it, citing time and lack of cooking knowledge as their …

Learning To View Christianity As True Myth And How It Should Influence Both Our Thinking And Our Actions, Joshua Jaccob Hazeldine

Masters Theses

Often, Christianity and the Scriptures are viewed through either a purely academic lens or an emotionally based lens. While both methods have value and use, they also have major flaws that can hinder our growth and understanding. This thesis presents a more effective approach to understanding the Scriptures and our Christian faith. By combining both the heart and the mind, we have a method that can see the truth and logic of Christianity without missing the wonder and amazement of Christianity. This method was called True Myth by C.S. Lewis, for it acknowledges the total truth of everything in Christianity …

Gospel-Centric Liturgy For Contemporary Worship: A Biblical Basis For Locally Crafted Worship Songs, Adriane M. Blanco

Masters Theses

Despite a cultural shift toward creating original worship music in churches today, there remains a need for new songs that reinforce biblical theology and foster spiritual formation through an intentional gospel-centric liturgy contextualized for the local congregation. Such a gospel liturgy consists of a cycle of songs that, with each weekly gathering of the church body, reiterates the revelation of God's presence, humanity’s sinful nature, Christ’s work of salvation, and the believer’s response in worship. At the same time, it is essential to emphasize spiritual songs that express the heartfelt emotions of the worshiper, maintaining a balance in properly worshiping …

Learning To Play Drums: Rote Learning Versus Note Approach, Jacob R. Brumback

Masters Theses

The purpose of this qualitative historical study is to determine whether rote-learned drummers perform better than formally trained drummers. The issue is that some drummers may excel by watching and developing aural skills exclusively, while others perform well by only reading sheet music. The goal is to decide if drummers with strong aural skills or those who rely on note-reading performed better. The rationale explained how the applicability of rudiments, complex timing, creative fills, and improvisational soloing skills influences the performances of both rote-learned and note-approach drummers. Data collection methods for this research included oral history traditions and analyzing secondary …

Mistake: A Toolkit For Combating Maladaptive Perfectionism In Creatives, Sean D. Silva

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the potential use of a tabletop game as an approach for creatives to address their maladaptive perfectionism. Through my research, perfectionism has been identified as a pervasive barrier to creative flow, emotional well-being, and artistic growth. Motivated by my observations of increasing mental health challenges among my students, I explore how adaptive, visually engaging, and interactive analog systems might help to foster resilience and reframe failure as a necessary part of the creative process. Through a review of existing literature on perfectionism and creativity, analysis of successful tabletop and digital interventions, and cognitive-behavioral strategies, this research will …

Extremum-Seeking Approach For Real-Time Self-Healing Of Position Sensor Offset Error In Non-Salient Pmsms, Ramitha Kalhara Dissanayake Ralalage

Masters Theses

The inherent advantages of permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs), such as high efficiency, has led to their frequent use in industry, including safety-critical applications, such as transportation electrification. The accurate measurement of the rotor position is key to achieving efficient and reliable field-orientation-based torque regulation. With the high reliance on the rotor position measurement, position sensor fault diagnosis and mitigation facilitate a layer of safety. Conventional methods for compensating position sensor offset errors in electric drives typically depend on accurate knowledge of motor parameters. However, these parameters are often subject to variation due to temperature changes, system aging, and other …

Position Sensor Offset Fault Calibration In Speed-Regulated Pmsm Drives, Ujala Anuradhi Maha Gamage

Masters Theses

Speed regulation of electro-mechanically actuated systems is common across broad application segments, including industrial and residential sectors. The increasing demand for efficient energy conversion has made permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM) a preferred choice in modern applications. Vector controlled PMSMs in speed regulation mode being the dominant form of control, accurate speed and position measurement is crucial. However, a misalignment in the position sensor with respect to the true rotor zero position in speed regulated PMSM drives leads to inefficient energy conversion with the possibility of unstable motor behavior. The considered position sensor offset error fault, under severe fault modes, …

An Investigation Of Collateral Activity Effects On Behavior Maintained By A Drl 72‑Second Schedule, Cassidy M. Graham

Masters Theses

Impulsivity is a key behavioral trait with broad implications for clinical disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD, and substance use disorders SUD, where impaired inhibitory control contributes to maladaptive outcomes. In preclinical research, animal models provide valuable tools for examining behavioral processes associated with impulsivity. The Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates (DRL) schedule, offers a precise measure of response inhibition and timing by requiring subjects to withhold responses for reinforcement. This study employed DRL72s schedule to investigate impulsive action in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats, with an emphasis on sex-based differences and the potential influence of environmental factors. …

Advancements In Visualization, Post-Processing And Ai-Enhanced Modeling Of Multi-Scale Micromechanics For Composite Materials, Joao Guilherme Brites Rei

Masters Theses

This study addresses some of the primary deficits of a localization/homogenization workflow for composite materials by focusing on the visualization and enhancement of models based on GMC and HFGMC, with emphasis on their implementation within the NASMAT ecosystem.

This thesis details the development of two dynamic, ParaView-based plugins that convert large hierarchical simulation outputs into interactive insights. While NASMATDiscreteElement systematizes RUC creation with transparent parametrization in a reproducible GUI, NASMATExplorerRUC enables the inspection of deeply nested datasets through accurate cell picking and synchronizes comparisons between parent and child views. Additionally, a shallow U-Net neural network is optimized on HFGMC data …

The Effect Of Shared Decisions On Intertemporal Choice, Rosemarie M. Davidson

Masters Theses

Substance use disorders are a significant public health concern, and improving treatment outcomes requires a better understanding of the behavioral processes that influence drug consumption. Delay discounting, or the tendency to overvalue immediate reinforcers, is reliably more severe among individuals with substance use disorders. Recent work suggests that shared decision-making may increase tolerance for delayed rewards; however, prior studies used procedures that confounded delay to token delivery with delay to token exchange, limiting conclusions. The present study evaluates delay discounting across individual and social decision-making contexts using a traditional delay discounting paradigm.

Ten undergraduate participants completed sessions involving choices between …

Design, Optimization, And Initial Results Of An Automatic Impedance Matching Network For Nitrogen Inductively Coupled Plasma, Logan Anthony Alvesteffer

Masters Theses

The electric propulsion industry is witnessing a strategic interest toward the utilization of molecular propellants as alternatives to noble gases due to increasing cost constraints and logistical requirements. This transition is hindered by a fundamental deficiency in the understanding of molecular plasma and radio frequency physics, including the excitation, dissociation, and ionization cross-sections, which mandates a reliance on computationally inefficient, empirically modified atomic thruster designs. Furthermore, current state-of-the-art electric propulsion devices, such as gridded ion thrusters and Hall effect thrusters, utilize an electrode (cathode) for ionization and are thus susceptible to chemical poisoning and material erosion, which is prevalent while …

The Comparison Of Dixon–Mood And 1/Nf Methods For Fatigue Limit Estimation Of 17–4 Ph Stainless Steel (H900), Arthur Pallar Pallar

Masters Theses

This study compares two methods for estimating the fatigue limit of 17-4 PH stainless steel (H900): the Dixon–Mood staircase and Kujawski 1/Nf linear method. Tests were conducted on an MTS Acumen 3 kN system under axial tension–tension loading at R = 0.1 and 50 Hz, following the standard practice defined in ASTM E466-15. Flat specimens were fabricated by water-jet cutting and polished. Tensile tests verified mechanical properties consistent with published data for the H900 condition. Fifteen specimens tested by the staircase method yielded a mean fatigue limit of 1138 MPa. The 1/Nf analysis using four specimens produced 1159 MPa, 2 …

Growing A Church Worship Band, Charmaine Landrum

Masters Theses

Many churches either leave the music to the professionals, or let untrained musicians blunder their way through the service, distracting their congregations. Little research has been done pertaining to the development of average or inexperienced musicians for Sunday Services. Considering the shift in worship music and technology, there is a need to train the next generation of worship team members. There is a lack in research pertaining to the best methods for training untrained musicians who want to volunteer but may not be ready for the platform. One particular church, Revolution Church in Canton, Georgia, is solving their dilemma by …

Pauline Style And A Biblical Theology, Andrew Whitney Perkins

Masters Theses

Advances in biblical linguistics, especially in the Greek of the New Testament, have provided a means for a better understanding of the text of Scripture. Advances in Greek lexicography, syntax, verbal aspect, discourse analysis, exegetical and hermeneutical methods, and the historical background behind the gospels and letters of the New Testament have greatly increased interpreters’ ability to determine what the text meant from both the writers and to the recipients of those documents. However, Christian theology, especially Systematic Theology, has remained mostly static, unaffected by these advances, and by a more accurate understanding of the biblical text. This thesis affirms …

Desegregated Goals: Integrating Literacy And Behavioral Health In A Community Mental Health Setting To Improve Outcomes For Middle School Students, Donna M. Reed

Masters Theses

Despite an understanding that many at-risk students lack the reading and writing skills to navigate high school and post-secondary education successfully, current interventions are often inadequate. Schools are forced to focus on academic requirements, while other needs of the student are overlooked, and it is those overlooked needs that contribute to the educational failures of the student. This thesis presents an argument for holistic support of the at-risk student when remediating academics, specifically reading and writing skills, focusing on the middle school students of a rural middle school in central Kansas. It develops a curriculum that integrates physical and mental …

Why Christians Should Read And Write Science Fiction An Examination Of The Benefits Of Using Science Fiction To Spread The Gospel, Matthew Ryan Tompkins

Masters Theses

Science fiction is a form of literature that faces many objections from the church that many people may not be aware. Many Christians assume that science fiction is about worlds and technologies that challenge the nature of God’s creation. This assumption is largely because these opposing Christians have neither read or written science fiction. What this Christian opposition doesn’t realize is that whether it be movies, books or television, science fiction continues to grow in popularity as a genre in mainstream media. This growth has created a unique evangelical opportunity to use science fiction to preach to unbelievers. If Christians …

Cold Forged: A Theological Reckoning In Narrative Silence, Craig Steven Wright

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the construction of testimonial fiction as an act of moral resistance and theological witness, developed through a creative manuscript (Cold Forged) that embodies a cruciform narrative structure modelled on Isaiah 53 and the Book of Job. The project interrogates institutional betrayal, memory as liturgy, and the intersection of silence and suffering, situating itself within a literary genealogy that includes Flannery O’Connor, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Cormac McCarthy, and C.S. Lewis. The critical paper will explore the aesthetics of theological realism in trauma narrative, and the artist statement will defend the cruciform architecture of narrative silence as an ethical form.

Examining Factors Influencing Ultra- Processed Food Consumption Among Liberty University Students Aged 18 And Older, Ginika Rosemary Muomah

Masters Theses

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are widely consumed among college students and are linked to adverse health outcomes including obesity, poor mental health, and cardiometabolic disease. Despite their rising prevalence, limited research has examined psychosocial and behavioral factors influencing UPF intake within Christian university settings. This study investigated demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial predictors of UPF consumption among Liberty University students, guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM). A cross-sectional survey of students aged 18 and older (N = 337) was conducted. After excluding incomplete or invalid responses, 276 cases remained. The 25-item survey assessed UPF intake, HBM constructs, and demographics. Descriptive statistics …

Integrating Artificial Intelligence & Purpose-Driven Design Within Spiritual, Wellness, Eco-Conscious, & Cultural Brands, Jessica Molina

Masters Theses

This visual thesis explores the practical and ethical applications of artificial intelligence in the work of designers for brands that promote wellness, spirituality, eco-consciousness, and cultural identity. The central challenge in adopting AI will be balancing the capitalization on its benefits with assessing the ethical ramifications of its adoption, while still upholding brand values, the imperative of authenticity, emotional intelligence, and integrity. As the technology and capabilities of AI continue to skyrocket, purpose-driven designers will remain under-resourced and underdeveloped in frameworks for ethical adoption. This work seeks to resolve the existing gap through a literature review, case studies, and a …

Design Of Non-Invasive Device To Measure Differential Flow In The Carotid Arteries, Rachel Elisabeth Jacquay

Masters Theses

A stroke is categorized as quickly developing symptoms of cerebral function loss with no apparent cause other than that of vascular origin. Stroke detection in prehospital settings, such as an ambulance, is subjective and often requires additional imaging methods to obtain a definitive conclusion. Common non-invasive methods for stroke detection include Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT) scans. Still, these techniques can be expensive, time-consuming, and dangerous due to exposure to strong magnetic fields and radiation. Two additional methods have been proposed for quick, inexpensive, and non-invasive stroke detection, namely Ultrasound Doppler and Pressure Transducer. A simplified physical …

The Red Dusk Coffee Shop: The Application Of Tension In The Cozy Fantasy Genre, Kelli M. Lynch

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the methods by which cozy fantasy writers apply literary tension within their works. Because they write within a genre that focuses on low stakes and high comfort, cozy fantasy writers must strike a balance between soothing the reader and keeping the reader interested in the narrative. The critical paper highlights several cozy fantasy writers and how they generate tension without compromising the genre-defining cozy essence. Finally, the thesis contains a complete cozy fantasy novella. The novella features Erik Juntunen, a coffee shop owner in the Keweenaw Peninsula who employs humans and figures …

Empowering Youth Tackle Football Athletes: A Content Analysis Of Nonlinear Pedagogy’S Influence On Autonomy And Practical Applications In Youth Tackle Football, Benjamin Jay Andelman

Masters Theses

Youth tackle football offers an environment that promotes both positive mental and physical benefits for young athletes. Despite the positive benefits associated with sports, participation is on the decline. The content analysis found connections between the prevailing prescriptive coaching methods in youth tackle football and the adverse mental effects on young athletes. This study, utilizing a qualitative content analysis of existing academic literature, proposes a practical application of Nonlinear Pedagogical principles in the youth tackle football practice context to develop a coaching model that promotes athlete autonomy, thereby increasing positive mental benefits for the youth athlete. Leveraging Ecological Dynamics, Constraints-Led …