Digital Commons Network^™

Harnessing Intelligence In Implementing Smart Parking Systems Integrated With Interactive Guidance System In Distinctive Shindagha Historical Neighborhood To Enhance And Regulate Mass Experiences, Rahaf Ahmad Al Kassab

Theses

Under the light of the importance of finding smart solutions for cities strategic issues and in conjunction with the broad race for urban development in order to provide the best living environment and the most appropriate tourist destination, Mobility Management occupies the first place among these issues. Due to the variation in the urban fabric of cities, especially the old historical neighborhoods that are unique in their nature, composition, and conditions for their preservation, challenges related to mobility management raised in these critical areas. Therefore, in this study, we present a smart suggestion to solve the problem of providing smart …

Self-Care Agency And Self-Care Practice Of Adult African Americans With Type 2 Diabetes, Martha Eddings

Theses

The purpose of the study was to identify and examine the concepts of self-care agency and self-care practice of African American adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, living in the local community. The research questions addressed were:

1) What is the self-care agency of adult African Americans diagnosed with type 2 diabetes?

2) What is the self-care practice of adult African Americans diagnosed with type 2 diabetes?

3) Is there a relationship between self-care agency and self-care practice in adult African Americans diagnosed with type 2 diabetes?

“From The House Come Everything”: Macler Shepard And Jeffvanderlou, Inc’S Effort To Rebuild A North St. Louis City Neighborhood, 1966-1978, Mark Loehrer

Theses

This thesis charts the course of the JeffVanderLou (JVL) organization between the pivotal years of 1966 to 1976, using the life of a man named Macler Shepard as the primary lens of exploration. Born in Marvell Arkansas, Macler Shepard followed in the footsteps of tens of thousands of other Southern migrants to cities like St. Louis, hoping to find a new life in the industrial North. However, no sooner had he settled in, he was displaced by the construction of Pruitt-Igoe, one of St. Louis’ first large-scale urban renewal programs. In response, Shepard became involved in neighborhood organizing, focusing on …

Task Assignment And Path Planning For Autonomous Mobile Robots In Stochastic Warehouse Systems, Maojia Patrick Li

Theses

The material handling industry is in the middle of a transformation from manual operations to automation due to the rapid growth in e-commerce. Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are being widely implemented to replace manually operated forklifts in warehouse systems to fulfil large shipping demand, extend warehouse operating hours, and mitigate safety concerns. Two open questions in AMR management are task assignment and path planning. This dissertation addresses the task assignment and path planning (TAPP) problem for autonomous mobile robots (AMR) in a warehouse environment. The goals are to maximize system productivity by avoiding AMR traffic and reducing travel time. The …

A Tool To Evaluate Simulations In Nursing Education, Susan Kane Patton

Theses

The purpose of the study is to test the interrater reliability of a tool to evaluate student performance during clinical simulations, using a convenience sample of senior Baccalaureate nursing (BSN) students and clinical instructors. Permission was obtained from Creighton University to use the Creighton Simulation Evaluation Instrument (CSEI) and further test inter-rater reliability.

Cultural Competence In The Baccalaureate Degree Nursing Curriculum, Angela E. Silvestri-Elmore

Theses

Health care providers are members of a helping profession and need to provide quality care to all members of society. As a result of current and projected demographic changes within the United States (U.S.), health care professionals are faced with the challenges of providing culturally competent care and fulfilling the role as the "helping profession." In the past 10 years, minority populations have increased in the U.S. For example, the African American population experienced an approximate 12.3% increase, and the Hispanic population increased by 43%. Just as it is necessary for health care professionals to respond to the increase in …

Evidence Based Practice In School Nursing: A Study Of School Nurses In Central And Eastern North Carolina, Lisa M. Barnes

Theses

The purpose of the study, Evidence Based Practice Use: A Study of School Nurses in Central and Eastern North Carolina, is to gain insight of the barriers and facilitators of evidence based research in the school setting. The unique and autonomous nature of school nursing makes evidence base practice and research utilization especially important to achieve optimal outcomes in this setting that is often isolated from other health care providers. A descriptive cross sectional survey design using the BARRIER scale was used in this quantitative study (Funk et al., 1991). Using the BARRIER scale by Sandra Funk, school nurses from …

Identification Of Nurses' Stressors During Electronic Records Implementation, Brooke Brantley

Theses

The problem was a gap in knowledge regarding the stress nurses experience with electronic medical records. The participants were mostly female nurses working in a hospital during and 6-months after implementation of an electronic medical record. The Clinical Index of Stress was used to measure stress levels and two questionnaires were utilized to determine specific stressors and coping mechanisms. The findings represented no significant increase in stress overall at implementation and 6-months after implementation. There was a significant correlation between increased stress levels and increased age of participant with a Pearson coefficient of 0.771. The conclusions drawn indicate that age …

The Song Of The Soul: Transforming Disabling Illness Through Art, Zulis Yalte

Theses

The focus of this qualitative, arts-based inquiry was to understand how disabling illness might be transformed through art. A/r/tography - art/research/teaching and writing, was the method used to explore and understand the meaning(s) held within the art: Border Crossings - a conceptual, figurative, sculptural installation. The installation embodied the experience of disabling illness, symbolically depicting power relationships, identities, subjectivities and the multi-dimensional nature of being, of one coming up against the institution, the illness and the self. Guided by the work of Heidegger (Hermeneutic Circle), Deleuze and Guatarri (Rhizome and The body without Organs) and Foucault (Power Relationships), the A/r/tographer …

Self-Reported Confidence Levels And Satisfaction By New Graduate Nurses Practicing Independently In A Nurse Residency Program, Kaitlynn Thurman

Theses

The current challenges in retaining and maintaining confident and satisfied new graduate nurses are attributed to three primary factors: lack of competence, lack of self-confidence and lack of peer support (Twibell et all, 2012). There has been a call for nurse residency programs to supplement the transition from student nurse to working nurse. The purpose of this study was to determine if new graduate nurses enrolled in the University of California Davis' Nurse Residency program reported satisfaction with their current job and to determine their level of confidence with specific nursing situations and tasks.

A Measure Of Perceived Fatigue Among Nurses In Western North Carolina, Karen R. Cochran

Theses

We are anticipating a heightened shortage of nurses as our aging population retires. A shortage of workers tends to lead to overtime for those still in the work force. Previous research has demonstrated a link between working long hours, fatigue, and decreased performance among nurses. Fatigue has specifically been linked to on the job injuries and poorer patient outcomes. This research study examined perceived fatigue among nurses in western North Carolina.

Analyzing Temporal Patterns In Phishing Email Topics, Erika Bliss

Theses

In 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found phishing to be the most common cybercrime, with a record number of complaints from Americans reporting losses exceeding $4.1 billion. Various phishing prevention methods exist; however, these methods are usually reactionary in nature as they activate only after a phishing campaign has been launched. Priming people ahead of time with the knowledge of which phishing topic is more likely to occur could be an effective proactive phishing prevention strategy. It has been noted that the volume of phishing emails tended to increase around key calendar dates and during times of uncertainty. …

Gourmetnet: Food Segmentation Using Multi-Scale Waterfall Features With Spatial And Channel Attention, Udit Sharma

Theses

Deep learning and Computer vision are extensively used to solve problems in wide range of domains from automotive and manufacturing to healthcare and surveillance. Research in deep learning for food images is mainly limited to food identification and detection. Food segmentation is an important problem as the first step for nutrition monitoring, food volume and calorie estimation. This research is intended to expand the horizons of deep learning and semantic segmentation by proposing a novel single-pass, end-to-end trainable network for food segmentation. Our novel architecture incorporates both channel attention and spatial attention information in an expanded multi-scale feature representation using …

Effect Of Breathing Exercises On Perceived Stress Level Among The French-Speaking Community In Abu Dhabi, Uae: A Comparative Study Between Online And Mobile Application Delivery Methods, Nathalie El Asmar

Theses

Breathing exercises have many health benefits, especially in terms of stress reduction. Several studies have examined the effect of breathing on stress levels; however, there is a lack of studies comparing delivery methods. This study aimed to compare the difference in perceived stress levels in people who performed breathing exercises face-to-face using an online video conferencing tool versus people who used a mobile breathing application. The sample consisted of sixty-two French-speaking individuals living in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Before beginning the study, volunteers completed the Perceived Stress Scale-14 items. Those with results that showed a medium to a high …

Response Of Five Chenopodium Quinoa Varieties To Different Salinity Levels, Elevated Co₂ And Uvb, Saif Ali Matar Al Blooshi

Theses

Ecosystems have been affected by climate changes. Both agriculture and environmental changes are correlated with various features since climate change is the main cause of abiotic and biotic stress which affects crop plants. The climate changes and their severe impact on plant productivity showed great intensities due to the effects of abiotic stress. In the present investigation, five quinoa varieties viz KAUST- 05395/CHFN-68 (V1), KAUST-05398/PI-614889 (V2), KAUST-05397/PI-614885 (V3), KAUST-05403/ICBA-Q3 (V4), and KAUST-05399/PI-614888 (V5) were screened for their salinity stress response by measuring the morphological parameters such as total plant height, fresh and dry weight of shoot and roots. V4 and …

Biosensor Devices Based On Graphene And 2d Materials, Suhada Aidrous Poovathy

Theses

Nanomaterials offered new improvements and developments to the bio-sensing field due to their unique physical and chemical properties. Unique and exceptional electronic properties, such as the ultrahigh surface-to-volume ratio and the excellent electrical properties of the 2D materials like in graphene, making these materials promising for future smaller and faster electronics, but an extensive amount of research is still needed. This thesis is concerned with the study of the integration of 2D material graphene in the development of sensitive and rapid biosensors. The main objective of this thesis is to understand the features and characteristics of graphene, evaluate the scope …

The Loss Of Profit: The Use Of Maasai Culture For The Gain Of Louis Vuitton & Valentino, Caitlin Jeffrey

Theses

This thesis focuses on how western fashion designers, Louis Vuitton and Valentino took elements from the Maasai tribe to develop profitable collections. This thesis looks at historical instances of appropriation by western designers as a catalyst for modern designers to appropriate marginalized and indigenous cultures in the 21st century. The aim of this thesis was to look at the issue of cultural appropriation inside the fashion industry with a lens from postcolonial indigenous methods and give examples of how western designers can avoid appropriation by utilizing specific guidelines based on appreciation and inspiration.

A Comprehensive Approach To Automated Sign Language Translation, Tejaswini Ananthanarayana

Theses

Many sign languages are bonafide natural languages with grammatical rules and lexicons, hence can benefit from neural machine translation methods. As significant advances are being made in natural language processing (specifically neural machine translation) and in computer vision processes, specifically image and video captioning, related methods can be further researched to boost automated sign language understanding. This is an especially challenging AI research area due to the involvement of a continuous visual-spatial modality, where meaning is often derived from context. To this end, this thesis is focused on the study and development of new computational methods and training mechanisms to …

Letting Go: How Newly-Graduated Registered Nurses In Western Canada Decide To Exit The Nursing Profession, Kathryn M. Chachula

Theses

The Canadian Nurses Association predicts the nursing shortage will rise to an estimated 60,000 Registered Nurses (RNs) by the year 2022. Further compounding this issue is the approximate 14-61% of nursing graduates who will change nursing roles or exit the profession within two years of practice. Using the Glaserian grounded theory method, the purpose of this study was to examine the basic psychosocial process labelled Letting Go involved in how newly-graduated RNs in western Canada arrive at the decision to exit the nursing profession within five years of entry into the workforce through semi-structured interviews.

The Impact Of Short Papers On Clinical Decision Making Skills Of Nursing Students, Tara R. Hayes

Theses

Clinical decision making and critical thinking are fundamental skills to ensuring the success of undergraduate nursing students. Nursing faculty, and specifically clinical nursing faculty, are responsible for encouraging the development of these types of skills as students work in direct patient care. Traditional methods of clinical evaluation include lengthy case studies, concept mapping, and discussion board participation. While these methods have been in effect for some time, clinical short paper assignments are a fresh, innovative way to challenge students as they refine their critical thinking and clinical decision making abilities. No statistically significant difference was found between the perceived level …

Meaningful Use Of The Ehr-Evaluating The Internal And External Factors Affecting The Timeliness Of Patient Referrals, Beverly J. Schacherbauer

Theses

This project aimed to evaluate specialty referral wait times in a large academic medical center. Internal (organizational) as well as external (patient specific) factors were examined. Additionally, although specific to this QI project, the need to examine the accuracy of EHR data was identified and included. A retrospective review of one month of referral data to five medical specialties was completed (n=752). Logistic regression and multivariable analysis was used to determine whether age, race, insurance, specialty, or days from referral to appointment were associated with delays to timely access. Referrals with significant delays were further reviewed to identify additional factors …

Central Nervous System: Development, Function, And Applications Of The Glymphatic System (With Additional Neuroscience Topics), Austin Fisher

Theses

The presence of accumulated toxic protein aggregations such as amyloid-β, tau, and α- synuclein are implicated in the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s (Soto 2003). Thus, the clearance or removal of these harmful byproducts in healthy brain aging previously represented an unknown system whose functionality is likely to be clinically significant. The finding that directional flow of CSF and interstitial fluid through the brain ensures brain clearance sparked numerous research projects which sought to elaborate on what is now known as the glymphatic system. After initial research revealed the fundamentals of the glymphatic system, scientist J. Iliff defined …

Can Providing Positive Interactions With Snakes Change A Person’S Perception Of Dangerous Wildlife Interactions?, Bethany Walker

Theses

Due to a long co-evolutionary history between placental mammals and reptiles, primates demonstrate aversive responses to snakes. In humans, this can result in ophidiophobia, or the fear of snakes which can arise due to cultural backgrounds, traumatic experiences, or fear instilled by others. However, these reptiles fill essential roles in ecosystems. Conservation and outreach efforts are important to help our population understand snakes’ role in our lives and the state’s broader biodiversity. Negative experiences or preconceptions about snakes can make this message hard to share with the public. Educators can help prevent intentional harm to some of these organisms through …

South To South: Connections In The Ordinary, Fostering Empathy By Encouraging Travel Through Design, Bethany Wetzel

Theses

South 2 South: Connections in the Ordinary, explores similarities between South Korea and Alabama through a designed sensory experience that allows users to engage in cross-cultural information in an inviting and familiar way with the use of recognizable motifs in order to reduce fear, foster empathy, and encourage travel. The creation of South 2 South was informed by research on travel fears, empathy, and transnational relations between the two regions. South 2 South helps facilitate the beginnings of these interactions by presenting new cultural information directly to the more insular communities of northeast Alabama. My hope is that South …

Where Are The Women? A Feminist Field Guide To The Museum, Taylor Weaver

Theses

Linda Nochlin’s seminal 1971 essay, “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” was at the fore of the great battle cries of many feminist scholars that drew attention to the limitation’s that female artist’s face in the art world. Women have systematically been left out of the art historical narrative while their male counterparts remain at the forefront.

There are many women that are very prominently represented in museums. They are largely nude and have been represented by male artists. While I do not argue that nudity in paintings should not exist, I do insist that museum goers become …

Game-Based Learning: Building Competence In Visual Literacy Through Simulation, Carol Record

Theses

Game-based learning is an ideal experiential learning framework for introducing the critique process to reduce student anxiety and create competence in visual literacy and self-assessment. Critique, the assessment, and analysis of one’s work is an essential step in any creative process. It is an integral part of art school. However, it can also be a source of high anxiety for new students. This paper discusses the importance of critique, the challenges associated with teaching critique, and the benefits of utilizing game-based learning. Examples of game-based learning solutions are explored, including the development of, and response to, Lumen, a card game …

Social Media Practices For Churches, Jordyn Helgen

Theses

This project focuses on providing a resource for churches and similar nonprofit organizations to utilize in order to maximize their social media strategy and generate ideas for content. Furthermore, it will help these organizations to better understand social media and how they can use social media tools to accentuate their religious values and accomplish their mission.

Data Augmentation For Automatic Speech Recognition For Low Resource Languages, Ronit Damania

Theses

In this thesis, we explore several novel data augmentation methods for improving the performance of automatic speech recognition (ASR) on low-resource languages. Using a 100-hour subset of English LibriSpeech to simulate a low-resource setting, we compare the well-known SpecAugment augmentation approach to these new methods, along with several other competitive baselines. We then apply the most promising combinations of models and augmentation methods to three genuinely under-resourced languages using the 40-hour Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu datasets from the 2021 Interspeech Low Resource Automatic Speech Recognition Challenge for Indian Languages. Our data augmentation approaches, coupled with state-of-the-art acoustic model architectures and language …

Advanced Photovoltaic Devices Enabled By Lattice-Mismatched Epitaxy, Anastasiia Fedorenko

Theses

Thin-film III-V semiconductor-based photovoltaic (PV) devices, whose light conversion efficiency is primarily limited by the minority carrier lifetimes, are commonly designed to minimize the formation of crystalline defects (threading dislocations or, in extreme cases, fractures) that can occur, in particular, due to a mismatch in lattice constants of the epitaxial substrate and of the active film. At the same time, heteroepitaxy using Si or metal foils instead of costly III-V substrates is a pathway to enabling low-cost thin-film III-V-based PV and associated devices, yet it requires to either use metamorphic buffers or lateral confinement either by substrate patterning or by …

The Public Poster: An Exploration Of Storytelling In Poster Design, Elizabeth Hiler

Theses

Research suggests that it is incredibly difficult for a person to change their mind. Confirmation bias and echo chambers are just a few of the reasons people do not give themselves the opportunity to explore new stories, ideas, beliefs. It is now our challenge to connect with people in unconventional ways and explore storytelling in new spaces to give difficult topics more accessibility to public discourse. The Public Protest Poster can be found at the start of most movements for social and political change by creating a simplified statement with a strong graphic for instant impact. Yet, protest posters rely …