Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Resilience: Exploring The Link Between Depression And Cognitive Performance In A Memory Disorder Clinic Population, Amanda Capriglione

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Research has consistently shown that depressive symptoms are associated with cognitive impairments, namely in memory, attention, and executive functioning (for a review, see Rock et al., 2014), particularly in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). As MCI is often a precursor to dementia, understanding and addressing modifiable factors that influence this trajectory is essential for prevention and intervention efforts. Resilience, defined as the capacity to adapt positively to adversity, has been identified as a potential protective factor against age-related cognitive decline. Prior studies (e.g., Laird et al., 2019b; Miller et al., 2023) suggest that resilience buffers against the cognitive …

How Does Foreign Direct Investment (Fdi) Impacts Egypt Economic Stability From The Specific Focus Of Exchange Rate And Economic Growth, Mohamed Medhat Merdan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic dependency in Egypt, focusing on two channels through which such dependency may manifest: exchange rate volatility and economic growth. FDI has historically financed a disproportionately large share of Egypt's gross fixed capital formation relative to comparable regions, yet rigorous empirical research on its macroeconomic consequences within the Egyptian economy remains limited. Drawing on Dunning's eclectic (OLI) paradigm and Porter's diamond model, this study develops three hypotheses and tests them using an ARDL bounds testing approach applied to fifty-five years of annual data spanning 1970 to 2025.

The empirical …

Digital Maturity In The Administrative Prosecution In Egypt, Asmaa A. Hassan

Theses and Dissertations

The growing deployment of information and communication technologies in public service delivery, in general, and in the judiciary in particular, underscores the need for an assessment tool to evaluate digital maturity. Understanding digital maturity, a state in which an organization has completed digital development, helps diagnose the status quo, identify enablers, and address challenges, and consequently provide a roadmap for efficient improvements. This study aims to examine key factors affecting digital maturity within the Administrative Prosecution (AP) in Egypt, a pillar of the judicial authority and mandated to investigate financial and administrative violations committed by public servants. A mixed-methods approach …

Eritrean Refugees Between Securitization And Survival Along The Sahara Route To Egypt, Zeina Shoukry

Theses and Dissertations

Eritrea remains one of the largest refugee-producing countries in the world, with mandatory military conscription serving as a primary driver of displacement. This thesis examines the precarious journey of Eritrean refugees across the Sahara Desert en route to Egypt, situating this movement within the broader context of border securitization. It argues that the journey itself constitutes a critical and often overlooked phase of the migration process, as significant as both departure and destination.

Drawing on migration infrastructure theory and migrant network theory, this study foregrounds Eritrean refugees’ agency and resilience. It analyzes how refugees mobilize knowledge, digital technologies, social networks, …

Enhancing User Engagement In Heritage Sites Through Interactive Digital Design: Development And Evaluation Of A Web-Based Application At The Qalawun Complex, Hend Bazeed

Theses and Dissertations

This study develops and evaluates a web-based interactive application for the Qalawun Complex in Cairo, a fourteenth-century Mamluk monument of significant tangible and intangible cultural heritage value, with the aim of enhancing visitor engagement beyond the passive observation that characterizes most heritage visits. The research is structured within an Asset-Design-Evaluate (ADE) framework and grounded in Radical Constructivism, Situated Learning theory, and the Design-Dynamics-Experience (DDE) framework, positioning the physical architecture of the site as the primary source of visitor knowledge through observation-based interaction tasks.

The application, titled "Qalawun's Treasure," comprises eight spatially anchored hotspots across the mausoleum, madrasa, and bimaristan of …

Built By Hand, Run By Machine: Robots And The Uneven Displacement Of Native And Migrant Workers In Germany (2012-2024), Farida Mohamed Elkhosht

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates whether industrial robot adoption generates differential employment effects for native and migrant workers across German local labor markets, using district-level data for 393 districts over 2012–2024. This question matters because Germany combines one of the world's highest concentrations of industrial robots with one of the largest migrant workforces in the OECD. Despite growing policy interest in the distributional effects of technological change, limited evidence exists on whether automation affects native and migrant employment differently within the same local labor markets. Using Bartik shift-share design to measure exogenous variation in robot exposure, the study finds that the effect …

Topographies Of Being: World-Making And Ontological Formation In Modern Saint Catherine, South Sinai, Ahmad Mahana

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration of the ecological and sociological processes involved in the production of the socionatural space of the contemporary town and natural protectorate of Saint Catherine, South Sinai. Revered by all Abrahamic religions as the site of the Great Theophany, the town has perpetually been considered an area of immense spiritual and natural significance. In recent decades, however, the town has undergone a series of modernizing campaigns that have not only threatened the region’s natural environment and indigenous lifeways but have also jeopardized the plurality of its extant lifeworlds. By relying on a variety of ethnographic methods, …

Undefined By Design: The Fragmented Public Understanding Of Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion (Dei) By Americans, Caroline Umphlet

Theses and Dissertations

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies have become a contentious issue in contemporary United States public discourse, yet a critical question remains as to whether the public shares a common foundational understanding of these terms. While DEI as a concept has developed and evolved significantly since the 1960s, public understanding remains ardently fragmented.

This thesis aims to answer the research questions: how does the 60+ age group in the US define and understand diversity, equity, and inclusion and DEI policies? The 60+ age group was specifically chosen because their definitions give insight into the publics’ understanding of policy topics when …

Technology, Power, And Colonial Modernity: The Making Of The Egyptian Railways, Ahmed Mohamed Rahmy

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Egyptian railways as a technology of power through which modern temporal order was gradually formed, reorganized, and contested. Focusing on the period from 1850 to 1920, it argues that railway infrastructure did more than facilitate mobility, economic exchange, and imperial administration: it reorganized the temporal relations through which social life was governed and experienced. Timetables, standardized schedules, fares, penalties, stations, and administrative procedures made punctuality, regularity, and measurable time appear as neutral requirements of life, while positioning existing ecological, agricultural, religious, and communal rhythms as signs of backwardness.

The thesis draws on British official correspondence, parliamentary debates, …

The Smuggled Body: Embodied Experiences Of Sudanese Displacement Along The Sudan–Egypt Corridor, Marielys Padua Soto

Theses and Dissertations

The outbreak of conflict in Sudan in April 2023 triggered one of the world's largest displacement crises, forcing millions of Sudanese civilians to flee toward neighboring countries, particularly Egypt. As legal pathways became increasingly restricted following Egypt's tightening of visa policies, many asylum seekers relied on migrant smuggling networks to reach safety. This thesis examines how restrictive mobility regimes are materially experienced through the body by introducing the concept of the smuggled body, defined as the body through which the physical, emotional, and social consequences of border control, irregular mobility, and forced displacement are lived. Drawing on embodiment theory, border …

How Can Egypt’S Technical And Vocational Education System Be Adapted To Improve The Employability Of Autistic Youth And Adults?, Miriam A. Menkarious

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides original qualitative evidence on autism, employability, and TVET in an LMIC context, focusing on Egypt’s ongoing TVET reforms. The research investigated barriers and facilitators to employment for autistic youth and adults in Egypt, with a particular focus on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) as a potential pathway into work, and explored stakeholder perspectives on the potential, barriers, and conditions for adapting the Egyptian TVET system to improve their employability. Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) framework, this qualitative study relied on 20 semi-structured in-depth interviews with autistic youth and adults, parents …

Here Comes The Sun: A Diachronic Study Of The Role Of Music In The Amarna Period, Waleed Hawatky

Theses and Dissertations

Music has and continues to play a prominent role in the lives of individuals and in society, hardwired into the human experience and integral to our understanding of the world in both its tangible and intangible manifestations. This was no different in dynastic Egypt, where abundant iconographic and physical evidence from the Old Kingdom onward shows music performed in many diverse contexts at every social level.

Music appears not only to gain prominence during the reign of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten (c. 1353–1335), also known as the Amarna Period, but also to develop innovations, including new kinds of instruments and musical ensembles, …

Unearthing Potential: Impact Investors’ Perspectives On Egypt’S Social Enterprise Market, Yousef Hesham Shoukry

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines impact investing in Egypt from the vantage point of the impact investors, revealing that Egypt's constraint is not the availability of capital but its direction, as the absence of legal recognition, coordinated intermediaries, and a shared impact-measurement standard keeps capital out of a market otherwise rich in social enterprise potential. The study employed a constructivist grounded theory approach, drawing on eleven semi-structured interviews with impact fund managers, ecosystem enablers, and public-sector policy advisors operating in or considering Egypt's social enterprise market. Data revealed that practitioners converge on the founding principles of impact investment (combined financial and social …

Adjudicating Technology Facilitated Violence Against Women In Egypt: Between The Text And The Application, Eman E. Zidan

Theses and Dissertations

Technology-facilitated violence against women (TFVAW) has surged on digital platforms, leading to a sharp rise in victimization rates among girls and women globally. Egypt’s pioneering cybercrime legislation, though comprehensive, remains gender-neutral and inadequate in judicial application. Community perceptions reveal systemic gaps that erode public trust and fuel demands for specialized protections. This study analyzes Egyptian judicial responses to TFVAW cases through comparative jurisprudence with jurisdictions that feature gender-specific norms. Findings demonstrate that textual provisions alone fail to arrest this escalating phenomenon, underscoring the need for integrated reforms: tailored legislation, heightened awareness campaigns, and collaborative education on rights, duties, and societal …

A Policy Analysis Of Accountability And Governance In Journalism By Artificial Intelligence (Ai) In Egypt, Amira Ahmed Salama

Theses and Dissertations

The growing use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and AI-assisted tools in journalism raises governance questions concerning accountability, human oversight, transparency, verification, editorial responsibility, and implementation. In Egypt, these issues arise within an emerging but fragmented governance environment that includes national AI guidance, media regulation, professional self-regulation, and developing newsroom practices. This study examines how these arrangements can be integrated into a coherent national sector-specific policy framework for GenAI and AI-assisted journalism.

The study adopts a qualitative methodology combining a descriptive qualitative document analysis with stakeholder semi-structured interviews. Four governance instruments were analyzed: the Council of Europe’s Guidelines on the …

Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices (Kap) Of Parents Regarding The Prevention And Control Of Childhood Iron Deficiency Anemia In Egypt: A Cross-Sectional Study, Omnia Soliman

Theses and Dissertations

Childhood Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) remains a major public health challenge in Egypt, where its persistently high and rising prevalence carries substantial consequences for child growth, cognitive development, immunity, and long-term health outcomes. Globally, approximately 40% of children aged 6–59 months are affected by anemia (World Health Organization, 2025), and Egypt mirrors this burden, with national data showing a worsening trend in recent years. In Egypt, national strategies have traditionally focused on biomedical interventions such as iron supplementation and food fortification, while less attention has been directed toward behavioral and household-level determinants, particularly parental knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related …

A Data-Driven Koopman Framework For Station-Keeping On Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit, Anusha Sharma Malladi

Theses and Dissertations

Cislunar missions have gained significant attention in recent decades, motivating the need for efficient modeling and reliable control. In this work a Koopman operator based framework is developed for approximating the error dynamics around a reference Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) in the Earth-Moon Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP). A decoder free neural network is used to learn a lifted linear representation of the nonlinear CR3BP dynamics and a residual based approach is used to identify the corresponding control input matrix. The model is then implemented in a receding-horizon target point controller and compared with uncontrolled propagation and a State …

Developing Imitation Learning Policies By Exploring Diffusion Framework For Quadcopters, Likith Swamireddy

Theses and Dissertations

Imitation learning offers a promising approach in developing near-optimal onboard policies for nonlinear systems, by learning from computationally expensive trajectory planners during offline training. Existing State-of-the-art methods commonly learn deterministic mappings from observations to actions by training fast neural networks to mimic the expert demonstrations, which can limit their ability to capture the action distribution, when the policy is trained on multiple possible expert commands to reach the same target, and this may lead to unsafe scenarios in the obstacle environments. To address these challenges, this study explores Diffusion Models (DMs) as a feedback controller for quadcopters that learns the …

A Study On Some Distance Based Domination Parameters In Graphs And Their Applications, Shanmugavelan S Mr

Theses and Dissertations

Distance-based domination has emerged as a significant development in graph theory, attributed to its applications in communication systems, interconnection networks, parallel architectures, and chemical graph models. This thesis focuses on two such graph invariants: hop domination number and 2-hop domination number of graphs. The hop domination number of some generalized graph structures like generalized thorn paths, generalized theta graphs, and snake graph families is studied along with a newly introduced family, namely generalized ciliates.

Moreover, a variant of hop domination number, namely, the 2-hop domination number, is studied for some grid families like ladder, hexagonal grid, and its variants. Furthermore, …

Effects Of Social Comparison Instructions On Affect, Motivation For Healthy Behavior, And Health Behavior Selections: Guidance To Identify Or Contrast, Raj Harsora

Theses and Dissertations

Engaging in healthy behaviors early in life is crucial for preventing noncommunicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. College is an optimal period to establish these habits, yet students often engage in poor dietary and physical activity practices; thus, identifying effective health behavior change techniques for this population is essential. Social comparisons are known to influence health behaviors, yet no research has tested comparison instructions as a behavior change technique, particularly identification versus contrast with upward and downward targets. Using a preregistered protocol (https://osf.io/z29en), we tested whether guiding college students (N=664) to identify with or contrast …

Problematic Technology Use And Quality Of Life In College Students With Varying Levels Of Schizotypy, Joseph P. Skinner

Theses and Dissertations

Problematic Technology Use (PTU) has emerged as a growing concern with technology’s continual integration into daily living. Individuals higher in schizotypy may be particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences of digital environments. The present study cross-sectionally examined associations among schizotypy, PTU, and quality of life (QOL) in 533 college students using structural equation modeling. Consistent with hypotheses, greater total schizotypy was associated with higher PTU and lower QOL. Additionally, positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy all uniquely predicted poor QOL with the negative domain demonstrating the strongest standardized association. Contrary to hypotheses, PTU did not significantly moderate the relation between total …

Struggling Readers Collaborate On Reading Interventions For Fifteen Minutes A Day, Jordan Dobzanski

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines what happens when struggling readers collaborate on reading intervention practices for fifteen minutes a day. Relevant theories that guided this research included Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, Vygotsky’s Social Constructivist Theory, and Lankshear and Knobel’s New Literacies Theory. Throughout the six-week study, four third-grade students identified as below grade level participated in a collaborative reading intervention that focused on vocabulary development, fiction and informational text comprehension, student-led discussions, digital literacy activities, and reflective journaling. Students worked together in structured literature circles while engaging in literacy activities connected to their classroom curriculum. Data were analyzed through triangulation in order …

“Voices Of Tomorrow”: A Youth Participatory Action Research Study Of A Middle School Advisory In An Urban Public Charter School, Seth Hull

Theses and Dissertations

Urban middle schools often grapple with how to create spaces that affirm students’ identities and foster authentic engagement within a broader landscape shaped by standardized testing and accountability pressures. This dissertation examines Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and advisory as two relationally grounded practices that can address these challenges. Grounded in critical hope (Zembylas, 2013), culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris & Alim, 2017), and community responsive education (Duncan-Andrade, 2022), the study explores the experiences of 12 middle school students who spent seven months investigating their school’s advisory program as student-researchers, as well as the findings that emerged about advisory. Data sources …

A Framework For Automated Quantity Extraction From .Ifc Models And Normalized Bid Comparison, Asmaa Mohamed Farouk

Theses and Dissertations

Accurate bid comparison remains a major challenge in construction tendering due to

differences in Bill of Quantities formats, item naming conventions, and pricing methods across

contractor submissions. These variations require time-consuming manual work and often lead to

subjective decisions. This research presents a computational framework that uses Building

Information Modeling through the .ifc file format, combined with text analysis techniques for

automated bid normalization.

The developed system uses a dual-component approach. Phase 1 extracts quantities from .ifc

model files using 3D geometric calculations, automated element classification. Phase 2 uses text

mining with a domain-specific dictionary of construction terms to interpret …

The Game Within: An Anthropological Approach To Games And Play, Nehal Maged Mohamed

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is based on an eighteen-month ethnography of El Ghawasa, an Egyptian play-based organization that designs educational games, tools, and services. Claiming that El Ghawasa, with its ethos of play, seeks to create an alternative to the capitalist corporate structure. Through tracking how this organization navigates ruptures, negotiates constraints, and experiments with different practices and internal restructuring, I explore the possibilities and limitations of El Ghawasa, while attempting to resist absorption by the very system it opposes. I ask: when the rules keep changing (while the logic of the capitalist corporate structure remains the same), and the boundaries of …

The Impact Of Stigma On The Mmpi-3 Scores Of An Indo-Caribbean Community Sample, Julia Persaud-Naipaul

Theses and Dissertations

Evaluation of personality and psychological disorders is accomplished through the use of psychometric measures. However, tests require interpretation of test responses using a normative criterion based on a particular population that may not fully consider the effect of cultural influences on an individual’s level of willingness to report psychological difficulties. For example, individuals in collectivistic cultures may not be as willing to self-report problems because mental illness is often perceived as a source of embarrassment and shame. One culturally unique population that has been overlooked in psychological assessment is the Indo-Caribbean population. Their specific cultural values, beliefs, attitudes, and practices …

Development Of Quantum Cryptographic Algorithm For Next Generation Secure Systems, Gururaja Ts Mr

Theses and Dissertations

The rapid advancement of digital communication and quantum technologies are developing at an accelerated pace makes cybersecurity and data protection a big challenge. The traditional cryptographic methods are increasingly under attack by phishing, brute force, cryptanalytic attack and threats of quantum computing. This research presents a quantum-secure communication based on Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG), Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), Quantum Image Encryption (QIE) and secure quantum key access using a dongle-based hardware.

QRNG models were designed in the quantum simulator and hardware. The sequences produce high entropy and they passed the statistical randomness tests with p-values higher than 0.01 indicates …

Workers Authoring Assessment: Play And Power In Early Childhood Education, Phoebe M. Gilpin

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers assert that play-based pedagogy is an effective approach to teaching young children, but there is less consensus on the specific methods of play-based teaching. This mixed-methodology exploratory case study investigated early childhood (EC) educators’ conceptualizations of play-based pedagogy in three phases: Phase 1’s quantitative measure testing found a mismatch between researchers’ conceptualization of play-based pedagogy and EC educators’ (n=183) understandings. In Phase 2, EC educators (n=3) articulated their perspectives about teaching through play and co-authored a new tool, the Teacher-Authored Play and Teaching Scale (TAPTS). Within Phase 3, EC educators (n=60) completed the TAPTS, which I interpreted through a …

Actionable Hydrologic Data To Information With National Water Model-Based Derived Dataset, Cutting-Edge Data Services, And Agentic Ai System, Sujan Chandra Mondol

Theses and Dissertations

Hydrologic data are the cornerstone of many complex hydrologic research and operational workflows that produce useful hydrologic information for water resources decision-making, flood risk communication, and water availability implications. The National Water Model (NWM) is a valuable source of hydrologic data, particularly for its extended coverage of unmonitored streams and the large-scale continuity of hydrologic processes. Precomputed secondary datasets derived from this simulated data, such as streamflow indices, can improve operational efficiency through thresholding. Disseminating the data through modern technologies, such as application programming interfaces, is required for ready integration into applications. However, if extraction requires an intermediate service, there …

"Tithing Is An Insurance Premium": A Framing Analysis Of Speaker Innovation And Diachronic Trends In Latter-Day Saint Religious Discourse, Reid Empey

Theses and Dissertations

Religious language relies on shared metaphor and frames that contextualize religious experience and practice. Current approaches to frame semantics (Fillmore 1982) and cognitive metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson 1980) lend important insight into religious language, particularly in describing the role that figurative language serves in a religious speech community. However, a vital component of many religious speech communities is the presence of and engagement with a scriptural canon, which often contains metaphorical and framing language that religious speakers can directly reference. Yet, past conceptualizations of speech communities have not accounted for this engagement with a shared canon. To illustrate the role …