Digital Commons Network^™

Rules Before Relief: International Organizations And The Administrative Burdens Of G5 Donor Counterterrorism And Sanctions Frameworks In The Mena Region, Khloud Awad

Theses and Dissertations

The international humanitarian system relies on a small group of powerful donor governments. The G5, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan, collectively provide the majority of bilateral humanitarian financing and attach extensive counterterrorism and sanctions compliance requirements to their funding. This study examines how these frameworks generate administrative burden for the international organizations that translate funding into assistance in conflict settings in the MENA region. The study draws on Administrative Burden Theory, adapted from its original citizen-state context to the donor-international organization relationship. Moreover, it adopts a qualitative design across four conflict-affected settings: Sudan, Palestine, Syria, …

Fly Ash Proppant Developed For Hydraulic Fracturing, Raz Rzgar Haydar

Theses and Dissertations

Proppants are critical components in hydraulic fracturing, used to maintain fracture conductivity and enhance reservoir stimulation. In high-pressure and harsh reservoir environments, the use of high-strength proppants is essential to ensure well performance. Conventional proppants, being sand, ceramic, and sintered bauxite can be expensive, and their use often requires costly fracture fluids. This study investigates the possibility of utalizing fly ash geopolymers as a sustainable alternative that is also cost-effective for proppants manufacturing. Fly ash, a by-product from the combustion of coal and other materials, was explored as a base material for proppants, utilizing an alkaline solution as an activator …

Egypt’S Strategic Hedging In Economics With The United States And China From 2014-2024, Abigail Flynn

Theses and Dissertations

This research aims to explain how Egypt is able to engage economically with two internationally competitive powers, the United States and China, using the theoretical framework of strategic hedging in the period of 2014-2024. While existing literature on strategic hedging is primarily focused on Southeast Asia and broadly deals with political hedging, this study applies the framework specifically to Egypt and is limited to economic relations. This research is significant because it identifies how Egypt is able to increase its economic engagement with the U.S. and China despite their competitive status and offers a novel argument which can be tested …

Assessing School Readiness For Social And Emotional Learning: A Study Of School Leadership Perceptions And Attitudes, Nahla Elharati

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the integration of social and emotional learning (SEL) in a number of British schools across Egypt, focusing on how school leaders defined and perceived its importance in student development. Through in-depth interviews with twelve school leaders, this study found that school leaders’ definitions of SEL emphasized self- awareness, self-regulation, and relationship-building, alongside a strong focus on the real-life applicability of SEL both within school settings and in students’ future lives. School leaders also expressed positive attitudes toward the benefits of SEL, particularly its role in enhancing academic performance, promoting student well-being, improving peer relationships, and reducing bullying, …

A Virtual-Reality-Based Dental Simulator For Endodontics With Automated Formative Feedback, Yousef Salah Abo El Ela

Theses and Dissertations

Advancements in virtual reality (VR) and haptic technology are transforming the landscape of medical and dental education, offering new avenues for safe, immersive, and repeatable training experiences. Within dentistry, endodontics presents unique challenges for preclinical education due to anatomical complexity, limited access to extracted teeth, ethical concerns, and the shortcomings of conventional plastic models. Despite endodontics specific plastic teeth being available, they fall short of replicating the hardness of real extracted teeth, are relatively costly compared to generic plastic teeth, and are ultimately a disposable item which makes them inadequate as a sustainable long-term solution. Extracted teeth do a much …

Targeting The Cd47/Calreticulin Axis In Triple Negative Breast Cancer Using Ha Grafted Chitosan Nanoparticles Loaded With Doxorubicin And Polygodial, Hadir M. Emara

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is considered the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer. Although progress in cancer treatment has led to better results for different types of breast cancer, TNBC remains particularly challenging due to persistent resistance to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy. This resistance ultimately renders chemotherapy less effective and is frequently associated with substantial side effects. Immunosurveillance significantly impacts the onset of cancer, the rise of resistance to therapies, and the likelihood of tumor recurrence. In this immunomodulatory process, Cluster of Differentiation 47 (CD47) and Calreticulin (CALR) are two key regulators. CD47 expression is strongly linked to anti-phagocytic …

Students' Perceptions Of English Pop Culture, Andrew Ruffing

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate AUC students’ perceptions of English pop culture. Literature has shown that pop culture can be a beneficial engaging resource for students in the classroom. It provides students with comprehensible input for the language. However, there are concerns that students are disproportionately exposed to American pop culture while learning English. The purpose of this study is to investigate what nation students typically associate with English pop culture as well as if they use it to connect with those around them or the world outside their culture, as well as investigating their perceptions …

Multifunctional Green Wall Systems For Greywater Treatment And Hygrothermal Regulation In Egypt, Laila Ossama Mohamed Elhusseiny Abdelsalam

Theses and Dissertations

Increasing environmental concerns regarding climate change and the intensifying challenge of water scarcity in Egypt necessitate the development of innovative, sustainable, and resource-efficient strategies for wastewater reuse. In the built environment, greywater constitutes a significant, relatively low-contaminant wastewater stream that, if treated to comply with Egyptian Codes and relevant international standards, can be safely reused for non-potable applications such as irrigation, landscaping, and building services. This research investigates the efficacy of an integrated green wall panel system, installed on building façades, for decentralized greywater treatment under Egypt’s climatic and environmental conditions, while simultaneously enhancing hygrothermal performance to reduce building energy …

Evolving Skills And Stakeholder Dynamics: Investigating The Transformative Influence Of Generative Ai On Egyptian Public Policy, Zeinab Hosny Abdelgawad

Theses and Dissertations

Since its public release in November 2022, OpenAI's Generative AI (GenAI) has been met with varied responses, from widespread individual adoption to institutional caution. This phenomenon is evident among Egyptian public policy makers, where some institutions quickly embraced GenAI, while others have been slow to integrate it. The adoption of GenAI among these professionals is influenced by multiple factors, with institutional factors and budget constraints being the most significant. The varied adoption creates a need for new skills and the enhancement of existing ones. This uneven adoption is hypothesized to cause two main issues in Egyptian public policy: a policy …

Family Caregivers And Suicide Prevention: A Needs And Assets Assessment In Egypt, Lina Osama Allam

Theses and Dissertations

In the Arab world, suicide prevention is shaped by cultural stigma and religious beliefs, shaping both help-seeking behaviors and the design of support systems. Family caregivers play a vital role in suicide prevention but often face significant emotional and logistical burdens. This study is the first known scholarly effort in Egypt to examine the intervention needs of these caregivers. It explored three key questions: the roles and challenges of caregivers supporting individuals with suicidal thoughts or behaviors; the availability of clinical and community-based resources; and the characteristics of future interventions to support them. A total of 92 mental health professionals …

An Impact Assessment Of The Effectiveness Of Utilizing Informal Health Communication Interventions To Spread Health Recommendations And Change Public Perception, Lina Mohamed Ezzat Ahmed Abdel Mawgoud

Theses and Dissertations

Brain health is an increasingly urgent but critically under-addressed public health priority in Egypt and the wider MENA region. Despite its centrality to aging, productivity, and overall quality of life, public understanding of brain health remains limited, and stigma continues to shape responses to dementia and cognitive decline. This study evaluates the effectiveness of informal, culturally adapted health communication as a tool to shift perception, increase awareness, and promote behavior change among non-medically trained adults in Egypt.

Grounded in global evidence on cognitive reserve, neuroplasticity, and the life-course approach to brain health, the intervention translated expert-informed brain health recommendations into …

Keeping It Together: Assessing The Wellbeing Of Project-Based Development Practitioners In Egypt, Amira Ahmed Abdallah Fekry Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the wellbeing of project-based development practitioners in Egypt, revealing how systemic pressures—bureaucracy, job insecurity, and fragmented workloads—undermine both wellbeing and productivity. The study employed a mixed-approach, combining 10 in-depth interviews with subject matter experts and practitioners and 75 surveys with development practitioners in Egypt. Data revealed that while many practitioners are driven by purpose, structural challenges erode resilience and motivation over time. Social support networks and personal coping strategies help but cannot replace institutional protections. The study argues that wellbeing must shift from being treated as an individual concern to a structural responsibility. Reframing organizational models around …

Digital Payment Adoption And Firm Performance In Egypt: An Empirical Study From The Digital Transformation Era In Mena, Alhussein M. Mowafi

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between digital payment adoption and firm-level innovation and revenue performance in Egypt, using microdata from the Survey of Enterprise Digitization published by the Economic Research Forum (ERF). Digital transformation, specifically payments, has accelerated across emerging economies, yet empirical evidence on its firm-level impacts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains limited. The study is framed through the Technology-Environment-Organization (TOE) framework and is highly incorporated with the Solow Growth Model through indirect technological growth inputs in the Solow residual. To address this gap, the study employs probit and ordered logit models to examine whether …

Social Media And Public Opinion In Times Of Conflict: How Arab Social Media Impacted International Perspectives On The Gaza War, Mariam Rizk

Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study examines how Arab social media content creators impacted the international public perception of the 2023 Gaza war through English-language content. The research is conducted through semi-structured interviews with 19 participants: 4 Arab social media content creators and 15 English-speaking university students (13 American citizens and 2 international students studying in American universities). Through these semi-structured qualitative interviews, the research investigates the agenda-setting capabilities of social media during conflicts and identifies effective cross-cultural communication strategies. The study employed purposive sampling with snowball technique, targeting content creators with established social media presence (37,000-426,000 Instagram followers) and university students who …

The Effect Of The Socioeconomic Variety In Greater Cairo On Transport Mode Choices, Rafik Yanni

Theses and Dissertations

In the last decade, Egypt has experienced a noticeable upgrade in its infrastructure investment, implementing a lot of transport projects, especially in the Greater Cairo region. In a city with over 20 million residents, variations lie in socioeconomic elements like income, age, gender, and neighborhood, which shape people’s choice of mobility modes based on their culture and lifestyle. The questions then become: whom are these new projects targeting? What are the barriers to using these services? And is there any willingness to change commuting habits if conditions changed? This thesis investigates how the socioeconomic variety in Greater Cairo metropolitan region …

Examining The Science Of Reading Focusing On Phonemic Awareness And Multicultural Literature To Enhance Reading Achievement Among African American Students, Danielle L. Gantt

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods action research study examined how implementing the CKLA, Core Knowledge Language Arts, curriculum, founded in the science of reading, enhanced the reading achievement among first-grade African American students. The purpose of the study was to explore how phonics instruction, specifically phonemic awareness, and multicultural literature would improve literacy. The study was guided by Ivankova’s six-phased mixed methods model integrating quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data collected included the DIBELS, Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, benchmark and progress monitoring assessments. The qualitative data included student work samples, multicultural literature lessons, and open-ended student responses. The quantitative …

A Point-Cloud Data Analysis Framework For Early Deformation Detection, Avinash Pandey

Theses and Dissertations

Frost heave and thaw-related deformation threaten the performance of roads, runways, embankments, and buried utilities in cold regions, yet traditional inspections remain reactive and often miss early uplift. This study evaluates the capability of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) to detect small-scale ground deformation and introduces a practical point-cloud framework designed for early-stage characterization. Controlled jack-lift experiments quantified handheld LiDAR accuracy at uplift increments of 6.35, 12.7, 19.05, and 25.4 mm, with corresponding detection accuracies of 88%, 86%, 93.33%, and 94%. Registration quality had a significant impact. The targetless scans showed slight misalignment, whereas spherical targets provided precise, repeatable outputs. …

A Little Blue Hedgehog That Runs A Lot And Has An Attitude: An Analysis Of The Covers Of Archie Comics’ Sonic The Hedgehog, Eleanor Herman

Theses and Dissertations

Through the lens of Robin Williams principles of design as outlined in her book, The Non-Designer’s Design Book, this thesis analyzes selected covers of Archie Comics’ Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series to see how the covers evolved over time, as the nearly 25-year continuous run allows for a unique analysis opportunity. 18 issues were selected and analyzed, with conclusions drawn from the covers’ use of contrast, alignment, repetition, and proximity.

Developing A Multimodal Approach To Channel Characterization On Youtube, Shadi Shajari

Theses and Dissertations

YouTube has become a dominant arena for global information sharing, where creators and audiences interact through content, comments, and engagement dynamics. Understanding how these interactions shape a channel’s identity requires a comprehensive characterization of both audience behavior and content structure. This dissertation develops a unified framework for characterizing YouTube channels through multimodal analysis that integrates behavioral modeling, dimensionality reduction, clustering, and content-based characterization to provide a holistic view of audience and editorial patterns. The framework begins by analyzing the structural relationships within co-commenter networks, where users who repeatedly comment on the same videos are connected to capture patterns of interaction …

Improving Surface Analysis Through The Correct Use Of Low Energy Ion Scattering And X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy: Best Practices, Common Errors, And Multimodal Approaches For Material Development, Joshua W. Pinder

Theses and Dissertations

Surface analysis is the study of the atoms at surfaces and their connectivity, including their relative depth distribution, concentration, chemical state, and crystallinity. These characteristics govern many important material properties. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is one of the most widely used surface analysis techniques. Proper interpretation of XPS spectra including the appropriate use of backgrounds, peak shapes, peak positions, and charge compensation, with appropriate constraints on fitting parameters provide valuable information about elemental composition, concentration, depth distribution, and chemical speciation of surface atoms. However, despite widespread use, much of the XPS literature contains poor interpretations and irreproducible results which undermine …

Defining And Evaluating Performative Activism: A Mixed Methods Approach, Caitlyn Renee Upton Massaro

Theses and Dissertations

Activism, specifically Performative Activism (PA), has been difficult to study due to its wide variation and individual complexity. Study 1, a qualitative exploration of PA, involved interviews with 9 individuals, who were highly variable on the ADDRESSING Framework, regarding their experiences with and opinions on PA. Study 1 used Reflexive Thematic Analysis to identify 6 behavioral markers of PA which were used to create a definition of Performative Activism based on the voices and opinions of diverse people in activist spaces. Study 2 was an ABA (test-retest) design using fictional scenarios to train participants to identify PA. Participants were 54 …

Acoustic Analysis Of Prosodic Speech Pause In Autistic And Neurotypical Adults, Rachel Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine prosodic speech pause across two groups: neurotypical and autistic young adults. Conversational speech samples were collected from 11 neurotypical and 11 autistic young adults between the ages of 18 and 26. Speech samples were subsequently transcribed and analyzed using Praat Software. The boundaries of between- and within-utterance pauses were identified, as well as acoustically determining if the pause was filled, silent, or a combination of both. Results found a significant difference in the frequency of pauses as a function of location, pause type, and neurological status. As expected, combination pauses were the …

Perception Of Prosodic Speech Patterns Of Autistic Individuals, Rebecca Lunt

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the perception that neurotypical individuals have of autistic individuals’ speech, including their speech prosody. Speech samples were collected from four neurotypical and four autistic young adults as they answered interview questions. Then, 50 neurotypical listeners (28 female, 22 male) were recruited to listen to the speech samples and rate the speech on visual analogy scales on their likeability and ability to communicate. Participants were told prior to listening to the speech samples whether or not the speaker had autism; however, there were both deceptive and truthful listening conditions, with some autistic speakers …

Airbnb And The End Of The Local, Nadia Beyersdorf

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how second-home ownership and self-catered tourism reshape community life in Tenby, Wales. While gentrification research often focuses on permanent displacement, less attention has been given to the movement of temporary residents that erodes local culture, social ties, and transforms everyday relationships in coastal towns.

Negotiating Sacred Space: Monastic Endurance And The Spatial Politics Of Sistematizare In 1980s Bucharest, Symantha G. Byrd

Theses and Dissertations

Under Ceaușescu's 1980s Sistematizare program, Bucharest's Orthodox monasteries sustained sacred life through "negotiated resilience": ritual repetition and spatial adaptation under surveillance and constrained visibility. Văcărești, Mihai Vodă, and Antim map a spectrum—erasure, relocation/concealment, and institutional negotiation—complicating binaries of resistance and collaboration.

Fugitive Formalisms: Strategies Of Dissemblance And Dissent In The Work Of Queer-Identifying Artists, 1970–Present, Rowan Diaz-Toth

Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing case studies of works by Hélio Oiticica, Scott Burton, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres as points of departure, this thesis puts forth a speculative historical framework for reconsidering queer art practices up through the present day in opposition to regimes of visibility and transparency, exploring the subversive, fugitive potential of non-representational formalisms.

O Esqueleto De Um Romance, Lanna Leite

Theses and Dissertations

In O Esqueleto de um Romance: The Film (2025), a Berlin legal dispute between a mayor and evangelicals sparks filmmaker Lanna Leite’s reflection on faith, memory, and belief. Using archival, 16mm, and 8mm footage, the experimental film frames filmmaking as an ephemeral, performative practice resisting closure and conventional narrative finality.

The Double Gaze: Weaving Historical, Decolonial, And Indigenous Perspectives Through Maruch Sántiz Gómez’S Creencias., Elisa Gutiérrez Eriksen

Theses and Dissertations

The Double Gaze examines Maruch Sántiz Gómez’s series Creencias (1994-2000) at the intersection of sociopolitical changes in southeastern Mexico and the 1995 Johannesburg Biennial. Drawing on Rita Segato’s “capillary disobedience” and the Mayan philosophy of kab’awil, the research considers Creencias as a theoretical proposal for reading Indigenous art practices.

Structural Characterization Of Peptide Nanoaggregates At Varying Concentrations And Their Impact On Cellular Responses, Malika Rozmetova

Theses and Dissertations

Peptide nano-assemblies can regulate cellular pathways in a structure-dependent manner. Here, we show that the enzyme-responsive peptide NapFFK(NBD)Yp forms distinct nanoscale assemblies at different concentrations, triggering differential ER stress and extracellular vesicle release in MDA-MB231 cells. These results highlight the importance of supramolecular organization in peptide–cell interactions.

One Stone's Journey, Satoko Saito

Theses and Dissertations

One Stone’s Journey is a participatory, experiential thirty-minute documentary about uranium. By using an embroidered world map and appealing to participants’ senses—especially touch—the project explores the possibility of telling the story of radiation, which is invisible, intangible, and silent. Uranium is a radioactive material used by the United States in the development and production of the atomic bombs during the Manhattan Project. This year, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in 2011 was on a scale comparable to the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, and the threat …