Digital Commons Network^™

Structural And Functional Correlates Of The Sleep-Suicidal Ideation Association, Jolynn Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Each year, about 800,000 individuals die by suicide globally, affecting millions more. Mitigating suicide risks by targeting modifiable factors such as the sleep disturbances of insomnia and nightmares, which are prevalent and linked to suicidality is important. This study investigated the structural and functional brain differences related to sleep disturbances and suicidality, with the anterior cingulate (caudal and rostral), insula, middle frontal gyrus, posterior cingulate, thalamus, amygdala, and orbitofrontal cortex as seed regions. Participants had no history of suicidal ideation (NSI; n=43) or suicidal ideation within the past two weeks (SI; n=25). Measures for analyses included the Insomnia Severity Index …

Identifying The Challenges That Hinder Research Productivity In Academia: Evidence From Somaliland And The Way Forward., Khalid Jama

Theses and Dissertations

In any nation, research is the primary force behind innovation and progress. It contributes to the Economic growth, global competence, and social progress. Research productivity is highly valued in the scientific community. Scientific community research is regarded as the key factor determining academic recognition, financial support, and academic recognition. Nonetheless, the output of research faces difficulties in many sub-Saharan African nations. This study aims to understand what limits the research publication in Somaliland. The study adopt a mixed methods approach to understand and analyze the main reason behind the research and publication limitations in Somaliland’s higher education. Individuals from various …

Emergence Of Extreme Events In Nonlinear Oscillators Due To Parametric And External Excitations, Kaviya B

Theses and Dissertations

This comprehensive PhD thesis immerses itself in the intricate world of dynamical systems, aiming to understand, characterize, and develop innovative mitigation strategies for rare and extreme events occurring within diverse nonlinear oscillatory models. The term "events" spans a broad array of occurrences within defined systems, with "rare events" standing out as infrequent outliers or deviations from the norm.

Rare events span various disciplines such as oceanography, climate studies, biology, economics, ecology, encompassing phenomena like rogue waves, floods, cyclones, earthquakes, and financial crises. Recognized for their potential to cause substantial harm to both society and the environment, these events are widely …

Analysis Of Networks Using Hypergraph Centrality Measures And Other Properties, Sathyanarayanan G

Theses and Dissertations

Network analysis explores the connections between nodes and evaluates their characteristics across diverse fields such as biological, chemical, social networks and so on. Identifying key nodes within a network is crucial for grasping how information spreads, which has significant applications across multiple fields. This includes studying disease transmission, managing rumours, understanding social leadership, enhancing viral marketing strategies, and monitoring public opinion. Influential nodes play a pivotal role in effectively distributing information throughout the network. The centrality measures are paramount in network analysis that uses various metrics to evaluate the importance of the node. The centrality predicts the characteristics and significance …

What’S Mine Is Yours: Managing Student Loans Within Different Gender Couples, Samantha Leigh Moser

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, borrowing student loans from the federal government or private market to attend college has become increasingly common. Roughly one in eight Americans has student loans (Looney, Wessel, & Yilla 2020). Reports on federal student loans indicate that roughly 1.6 billion dollars was outstanding in May of 2022 (Hanson 2022b). Additionally, about 43.4 million borrowers each owe an estimated $37,014 in federal education loans (Hanson 2022a). Privately, as of July 2023, $131 billion dollars was outstanding for education loans.

Sociologists have begun researching the consequences of student loan debt on borrowers and their families. Consequences of student …

Beyond #Blacklivesmatter Through An Understanding Of Intersectionality And Ethical Leadership: A Critical Autoethnography Of A Black Female Graduate Student Living With Multiple Hidden Dis/Abilities, Shariese Katrell

Theses and Dissertations

There can be numerous questions to be asked concerning the perspective of a Black female graduate student at a predominately White institution who lives with multiple hidden dis/Abilities (Gillborn, 2015). This critical autoethnography can help discover and uncover new issues and establish transformational changes that could expand knowledge and research surrounding the critical analysis of intersectionality and Disability Studies and Critical Race Theory from an/abled feminist approach. Transformative politics can be identified in this study, which examines socialism and the systematic structures and power within academia at the graduate level (Trevino et al., 2008). The issues of Black disability feminism, …

A Survey Of Improvisation Activities In Average-Age Beginning Piano Method Series And A Sample Two-Year Improvisation Curriculum, Qiwen Wan

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout music history, improvisation has always been part of piano learning and is a mode of expression for the creation of new music. Current research in music education, such as Dr. Edwin Gordon and others indicates that immersion in music improvisation is crucial in beginning students’ acquisition of music skills. However, recent studies demonstrate a continued lack of improvisation activities in their students’ piano studies that complement current research in music education, and fewer studies reviewed improvisation curricula in average-age piano methods. Therefore, there is a need for a study that examines the current state of the improvisation curriculum in …

(Re)Imagining Decolonial Cookbooks After Deforestation, Kamran Shams

Theses and Dissertations

Food, like most else, is fundamentally changed by colonization. It is not just the aftermath of colonization, the settlement, that changes food—it is the act of colonial infiltrating itself. Such is the case made by Fernando Ismael Quiñones Valdivia in “Colonial Imaginations: Solitude in the Cartas y Relaciones of Hernán Cortés”—though not for food but for colonized societies broadly. More specifically, he contends that a new epistemological possibility arises when colonizer regards land as an object to be conquered, which precedes the epistemological articulation of subject/object divide. His article supplies a framework for thinking about coloniality so that a close …

Reflections Of Chinese Opera In Contemporary Chinese Piano Repertoire: A Cutural, Analytical, And Pedagogical Guide, Mengyu Song

Theses and Dissertations

Over 5,000 years, Chinese opera has been inspired by many imperial dynasties, regions, and ethnic cultures, making it a unique reflection of Chinese culture. Chinese composers have incorporated traditional Chinese opera in piano compositions to express cultural identity and artistic significance. This music has a broad and profound cultural significance, fostering cultural interchange and understanding and presenting a diverse and inclusive musical experience for non-Chinese students and musicians.

This research study provides a comprehensive overview of Chinese traditional operas, vocal technique and instrumentation, the development of piano music in China, and corresponding piano literature in progressive difficulty for early-intermediate to …

A Formative Process Evaluation Of Social Care Programming In A Health Care System Serving A Predominantly Rural State, Samuel Bethel

Theses and Dissertations

Health and social care continue to integrate, but relatively little is known about how social care is designed, implemented, and maintained across the health care continuum. This is especially true for health systems serving rural and under-resourced communities. To fill these gaps, this dissertation project applied formative process evaluation methods to a single case study of the largest health care system serving a predominantly rural state and its integrated social care programming. Data were collected from in-depth, semi-structured interviews following a purposeful and snowball sampling method among key informants for the design, implementation, and maintenance of social care programming as …

Using Latent Class Analysis To Conceptualize Heterogeneity Among Non-Resident Parents With Current Child Support Orders And Arrears: Identifying Windows Of Opportunity, Victoria Adkins Charles

Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 40% of children living in poverty are in a single parent household headed by their mother (Grall, 2017). The public child support services program exists to provide the service of establishing and enforcing child support orders for parents with primary legal custody of their child. Even with the child support services system in place, child support goes uncollected (Grall, 2020). Many of the non-resident parents (NRP) who are not paying live at poverty level as well. Child support research has focused primarily on NRPs’ ability to pay, but, generally, has drawn on the information contained in the constellation of …

Unpacking The Relationship Between Legitimacy, Procedural Justice, Identity, And Desistance, Qassim Bolaji

Theses and Dissertations

Knowing why people stop offending over time and the criminal justice agencies' role in this process is essential for designing effective crime control interventions. Legal authorities have the core function of ensuring that social norms and laws are obeyed. However, the coercive and punitive tactics that police, judicial, and penal authorities typically resort to have been shown to have only limited impact on controlling and preventing crime while having the unintended consequence of worsening the public's perception of their institutional legitimacy. Specific to policing, the use of coercive policing tactics and their perceived ineffectiveness has, in recent decades, led to …

In The Search Of Cosmopolitan Literacies: A Case Of Formerly Expatriated Language Teacher, Asiye Demir

Theses and Dissertations

Cosmopolitanism refers to becoming a world citizen who can live harmoniously with different cultures. Today, our classes in the United States have become diverse daily. While we teach students who can speak more than one language, our teachers are primarily monolingual and monocultural. Hence, teachers who can speak multiple languages are celebrated in the system (Pacheco et al., 2019). Expatriation refers to teacher mobility that can entail learning other languages and being exposed to different cultures. Expatriation, as a form of travel, is an essential construct for cosmopolitan literacies because cosmopolitan dispositions can be developed through traveling (Molz, 2006). Thus, …

Developing A Curriculum For An Online Group Piano In The Philippines: An Ideological, Historical, And Practical Approach, Lady Abigail Imperio

Theses and Dissertations

Online distance learning, a modern educational practice, has permeated music pedagogy in the past several decades. It involves synthesizing interdisciplinary studies in philosophy, music, technology, and sociology. In this study, the integrated approach aims to develop a unique curriculum for an online group piano in the Philippine setting. This goal involves coalescing ideological, historical, and practical perspectives to develop a coherent, learner-centered approach.

The ideological approach surveys educational philosophies, music learning theories, cooperative learning theories, online learning theories, and socio-cultural perspectives relevant to forming a unique framework. The nature of online distance music learning itself presents complex challenges of international …

The Importance Of Sense Of Community In Recovery For Individuals Living With Serious Mental Illness, Natalia Gomez

Theses and Dissertations

People with serious mental illness face a variety of barriers to participating in community life. Some of these barriers include limits in social functioning which can then affect social relationships and life satisfaction (Sanchez et al, 2016). Devaluation based on mental health status is an important barrier to address due to its connection to stigma and relationships. The more an individual fears that they will be undervalued and discriminated against, the more they may fear interacting with others. They may hide that they are in mental health treatment or avoid social encounters that they consider as possibly rejecting. These behaviors …

The Impact Of An Integrative Stem Educational Approach On Wonder Within A Catholic School, Carrie Kavanaugh Brun

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study explored the challenge of evoking wonder among fourth graders within one Catholic School, using an integrative STEM educational approach. Cognitive constructivism, social constructivism, and situated learning theory guided this qualitative case study. Twenty-one students learned about the Fibonacci sequence and Golden Ratio while engaging in nature walks, group work, and journaling. Students were tasked with creating a 3D design, utilizing the Engineering Design Process. Qualitative data were generated through student journals, practitioner reflective notes, and classroom observations and videos. Analysis and interpretation of the data indicated that (a) nature evokes wonder, (b) students create learning through …

Black Mph Internship Experiences In Racialized Organizations: Critical Counter-Narratives For A More Racially Just Public Health Workforce, Zach Jenkins

Theses and Dissertations

Internships are a vital component of Master of Public Health (MPH) programs. Despite 14% of MPH students identifying as Black, limited research has examined their internship experiences. This is particularly troubling given the racial demographics of the public health workforce and the racialized nature of most public health organizations. Using critical race theory (CRT) as a theoretical framework and critical counter-narrative as a methodology, this study sought to answer the following research questions: 1) How do Black MPH students describe their racialized experiences in their internships? and 2) What are the implications of Black MPH students’ narratives for policies and …

Evaluating Gender Bias In An Early Reading Screener Of Word Identification Abilities, Donna Perazzo

Theses and Dissertations

Children who have difficulty learning to read, particularly those with a specific learning disorder in reading (SLD-R) are at risk for an array of adverse outcomes. However, children who are identified and receive reading interventions early perform better on social, emotional, academic, and behavioral outcomes relative to those who do not receive early identification and intervention. In response to the growing body of research that has developed on the importance of the early identification of children have difficulty reading, many states have mandated the screening of all children for reading difficulties, specifically dyslexia. However, with the development of new reading …

Serial Minimalism, Feminism, And Queer Identity In Selected Piano Works Of Ann Southam, Elizabeth Churchya

Theses and Dissertations

In her late period of solo piano composition, Canadian composer Ann Southam (1937–2010) developed her own signature postminimalist style combining the static consonance of minimalism with the disruptive instability of twelve-tone serialism. This study analyzes three selected solo piano works in this compositional style: Slow Music: Meditations on a Twelve Tone Row (1979), Qualities of Consonance (1998) and Simple Lines of Enquiry (2007), illustrating how Southam develops a twelve-tone row through minimalist techniques. Additionally, the present study interprets salient structural, harmonic, and temporal elements through the context of gender and sexuality. An outspoken feminist, Southam considered her use of minimalist …

An Emic Conceptualization Of Veteran, “You're Either One Of Two Things; You're Captain America Or You're Broken”, Steven Wahle

Theses and Dissertations

The Global War on Terror (GWOT) conflicts have been sustained by an all-volunteer force for over 20 years. There have been no drafts, war bond drives, nor rationing. This is a departure from previous prolonged military conflicts in U.S. history. Volunteers with veteran status are often venerated publicly to express gratitude for their voluntary military service. However, the criterion for veteran status is inconsistent.

In the U.S., former military members tend to be regarded on one of two ends of a spectrum as archetypes in attempts to honor such service. On one end is the veteran hero veteran to be …

On Parallelization Of Graph Algorithms, Performance Modelling And Autonomous 3d Printable Object Synthesis, Shams-Ul-Haq Syed

Theses and Dissertations

The degree of hardware level parallelism offered by today’s GPU architecture makes it ideal for problem domains with massive inherent parallelism potential, fields such as computer vision, image processing, graph theory and graph computations. We have identified three problem areas for purpose of this research dissertation, under the umbrella of performance improvement by harnessing the power of GPUs for novel applications. The first area is concerned with k-vertex connectivity in graph theory, the second area deals performance evaluation using extended roofline models for GPU parallel applications and finally the third problem area is related to synthesis 3D printable objects from …

The Gendered Patterns Of International Migration Systems: The Role Of Need For Care, Chang-Yi Lin

Theses and Dissertations

The demand for feminized jobs in developed countries—e.g., care, domestic, and entertainment work—has provided women with an opportunity to work abroad independently. However, while numerous studies have discussed gendered opportunities and barriers to women’s migration, few studies have examined these correlates globally. According to traditional gender norms, one such potential barrier is women’s childcare responsibilities at home and, more specifically, the number of children who need to be cared for. Here it is argued that, contrary to men, the higher the number of children who need to be cared for in a given country, the more difficult it would be …

An Investigation Of University General Education Assessment Practice, Joseph H. Hanks

Theses and Dissertations

Many-facets Rasch modeling (MFRM) is an effective way to compensate for rater effects (e.g., rater leniency/severity) in the ratings assigned during rater-mediated assessment. While a fully crossed MFRM rating design, in which all raters rate every rating object, is the ideal from a psychometric standpoint; fully crossed designs are rarely implemented in practice because of the resource burden they impose on assessment personnel. Thus, incomplete rating designs, where each rater does not rate all rating objects, are the norm. However, unless assessment personnel consciously attend to a variety of aspects of rating design, incomplete rating designs may suffer from design …

Emergent Leadership, L2 Oral Proficiency, And Social Networks During Study Abroad, Nicole C. Whitby

Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that study abroad (SA) provides a unique, yet varied outcome for students seeking to improve their target language oral proficiency during study abroad SA (Freed et al., 2004). Contemporary work in second language acquisition (SLA) during SA has looked beyond individual behaviors of sojourners to analyze social networks as a structure with significant influence on outcomes, yet emergent leadership has not been addressed within social network analysis in SA. To address this gap the current study employed a computational social network approach. This mixed methods study analyzes the social networks of 30 SA sojourners from a large private …

Killers That Once Were Humans: Reading The Role Of Modern Law Via Instrumental Rationality, Momen Abdelbari Hassan

Theses and Dissertations

For Max Weber, the process of modernization is the process of rationalization in which it includes every realm in our modern life, such as the economy, science, organization, education, and law. However, this kind of rationalization has created coercive and inhumane conditions because rationalization has converted to being instrumental (value-free) without regard to any transcendental or moral values. The inhumane paradigm has become the only fate of our world. The vision needs rational domination to be achieved through formal rational law. Modern law, along with bureaucratization, has paved the road to rational political domination. This kind of domination captures human …

That The Parliament Should Be In Harmony With The Nation: The Whig Party, National Self- Determination, And Parliamentary Reform, 1790-1830, J.D. Scott

Theses and Dissertations

Between 1790 and 1830 the Whig party in Britain championed the rights of continental European peoples to determine their governments free of outside interference. The universal right to national self-determination became an important part of their own domestic, partisan effort to oppose the ministries of William Pitt the younger and his acolytes—ministries which they believed were undermining the independency of the House of Commons by allying Britain with the despotic governments of the continent in their war against the French Revolution. By casting the wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France as an attack against the right to national self-determination, the …

How Belief In God Impacts Marital Conflict And Resolution For Women Of Faith, Elizabeth Kay Madsen

Theses and Dissertations

Frequent conflict is a significant relationship risk factor for divorce, but it has also been shown that religion strengthens marriages, specifically in ways that give direction and motivation for couples in resolving marital conflict or other marital hardships. Thus, a study of how successful religious couples resolve conflict is pertinent in helping us better understand how to strengthen marriages and families. Our qualitative study of 113 highly religious women of diverse faiths and races found that women's perceived relationship or connection with God reportedly impacted conflict resolution and coping with marital hardship. Results suggest greater reconciliation and unity with the …

Three Rival Versions Of Physical Education: A Macintyrean Analysis Of The Field, Clayton Michael Whalen

Theses and Dissertations

At both the theoretical and applied levels of analysis, the field of physical education is all too often completely incoherent. There appears to be little agreement as to how school-based programs ought to be implemented or what the goals of such programs really are. No two physical educators run their programs exactly the same and, chances are, those physical educators likely have wildly different understandings of their field and its proper place within the education of our youth. Borrowing from the title of moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre’s (1990) book, Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry, I’ve chosen to describe the …

Alight, The Dead Of Night: Ascertaining The Collection And Use Of Nighttime Site Inventory In Landscape Architecture Professional Practice, Jacob Zachary Felkins

Theses and Dissertations

In landscape architecture, site inventory is a common precursor and perpetual informant of site design, toolkit development, and best management practices. Within inventory-specific texts, inventory is primarily geared, collected, and applied toward the daytime, and thusly, one might consider the bulk of inventory to be “daytime inventory” which pays greater heed to a diurnal humanity and lesser heed to the nocturnal world. With a greater attention to nighttime site conditions, we explored “nighttime inventory” through a series of primary considerations - nighttime lighting, light pollution, site ecology, and the night sky – along with several secondary considerations. We then surveyed …

Unraveling The Evolution Of Moral Panic: A Comparative Analysis Of School Shootings, Jiavonna Devine Webb

Theses and Dissertations

School shootings in the United States have garnered significant attention. Since 1999, several high-profile school shootings have taken place across the U.S. in Connecticut, Virginia, Florida, etc. The phenomenon of school shootings and the resultant moral panic is explored by examining media coverage to understand how the media contributes to public responses to these tragic incidents. Although school shootings tend to receive attention, we do not know how this attention can differ across school shootings. This study uses the moral panic framework to assess how national newspaper coverage portrays the Sandy Hook Elementary and Robb Elementary school shootings. I find …