Digital Commons Network^™

Beyond The Legal Black Hole: Hyper-Legality, Deferral, And Detention In Northeast Syria, Grace T. Harmon

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the detention of suspected ISIS affiliates and their family members held in facilities administered by the Kurdish-led authorities in North-East Syria. Thousands of foreign nationals remain detained without trial, without repatriation, and in conditions widely criticized as inhumane. Existing scholarship and political discourse often describe these facilities as legal voids, limbo, or black holes where law has broken down or ceased to apply. This thesis challenges that characterization. Rather than existing outside the law, the facilities are governed through overlapping frameworks of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, counterterrorism security resolutions, and domestic laws. I argue …

Palestinian Motherhood In Lebanon: An Analysis Of The Legal And Humanitarian Systems, Enje Matar

Theses and Dissertations

The lives of Palestinians in Lebanon are shaped by a diversity of factors that are exogenous and endogenous. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the impact of existing institutional, legal, and societal structures on Palestinian refugee mothers. It answers the following main question: how do the legal and humanitarian systems in Lebanon impact Palestinian mothers? It specifically scrutinizes 1) How do these systems shape family dynamics, maternal relations with children, and mothers’ daily lives? 2) How are these systems gendered in ways that represent broader questions of power and control? 3) How do mothers respond to these systems …

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 …

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, …

Sufism At The Service Of Ḥadīth Commentary: Re-Framing Al-Kalābādhī'S Baḥr Al-FawāʾId In Fourth-Tenth Century Transoxiana, Fadhil Yunus Alsagoff

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Abū Bakr al-Kalābādhī’s (d. 380/990) understudied ḥadīth commentary, the Baḥr al-fawāʾid al-mashhūr bi-maʿānī al-akhbār. The first Anglophone study of the text as a whole, this thesis situates itself within the emergent literature on ḥadīth commentaries and challenges the prevailing scholarly tendency to reduce Sufi-authored commentarial texts to the ishārī method of interpretation and to treat them solely as repositories of Sufi themes. This thesis argues that, contrary to current perceptions of the text as primarily a work of Sufism, the Baḥr al-fawaʾid is first and foremost a work of ḥadīth commentary, its main intent being to …

Dynamic Baseline Schedule Updates Using Digital Twinning: A Case Study On Aluminum Formwork Construction, Ahmed Hamdi Sweilam

Theses and Dissertations

Repetitive high-rise construction using aluminum formwork couples consecutive floor cycles through a reused panel set and a floor-level inspection and pour barrier, so productivity loss compounds upward rather than being absorbed locally. The baseline schedule is nevertheless fixed before execution and is not revised as evidence of realized productivity accumulates. This thesis develops a simulation-based digital twin that updates the baseline from observed as-built durations and acts on its own forecast. A discrete-event simulation of a ten-story residential tower is built in AnyLogic® and verified analytically at 180.00 hours per floor. After each completed floor the twin infers activity productivity …

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 …

Grievability Of The Abject As Narrated By Exiles, Sylvia Azmy

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes two novels: Inaam Kachachi’s Sawaqi al-Qulub (2005) and Shady Lewis’s ʿAla Khatt Grinitsh (2019), to understand the relationships between figures of migration, as the exile narrates his encounters with refugees. It uses Julia Kristeva’s Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1980) and Judith Butler’s Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable? (2009) as theoretical frameworks to examine the deaths of refugees and their corpses (utmost of abjection) in the two novels. Scholars have argued that the literature of forced migration is becoming more inclusive than migration narratives, a term that has focused on student travelers, exilic …

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 Hybrid Rule-Based And Large Language Model Framework For Extracting Acronym–Definition Pairs From Scientific Literature, Petro Skrypnyk

Theses and Dissertations

Authors of scientific papers rely heavily on acronyms and often use them without defining them, making the literature harder to read and index. This thesis develops and evaluates a hybrid rule-based and large language model (LLM) framework that extracts acronym–definition pairs from scientific PDF documents. It extends an earlier Rowan University system that combined a regular-expression parser with a single LLM on 200 papers. That system showed that neither the parser nor the LLM alone is sufficient for accurate extraction of the pairs. The framework is a fully automated pipeline from PDF input to scored results. It compares four LLM …

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 …

Representations Of Cartel Leaders In Narcocorridos: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis, Gael Gamboa

Theses and Dissertations

Narcocorridos have become one of the most recognized expressions of narcoculture in Mexico. Despite growing scholarly interest in narcoculture, relatively few studies have examined how cartel leaders are represented across narcocorridos. This study addresses this gap by examining the symbolic representations of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, and Amado Carrillo Fuentes in narcocorrido lyrics. The study is guided by cultural criminology and subculture theory; this study employed a qualitative research design using reflexive thematic analysis. A purposive sample of 25 narcocorridos was analyzed to identify recurring patterns in the representation of cartel leadership. As a result, six …

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 …

"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 …

Synthetic Strategies For Bioactive Peptides: From Aggregation Inhibitors To The Total Synthesis Of Tunicyclin C, Stephanie Graciela Garcia Morin

Theses and Dissertations

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), a brain protein called "tau" abnormally clumps and forms neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), causing damage to brain cells. Ac-PHF6-NH2 is a hexapeptide segment of tau protein that plays a dominant role in tau aggregation and is used as a model to design tau protein aggregation inhibitors. In this research we synthesized four dehydroamino acid (□AA) containing PHF6 analogues with △Abu (derived from L-threonine) and △Val (derived from □-OH-Valine) at position 2 or 3 via dehydrations or azlactone ring-openings as key reactions. We evaluated their proteolytic resistance, ability to inhibit aggregation of PHF6, and impact on the morphology …

The Fate Of Duplicate Meiotic Recombination Genes After Whole Genome Duplication In Vertebrate And Yeast Lineages, Sophie Maedo

Theses and Dissertations

Meiotic recombination is the exchange of DNA between homologous chromosomes that creates novel allele combinations and therefore aids in evolution. After whole genome duplications (WGD), challenges arise with proper chromosome segregation, necessitating changes to the meiotic recombination pathway. Reducing recombination rate and recombination gene copy number are mechanisms to correct multivalent formation. Within plants, copy number and retention rate of these genes has been well characterized; however, this is untrue for the wider eukaryote domain. Through this work, I show that meiotic recombination genes are maintained at a lower copy number than the rest of the genome; however, immediately after …

Impact Of In-Season Potassium Fertilizer Application On Sweetpotato Yields, Alyssa Lynn Hotchkiss

Theses and Dissertations

Sweetpotatoes require approximately three times more potassium (K) than nitrogen (N), making K the most applied nutrient in production. However, K fertilizer recommendations for sweetpotatoes in Mississippi remain outdated or are based on recommendations for other crops. This study evaluated the effects of K fertilizer rate, timing, and application method on sweetpotato production. Field trials were conducted during the 2023 and 2024 growing seasons at the Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods Branch Experiment Station in Pontotoc, Mississippi. Treatments included preplant K applications of 0, 134, or 191 kg ha⁻¹ K₂O, in-season sidedress applications of 56 kg ha⁻¹ K₂O, and four foliar K treatments. …

Comparative Analysis Of Spray Pattern Deposition In Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (Cots) U.S.-Manufactured Uncrewed Aerial Application System (Uaas), James Mackey Ikerd Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Uncrewed aerial application systems (UAAS) are increasingly used for agricultural spraying, but spray deposition uniformity and effective swath width can vary between platforms. This study evaluated spray-pattern deposition and effective swath width for two commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) UAAS platforms during manual and autonomous flight operations. Manual, single-pass testing was used to assess preliminary performance and spray characteristics for both UAAS. Further autonomous multi-pass and single-pass evaluations were conducted to assess deposition uniformity and in-swath variability for both UAAS utilizing two methods of evaluation: Operation Self-regulating Application & Flight Efficiency (S.A.F.E.) pattern testing for manual flight evaluation and the Swath Gobbler …

Improving The Hemp Fiber Supply Chain: Barriers, Innovations, And Regulatory Impacts, Sneha Chapagain

Theses and Dissertations

The hemp fiber sector in the United States has seen significant growth challenges, including a lack of processing infrastructure, inconsistent regulations, and limited research. The Theory of Constraints and Systems Engineering frameworks are used in this study to carefully analyze these difficulties. The study identifies important bottlenecks, investigates system-wide inefficiencies, and examines the impact of regulatory complexity using a survey of key supply chain stakeholders. The findings emphasize the need for more processing capacity, better coordination among supply chain actors, and more policy harmonization. The report also identifies stakeholder-driven improvements in technology, transportation, and market integration that could boost efficiency …

Ocean Salinity Effects On Lightning Frequency And Distribution In The Inner Core Of Tropical Cyclones In The Atlantic Basin, Desiree Knight

Theses and Dissertations

Different oceanic salinity profiles seen in the Atlantic have been found to influence tropical cyclone (TC) intensity. With the freshwater plume from the Amazon-Orinoco reaching into a TC development region during peak hurricane season, the stable ocean feature it creates has effects on SST, ocean mixing, enthalpy fluxes, and convection. This study investigates the relationship between sea surface salinity (SSS) and inner-core lightning of north Atlantic TCs and further explores the spatial variations of this relationship with TC intensity. SSS values are collocated with lightning flashes, which are split between “fresher” and “saltier” waters. Further investigations found that TCs have …

Initial Evaluation Of Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange-Mass Spectrometry For Filtering Isobaric Candidate Structures Of Metabolites, Olufemi Farotimi

Theses and Dissertations

Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics is a common analytical tool used to identify metabolites. Identifying specific metabolite structures associated with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) features remain analytically challenging. Complete hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HDX) is hypothesized to be complementary to retention time and fragmentation patterns for narrowing down the number of potential candidate structures for a given precursor m/z. In this work, the hypothetical number of exchangeable protons was assigned to an array of subsets of the Human Metabolome Database (HMDB), based on known exchange behavior obtained from literature. Six model compounds (for which experimental data were also collected, four additional model …

Tips For Higher Education: A Research-Informed Framework For Designing Trauma-Informed Professional Support Practices In Higher Education, Kelli Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

This capstone project addresses the need for structured trauma-informed professional preparation within higher education as institutions continue responding to increasing student adversity, trauma exposure, mental health concerns, and barriers to academic engagement and persistence. The purpose of the project is to develop Tips for Higher Education: A Research Informed Framework for Designing Trauma-Informed Professional Support Practices in Higher Education. The project examines the research-supported elements that should be included in a trauma-informed professional preparation framework, the competencies and learning domains needed by faculty, advisors, and student-support professionals, and the ways professional learning should be structured and sequenced to support sustainable …

A Vital Step Toward Improving Student Success: A Comparative Examination Of Attendance Policies Across Urban, Rural, And Suburban School Districts In Mississippi, Marino Mcdaniel

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic absenteeism is a growing challenge for schools nationwide, with Mississippi districts experiencing significantly higher rates after the pandemic. This capstone examined how selected rural, suburban, and urban school districts in Mississippi develop and implement attendance policies and how well these policies align with the Mississippi Compulsory Attendance Law, Mississippi Code Annotated § 37-13-91, and state board regulations. The study aimed to assess the extent to which district attendance policies reflect Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Systems Theory, considering the multiple layers that influence student attendance. Directed by this theoretical framework, the study addressed three research questions: (1) How do selected districts design …

A Study On The Welfare And Crop-Residue Ameliorating Potential Of Acheta Domesticus In The Context Of Insect Sequestration, Metabolism, And Excretion Of Three Mycotoxins: Aflatoxin B1, Deoxynivalenol, And Zearalenone, Ryan Thomas Paulk

Theses and Dissertations

Mycotoxins are a food security issue that affects all crops globally, but to varying degrees, due to the ubiquity of fungi that produce them. Developing new agricultural practices that can ameliorate lost nutrients post-contamination by removing mycotoxins for the next levels in the food chain can remedy an inevitable effluent in the circular economy. Farmed insects, such as the house cricket, Acheta domesticus, can potentially consume moldy, mycotoxin contaminated grains safely without transferring them to other trophic levels. The experiments herein test the biology of A. domesticus to consume three individual mycotoxins: aflatoxin B1, deoxynivalenol, and zearalenone. In addition to …

Examining The Effects Of Oral Melatonin Supplementation On Bull Reproductive Physiology, Megan M. Patterson

Theses and Dissertations

Bull subfertility is a prevalent issue with significant consequences for cattle production. Unfortunately, few management interventions exist to alleviate bull subfertility and improve bull reproductive efficiency. Melatonin, a key regulator of circadian rhythms and seasonal reproduction, improves reproduction in non-seasonally breeding mammals, yet the benefits of oral supplementation in the bull remain underexplored. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the extent to which melatonin supplementation could serve as a management intervention to improve bull reproductive efficiency. Yearling Angus bulls (n = 21) were utilized to examine the effects of 90 days of oral melatonin supplementation on sperm quality, blood plasma …

How Family Functioning Impacts Adolescent Outcomes: The Roles Of Cohesion, Flexibility, Communication, Satisfaction, And The Family Environment On Well-Being Across Levels Of Family Complexity, Emily E. Shaw

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research is a combination of two studies. The overarching and guiding focus for this study involved how family functioning and environments influence adolescent psychological well-being, and do these associations vary based on levels of family complexity. Study 1 examined family complexity and family environments as potential predictors of family functioning, while Study 2 examined family functioning and family complexity as potential predictors of adolescent negative (i.e., anxiety and depression) and positive (i.e., engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness) well-being. In Study 1, family complexity was not predictive of family functioning, but the family environment was a strong predictor. …

Exploring Emergency Manager Decision-Making Regarding Heat Hazards Using Protection Motivation Theory, Nathaniel Mirly

Theses and Dissertations

Heat is the leading cause of weather-related mortality in the United States, yet it remains under-recognized despite rising mortality and intensifying climate trends. This qualitative study explored decision-making processes regarding heat hazards among 15 county-level emergency managers in the Northern Gulf Coast region using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) as a guiding framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, combining deductive coding of PMT constructs with inductive identification of independent themes. Key findings showed reliance on verbal persuasion and prior experience as primary information sources, threat appraisals moderated by normalization and deprioritization of heat due to other …

An Equity-Centered Creative Therapies Implementation Framework For K-12 School Counseling Practice, Brian Caleb Carlisle

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents in K-12 schools are experiencing a significant mental health crisis, with rising rates of anxiety, depression, trauma, and emotional dysregulation, while many continue to face limited access to equitable, developmentally appropriate supports. Although schools increasingly serve as primary sites for mental health services, they often lack resources, training, and infrastructures necessary to implement effective interventions. Arts-based and creative therapy approaches demonstrate benefits for emotional regulation, trauma processing, and social-emotional development but remain underused due to inconsistent implementation and systemic barriers. This capstone project examines how creative therapies can be integrated into school counseling programs to address these gaps. Guided …

Enhancing Social Emotional Learning Interventions For Black Adolescent Girls Through Staff Training, Shundrell Mcmullan

Theses and Dissertations

Black girls often face systemic inequities rooted in discriminatory practices and policies in the educational system contributing to adverse social-emotional outcomes unless mitigated by intentional protective supports. Many schools have adopted social emotional learning (SEL) programs; however, their effectiveness for culturally diverse students are often challenged. The present study examined the impact of Sisters of Nia, a race-conscious and gender-responsive intervention designed to enhance protective factors and social-emotional well-being among six adolescent Black girls. Student outcomes, including academically engaged behaviors and positive peer interactions, were primarily evaluated using a single-subject A/B design. Students’ self-esteem and racial identity were also measured …