Digital Commons Network^™

Real-Time Data Collection System For Low-Cost Diesel Emissions Monitoring, Zachary Driskill

Theses and Dissertations

Diesel trucks are a major source of pollutants, including particulate matter (PM) and NO$_x$. Roadside emissions monitoring can identify high-emitting diesel vehicles, but conventional sensing systems rely on expensive, complex sensing instruments that limit widespread deployment. Low-cost sensors offer increased scalability due to their small size, low cost, and low power consumption, but they have lower accuracy and slower response time. This thesis presents the design and evaluation of a low-cost roadside emissions monitoring system, establishing the foundation for a scalable and widely deployable alternative. We apply machine learning calibration to roadside emission monitoring to improve the usability of low-cost …

Implementation And Evaluation Of Alternative Methods For Simulation Of Sidescan Sonar, Blake Paul Romrell

Theses and Dissertations

The original sonar implementation for the HoloOcean simulator was built upon a cached octree representation of the world. On first runs, building the cache was prohibitively slow, and the cache had a major memory footprint. This work presents alternative implementations for the sidescan sonar using direct raytracing on the CPU and rendering on the GPU. To evaluate and compare the implementations, timing tests on comparable parameters, as well as sweeps on resolution and range parameters, were performed. The render-based GPU implementation outperformed the others in the timing tests.

Leveraging River Forecast Center Knowledge To Improve Large-Scale Hydrologic Model Performance Through Bias Correction, Ian Mathews

Theses and Dissertations

The National Water Model (NWM) provides continental-scale streamflow predictions but exhibits bias and reduced skill in highly regulated and snow-driven basins. In contrast, River Forecast Center (RFC) models incorporate decades of local calibration and regulatory knowledge but are limited in spatial coverage to specific points of interest. This study evaluates whether hydrologic knowledge embedded in RFC-calibrated simulations can be transferred to improve NWM performance at unmonitored locations using the Streamflow Analysis for Bias Estimation and Reduction (SABER) framework. Using Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC) simulations as surrogate reference data, we applied SABER to the NWM 44-year retrospective model simulation …

Advancing Cyclic Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry For Structural Characterization, Isomer Discrimination And Gas-Phase Ion Chemistry, Sudam Shivaji Mane

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the development and application of high-resolution ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) methodologies for gas-phase separation and structural characterization of small molecules, with particular emphasis on epimers, positional isomers, and protomers. In addition to structural separations, this work investigates fundamental aspects of gas-phase ion chemistry using IMS-MS in combination with collision-induced ion activation and dissociation techniques. Advanced separations were performed using cyclic traveling-wave ion mobility spectrometry (cyclic TWIMS), implemented in a commercial cyclic ion mobility-mass spectrometry (cIMS) platform, to systematically evaluate both the capabilities and limitations of high-resolution IMS in resolving subtle structural differences. Initial studies demonstrated that, …

Redox Reprogramming In Neurogenesis: Candidate Developmental Switches And Targets Of Oxidative Toxicity In The Redox Proteome, Ryan Jacob Summerhays

Theses and Dissertations

Neurogenic differentiation requires coordinated redox regulation, yet how reversible cysteine oxidation is remodeled at proteome scale during this process remains poorly defined. Here, we asked whether differentiation is associated with selective, site-specific changes in reversible cysteine oxidation and whether oxidative stress reveals developmentally conditioned vulnerabilities within this redox landscape. To address this, we applied a discovery-oriented, proteome-scale redox profiling strategy that quantifies condition-dependent changes in reversible cysteine oxidation using CysPAT labeling, phosphopeptide enrichment, and multiplexed TMT mass spectrometry. Neurogenic differentiation was characterized by reproducible, bidirectional, and highly site-specific remodeling of reversible cysteine oxidation at discrete regulatory nodes, as well as …

Practical, Scalable, And Cost-Effective Nanolc-Ms Workflow For Single-Cell Proteomics, Siqi Huang

Theses and Dissertations

Single-cell proteomics provides a novel research strategy for decoding cellular heterogeneity, revealing the molecular mechanisms of rare cell subpopulations, and studying the dynamic responses of cells to external stimuli. However, compared to transcriptomics, single-cell proteomics faces even more challenging technical challenges: extremely low protein amount in single cells, wide dynamic range, significant adsorptive losses during sample preparation, and the complex matrix and trace sample injection demanding extremely high stability and sensitivity from the separation and detection systems. Mass spectrometry-based bottom-up proteomics has become an important tool for analyzing complex biological systems, and nano-flow liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (nanoLC-MS) exhibits unique advantages …

Differentials As Models: Constructing A Differentials-Within-Limits Framework For First-Year Calculus And Examining Students' Understanding Of Limits, Differentials, And Derivatives Within It, Alexander A. Swindler

Theses and Dissertations

Work in first-year calculus has clearly shown the power that treating differentials (such as dx) as tiny quantities affords for first-year calculus learning, yet a traditional limits-based approach leaves no room for them. While some researchers have loosely described informal differentials and limits within the same paradigm, their actual conceptual definitions and relationships have not been explicitly constructed. Continued progress in this area could benefit from theoretical consideration of (a) providing clearer intuitive definitions for differentials inside a limits-based approach to calculus, and (b) defining more exactly the relationships between differentials and limits. In this study, I propose a theoretical …

"Deep In The Trenches": A Multi-Perspective Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Of Student Mothers Navigating The Hidden Realities Of Postpartum Anxiety, Rhonda Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Despite availability of effective treatments women with postpartum anxiety (PPA) commonly go untreated because of barriers to care. Student mothers are a particularly vulnerable subgroup of women as they tend to be younger, are less likely to be married, and have lower incomes than non-student mothers. As anxiety rates in college women are higher than the general population and higher than college men, student mothers are at high risk of the adverse effects of untreated PPA. There is a paucity of existing literature about student mothers and mental health. The aim of the current study is to understand the help-seeking …

Transcriptomic Analysis Of Xeroderma Pigmentosum Group C Skin Samples, Austen N. Gleave

Theses and Dissertations

Xeroderma Pigmentosum is a rare genetic disorder caused by defective DNA damage repair enzymes. This condition results in an increased risk of developing skin cancer and other symptoms in those affected. In this thesis, we examined the effects of Xeroderma Pigmentosum on gene expression in patient skin biopsy samples. To accomplish this, we utilized statistical analysis of spatial transcriptomic and single-cell RNA sequencing techniques to discover differences between patient and heterozygous carrier skin samples. We found that the skin samples from Xeroderma Pigmentosum patients showed elevated levels of inflammation, immune activation, and cellular stress, while the carrier skin samples leaned …

The Impact Of Principal Preparation Program Components On Self-Efficacy Development In Aspiring School Leaders, Michelle Price

Theses and Dissertations

Leaders with high self-efficacy demonstrate greater persistence when facing adversity, implement organizational change more readily, and establish higher goals for themselves and their organizations. This qualitative study examines which components of principal preparation programs most strongly contribute to self-efficacy development among aspiring school leaders in Utah, specifically in instructional leadership and management for learning. Through semi-structured interviews with 19 recent graduates from three Utah universities, the research explores how program components influence candidates' confidence to lead schools effectively. Grounded in Bandura's self-efficacy theory, the findings reveal that while cohort-based models and faculty characteristics provide foundational support for overall efficacy development, …

An Efficient Approximation To The Vibrational Coupled Cluster Method For Large Molecules, Nivedhitha P Ms

Theses and Dissertations

The Watson Hamiltonian is a widely used model for describing anharmonic vibrational motion in polyatomic molecules. It expresses the kinetic energy in separable dimensionless normal coordinates and represents the potential energy as a Taylor series expansion around the equilibrium geometry, usually up to the quartic approximation. Several computational methods have been developed to solve the corresponding vibrational Schrödinger equation for predicting infrared (IR), Raman, and vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectra. These include the Vibrational Self-Consistent Field (VSCF) method, Vibrational Configuration Interaction (VCI) and its approximations, and Vibrational Second-Order Perturbation Theory (VPT2), each providing different balances between computational cost and accuracy. …

No Principal Left Alone: Exploring Elementary Principals' Relationships With Their Full-Time Assistant Principals, Shauna Worthington

Theses and Dissertations

Elementary school principals are often the only administrator in their building; therefore they are left to face the adverse circumstances of their job without the support of an administrative colleague at their school. However, U.S. nationwide data suggests that school districts are more frequently hiring elementary assistant principals. This paper explores perceptions of elementary principals about the nature and dynamic of their relationships with their full-time assistant principals, including accompanying benefits and challenges. This qualitative inquiry utilizes an exploratory, descriptive, phenomenological approach and features the results of in-depth interviews with 20 elementary school principals in two large suburban public school …

Entwurzelt, Melanie Fischer

Theses and Dissertations

Entwurzelt (Uprooted) is an installation that explores the emotional landscape of displacement-trauma, grief, and the search for belonging in the aftermath of war and unrest. The vessels in this installation evoke the presence of a forest--each one a symbolic tree, rooted in memory and shaped by personal and collective histories. Being torn from the familiar means leaving behind everything except memories and carrying a void that may never be fully filled. Yet, in unfamiliar places, fragments of comfort can be found--echoes of what once was. For me, the forest is more than a memory--it is a bridge between past and …

Fallow Ground, Eli Kerns

Theses and Dissertations

Fallow Ground refers to the agricultural practice of intentionally leaving a field unseeded for a year or more in order to restore fertility and interrupt cycles of depletion. Although fallowing is a beneficial and necessary practice, the term has also come to signify waste or a lack of productivity. This double meaning is central to the work, reflecting a central contradiction: that withdrawal can be as vital as effort, and that rest, like labor, can function as a deliberate and sustaining act. The question I explore in this work is how to organize, understand, and live with these contradictions. Through …

Empirical Benchmarks For Interpreting Effect Sizes In Violent Crime Interventions, Kohta James Matsukawa Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

Criminal justice researchers apply Cohen’s (1988) benchmarks to classify effect sizes as small, medium, or large, despite these standards never being meant for broad, decontextualized use (Cohen, 1988; Gies et al., 2024; Goulet-Pelletier & Cousineau, 2018; Lakens, 2013; Milner et al., 2023). Repeatedly doing so may weaken statistical validity, distort findings, and impede effective policymaking. This study introduces the first effect size benchmarks specifically designed for violent crime interventions.

Using a quasi-meta-analysis framework, 1,605 effect sizes from 104 violent crime intervention studies from the CrimeSolutions clearinghouse were converted to Cohen’s d. Three new discrete benchmarking methods were created using a …

Bridging The Cybersecurity Education Gap: The Role Of Open Educational Resources In Supporting Rural Cybersecurity Programs, Brittni Hardie

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the intersection of cybersecurity education, open educational resources (OER), and rural higher education through a systematic review of current literature and an exploratory survey of rural community college faculty. The purpose of this research, consistent with the approved Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol, was to understand how OER can be leveraged to design and deliver an affordable, high-quality System Security course within a rural higher-education environment. As cybersecurity workforce shortages continue to grow across the United States, rural institutions face persistent challenges in sustaining high-quality programs due to financial constraints, limited faculty capacity, and rapidly evolving curriculum …

Artificial Intelligence For Better Inclusive Higher Education: A Study Of A Private University In Cairo, Shereen Ismail

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how artificial intelligence (AI) tools relate to accessibility for visually impaired students in Egyptian higher education, focusing on University Y in Cairo. Grounded in the Social Model of Disability and Universal Design for Learning, it examines visually impaired students’ lived experiences of AI mediated access and the institutional conditions that shape these experiences. A qualitative phenomenological design was used, with semi-structured interviews conducted with visually impaired undergraduate students and key staff involved in assistive technology, teaching and learning, and student wellbeing; data were analyzed thematically. The findings indicate that participants experience AI tools (e.g., chatbots, transcription and …

Observational Diagnostics And Spectroscopic Detection Of Tropospheric Trace Gases And Oxidation Processes, Callum E. Flowerday

Theses and Dissertations

The troposphere is governed by photochemical and radical-mediated processes that control atmospheric oxidation capacity, secondary pollutant formation, and the chemical lifetime of gases. Quantitative understanding of these processes requires both robust observational frameworks capable of resolving complex precursor–product relationships and instrumentation with sufficient sensitivity and selectivity to detect reactive and low-concentration species. This dissertation advances atmospheric chemistry through the parallel development of quantitative observational methodologies and refined spectroscopic measurement techniques. The first component of this work evaluates atmospheric oxidation systems using long-term monitoring data and empirical diagnostics. Multi-year analyses of ozone and particulate matter trends were conducted to characterize variability …

The Role Of Emerin In Myogenic Differentiation, Nicholas Marano

Theses and Dissertations

The nucleus harbors genetic material encapsulated by the nuclear envelope which is composed of an inner and outer nuclear membrane. The establishment and organization of chromatin at the INM is essential for cell fate during the differentiation program. Integral INM proteins are responsible for chromatin organization at the nuclear envelope. Emerin is a highly conserved type II integral INM protein with roles in chromatin organization, cell signaling, and nuclear structure. Mutations in the emerin gene cause Emery Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy 1 (EDMD1). Emerin is ubiquitously expressed, but loss of emerin function affects specifically skeletal muscle and cardiac tissue. The precise …

Parental Perspectives On Preparedness Of Young Adults With Intellectual Disabilities For Transition To Adulthood, Oretha Bennett-Spence

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract Oretha Bennett-Spence PARENTAL PERSPECTIVES ON PREPAREDNESS OF YOUNG ADULTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES FOR TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD 2026 JoAnn Manning, Ed.D. Doctor of Education The transition from high school to adulthood presents significant challenges for young adults with intellectual disabilities and their families. Although schools are required to provide transition services, limited research has examined parents’ lived experiences navigating this process. This qualitative study explored how parents perceive their child’s preparedness for adulthood and postsecondary life. Guided by Schlossberg’s (1981) 4S Transition Framework and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study examined the experiences of six parents whose young adults were …

Bridging The Gap: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring The Relationships Between Student-Teacher Demographic Mismatch And Students’ Perceptions Of Fairness, Inclusion, And Achievement, Nicholas Nahrwold

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the relationships between student-teacher demographic mismatch and students’ perceptions of fairness, inclusion, and achievement. The purpose of this research was to determine how race, gender, and SES mismatch between students and teachers is related to their feelings of belonging and academic outcomes. A mixed-methods study was conducted involving a combination of survey data, student performance records, and student interviews. Results from the study indicated a relationship between student-teacher gender match and GPA, student-teacher racial match and GPA, and student-teacher racial match and attendance outcomes. Although not statistically significant, the data collected also highlighted trends between student-teacher SES …

A Study Of Early Childhood Coaches’ Preparedness To Implement Lgbtq+ Affirming Social–Emotional Practices, Nicole Lynn Muñoz

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative collective instrumental case study examined how early childhood consultation specialists (coaches) perceive and implement LGBTQ+ affirming practices in early learning environments serving children from birth to five. Although legal and policy advancements have increased recognition of LGBTQ+ identities, early childhood education remains an underexamined context for inclusive practice. Grounded in a constructivist and interpretivist paradigm and informed by Queer Theory, Transformative Leadership Theory, Practice-Based Coaching, and the Pyramid Model, data were collected through interviews, surveys, and reflective field notes with a purposeful sample of New Jersey coaches. Findings highlight how coaches define inclusion, navigate organizational conditions, and identify …

An Interpretable Hybrid Deep And Reinforcement Learning Paradigm For Glioma Prognosis, Renuga Devi M Ms

Theses and Dissertations

Brain tumors are highly aggressive and lethal types of cancer, particularly gliomas. These cancerous growths show complicated pathophysiological behaviours and with poor prognosis despite therapeutic advances. Due to their biological differences and infiltrating growth, as well as overlapping radiological characteristics, they pose great difficulty in diagnosis, grading, and survival prediction. Artificial intelligence technology, which includes machine learning , deep learning, and reinforcement learning has developed into a new paradigm for the automation of brain tumor diagnostics and personalized treatment. The main goal of this study is to create an integrated AI-based framework that can perform brain tumor segmentation, grading and …

Development Of Deep Fused Neural Architecture For Ancient Tamil Palm-Leaf Manuscript Recognition, Hariharan P Mr

Theses and Dissertations

Digitizing Tamil palm-leaf manuscripts is important for education, communication, and the preservation of cultural heritage. The complex structure of the Tamil script, the wide range of handwriting styles, and the degradation seen in ancient Tamil palm-leaf manuscripts make these texts very difficult to read and understand. Digital Image Processing (DIP), document analysis techniques, and traditional Optical Character Recognition (OCR) are unable to handle noise, background interference, faded ink, and limited labelled data, motivating the need for robust, effective Deep Learning (DL)- based solutions.

As a prerequisite to understanding and designing effective recognition systems for ancient manuscripts, this thesis first examines …

Does Concurrent Completion Of A Computer Task Interfere With Talking? Comparing Younger And Older Adults, Emma Simpson Hymas

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the impact of a computer-based divided attention task on spoken language and compares the impact between younger (18–30 years) and older (55–82 years) adults. Sixty adults participated in a speaking task and two computer tasks which varied in difficulty. The Level 1 computer task involved highlighting each instance of the word “the” and the Level 2 computer task involved highlighting each instance of the word “the” while also underlining each instance of the word “a”. Each task was completed alone and then two computer tasks with different levels of difficulty were completed concurrently with a procedural discourse …

Objective Conditioning Via Latent-Factor Modeling, Kalman-Smoothing, And Hidden Markov Clustering: An Application To Empirical Asset Pricing, Melanie R. Neller

Theses and Dissertations

Empirical asset pricing relies heavily on conditioning sets--industry groupings, size buckets, valuation screens, and other researcher-defined partitions--to structure cross-sectional tests and portfolio construction. While intuitive, such partitions risk blending heterogeneous firms, masking latent exposures, and introducing omitted-variable bias. This thesis develops an objective, mathematically grounded conditioning pipeline that replaces subjective groupings with latent-factor extraction, Kalman-based data techniques, and probabilistic clustering via Gaussian hidden Markov models (HMMs). Using CRSP monthly returns, the framework stabilizes noisy return data, extracts systematic structure through principal component analysis (PCA), identifies homogeneous stock cohorts through HMM clustering, and models regime persistence using Markov transition matrices. These …

Electrochemical Sensors And Processes In Molten Salts: Chlorine Production, Electroanalytical Chemistry, And Thin-Layer Electrodes, Tyler Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Molten salt electrochemistry has historically played a substantial role in the metallurgical industry, and this trend is only accelerating in areas of green steel, direct ore processing, and rare-earth processing. In addition, the recent surge of interest in molten salt nuclear reactors has provided an additional application for molten salt electrochemical processes, including the reprocessing of used nuclear fuels and the development of electrochemical sensors for nuclear applications. In this work, the development of a chloride volatility separation process for used nuclear fuel is advanced; electroanalytical methods are improved for identifying and quantifying unknown analytes with and without the presence …

Rigorous Electromagnetic Beamforming Simulations For Realistic Vehicular-To-Infrastructure (V2i) Scenarios In 5g Systems, Mohanad Hussam Aldean Ahmed Almuzian

Theses and Dissertations

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communication is a key enabling technology for next-generation intelligent transportation systems, offering high data rates and low latency to support safety-critical and autonomous driving applications. However, mmWave communication at 28 GHz suffers from severe path loss, sensitivity to blockage, and strong dependence on antenna directivity and beam alignment, particularly in complex urban environments. As a result, advanced beamforming and multi-antenna techniques are essential to ensure reliable and high-capacity V2I links. This thesis investigates mmWave V2I communication performance using realistic electromagnetic modeling and beamforming techniques. Full-wave antenna simulations and deterministic ray-tracing are employed using Ansys Electronics Desktop, …

Governing Bme Amplification In Large Language Models: A Standards-Aligned Framework For Llm Data Lifecycle Risk Detection And Ethical Ai Governance, Dale A. Rutherford

Theses and Dissertations

Large Language Models (LLMs) now underpin critical systems in education, healthcare, and policy advisory contexts, yet remain susceptible to the recursive amplification of bias, misinformation, and error (BME). These distortions, driven by feedback loops between user interactions, model retraining, and data reuse, accelerate epistemic drift and erode information quality over time. This dissertation advances a comprehensive governance architecture to detect, quantify, and mitigate these risks across the full AI lifecycle. The research introduces the BME Metric Suite, a standards-aligned diagnostic framework comprising five original metrics: Bias Amplification Rate (BAR), Echo Chamber Propagation Index (ECPI), Information Quality Decay (IQD), Pretraining Diversity …

Generalizing Networks To Address Data Imbalance For Facial Action Unit Recognition, Andrew W. Sumsion

Theses and Dissertations

Facial action unit (AU) recognition is used in a variety of downstream applications, including sign language translation, dementia detection, pain detection, and other high-impact tasks that require understanding facial motion. Although AU recognition is a well-established field, a number of unresolved issues remain. An initial problem is the need to improve overall performance on the benchmark datasets, as measured by the average F1 score. Also, the performance across all individual AUs, not just the average F1 score, needs to be increased. Recently, the field has shifted its attention towards ensuring that AU recognition models generalize beyond the distributions represented in …