Digital Commons Network^™

Do Voucher Students Attain Higher Levels Of Education?, Patrick Wolf, John F. Wittle, Brian Kisida

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), the first modern private school choice program in the United States, has grown from 341 students attending 7 private schools in 1990 to 27,857 students attending 126 private schools today. The MPCP has been subject to extensive study that has focused largely on student performance on standardized tests, which have found few differences in performance between MPCP students and similar students in the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). This study presents new data on the college enrollment, persistence, and graduation of MPCP and MPS students who were tracked over 11 years beginning in 2006. MPCP …

Evaluating Groundwater Vulnerability In A Rapidly Urbanizing City: Implications For Cholera And Dysentery Outbreaks, Samuel Multiti

Academic Affairs

Many regions in the world, especially sub-Saharan Africa, continue to face the challenge of reliable access to safe drinking water. This project aims to investigate drinking water quality, focusing on groundwater from both planned and peri-urban residential neighborhoods, as well as the geological and hydrogeological factors contributing to groundwater vulnerability in Lusaka, Zambia. This study will examine several key water quality parameters including microplastics, pathogen contamination (E. coli, total coliforms, Vibrio cholera, E. histolytica, Shigella, Salmonella and Campylobacter), nitrate concentrations, and metals, all of which are common contaminants that can have adverse health effects and negatively …

Implementing An Icu-Specific Pressure Injury Prevention Bundle (Skin Safe)To Reduce The Incidence Of Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries In Adult Surgical Intensive Care Unit., Komal Ali

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

PURPOSE

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing an ICU-specific pressure injury prevention bundle (SKIN SAFE) Sto reduce hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) in an adult Surgical ICU.

BACKGROUND

HAPIs remain a major safety concern in critically ill patients. Standardized prevention bundles improve adherence and reduce incidence.

METHODOLOGY

This QI project in a 20-bed Surgical ICU used the PDSA framework to implement the eight-component SKINSAFE bundle. Strategies included staff education, champions, and weekly audits. Data were collected through EMR review, monthly PIP audits for HAPI incidence, and weekly compliance audits.

RESULTS

Pre-intervention data showed two HAPIs …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Mindfulness-Based App To Reduce Stress Among Psychiatric Nurses At A Children’S Hospital, Miracle U. Izevbekhai

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of a mindfulness-based mobile application (Smiling Mind) to reduce perceived stress and emotional exhaustion among psychiatric nurses on an adolescent inpatient unit at a children’s hospital.

Psychiatric nurses experience high levels of stress and burnout, which threaten staff well-being, retention, and patient safety. Brief, app-based mindfulness practices may offer a low-burden strategy to support nurse wellness in high-acuity environments, but real-world uptake and impact are not well described.

Using a pre–post quality improvement design, a convenience sample of 11 nurses enrolled in a 12-week intervention. Nurses …

Promoting Sleep Hygiene In The Intensive Care Unit- Implementation Of A Sleep Bundle, Emma J. Harris

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

Purpose: This quality improvement (QI) project’s purpose was implementation of a sleep bundle for at least 25% of an 18-bed cardiac intensive care unit (ICU) and reduce noise level by 20% (decibels) through education of at least 75% of the patient-care staff 3 months post-implementation.

Background: This quality improvement (QI) project’s purpose was implementation of a sleep bundle for at least 25% of an 18-bed cardiac intensive care unit (ICU) and reduce noise level by 20% (decibels) through education of at least 75% of the patient-care staff 3 months post-implementation.

Methodology: Patients were assessed using the Richard Campbell Sleep Questionnaire …

The Prevention Of Mouth Sores In Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Doxorubicin Using Oral Cryotherapy, Imani Wright

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

PURPOSE

The purpose of the evidence-based project is to implement and evaluate oral cryotherapy to reduce and prevent incidence and severity of chemotherapy-induced mucositis in breast cancer patients receiving Doxorubicin at a large cancer hospital in Southeast Texas.

BACKGROUND

Chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis is a common and painful complication among breast cancer patients receiving Doxorubicin leading to difficulty eating, treatment delays and a decrease in patient satisfaction and adherence to treatment regimen. Despite strong evidence supporting oral cryotherapy, its use is seldomly used in many oncology settings.

METHODOLOGY

A pre- and post- intervention quality improvement design guided by the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) …

Implementation Of An Escape Room Simulation To Decrease Falls In An Inpatient Psychiatric Unit, Natalie J. Ramirez

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

Purpose

This quality improvement project aimed to decrease patient falls by 25% from baseline within three months of implementing an escape room simulation-based fall-prevention training program for registered nurses (RNs) and mental health technicians (MHTs).

Background

The project was implemented in a 23-bed adult inpatient psychiatric unit within a teaching hospital in the Southwest region of the United States.

Methodology

The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) framework guided the implementation of an escape room-style fall-prevention simulation. A total of 70 staff members, consisting of nurses and MHTs, participated in a 15-minute simulation to identify fall hazards in a staged patient room using the …

Mergerepair: An Exploratory Study On Merging Task-Specific Adapters In Code Llms For Automated Program Repair, Meghdad Dehghan, Jie Jw Wu, Fatemeh H. Fard, Ali Ouni

Michigan Tech Publications

Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown high capabilities in several software development-related tasks such as program repair, documentation, code refactoring, debugging, and testing. However, training these models requires massive amount of data and significant computational resources. Adapters are specialized, small modules designed for parameter efficient fine-tuning of LLMs for specific tasks, domains, or applications without requiring extensive retraining of the entire model. These adapters offer a more efficient way to customize LLMs for particular needs, leveraging the pre-existing capabilities of the large model. Model (and adapter) merging have emerged as a technique to develop one model capable of multiple tasks, …

Uncovering The Story Of Sally Maria Johnson: Revealing The History Of The Portrait Of A Painting, Yuanzhen Song

Art Conservation Master's Projects

Portrait of Sally Maria Johnson by the artist James Johnson is a 19^th century oval shaped portrait in the collection of the Buffalo History Museum.  It suffered from structural damages and paint loss resulting from surface alterations and previous restoration campaigns.  This study combines art historical research with scientific analysis to explore both the biography of the subject and the materiality of the painting.  Through local research including historical newspaper articles in Buffalo, the story of Sally Maria Johnson (the wife of Buffalo’s first mayor) was uncovered.  High-resolution imaging techniques were used to document the surface condition and identify …

His 242.C301 – Contemporary European History From The Global South / Third World Perspective, Soheil Asefi

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus for HIS 242: Contemporary European History builds on a course taught in Lehman College’s History Department in 2025 and has been revised for Fall 2027. It approaches European history from the French Revolution to the present through Global South perspectives, emphasizing empire, class struggle, migration, anti-colonial movements, gender, and sexuality. Combining primary sources, scholarship, digital archives, and multimedia, the course encourages historical analysis through discussion and student presentations. Developed through the Open Knowledge Fellowship, this Zero Textbook Cost syllabus brings together open educational resources, open-access materials, and CUNY library resources.

2027-2028 Academic Calendar, Office Of The Registrar, East Tennessee State University

Academic Calendars

No abstract provided.

Implementation Of The Pressure Injury Prevention Care Bundle At A Home Based Hospice Program: A Quality Improvement Project, Adaeze U. Amechi-Fannin

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

Purpose: This Doctor of Nursing Practice project was created to improve the prevention of pressure injuries in hospice patients receiving care through a Home-based Hospice and Palliative program. The project focused on introducing a standard set of care steps (a care bundle), enhancing caregiver education, and tailoring interventions to meet each patient’s unique needs, with the goal of improving overall patient outcomes.

Background: Pressure injuries remain a common and serious problem in hospice care, especially among patients who are immobile or confined to bed. Although effective prevention methods are known, inconsistent use of these methods, limited caregiver training, and poor …

Purification Of Protoporphyrin Ix Using The Fplc, Ken Overway, Laura Narby

Honors Projects

Protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) is the main pigment in brown eggshells, and it is embedded in the shell gland of hens during the final stages of the egg-making process. This natural dye can be used as a substitute for organic sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). One benefit of PPIX is that it is a natural resource and has a high absorption coefficient in the visible and near-infrared region (NIR). Purified PPIX is extremely helpful in dye-sensitized solar cells because it improves electron injection efficiency, can be chemically modified to improve its absorption efficiency, and can be mixed with nanomaterials such …

Avian Influenza And The Approach To Designing An H5n1 Vaccine, Lauren N. Hickey

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The Avian influenza virus (AIV) H5N1 has been responsible for the culling and deaths of millions of birds since 2022 with concern for wildlife, livestock, and human infections occurring as well. With eggs flying off the shelves in grocery stores, even individuals not involved in the agricultural industry have seen the drastic effects of this disease first-hand. For chickens, this virus works quickly and overpowers the innate immune system before the adaptive immune system has time to properly respond. Therefore, a safe and effective vaccine could reduce the number of poultry deaths and prevent the continuous spread of the infection. …

The Impact Of Paid Parental Leave On Maternal And Neonatal Outcomes: France Vs. The United States, Allie Papp, Cecilia Holben, Adrianna Lakota

University Research

The purpose of this systematic review is to compare policies for maternal and paternal leave in France and the United States, to determine how differences in policies may influence or affect overall health outcomes in mothers, neonates, and the family. The PICOT question is, “How does paid parental leave for both parents in France compared to the United States influence maternal, neonatal, and family health outcomes?” France federally mandates paid maternity and paternity leave; however, the United States does not provide, or guarantee paid parental leave at the national level. Methods include a PRISMA (2020) guided literature search of the …

Social Emotional Learning (Sel) For Secondary English Language Learners (Ells), Summer E. Wallace

Honors Projects

This literature review and unit plan seeks to understand what Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is and provide resources to educators on its importance in the classroom. The literature review provides an overview of peer-reviewed sources from various educational journals, as well as online publications. It also contains interviews with two educators currently in the field. This project examines the benefits of SEL within the classroom and beyond, and proposes steps and considerations for implementing SEL into the classroom. It also includes specific provisions for SEL instruction to secondary English Language Learners (ELLs). Additionally, it discusses specific strategies to implement in …

Political Uncertainty And Firm-Level Stock Market Reactions In The United States, Nozomi Tanaka

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Political uncertainty has become an increasingly important feature of the global economy, with major geopolitical events often triggering rapid reactions in financial markets. This study examines how geopolitical shocks affect firm-level stock market performance in the United States. Using an event study framework, the analysis evaluates cumulative returns and stock return volatility for fourteen publicly traded firms across nine major geopolitical events between 2016 and 2022, including the Brexit referendum, the U.S.–China trade war, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia–Ukraine war.

The results indicate that most firms experienced negative abnormal returns around geopolitical events, suggesting that political uncertainty is generally …

Ai Failures In The Eyes Of The Downstream Developer: A First Look At Concerns, Practices, And Challenges, Haoyu Gao, Mansooreh Zahedi, Wenxin Jiang, Hong Yi Lin, James C. Davis, Christoph Treude

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With the advancement of AI models, more software systems are adopting AI as a component to facilitate automation. Pre-trained models (PTMs) have become a cornerstone of AI-based software, allowing for rapid integration and development with lower training cost. However, their adoption also introduces failure modes such as data leakage and biased outputs, that may require careful handling by downstream developers. While previous research has proposed taxonomies of these technical concerns and various mitigation strategies, how downstream developers address these issues during the development of general AI-based software when reusing PTMs remains unexplored. Understanding downstream developers’ perspectives is essential because they …

Computational Modeling Of Crack-Tip Fields In Transversely Isotropic Strain-Limiting Solids Subjected To Piecewise Linear Slope Loads, S. M. Mallikarjunaiah, Saugata Ghosh, Dambaru Bhatta

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

Crack-tip fields within a transversely isotropic strain-limiting elastic body are investigated under the influence of piecewise linear slope boundary loads. The mechanical response is characterized via a nonlinear constitutive framework relating the Cauchy stress to the linearized strain, by which non-physical strain singularities at the crack tip are eliminated. The governing system is formulated as a quasi-linear elliptic boundary value problem in terms of the displacement field and is solved utilizing a continuous Galerkin finite element method coupled with a Picard linearization scheme. Boundary conditions are prescribed such that the vertical displacement varies piecewise linearly along the top and bottom …

A Hands-On Lab On Agentic Scientific Discovery For Time Series With The Model Context Protocol, Dhaval Patel, Miaomiao Feng, Chathurangi Shyalika, Shuxin Lin, Hasnat Md. Abdullah

Publications

Agentic AI offers new opportunities to accelerate scientific discovery for time series by enabling autonomous systems to inspect data, formulate hypotheses, compose experiments, and refine models based on empirical evidence. However, building agents that make sound modeling decisions requires more than connecting a language model to forecasting tools. Key challenges include exposing large model catalogues without overwhelming the agent, grounding parameter choices in data characteristics, supporting iterative experimentation, and evaluating the quality of the reasoning behind each decision.

This hands-on lab introduces participants to agentic scientific discovery for time series using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Through five interactive sprints, …

Determinants Of Panic Buying And Cognitive Dissonance During Economic Crisis: Evidence From The Marketing Environment In Egypt., Hossam A. Deraz (Phd), Marwa Mahmoud (Phd)

Business Administration

This study examines panic buying during Egypt’s economic crisis, such as currency devaluation, rising inflation, and product shortages. This study integrates the scarcity principle, reactance theory, and cognitive dissonance theory to create and assess a new framework designed to investigate how both cognitive factors (such as risk perception and future orientation) and economic factors (such as product unavailability/scarcity and consumption shift) directly and indirectly influence panic buying through the mediating influence of price consciousness. Moreover, the article examines how panic buying may influence cognitive dissonance. A total number of 423 Egyptian consumers were surveyed via an online questionnaire. The structural …

Stemmed Versus Stemless Humeral Implants In Anatomic Total Shoulder Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Vincent M. Dieu, Troy B. Puga, Tanner Haechten, Mckenna W. Box, Kyle P. O'Connor, Brandon Levy, John T. Riehl

Student Publications

Background: A recent advancement in anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (aTSA) has been the development of stemless humeral implants The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to compare outcomes of traditional stemmed humeral implants (S+) and stemless humeral implants (S-) in aTSA.
Methods: A search was conducted across 7 databases. Titles and abstracts were screened for eligibility. Full texts were screened for inclusion. Demographic and study results were extracted from articles that met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate outcomes.
Results: Twenty-one studies were included, of which 19 met the inclusion criteria for meta-analysis. …

Bridging The Gap Between Career Expectations Versus Labor Market Realities, Reinette P. Madrid, Grethel T. Ledesma, Ignatius Aryono Putranto, Jyro B. Triviño

Leadership and Strategy Faculty Publications

Most students lack awareness regarding the labor market outcomes for their chosen college majors. This study aims to answer what factors affect the career expectations of graduating students at Quezon City University and how these expectations align with the prevailing labor market situation. It employed descriptive, causal, and explanatory research using a sample of 108 respondents from fourth-year information technology students for the school year 2021 to 2022. Eight of the nine null hypotheses were rejected by employing multinomial logistic and linear regression. Student fixed effects and other labor market outcomes significantly predicted salary, estimated stability, and estimated skills in …

The Contractual Womb: U.S. Surrogacy Reform Through A Federal Bioethical Framework, Yasmine A. Quinones

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Crc Station: Improving Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates In Primary Care, Kathryn Nanji

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

Purpose: To improve colorectal cancer (CRC) screening completion rates among eligible patients at a primary care clinic, located in Houston, Texas, by optimizing the medical assistant (MA) workflow and addressing systemic and patient-level barriers.

Background: The project site is a Federally Qualified Health Center that provides comprehensive and inclusive care to diverse and underserved populations, including those with low income, living with HIV/AIDS, experiencing homelessness, and uninsured. Despite the availability of non-invasive screening methods like the fecal immunochemical test (FIT), CRC screening rates remain suboptimal due to workflow inefficiencies, patient barriers, and inconsistent follow-up.

Methodology: A multifactorial intervention was implemented …

Community College Librarian Needs Assessment: Academic Status And Research Interest, Christine (Mi-Seon) Kim, Stephanie Delano Davis

Publications and Research

This pilot study explores the results of the Spring 2023, “Needs Survey for Community College Librarians” conducted by the Community and Junior College Libraries Section (CJCLS).  CJCLS is a section of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). One hundred and seventeen individuals participated in the survey. The survey asked community college librarians about their academic employment status and publication requirements, their interest in research, and the support for research available to them at their institutions. The key findings of this research show a broad range of academic status classification among …

Addressing The Challenges Of Cognitive Decline In The Physician Workforce, Sharona Hoffman

Faculty Publications

This book chapter examines the growing challenge of cognitive decline among aging physicians and analyzes various approaches to addressing it. In 2024, twenty percent of working physicians were sixty-five or older, and evidence suggests that 12-14% of older clinicians have cognitive deficits that may affect job performance. The chapter evaluates two primary approaches to cognitive assessment: employer-initiated programs and programs operated by state medical boards. Employer "late career practitioner policies" (LCPP) that require older physicians to undergo testing are becoming increasingly popular among health care organizations. But they are vulnerable to challenge under disability and age discrimination laws, as evidenced …

Hearsay In High Definition: Body-Worn Cameras And The Future Of Intimate Partner Violence Prosecutions, Kenechukwu Okocha

Working Papers

Technological advances in documenting police encounters with the public have outpaced evidentiary hearsay rules. Specifically, the rapid adoption of body-worn cameras (BWCs), fueled by racial justice and police reform advocates, has produced previously unavailable, vivid, and timely recordings of IPV victims’ accounts of abuse. Unfortunately, state and federal rules governing hearsay often prevent juries from considering these out-of-court statements. Such restrictions carry particular force in IPV cases, where victims frequently recant or decline to testify at trial due to abuser manipulation or distrust of the criminal justice system.

Courts and legislatures have eased some evidentiary restrictions in IPV cases in …

From Global Governance To Regulatory Retreat: The Csddd, Fashion Supply Chains, And The Limits Of Eu Supply Chain Ambition After Omnibus I, Cienna Alam

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Major League Baseball’S Grand Slam: The History Of The Game, The Present Antitrust Exemption, And The Future Of Baseball Governance, Brenda Delgadillo Mera

Student Works

No abstract provided.