Digital Commons Network^™

Baseline Nutrition Knowledge And Feasibility Of A Whatsapp-Delivered Nutrition Education Intervention Among California Wildland-Urban Interface Firefighters, Lauren E. Anderson

Master's Theses

Wildland firefighters perform physically demanding work under challenging environmental conditions that place substantial demands on nutritional health and occupational performance. Despite the importance of nutrition in supporting physical performance, recovery, and long-term health, limited research has examined nutrition knowledge and dietary behaviors among California wildland firefighters or evaluated the feasibility of remotely delivered nutrition education interventions within this occupational population. Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study was to assess baseline nutrition knowledge, nutrition self-efficacy, and dietary behaviors while evaluating the feasibility of a 12-week WhatsApp-delivered nutrition education intervention among California wildland firefighters.

Twenty-four firefighters completed the baseline assessment and …

Hyperchaotic Noise Generation For Adversarial Encryption In Privacy-Preserving Image Classification, Neeraja Beesetti

Master's Theses

Artificial intelligence systems make useful predictions by taking in data and returning a classification, recommendation, or decision. Obtaining that prediction, however, requires sharing the data first. This creates a fundamental privacy challenge in machine learning: users must expose their data to receive a valuable prediction. Machine learning systems increasingly rely on cloud-based image classification for this reason, transmitting images from edge devices to remote servers rather than running large models locally. This creates a conflict between the accuracy a classifier requires and the privacy a data owner wants. Traditional encryption destroys the image structure on which a classifier depends, while …

The Internet Did This To Me: Forms, Consequences, And Coping Strategies Of Cyberbullying, Isaac Oppong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined self-reported cyberbullying experiences recounted in a subreddit (r/cyberbullying) to identify forms of cyberbullying, its effects, and ways to cope with it. The findings indicate that there are several types of cyberbullying, such as verbal aggression, deceptive manipulation, privacy invasion, and coercive control. These experiences led to emotional, social, and behavioral consequences, including fear, anxiety, withdrawal, and decreased online activity. Based on concepts from Social Information Processing theory and Symbolic Interactionism, this study reveals how cyberbullying can produce the same or similar consequences as traditional bullying. People experienced disturbances in their self-presentation, contended with spoiled identities, and dealt …

Educator Experiences Of Schoolwide Pbis Discipline Implementation: Exploring School Culture In Private Pk–12 Schools, Jessica L. Guarneri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore educators’ lived experiences implementing schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) discipline systems and to understand how those experiences influenced school culture in private PK–12 schools. Historically, PBIS focused on specific outcomes, such as reductions in discipline referrals, suspensions, and behavioral incidents. Though these indicators are critical, they do not consider in what way educators experience disciplinary systems, nor how their lived experiences affect routine interactions with students. Educators play a key role in implementing PBIS; their experiences foster consistency, trust, and sustainability. The participants included certified educators and administrators employed …

Bridging The Gap: Educator Experiences Supporting Students During The Transition From Middle To High School, Sarah Little

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to examine the lived experiences of middle and high school educators supporting students during the transition from middle to high school. This study contributes to the literature of middle to high school transition practices by focusing on districts with a single high school and two middle schools. Coherence Theory was the primary framework for understanding how transition systems function in practice, while Transition Theory and Constructivism provided a supporting lens to provide further context to ground the research in analysis of organizational, developmental, and cognitive alignment.

Data collection strategies included one-on-one semi-structured …

A Qualitative Examination Of Tennessee Secondary Stem Teachers’ Perceptions On Professional Development Needs, Amber W. Ogle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to research secondary STEM educators’ perceptions of PD needs. This study focused on the lived experiences of educators actively teaching in STEM subject disciplines in grades nine through 12. The essential question for this research study was: How do Tennessee secondary STEM teachers perceive the relevance, applicability, and impact of PD opportunities? The research was rooted in Knowles’ (1984) theory of adult learning, Andragogy, and Learning Forward’s (2022) Standards for Professional Learning.

Data were collected through 15 semi-structured, one-on-one online interviews. The transcripts of these interviews were analyzed, and frequently used language …

Analyzing The Effects Of Biodegradable Plastic Fragments On Maize Development And Defense Signaling, Ulysses Hampton

Theses

As plastic use shifts from non-degradable to biodegradable materials, the effects of biodegradable plastic fragments on crop physiology remain unclear. This study investigated how biodegradable plastic fragments influence maize development, transpiration, and defense signaling. Among five plastic types tested, poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), polycaprolactone (PCL), polylactic acid (PLA), and thermoplastic starch (TPS). PBAT and TPS showed the most significant effects and were selected for further oxylipin analysis. Results indicate that biodegradable plastic fragments can alter oxylipin signaling pathways in subtle but meaningful ways, suggesting that these materials are not inherently risk-free alternatives to conventional plastics.

Personalization And Generalization In Machine Learning For Affective Ai, Rajesh Titung

Theses

Human emotional communication involves subtle, low-intensity, and context-dependent expressions influenced by sociocultural and interpersonal factors. Their inherent ambiguity and variability create heterogeneous data distributions, making affective phenomena difficult to model in naturalistic settings where expressions differ from exaggerated affect behaviors in acted environments. Affective AI faces the fundamental challenge of balancing personalization, which captures individual nuances, with generalization, which ensures robustness of affective AI systems across individuals. Traditional centralized models emphasizing generalization often fail to capture fine-grained expressive heterogeneity, while fully personalized models improve system performance for individuals but lack transferability and robustness. The central task is thus to develop …

Design Of A Continuum Robot Test Bed Utilizing Model-Free Sliding Mode Control, Joseph Paul Streib

Theses

Continuum robots are a class of continually deformable robots inspired by snakes and tentacles that are commonly used in medical, search and rescue, and exploration applications. The robots are highly nonlinear and difficult to accurately model and control. Precise control of the pose of a continuum robot is typically reliant upon a system model. This work introduces a novel model free control algorithm for continuum robots that only relies upon the robot’s position in task space. The derived controller is built upon the foundation of a preexisting model free sliding mode controller and the q-state parameterized piecewise constant curvature kinematic …

An Adaptive Wide Current-Load Range Capacitor-Less Ldo With Ultra-Low Power, Will Wright

Theses

Power management circuits are the foundation of any electrical system. They are designed to provide the current necessary for systems to function while keeping the supply voltage constant regardless of operating conditions or external disturbances such as changes in temperature. In modern Systems on Chips (SOC) targeted towards bio-sensing and Internet of Things (IoT) severe constraints appear on the systems level in terms of area and available power. External passive components are very expensive due to the premium of area and the circuits need to use as little power as possible to extend battery life. Traditional Low DropOut regulators (LDOs) …

Poppies In Bloom: Gathering Galaxies From Jwst Parallel Fields, Anika Kumar

Theses

A major goal of extragalactic astrophysics is connecting the Big Bang to the present by under- standing the evolution of star formation (SF) across cosmic time. The correlation between SF and the stellar mass buildup in galaxies, or the star forming main sequence relation (SFMS), highlights the various mechanisms that drive galaxy evolution. Deviations like quiescent galaxies, which have ceased forming stars, and starburst galaxies, which undergo an exceptionally high rate of SF compared to their normal star formation histories (SFH), offer key clues to the catalysts of galaxy evolution (e.g., mergers, gas accretion, supernovae feedback). Our understanding of early …

Engineering Materials Function With Reconfigurable Colloids, Laura Galeano Tirado

Theses

The function of a material is defined not only by its chemical composition, but also by the structural organization of its constituents across multiple length scales, from the architecture of individual building blocks to their collective arrangement. Developing strategies to access, engineer, and reconfigure that structure on demand represents a central opportunity in the design of adaptive materials. Here, we present a thermoresponsive polymer-colloid platform that enables high-precision tuning of colloidal structures using only thermal stimuli. Rather than adsorbing to the surface, our polymers diffuse inside organosilica colloids to reshape them from within, allowing continuous modulation of their size, shape, …

Characterizing Heavy Water Displacement In Molecular Sieve Drying Beds For Practical Trace Tritium Capture Methods, Brandon M. Massett

Theses

Tritium plays a crucial role in nuclear fusion power plant designs, and adsorption beds are essential tools for managing tritiated water vapor. A series of tests was performed to investigate whether a saturated adsorption bed preferentially adsorbs heavy water vapor. The design of passive tritium control systems could potentially rely on adsorption beds preferentially trapping heavier isotopologues of water. This work investigates the displacement phenomenon and the effects of carrier gas superficial velocity on bed performance. Significant displacement was observed when a humid stream containing heavy water was diverted through a bed pre-saturated with light water, as indicated by changes …

Semiconductor Laser Calibration Through Photonic Chip With Microcontroller Driven Wavelength Inference, Clayton Acheson

Theses

Integrated Silicon Photonics leverages light-speed operation with lower power and higher data rates than electronic counterparts. To achieve this, light is sent through a silicon circuit, where it is manipulated to perform various operations. Primarily, the light for these circuits comes from laser sources. Semiconductor lasers are typically used for their small form factor and ability to be heterogeneously integrated into larger, more complex systems. Because the optical phase and wavelength of light respond to minute changes in local refractive index, light is increasingly used for high-sensitivity sensing in integrated photonic circuit applications. As such, schemes that integrate the laser …

A Scalable And Physically Interpretable Machine Learning Approach To Analyzing Agn Spectra, Liza Maria Matrecito Salcedo

Theses

The broad-line region (BLR) is a sub-parsec region in an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) where dense, optically thick gas clouds produce broad emission lines (BELs). BELs are important probes of physical processes near the central supermassive black hole (SMBH); however, a complete understanding of the BLR’s structure and dynamics remains lacking. The observed diversity in BEL profile shapes suggests substantial differences in BLR properties across AGN. The availability of large-scale spectroscopic databases provides a valuable opportunity to systematically study these properties in large samples of AGN. They also offer the opportunity to identify rare but important systems, such as SMBH …

Beyond Conventional Construction A Sustainability Assessment Of 3d-Printed Concrete For Multi-Family Housing, Jennifer Candelier

Theses

The construction industry continues to face significant challenges, including labor shortages, increasing housing demand, rising material costs, and pressure to reduce environmental impacts. Three-dimensional printed concrete (3DPC) has emerged as a potential alternative to conventional construction methods by improving automation, material efficiency, and construction productivity. However, existing research has focused primarily on single-family applications, leaving limited understanding of its feasibility for multi-family residential construction. This study evaluates whether 3D printed concrete can become a standardized construction method for multi-family residential buildings by comparing it with conventional concrete masonry unit (CMU) construction. A comparative, performance-based methodology was developed using two equivalent …

The Interactions That Shape Us: An Investigation Of The Supernova Engine’S Effect On Bbh Mergers, And Of Stellar Encounters In The Disks Of Active Galactic Nuclei, Zoe A. Rosenberg

Theses

Mergers and other close interactions between astrophysical objects such as black holes and stars are powerful and energetic occurrences, capable of creating heavy elements, forming intriguing remnants, and shaping the populations of stars and compact objects around them. In this thesis, we describe two studies which examine two types of close gravitational events: isolated binary black hole mergers and dynamic stellar interactions in a dense environment. For our first study, we investigate how modifying the speed of convection in the engine behind core-collapse supernova explosions affects the population of merging binary black holes. To get an accurate picture of this …

Puzzles & Frames: Exploring Motion Graphics In Thriller Movie Poster Design, Xingyu Xiao

Theses

This thesis explores how motion graphics can expand the role of traditional movie posters and create more engaging visual communication experiences. The project began with an observation that static posters displayed in busy campus environments can easily be overlooked. This led to the central question of how motion graphics can make traditional movie posters more visually engaging and effective in campus environments. To investigate this question, I developed a series of dynamic thriller movie posters that combine traditional graphic design elements—including typography, composition, imagery, abstraction, and visual hierarchy—with motion. The design process developed through several stages of experimentation. Early studies …

Comparing Initial Data For Binary Neutron Star Mergers With Different Equations Of State, Aarati Nandre

Theses

Binary neutron star (BNS) mergers are an important tool for studying nuclear matter at extreme densities inaccessible to laboratory experiments. The equation of state (EOS) of this nuclear matter affects the inspiral dynamics, remnant properties, and the resulting gravitational-wave signal, but remains only weakly constrained at supranuclear densities. The observation of  GW170817 provided observational constraints on the EOS and established multimessenger astrophysics as a probe of dense matter. Simulating BNS mergers across a range of EOSs and comparing the resulting observables against detections helps narrowing this uncertainty further, and is the broader motivation for this thesis. General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations …

Beyond The Binary: The Intersection Of Substance Use And Lgbtq+ Identity, Allyana Musa

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Substance use among LGBTQ+ youth remains a significant public health concern, with rates of alcohol, marijuana, and other substance use consistently exceeding those of their heterosexual peers. This systematized review examines the literature on substance use interventions for LGBTQ+ youth, with a focus on identifying the program components and theoretical orientations associated with effective and affirming outcomes. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search of ERIC and PsycINFO was conducted to identify peer-reviewed studies published between 2016 and 2026 that addressed substance use among LGBTQ+ youth. Eligible studies included quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, and conceptual research examining substance use, risk and …

A Systematized Review Of Parent Experiences With Special Education Placement In Rural Communities, Madeline Bishop

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Parents of children enrolled in special education programs often face unique challenges, particularly in rural settings where access to resources and communication with school personnel can be limited. This systematized review explores how rural school systems can best support parents during the special education process. A systematized review of articles published between 2005 and 2025 was conducted. A thematic analysis of 20 articles revealed 3 themes following the review: benefits and barriers to rural special education, professional relationships, and parents’ strain and appreciation. Overall findings highlight the importance of the experiences between parents and school personnel regarding special education. Limited …

Finding Balance: School-Based Yoga Interventions And Their Alignment Within Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support, Ursula Vogt

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

School-based interventions that support emotional regulation and student well-being are increasingly emphasized within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). Yoga has emerged as a potential school-based practice; however, its outcomes, alignment with MTSS frameworks, and implementation characteristics remain unclear. This systematized review examined (a) psychological, emotional, and behavioral outcomes associated with school-based yoga interventions, (b) their alignment with Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports, and (c) implementation characteristics that support feasibility in school settings. A systematic search identified 21 U.S.-based studies, which were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings indicated that yoga interventions were associated with improvements in emotional regulation, stress and …

Supporting Every Student: Optimizing School-Based Mental Health Services For Students With Intellectual Disabilities, Sarah K. Eggleston

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Youth with intellectual disabilities (ID) are at considerably greater risk of developing mental health problems compared with the general population; however, their needs are less likely to be identified, and they often face barriers to accessing quality mental health care. School-based mental health professionals (SBMHPs) are uniquely positioned to support students within their natural learning environments, where many common barriers to service provision have been removed. The present study examined the current state of practice among SBMHPs in Virginia in identifying and supporting the needs of students with ID, as well as SBMHPs’ training experiences. An online cross-sectional, mixed-methods survey …

Students With Borderline Intellectual Functioning: Dropping The Label And Reducing The ‘Line’, Samantha M. Sitzman

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Students with Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF) often experience significant academic and social-emotional difficulties while remaining ineligible for many formal special education services, creating challenges in identifying and supporting this population within school settings. This convergent mixed methods study examined school psychologists’ perspectives regarding the challenges experienced by students with BIF, the interventions commonly used to support them, and the systemic barriers associated with service delivery. Twenty-two practicing school psychologists in Virginia completed a researcher-developed survey containing quantitative and qualitative items. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and qualitative responses were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Findings indicated that school psychologists …

An Examination Of Leadership Approaches In Alcoholics Anonymous As Perceived By Its Members, Kelly J. Shaw

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This research analyzed leadership dynamics within Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), a 12-step recovery group that operates without traditional organizational structures. Although AA's Ninth Tradition emphasizes minimal formal organization, it allows the formation of service boards and committees. This contradiction raises questions about how AA functions effectively without a clearly defined leadership model. Using a qualitative approach, this study aimed to identify the type of leadership present within AA and explore its impact on maintaining sobriety. Additionally, the study examined AA members' perceptions of leadership and how leadership is reflected in the organization's practices. Applying the six-phase reflexive thematic analysis by (2006), …

The True Scope Of Trusting Your Gut: A Study Into The Enteric Nervous System And The Relationship Between The Gut-Brain Axis And The Mind, Bryan Pham

Theses & ETDs

Since the early days of medicine, the “gut” had been associated as a seat of emotions and intuition, but as modern science marched forward, the brain itself was given complete dominion over mental health. But thanks to research into the enteric nervous system (ENS), which innervates the digestive tract and bilaterally communicates with the brain as a secondary function, we now know that, in a sense, the gut does indeed have a substantial impact on mental health outside of its primary functions. This profound discovery could potentially cause a massive rewrite for decades of modern neuroscience-based medicine. Overall, the study …

Student Study Teams For Child Find: Identifying Barriers In A Rural School District, Malynda Ivory

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This project explores the challenges associated with the teacher referral process for students at risk of academic and behavior difficulties in a rural school. The Student Study Team (SST) plays an important role in identifying and supporting students; yet, teacher engagement with the referral process is inconsistent in my K-4 school. Teacher participation in our school is low.  Referrals mostly occur after parent-teacher conferences, and teacher participation in the lower grades (K-2) is noticeably lower than referrals from our 3^rd and 4^th grade teachers. Many factors, including limited understanding of the SST’s purpose, time constraints, and perceived effectiveness …

Graph-Based Machine Learning For Multivariate Time Series Prediction In Scientific Domains: Streamflow Forecasting And Solar Flare Prediction, Kishore Ragul Alagarsamy

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Machine learning methods applied to multivariate time series data have emerged as powerful tools across a range of scientific domains. This report examines two distinct application areas in which such methods yield actionable predictive insights: hydrological streamflow forecasting and solar flare prediction in space weather.

In the domain of streamflow forecasting, a Two-Graph Spatio-Temporal Graph Neural Network (Two-Graph STGNN) was developed to predict river discharge across a 20-station network in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The architecture separates hydrological and meteorological feature streams into two complementary graph representations and fuses them through a learned attention mechanism. Systematic evaluation across 23 …

Criticality In A Heterogeneous Neutron Transport Rod Model, Samuel Kaleb Crowford

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This work studies the stochastic behavior of neutron populations in a one-dimensional rod model using Monte Carlo simulation. The first part of this project reproduces the computational results of Dumonteil, Horton, Kyprianou, and Zoia (2025) by independently implementing the Monte Carlo algorithm described in their article, with the asymptotic behavior of the first moment analyzed in relation to the dominant eigenvalue and adjoint eigenfunction of the neutron transport operator. The model is then extended to a heterogeneous setting by introducing a central region where fission is suppressed. A global expectation over initial positions and directions is used to estimate the …

The Extension Of The Arbitration Clause To Non-Signatories In Qatar's Construction Arbitration: A Study Under Law No. 2 Of 2017, Nazir Hasen Ikhlayel

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines whether an arbitration clause in a construction contract governed by Qatar Arbitration Law No. 2 of 2017 can be extended to a non-signatory party. The study addresses a problem that arises in major construction projects, in which employers, main contractors, subcontractors, consultants, and suppliers are linked by separate yet interdependent contracts. At the same time, arbitration remains structured around bilateral consent.

The importance of the study lies in its relevance to Qatar’s legal and economic development. Qatar’s major infrastructure projects, including those accelerated by the 2022 FIFA World Cup and those continuing under Qatar National Vision 2030, …