Digital Commons Network^™

Dementia De-Escalation Staff Education Program, Gretchan Edwards

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), including agitation and aggression, present significant challenges in acute care settings and contribute to increased staff injury risk and inconsistent patient care. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to evaluate the impact of a structured dementia de-escalation education program on staff knowledge, confidence, and perceived ability to manage dementia-related behaviors. The guiding PICOT question asked: In acute care staff, how does participation in a structured de-escalation training program that incorporates environmental modifications and organizational support, compared with no formal de-escalation training, affect staff knowledge, confidence, and perceived impact …

Health Awareness And Relative Energy Deficiency In Ultra-Endurance Female Athletes, Myshel Rodenbeck

Doctorate in Kinesiology

Ultra-endurance (UE) participation among female athletes has increased substantially, yet research examining health awareness and physiological risk in this population remains limited. Excessive training combined with inadequate energy intake places ultra-endurance female athletes at elevated risk for the Female Athlete Triad (FAT) and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), both driven primarily by chronic low energy availability (LEA) and associated with menstrual dysfunction, impaired bone health, metabolic disturbances, and reduced performance.

This mixed-methods, cross-sectional study examined awareness of overall health, fueling behaviors, menstrual health, and recognition of FAT and RED-S among ultra-endurance female athletes over 25 years of age. Participants …

Education To Increase Students’ Knowledge, Perceptions, And Interest In Occupational Therapy, Brooke Hineman

Capstone Projects

In response to the declining program fill rates across all levels of occupational therapy (OT) education, this Doctoral Capstone Experience (DCE) aimed to promote the field through development of informational resources and delivery of educational sessions for high school and undergraduate students. The primary objective was to foster deeper understanding, accurate perceptions, and career interest among participants. A thorough literature review and needs assessment exploring current OT knowledge, promotion efforts, student characteristics, and underrepresented groups revealed a need for intentional education to address gaps in student knowledge regarding the field of OT among all students, especially those without exposure to …

Advocacy, Outreach, And Expansion Of The Michigan Occupational Therapy Association Mental Health Special Interest Section, Isabel Evola

Capstone Projects

The history of occupational therapy (OT) is rooted in supporting mental health, emerging in the United States during World War I. Over time, the practice of OT has evolved in its scope and emerging specialties. The role of OT in mental health is underutilized and misunderstood by professional organizations. However, OT remains a vital service in supporting mental health in psychiatric and non-psychiatric settings. The focus of this doctoral capstone experience (DCE) was to address this gap by advocating for the presence and understanding of OT in mental health through the expansion of the Michigan Occupational Therapy Association (MiOTA) Mental …

Refreshing Recess: An Every Moment Counts Initiative For Engaging Recess Participation, Paige Kuhn

Capstone Projects

Research supports the role of occupational therapy (OT) in school-based mental health promotion and the use of occupation-based interventions to enhance student participation, social-emotional learning, and self-regulation. However, there is limited evidence on the implementation of Every Moment Counts (EMC): Refreshing Recess in elementary school settings, particularly when adapted to real-world contexts. The focus of this doctoral capstone experience (DCE) was to address this gap through the development and implementation of an adapted recess-based program at Douglas Elementary School in Douglas, Michigan.

This project involved implementing a six-week Refreshing Recess program designed to promote inclusive play, peer interaction, and emotional …

Strengthening Leadership And Expanding Engagement: Enhancing Volunteer, Participant, And Donor Involvement In Michigan Victory Games, Abbey Smith

Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone experience (DCE) addressed organizational development and community engagement within the Michigan Disability Sports Alliance (MiDSA), an adaptive sports nonprofit serving individuals with physical disabilities. The project is relevant to occupational therapy (OT) through its focus on promoting participation, health, and inclusion in meaningful occupations such as sport. A key gap identified was the lack of structured resources to support leadership, inconsistent outreach methods, and limited strategies to reduce barriers for participants, volunteers, and donors.

The objectives of this DCE included developing a centralized data management portal, creating a standardized community outreach presentation, establishing clear board role frameworks, …

Our Stories: Black Parents’ Experiences At K-12 Predominantly White Institutions, Jason Thompson

Dissertations

Black parents of Black children attending K–12 predominantly White institutions (PWIs) often experience stress as they navigate school environments where they may be perceived as uninterested, combative, or “token” members of the school community. These deficit-based perceptions can cause Black parents to limit school interactions, question whether their perspectives will be valued, and develop distrust toward school personnel. Although research has examined Black students’ experiences in PWIs, fewer qualitative studies have centered on Black parents’ stories. Capturing these experiences in parents’ own words helps challenge harmful stereotypes and offers schools, especially school counselors, deeper insight into strengthening relationships with Black …

Developmental Underpinnings Of The Other Race Effect Using Fmri, Aquilla Denise Copeland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

It is well established that perceptual experience with own-race faces is associated with faster and more accurate recognition of own-race compared to other-race faces — a phenomenon known as the other-race effect (ORE). Previous fMRI research has shown that adults generally exhibit more robust face-sensitive responses than children in the core face-processing areas, especially to own-race versus other-race faces. Although much is known about the neural underpinnings of the ORE in adults, little is known about this phenomenon in children. The present experiment aimed to examine face-sensitive fusiform and occipital regions in 8- to 10-year-olds and adults as they engaged …

Toward A Horizonal "I": The Infinite Subject In William Wordsworth's The Prelude, Gabriella Lee Schwartz

Theses and Dissertations

In an 1805 letter to Sir George Beaumont describing his autobiographical poem The Prelude, William Wordsworth remarked that it was "a thing unprecedented in literary history that a man should talk so much about himself." Since then, critics have only affirmed Wordsworth's reputation as a poet, if not the poet, of selfhood and consciousness. Perhaps the most renowned scholarship on Wordsworthian subjectivity was produced by the so-called "Yale School" of the late twentieth century, as J. Hillis Miller, Harold Bloom, Geoffrey Hartman, and Paul de Man all published influential works on the topic. The latter two staked out stances on …

Evaluating Measurement Invariance Frameworks: A Comparison Of Mg-Cfa, Alignment Optimization, & Bayesian Approximate Measurement Invariance Using The Brigham Young University Counseling And Psychological Services Client Satisfaction Survey, Heidi Lula Lindsey

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers must establish measurement invariance (MI) before comparing latent constructs across groups to ensure construct validity. However, traditional multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA) may impose overly strict equality constraints in applied settings. Alternative MI frameworks are less familiar to researchers, which limits their use. This study compares MG-CFA, alignment optimization (AO), and Bayesian approximate measurement invariance (BAMI) using archival data from the Brigham Young University Counseling and Psychological Services Client Satisfaction Survey (N = 1,278). Participants completed an exit survey after receiving individual (n = 1,063), couple (n = 83), or group (n = 132) therapy, answering 16 five-point Likert …

Unseen, Unheard, Uninvited: Black Fathers And School Access In Redeveloped Spaces, James Dejong Alexander

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Abstract This qualitative study examined how three Black fathers in South Memphis's Foote Park/Foote Homes redevelopment area navigated school access for their children amid community displacement. Rooted in Community Cultural Wealth Theory (Yosso, 2005), which highlights the diverse forms of capital—aspirational, navigational, social, linguistic, familial, and resistant—that communities of color possess but are often overlooked by mainstream institutions, the research focused on three individuals: Mister Miles, Mister Otis, and Mister Langston. These pseudonyms honor Miles Davis, Otis Kaye, and Langston Hughes and position the fathers as holders of valuable community wealth whose educational navigation experiences constitute legitimate knowledge. Documentary sources …

Enhancing The Well-Being Of Refugees With Disabilities Through Equitable Access To Essential Services: A Participatory Qualitative Study In The United States, Mustafa Rfat

Brown School Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Access to services for refugees with disabilities (RwDs) is critically important for improving their well-being and enhancing their integration. This population often faces prolonged exclusion that begins in their country of origin and often continues to worsen during displacement, leading to accumulated disparities. Because the United States (U.S.) refugee program is structured around rapid employment, refugees who do not fit the fast-track employment criteria are often left behind. RwDs are often considered unemployable, which automatically shifts resources and services away from them. Abandoning RwDs during the critical period of resettlement puts them at heightened risk of increased and long-term exclusion. …

Update Mechanisms In Event Models: Boundary Effects And Dimensional Influences, Xing Su

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

People construct working event models to comprehend dynamic, multimodal information such as movies and narratives, but how these models update remains debated. Two mechanisms have been proposed: incremental updating, which selectively modifies specific dimensions while preserving others, and global updating, which discards the existing model entirely to construct a new one. This dissertation investigated how event boundaries influence which updating mechanism people employ. Across two experiments, participants read narratives about everyday activities while we measured recognition memory response times and self-paced reading times. Participants also completed event segmentation tasks to identify perceived boundaries. Results revealed a consistent dissociation opposite to …

Tracing The Milky Way’S Evolution Through Its Star-Planet Systems, Rayna Rampalli

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

From individual planetary systems to the Milky Way's structure, stars are the linchpin connecting astrophysical scales. Through three complementary projects, my thesis leverages these connections and large stellar surveys to offer insight into the Galaxy's dynamical and chemical history and its role in shaping planet formation and evolution. (I) I developed Protify, an automated pipeline to measure stellar rotation periods in TESS light curves, enabling rotation-based ages for thousands of stars. Applying it to overdensities of stars in eccentric Galactic orbits, thought to be post-resonant signatures of spiral arm passages, revealed unexpectedly young rotators in dynamically old populations. Because such …

Quantum Simulation And Nanoscale Sensing Of Many-Body Phenomena With Solid-State Spin Defects, Guanghui He

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Emergent phenomena in interacting quantum systems arise from collective behavior that cannot be reduced to single-particle physics. Understanding these phenomena requires platforms capable of both synthesizing many-body states under controlled conditions and probing them at the microscopic scale where correlations originate. Solid-state spin defects, including nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond and negatively charged boron vacancy centers in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), offer precisely this dual capability. In the first part of this dissertation, a strongly interacting NV ensemble is subjected to periodic and quasi-periodic drives to access a long-lived prethermal regime and realize a discrete time quasicrystal (DTQC). In the …

Unraveling The Role Of The C-Terminal Intrinsically Disordered Linker In The Bacterial Cell Division Protein Ftsz, Jessica Louise Bullock

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

FtsZ is a highly conserved cytoskeletal protein that is essential for organizing the cell division machinery in bacteria. The first observable step in cytokinesis, FtsZ forms a ring at the future division site. The FtsZ ring serves as a platform for recruitment of other division proteins. FtsZ has three major domains: a tubulin-like GTP binding core domain, an intrinsically disordered C-terminal linker (CTL), and a conserved ~11-residue motif known as the C-terminal peptide (CTP). The core domain is sufficient for head-to tail assembly of FtsZ polymers in vitro. The CTP interacts with modulatory proteins to coordinate division, while the CTL …

Understanding How Nurses Could Utilize Child Life Specialists, Paige Perkins

Honors Projects

Do pediatric nurses notice improvement in patient education levels when they use the resources of Child Life Specialists, understand their role, and utilize their resources to educate their patients, compared to hospitals without Child Life Specialists?

Igniting Actor Imagination Through Ignatian-Inspired Exercises And Praxis In Performance: Teaching Thea. 351 The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot, Maria Victoria Lingbanan

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This paper proposes an emerging approach to actor training that deepens imaginative engagement by integrating Ignatian Spirituality into theatrical practice. It argues that an Ignatian‑inspired method—The Imagination Exercises, rooted in the Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life (SEEL)—effectively enhances the actor’s capacity for empathy, character investment, and emotional truth. Drawing on scholarship in acting, performance studies, and Catholic spiritual tradition, the study outlines a step‑by‑step application of these exercises within an undergraduate acting course. The method is implemented through lecture, rehearsal, and performance labs, culminating in a staged reading of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. The paper demonstrates how the …

Asymptotic Sensitivity And Adjoint Methods For Equation Discovery With Open-Source Implementation, Nathan Schill

Theses and Dissertations

The "on-the-fly" (OTF) method is a gradient-based approach to equation discovery. It makes use of (potentially limited) observational data, a data assimilation technique such as continuous data assimilation (also called nudging), and an error metric. From these it computes an asymptotic approximation of a simulated system's error sensitivity with respect to unknown parameters and utilizes any gradient-based optimization algorithm to perform parameter updates. These parameter updates may be done online or offline, and the model may be of a precisely specified form or simply a library of possible terms with potentially nonlinear parameters. We have applied the adjoint method to …

Stack-Based Exploit Development Techniques In Mips Architectures, Justin Applegate

Theses and Dissertations

Memory corruption vulnerabilities in binary executables represent a serious threat to software security, particularly in embedded and IoT (Internet of Things) devices that commonly use the MIPS architecture. While exploit development techniques for x86 are well-documented in academic literature, little systematic work exists on how those techniques translate to other architectures such as MIPS. This research addresses that gap by evaluating thirteen stack-based exploit development techniques and subtechniques, originally designed in the context of the x86 architecture, for their applicability to MIPS architectures. For each technique, vulnerable C code was written and compiled into both x86 and a set of …

Highway To Help: Increasing Access To Mental Health Occupational Therapy, Abbigail Hill

OTD Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone project was completed in collaboration with the Tennessee Occupational Therapy Association (TNOTA) specifically TNOTA’s mental health chair. TNOTA’s mission is to “advance Occupational Therapy in Tennessee through education, advocacy, communication, and legislative involvement to support the provision of high-quality occupational therapy services and promote the benefits of our profession to consumers, stakeholders, and legislators in Tennessee (TNOTA, 2026). The project focused on increasing awareness of the benefits of occupational therapists in mental health settings as well as providing education for occupational therapists to increase knowledge of how to treat clients experiencing mental health challenges. This was achieved …

Efficient Intrusion Detection For Iomt: Integrating Machine Learning, Feature Selection, And Fuzzy Logic, Ghaida Mansour Balhareth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

The internet of medical things (IoMT) has transformed healthcare by enabling real-time patient monitoring, remote diagnoses, and effective data exchange among connected medical devices and clinical systems. The increasing reliance on interconnected medical equipment has also intensified cybersecurity risks, as resource-constrained devices and wireless communication channels are vulnerable to attacks such as man-in-the-middle, spoofing, data injection, and ransomware. Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) play a critical role in mitigating these threats; however, traditional IDS approaches often struggle with high-dimensional IoMT data, class imbalance, and uncertainty in traffic patterns, which can increase false alarms and reduce reliability in safety-critical environments. This dissertation …

Acoustic Response Of The Cnt-Reinforced Multilayered Acoustic Foam Composites (Mafc), Trey Brauch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Acoustic metamaterials are engineered materials designed to control and manipulate sound propagation. Many such systems incorporate acoustic foams due to their porous structure, low density, and high specific surface area, which promotes efficient sound absorption. However, a major limitation of conventional acoustic foams -particularly open-cell varieties- is their lack of waterproofing, rendering them unsuitable for underwater or moisture-prone environments. To address this limitation, a multilayered acoustic foam composite (MAFC) was developed as a lightweight, waterproof structure with enhanced sound absorption performance. The MAFC consists of five layers: the first and fifth layers are aluminum foam, providing structural integrity; the second …

Green And Clean: Case Studies Featuring The Shift Toward Healthier Consumption, Mckay Orwig

Honors Theses

This thesis is composed of eight accounting case studies investigating the impact of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement on corporate operations, and other narratives. Dr. Dickenson assigned and advised the case studies throughout the course of Honors Accountancy 420. During the fall semester, we were assigned several individual case studies that broadened our background knowledge on legislation and the MAHA movement, as well as having the opportunity to hear from professionals from leading firms.  During the spring semester, Dr. Dickenson placed us in groups to research our assigned companies, my group ultimately assigned the international snacking company, Kellanova. …

Analyzing Social Media Content Strategies That Drive Engagement For Independent Hairstylists, Aurora Batts

Honors Theses

This study explores how social media, has changed the way independent hairstylists market themselves and connect with clients. Social media has become a huge tool in the beauty industry, allowing stylists to showcase their work, build their brand, and attract new clients. Because platforms like Instagram act as a digital portfolio, clients are making decisions based on what they see online rather than just location or recommendations.

Due to this shift, it is important to understand which types of content perform well and generate engagement. This study focuses on identifying the specific content characteristics that lead to higher engagement for …

Utilizing Dungeons And Dragons With Expressive Arts Therapy To Analyze Sense Of Connection Socially And To The Self: A Literature Review And Autoethnography, Neve N. Johnson

Expressive Therapies Theses

This expressive arts-based autoethnography explores the use of tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) as a tool in expressive arts therapy to foster self-expression and connection to oneself and others. Research on the use of TTRPGs as a viable therapeutic medium is in its early stages, particularly for the widely-renowned fantasy TTRPG Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). Geek Therapy, a therapy surrounding “geek culture” and affinities, emerged in 2011 and began research questioning if such affinities as costume play, anime, video games, or TTRPGs could be tools for self-expression in therapy. This has led to a range of current literature on the therapeutic …

The Transformation Of Physical Archives In A Digital Age, Gabriel A. Stadler Mr.

Theses

Scholars involved in archival studies have increasingly examined how digitization has transformed the accessibility of archive collections. For example, Clifford Lynch, a leader in digital libraries and a computer scientist, argues that the development of institutional repositories emerged as a new strategy that allows universities to apply what he calls “serious, systematic leverage to accelerate changes taking place in scholarship and scholarly communication” (1). He later clarifies that he defines these institutional repositories as places that hold digital materials and are created by the institution. Similarly, archival theorists such as T.R. Schellenberg emphasize the research value of records and the …

Experiences Of Maternal Care In The Gypsy, Roma, And Traveller Population In The United Kingdom: A Cultural Care Model, Sarah Englebert Crowson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller women (GRT) in the United Kingdom face persistent maternal health disparities and show poor engagement with healthcare services. Exclusion, discrimination, and a lack of cultural competence from healthcare professionals contribute to poor health outcomes including preterm births; and GRT women have more babies born with congenital anomalies than non-GRT women in the United Kingdom. The purpose of this focused ethnographic qualitative study was to explore how self-identified GRT women living in the United Kingdom experienced maternal care and how cultural identity and social structures influenced their interactions with healthcare providers based on Madeleine Leininger’s cultural care …

Crossing The Border: A Participatory Action Research Project For The Brentwood Oaks Church Of Christ To Engage With Spanish-Speaking Neighbors Through Missional Hospitality, Charles Johanson

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

Throughout Scripture, hospitality occupies a central place in the mission of God. Welcoming the stranger across cultural barriers requires the church to practice missional hospitality by playing the role of host and, especially, guest in the neighborhood. Moreover, small group experimentation facilitates the innovation necessary to effectively practice missional hospitality. Through experimentation in cross-cultural situations, church members increase their awareness of cultural differences that leads to opportunities for the congregation to welcome neighbors in loving, sacrificial, and hospitable ways. Brentwood Oaks Church of Christ (BOCC) resides next to a neighborhood with a high population of Spanish-speaking immigrants. The goal of …

Investigating The Employability Development Of Tourism And Hospitality Undergraduates In Guizhou, China: A Mixed Methods Study, Jingyu Wu

Plymouth Business School Theses

The rapid expansion of China’s tourism and hospitality (T&H) industry has generated increasing demand for graduates equipped with both professional and transferable skills. Guizhou Province, one of China’s less-developed inland provinces, presents a distinct socio-economic and educational landscape characterised by regional disparities in higher education resources and graduate employment opportunities. As tourism serves as a strategic pillar industry for regional development (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2024), understanding how students in this southwestern context develop employability is critical for addressing structural inequalities and informing locally responsive higher education policies. This study therefore investigates how tourism and hospitality undergraduates in …