Digital Commons Network^™

Patient-Provider Communication Among Deaf English Users: Disparities And Implications For Cancer Screening, Ciara Luttrell

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Early detection is one of medicine's powerful tools; routine cancer screenings can help diagnose cancer early and enable immediate treatment. Cancer screening and prevention efforts have accounted for 4.75 million (80%) cancer deaths averted between 1975 and 2020 for five major cancer types (NIH, 2025). Nevertheless, this powerful tool is not shared equally. Many deaf adults who use English still experience barriers and disparities. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to investigate how deaf English-using individuals in the United States interact with their healthcare providers and whether these interactions are associated with cancer screening interest among these populations. The …

Relational Histories: Exploring The Transmission Of Ceramic Technology In The Norton Sound Region Through Petrographic Analysis, Laurel Michelle Diciuccio

Dissertations and Theses

Ceramic technology in the Bering Strait region of the North American Arctic dates to approximately 2,500 BP and is broadly divided into two traditions: the Early Arctic (Norton, pre-1,500 BP) and the Late Arctic (Thule, post-1,500 BP). While Arctic ceramic studies have focused on raw material sourcing, vessel use, and cooking performance, this research investigates forming methods and ceramic fabrics to better understand their place in the technological behavioral chain. This approach fills a gap in the literature by centering on vessel construction and offers new insights from Norton Sound sites, including type sites Iyatayet and Nukleet.

Macroscopic and petrographic …

Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status And Academic Motivation Among Nigerian Students, Yueh Hui Kao

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

This study examines the relationship between Nigerian students’ socioeconomic status (SES) and their overall academic motivation. It also investigates whether significant gender differences exist in students’ academic motivation. Using a quantitative descriptive correlational design, a total of 200 high school students were initially selected through convenience sampling from a private high school in Ibadan, Nigeria. A total of 173 valid responses were included in the final analysis. Students’ SES was assessed using an adapted Socio-Economic Classification Scale and treated as a continuous variable. Academic motivation was measured using the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS-C28). In this study, an overall academic motivation …

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 …

Behavioral Analyses Of Reproductive Behaviors Of The River Dolphin Tucuxi (Sotalia Fluviatilis), Jaden Wee

Honors Theses

This research project investigates the reproductive behavior of the tucuxi river dolphin (Sotalia fluviatilis), whose mating strategies are poorly documented. In 2022, over Lake Amanã, Brazil, Dr. Gonzalez-Socoloske captured drone footage of a natural mating event involving multiple tucuxi individuals, which provided us a rare opportunity to study their behavior. Using Behavioral Observation Research Interactive Software (BORIS), behavioral states and point events, such as intromission, proximity, synchrony, and periods of non-visibility, were coded and quantified, enabling statistical and graphical analyses that characterize the tucuxi’s social and reproductive interaction patterns. The results indicate that 30 intromission events occurred within the 13-minute …

Characterization Of Srsf1’S Functions In Transcription And Alternative Splicing, Elena Bisotto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Serine/Arginine splicing factor 1 (SRSF1) is an RNA-binding protein (RBP) that serves as a central regulator of RNA biogenesis. SRSF1 has been implicated in cell replication, motility, ageing, immune function, and other physiological processes, while its dysregulation is associated with multiple cancers and autoimmune diseases. In this study, we characterized the global impact and structural requirements of SRSF1-mediated gene regulation to elucidate its proto-oncogenic functions.

Utilizing a time-course RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) approach in HEK293 cells, we identified 28 primary transcriptional targets of SRSF1, 18 of which were consistently upregulated in the established cancer cell models PC-3 and MCF-7. These targets …

The Philosopher Of The Future: What Is It To Us That Herr Nietzsche Has Become Well Again?, Erli Mertika

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that Nietzsche thought he was a genuine philosopher despite seeming at times to suggest that he was not. I arrive at this conclusion by comparing his thoughts on genuine philosophers with his thoughts about himself in an effort to show that his self-professed task is identical to theirs.

There are two types of genuine philosophers in Nietzsche’s late works: an old species that relied on a belief in “God” to legislate their values, and a new one that must do so without it. The former cannot perform their task after the death of God, which is why …

Threat-Analysis Oriented Digital Twinning Of Ml-Powered Future Autonomous Weapon Systems, Thomas Neubert

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Warfare is undergoing a rapid transformation with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into autonomous weapon systems (AWS) for perception, decision support, and control. As these systems become more software-defined, their cyber attack surface expands across sensing, communications, autonomy logic, and human-machine interfaces. As human oversight diminishes, ensuring the cybersecurity, resilience, and reliability of these systems becomes critical to mission success. This thesis investigates how a digital twin-driven threat modeling framework that integrates system-centric analysis with adversary-informed methodologies can support structured cybersecurity vulnerability evaluation and defensive strategy development associated with ML-powered AWS. First, the study analyzes …

Thermoacoustic Effects Of A Variable Equivalence Ratio In A Single Element Methane Combustor, Carter Green

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Combustion instability is one of the leading factors in limiting the progress and innovations of liquid rocket engines and power plants. Under certain operating conditions, unsteady heat release and acoustic wave interactions can couple and lead to instabilities, such as self-sustaining pressure oscillations, that can lead to reduced combustor performance and potentially hardware damage. In this project, the thermoacoustic effects of controlling the equivalence ratio of a single-element natural gas combustor were modeled and analyzed. The project used Fidelity Pointwise for meshing, ANSYS Fluent for modeling, ERAU VEGA HPC for computing, and MATLAB for acoustic analysis. A numerical model of …

Developmental Dynamics Of Frontal Alpha-Band Eeg Coherence And Fearful Temperament Across Infancy, Samantha Christiana Gott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Infancy represents a period of rapid neural development during which early temperamental traits begin to emerge. Fearful reactivity, a core dimension of temperament, has been linked to later risk for anxiety and related internalizing outcomes. The present study examined developmental patterns of frontal alpha-band electroencephalographic (EEG) coherence across infancy and tested whether neural connectivity within frontal regions was associated with fearful temperament. Participants were 61 infants recruited through a multisite longitudinal study conducted at Florida Atlantic University, Washington State University, and Virginia Tech. Infants completed laboratory visits at approximately 6, 8, 10, and 12 months of age. During each visit, …

Development And Effectiveness Of Spatial Learning Module To Enhance The Students’ Spatial Reasoning, Mathematics Problem-Solving, And Higher-Order Thinking Skills, Rizky Oktaviana Eko Putri

Student Works (2020-2029)

The primary aim of this study is to develop a mathematics learning module that utilizes spatial reasoning as an intervention for learning, which is called the Spatial Learning- Integrated Mathematics (SLIM) learning module. The SLIM learning module is expected not only to enhance the quality of mathematics education but also to support students’ spatial reasoning, problem-solving abilities, and higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). This objective is based on the understanding that teachers, as learning designers, must ensure students achieve their educational goals. Teachers should offer various forms of innovative teaching, including learning modules, enabling students not only to reach their learning …

Nurse Driven Intervention To Address Cesarean Section Rates, Cavetta Tulloch-Lewis

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects

Abstract

Cesarean sections (C-sections) account for approximately one-third of births in the United States and remain the most common inpatient surgical procedure. Primary cesarean sections are a major contributor to rising rates, often leading to repeat cesareans in subsequent pregnancies. While medically necessary C-sections are lifesaving, their overuse in low-risk pregnancies is associated with increased maternal morbidity. Labor dystocia is one of the leading indications for primary cesarean delivery and may be mitigated through evidence-based, nurse-driven interventions such as maternal positioning and peanut ball utilization. Registered nurses are uniquely positioned to influence labor progression and promote vaginal birth through continuous …

Comparing Identified Needs To Service Use For First Generation And Low-Income Students In Trio Student Support Services At Elizabethtown Community And Technical College, Breanna P. Harris

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education at Morehead State University by Breanna P. Harris on April 2, 2026.

Scale-Dependent Particle Transport Over Urban-Like Roughness In Turbulent Flow, Rae Riddle

Dissertations and Theses

This study employs direct numerical simulation (DNS) to investigate the dispersion of inertial particles in turbulent flow over three-dimensional urban-like roughness at Reτ = 200. Particles with Stokes numbers St = 5, 25, and 100 are tracked over cubic arrays with spanwise spacings Sy from 2h to 32h, where h = δ/8 and δ is the half-channel height, alongside a smooth-wall reference case. The results reveal scale-dependent particle responses characterized by three distinct regimes. First, high-inertia particles (St = 100) align strongly with mean secondary flows, exhibiting organized plumes above roughness elements. Their vertical transport peaks at intermediate spacing …

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 …

Preschool Special Educators' Perceptions On Using Role-Play To Improve Language Development For Preschoolers With Autism, Ini Udosen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem that was addressed through this study is that preschool special educators are not consistently integrating role-play strategies when teaching language development to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at ABC district (a pseudonym), a district in the southeastern United States. Grounded in Vygotsky’s social learning construct, the purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of preschool special educators on using role-playing exercises to model proper communication behaviors and to improve learning skills as well as other advantages of role-play activities for children with ASD at ABC district. For this basic qualitative study, semistructured interviews were conducted …

Psychosocial Experiences Of Custodial And Caregiving Grandparents With Adjudicated Violent Offending Grandchildren, Clifton George Burns Jr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Primary caregivers of teenage violent offenders play a vital role in identifying and addressing safety concerns, providing emotional and financial support, and meeting individual developmental and psychosocial needs. As more grandparents assume the role of primary caregiver, the need for targeted interventions to support their emotional and psychosocial health continues to grow, emphasizing the increasing importance of population-specific support for grandparents caring for their grandchildren. Problems arise when grandparents take on this role without access to interventions or resources that are designed for caring for adjudicated teen violent offenders. This qualitative generic study involved exploring emotional challenges faced by custodial …

Lived Experiences Of Shingles Vaccine-Hesitant Adults Over Age 50 In Riverside County, California, Michelle Beatrice Loomis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Shingles (herpes zoster) causes substantial morbidity, especially among adults over age 50 in the United States. There is a need to better understand the reasons behind low vaccination rates among adults over age 50 given the associated risks for infection and adverse health outcomes that can reduce their quality of life. This qualitative interpretative phenomenological study explored how individuals’ perceptions of the benefits, barriers, susceptibility, and severity of shingles influence vaccine intentions and identified what factors influence vaccine uptake. The health belief model was used to guide the study. Data were collected from one-on-one semistructured virtual interviews with eight adults …

Improving Medication And Lifestyle Adherence Through A Standardized Clinical Practice Guideline, Chazemba Shamaila

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Medication and lifestyle nonadherence remains a persistent and costly problem within healthcare systems and represents a critical gap in nursing practice. Approximately half of adults prescribed long-term medications do not adhere to recommended regimens, contributing to poor disease control, preventable hospitalizations, increased mortality risk, and substantial healthcare expenditures. These challenges are particularly pronounced in outpatient mental health settings, where symptom burden, cognitive impairment, treatment complexity, and social determinants of health further compromise adherence. Addressing medication and lifestyle nonadherence aligns with nursing priorities related to patient safety, quality improvement, and health equity. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project focused on …

Community College Food Literacy Workshop Manual, Loretta Murphy Reid

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education at Morehead State University by Loretta Murphy Reid on April 2, 2026.

Building A Bridge To African American Student Success: A Quantitative Study At A Community College In Central Kentucky, Kauai R. Thurman

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education at Morehead State University by Kauai R. Thurman on April 2, 2026.

Breaking Barriers: Advancement Toward Practical Nursing Licensure For Certified Medication Assistants In Long-Term Care--A Descriptive Study, Aleshia L. Maxwell

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

The persistent nursing shortage across the United States, particularly in Long-Term Care (LTC) settings, has complicated the healthcare system’s ability to meet the needs of an aging population. While existing research often examines progression from Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) to Registered Nurse (RN), limited research explores factors influencing progression from entry-level LTC healthcare workers to Practical Nursing (PN) licensure. This quantitative descriptive study examined the barriers and supporting factors influencing advancement toward PN licensure for Medication Assistants-Certified (MA-Cs) in Arkansas LTC facilities. A convenience sample of N=100 participated in the study. Results indicated that financial and structural barriers often …

An Applied Anthropological Study Of Conflict Reduction: Fostering A Culture Of Safety At A Homeless Service Organization In Portland, Or, Katelyn Champion

Dissertations and Theses

Hygiene 4 All's (H4A) hub of operation provides hygiene services and resources to houseless individuals in Portland, OR. H4A seeks to foster a culture of safety, sanctuary, and welcome. During an internship that took place between February and December, 2025, I studied the organization's policies and practices, with a focus on how their formal and informal processes worked to lessen moments of social friction, escalations, and violent incidents. I apply theory regarding organizational management, practice theory, design, symbolic interactionism, and trauma-informed care to contextualize the research. I employed ethnographic methods, including participant observation, interviews, and document analysis, to identify themes …

Exploring The Well-Being Of Students: Mental Health Symptoms And Help-Seeking In Students With And Without Disabilities, Delaney M. Havrylkoff

LSU Master's Theses

Students with learning-related disabilities (LRDs) are a growing population in schools worthy of more holistic attention. This vulnerable population often receives support for their academic needs, while their mental health needs tend to get overlooked or untreated. Students with LRDs often face more negative experiences (e.g., lower academic performance, bullying, and peer victimization) in school compared to their peers without disabilities. As a result, they may experience higher levels of mental health issues. The purpose of this study was to examine the mental health status and service utilization of students with LRDs in schools compared to their peers without disabilities. …

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 …

Influence Of Moral Development, Religiosity, Achieved Belongingness, And Collective Narcissism On Conspiracy Theory Beliefs, Barbara Mahoney Lee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Belief in conspiracy theories has been linked to prejudice and societal instability, underscoring the importance of understanding the psychological factors that shape such beliefs. This quantitative correlational survey research examined the extent to which moral development, religiosity, achieved belongingness, collective narcissism, and political party affiliation predict conspiracy theory beliefs. Wood’s three-tier model of conspiracy theory beliefs provided the conceptual framework for the study. Using validated quantitative measures in an anonymous, demographically stratified sample (N = 279), a stepwise regression analysis assessed how individual and group-level factors contribute to conspiratorial thinking. Although political party affiliation was not an initial focus, preliminary …

Effective Community Awareness Strategies For Nonprofit Sustainability And Performance, Lina Gabrielle Rugova

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The absence of formalized governance, measurement systems, and standardized processes in nonprofit organizations can limit performance, accountability, and long-term sustainability. Nonprofit executive leaders and board members are concerned about fulfilling their responsibilities for organizational effectiveness and community social effectiveness. Grounded in the Baldrige Excellence Framework and the resource-based view theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies nonprofit leaders use to improve organizational performance and governance effectiveness. The participants were six organizational leaders and board members from a Canadian nonprofit training organization. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analysis of organizational documents, and were …

Mean Length Of Stay Based On Original, Financial, And Vision Workflows, Richard Wyatt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The healthcare industry faces a persistent challenge to balance financial, vision-based, and regulatory goals while maintaining the capacity to serve the public. Healthcare leaders need to understand the impact of using a particular type of workflow redesign to improve their ability to manage patient satisfaction, costs, and length of stay (LOS). Grounded in the Baldrige Excellence Framework, the purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental, comparative study was to compare runtime LOS across encounters for three workflows: original (WF-O), time/cost-based (WF-F), and vision-based (WF-V). The data set included 1 year of intensive care unit admissions from the Physio.Net database. ANOVA was conducted …

The Impact Of Police Corruption On National Security In Liberia, Yontonson Deddeh Kollie Kesselly

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African countries are grappling with policies and laws to mitigate widespread police corruption. However, for decades, corruption within the police force has drawn intense criticism from citizens. Prior research has indicated that state officials are likely to benefit from police corruption, including bribery, thereby undermining Liberia's economic and social stability and prosperity. The issue that prompted this research is that despite extensive police reforms in Liberia’s national police, corruption cases remain prevalent, raising national security concerns. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to investigate Liberians' perceptions of the impact of police corruption on national security in Liberia through …

Early Childhood Pre-Service Teacher Interns’ Experiences In Building Relationships With Students’ Families, Fungayi Madzonga

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Strong relationships between educators and students’ families are essential for fostering learning environments to meet the needs of early childhood students. The problem that was addressed through this study is that many early childhood preservice teacher interns (ECPTIs) experience challenges in building relationships with students’ families during the internship phase of teacher preparation in Alberta. Framed by ecological systems and self determination theories, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore ECPTIs’ experiences building relationships with students’ families and to understand the resources needed to strengthen those relationships in Alberta. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 12 ECPTIs …