Digital Commons Network^™

Flight System Development For A Bio-Inspired Rotating Empennage Experimental Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Ashton Gilbert

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Unmanned aerial systems, commonly known as drones, are increasingly used for research, environmental monitoring, and testing new aircraft concepts. Many commercially available drone flight controllers work well for standard aircraft designs, but they can be difficult to adapt for experimental vehicles that use unconventional control methods or require detailed monitoring during testing. This creates challenges for researchers who need flexible and reliable tools to safely evaluate new flight technologies. This work presents the development of a custom drone flight control system designed specifically for experimental research. The system integrates custom electronics and software that allow researchers to easily modify control …

The Economics Of Modern Basketball Fandom, Holden Velasco

Capstones

In an increasingly money-sucking economy, many Americans are feeling the aching of their wallets. Basketball, once serving as an escape from the outside world, has now turned into a money-making machine where fans are paying to keep it running. It’s inescapable, whether it’s the rising costs to watch the professionals, forking thousands of dollars for children to play or sports gambling being plastered everywhere. Basketball no longer feels like basketball.

A Data-Driven Koopman Framework For Station-Keeping On Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit, Anusha Sharma Malladi

Theses and Dissertations

Cislunar missions have gained significant attention in recent decades, motivating the need for efficient modeling and reliable control. In this work a Koopman operator based framework is developed for approximating the error dynamics around a reference Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) in the Earth-Moon Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP). A decoder free neural network is used to learn a lifted linear representation of the nonlinear CR3BP dynamics and a residual based approach is used to identify the corresponding control input matrix. The model is then implemented in a receding-horizon target point controller and compared with uncontrolled propagation and a State …

Extending Geometric Acoustic Ray Tracing To Multi-Room Environments: A Case Study On Gunshot Sound Transmission Between Adjacent Rooms, Tyler Ton

Theses and Dissertations

Accurate localization of gunshots in multi-room building environments remains a challenging problem in acoustic forensics and public safety applications. Existing approaches model sound propagation within a single room, neglecting the transmission of acoustic energy through walls and other building materials. This thesis presents a study on modeling multi-room gunshot acoustic transmission, combining geometric ray tracing with structural acoustic transmission-loss modeling to generate impulse responses for two horizontally adjacent rooms separated by a shared wall, providing a foundation for future inter-room gunshot localization work. The proposed system uses GSound-SIR, a geometric acoustics engine, to simulate sound propagation in both of the …

Balancing Root-Zone Oxygenation And Rhizosphere Stability: The Impact Of Aeration And Hypoxia On Hydroponic Plant Growth, Christian D. Baker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

As the global population and food demand continue to increase, growers must look to innovative and sustainable methods for plant cultivation. Hydroponics is a popular method of sustainable plant cultivation where plant roots are suspended over a liquid nutrient solution. Hydroponics uses less water compared to traditional agriculture because there is no evaporation or solution runoff. It also maximizes land use, requires fewer pesticides and herbicides, and enables year-round cultivation in controlled environments. However, indoor hydroponic systems rely on artificial lighting, which has higher energy costs than traditional farming methods. Optimizing growing conditions is therefore critical to ensure long-term economic …

Scalable Quality Assessment Of Ground Motion Records Via Interpretable Deep Learning Architectures, Ali Montazeri Namin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Earthquake engineers rely on accurate recordings of ground shaking to design safe and resilient buildings. However, sorting through thousands of these recordings to find the reliable ones and throwing out those ruined by sensor errors or background noise is traditionally done by hand. Because modern seismic networks collect massive amounts of earthquake data every day, this manual checking process is much too slow. To fix this, researchers are turning to artificial intelligence to automatically check the quality of these recordings.

While artificial intelligence offers a fast solution, there are limitations. These computer models can become massive and expensive to run, …

Comparative Performance Of Physiological Vital-Sign Forecasting Under Random And Patient-Wise Splitting Using Deep Learning, Lavanya Vasavi Chittem Reddy

Theses and Dissertations

Physiological vital-sign forecasting estimates future measurements based on recent temporal patterns and can support analysis of continuously recorded monitoring data. This study comparatively evaluated deep feedforward, recurrent, bidirectional recurrent, long short-term memory, and bidirectional long short-term memory architectures for one-step-ahead forecasting of peripheral oxygen saturation, heart rate, and pulse rate. Each model received consecutive observations of peripheral oxygen saturation, heart rate, pulse rate, respiratory rate, and age, while separate single-output models predicted the next value of the selected target.

Random and patient-wise data splitting were compared using identical input definitions, preprocessing procedures, model architectures, and training hyperparameters. The strongest architecture …

The Benefits And Barriers To Expanding Crna Programs In Michigan, Grace Van Zweden

Honors Theses

The demand for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and their delivery of safe, high-quality anesthesia care has increased significantly due to nationwide anesthesia provider shortages and the growing reliance on CRNAs to meet healthcare system needs. This demand underscores the importance of expanding nurse anesthesia programs in Michigan and across the United States to support nurses pursuing advanced education and to improve patient access to essential care within their communities. The CRNA profession has evolved over time to meet the changing needs of the healthcare system, and current CRNA programs require applicants to satisfy rigorous and highly specific admission criteria. …

Caribou Migration And Non-Local Hunting In Northwest Alaska: A Gis Analysis Of Hunting Activity And Its Relationship With Caribou Migration Corridors, Brittney L. Jiménezszabo

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Indigenous Alaskans rely on subsistence hunting for food, with Barren-ground caribou making up approximately 27% of their diet. It is believed by subsistence hunters that non-local hunting is forcing a change in caribou migration behavior. This study examined non-local harvesting records from 2013 – 2025 in the northwest and interior Game Management Units (GMU) and Alaksa’s Western Arctic Caribou Herd (WACH) migration range data to answer the question, is there a spatial relationship between non-local harvests and WACH migration behavior. Mixed methods included spatial autocorrelation and local statistics. Findings led to the rejection of the null hypothesis which will help …

Lost In Chaos: The Battle Between Selfcare And Motherhood, Sarah Shahzad

MS Marketing Research Projects/Theses

Motherhood in collectivist societies such as Pakistan is deeply intertwined with caregiving, leaving limited space for women’s self-care or personal well-being. This study explores how young Pakistani mothers negotiate self-care within competing expectations of maternal sacrifice, cultural morality, and structural constraints. Guided by the Institutional Logics Perspective (ILP), it examines how familial norms, religious values, and market forces collectively shape women’s self-care practices, framing self-care not as an autonomous act but as a negotiated process embedded within social and institutional boundaries. This study adopts an interpretive phenomenological approach to explore how Pakistani mothers experience and negotiate self-care within cultural and …

Facilitating Timely Hospice Referrals Using A Screening Toolkit In A Rural Hospital: A Quality Improvement Initiative, Jessica Muse

Doctoral Projects

End of life care is often a difficult time for patients, families, and caregivers. Hospice is a valuable resource for individuals who are considered terminally ill and have a life expectancy of six months or less. Many patients who are near the end present to acute care settings for treatment needs. While there are several clinical indicators that may suggest hospice care is the best plan of care for a patient, identifying hospice appropriate patients can be difficult in an acute care setting and there are currently no numerical assessment tools available in the literature that provides a quick reference …

Building Motivation Through A Christian-Based Vocational Sports Academy, Elasha E. Naylor-Cooper

Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) Capstone Abstracts

Project Type: Business Proposal Capstone

Project Overview: CTA Academy - Christian Technology and Athletics Academy - is a proposed private Christian school designed to provide 6-12 grade students with an alternative educational pathway that integrates academic achievement, Christian formation, career preparation, athletics, wellness, and leadership development. The project responds to concerns surrounding student engagement, motivation, academic performance, limited access to affordable private education, and the separation of academic, vocational, spiritual, and athletic development within traditional educational models. CTA Academy proposes a diversified funding model, including scholarship-supported funds, college and business partnerships, donors, sponsors, and fundraisers. This model seeks to make …

Voucher Reliance And Tuition Determination In Private K-12 Schools: A Quantitative Analysis Of Florida Schools Under 500 Students, Rebekah A. Kogelschatz

PhD in Education

The purpose of this quantitative survey study was to investigate the relationship between voucher dependency and tuition-setting practices among leaders of private K-12 schools in Florida with fewer than 500 students. Guided by resource dependence theory, the study examined school leaders’ perceptions of scholarship funding, tuition income, affordability, sustainability, timing, and flexibility in tuition-setting decisions, as well as the adequacy of current scholarship amounts. A quantitative, non-experimental survey design was used. The sample included 85 decision-making school leaders from private K-12 schools in Florida whose roles involved financial or tuition-setting decisions. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, confirmatory …

Ai-Driven Biomarker Discovery & Progression Modeling For Precision Diagnosis Of Glaucoma, Cheng Huang

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a comprehensive study on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) for glaucoma diagnosis and retinal image analysis. Leveraging multimodal imaging data including fundus photography, Optical Coherence Tomography Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA), the research develops a suite of deep learning frameworks designed to detect early glaucomatous changes with high precision, robustness, and interpretability. A series of novel architectures are introduced, spanning vessel segmentation networks, biomarker discovery pipelines, and multimodal fusion models, all designed to enhance diagnostic accuracy and generalizability across diverse populations. To facilitate reproducible and scalable ophthalmic AI research, this work …

Noise Characterization And Mitigation In Intermediate-Scale Quantum Systems, Muhammad Qasim Khan

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Current quantum processors, at the intermediate scale of tens to hundreds of qubits, remain error-limited. This thesis studies two related sources of error. The first is environmental noise, which may have temporal and spatial correlations and nonclassical components. The second is state-preparation and measurement (SPAM) error, which arises in the operations used to characterize this noise, a prerequisite for boosting operational fidelities. Neither can be characterized alone. Noise spectroscopy techniques use imperfect preparation and readout, while SPAM characterization is affected by qubit decoherence. Our methods vary measurement depth, drive duration, or sequence repetition so each source changes the measured signal …

Formed Together: A Value-Based Model Of Mutual Spiritual Formation For Pentecostal Pastors And Churches Under 500, W. T.A. Mcmillan

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock” (Acts 20:28) is both a warning and an invitation. It insists that the pastor's inner life and the congregation's shared life cannot be pulled apart without doing damage to both. This dissertation grows out of that conviction and out of years of pastoral ministry in Pentecostal churches where the pressure to perform often overwhelms the slow work of being formed. It asks a simple but searching question: How do Assemblies of God pastors serving congregations under 500 in attendance understand the connection between their own spiritual health and the spiritual …

Sanctified Rhythms Of Rest: Reclaiming Sabbath And Spiritual Retreat For Pastoral Renewal And Burnout Mitigation In The Georgia Assemblies Of God, Philip Sosebee

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

“Sanctified Rhythms of Rest: Reclaiming Sabbath and Spiritual Retreat for Pastoral Renewal and Burnout Mitigation in the Georgia Assemblies of God” explored how intentional rhythms of Sabbath observance, solitude and silence, and spiritual retreat shaped the lived experiences of credentialed ministers within the Georgia District of the Assemblies of God. Pastoral burnout, emotional exhaustion, and unsustainable ministry expectations continue to affect ministers across denominational contexts, raising questions regarding the role of biblically grounded rhythms of rest in fostering pastoral renewal and sustainability. Using a six-month longitudinal hermeneutic phenomenological design, twenty-nine credentialed ministers participated in the intentional practice of weekly Sabbath …

Retention Rates: A Qualitative Study Exploring Teachers’ Perspectives Of Teaching In Northeast Florida, Dawn J. Kell

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

This qualitative phenomenological study explored workplace experiences and motivational factors influencing teacher retention among Northeast Florida charter school educators. With nearly half a million teachers leaving the classroom annually and approximately 41% leaving within their first five years, understanding why educators remain in the profession is imperative for sustaining student success and educational quality. The purpose of this study was to explore motivational factors that lead teachers to remain in the profession despite current challenges. Using a purposeful sampling method, 12 certified Northeast Florida charter school teachers participated in 30-minute semi-structured interviews conducted via Zoom. Each 30-minute interview was recorded, …

Scalable Growth In High-Contact, On-Site Service Firms: Ambidextrous Competitive Logics And A Dual-Governance Mechanism Of Replication Quality, Wei Han

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation examines how high-contact, on-site service firms scale up. The central challenge is the stable reproduction of a recognizable service template across dispersed branches under customer heterogeneity, frontline discretion, relationship continuity, and local capacity pressure. Replication quality is defined as the branch-level stability of the service promise, execution rhythm, and exception-handling logic. It is measured directly through retention outcomes and service-failure outcomes, which capture continued acceptance of the service promise and visible breakdowns in service delivery.

The theoretical argument centers on two ambidextrous competitive logics. Local responsiveness requires branches to adapt service timing, provider matching, communication, and recovery work …

The Quest For Sacred Truth In A Secular Society What Is Fueling Gen Z’S Return To Faith And Church Attendance In America?, William W. Dornbush

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

This dissertation investigated the Critical Research Question: What are the key external factors influencing Generation Z’s internal quest for spiritual renewal? The study examined biblical, historical, and contemporary revival movements, including the Exodus, Pentecost, the Great Awakenings, the Jesus Movement, Charismatic Renewal, Brownsville, Toronto, and Asbury, to identify recurring patterns linking external pressures to spiritual awakening. Using a qualitative design, the study conducted semi-structured interviews with twelve Generation Z participants who experienced spiritual searching, renewal, or a deepened faith between 2020 and 2025, exploring how contemporary external pressures influence spiritual openness and transformation. The findings revealed six major themes: (1) …

Barriers To Veterans Affairs (Va) Healthcare Utilization: Exploring The Underutilization Of Va Healthcare Services Among Rural, West Texas Veterans, Adam G. Rodgers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rural veterans forgo Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare at disproportionate rates, and this study found that the primary barrier is not enrollment but utilization. Seven of the eight participants were already enrolled yet remained functionally outside the system. The purpose of this qualitative single-case study was to explore why rural West Texas veterans forgo and underutilize Veterans Health Administration (VHA) healthcare. Two research questions examined the perceptions contributing to that decision and the barriers preventing access. Andersen’s behavioral model of health services use provided the framework. Semistructured virtual interviews with eight rural West Texas veterans were analyzed using Braun …

How Dance/Movement Therapy Can Cultivate Self-Compassion In Chinese Diaspora Adults: A Literature Review, Heng Hsiu Liu

Expressive Therapies Theses

Chinese diaspora adults navigate a psychological transition in mental health understanding, based on acculturation level; some are more somatically focused in their understanding, while others adopt Western mental health frameworks. While self-compassion can be a helpful transdiagnostic tool, Chinese diasporas still face barriers to current selfcompassion interventions such as the remaining stigma of "losing face" with their family and community, language barriers to emotional expression, and a cultural emphasis on self-criticism as a tool for moral improvement. Self-compassion cultivation is grounded in mindfulness, common humanity, and self-kindness, which collectively stimulate the soothing-affiliative affect regulation system. This review identifies Dance/Movement Therapy …

Cultivating A Culture Of Belonging: Elementary Principal Practices, Sara Macneil

Educational Studies Dissertations

A sense of belonging is a fundamental human need that influences students’ experiences, relationships, and engagement within their school context. It is shaped through intentional actions and everyday experiences. Understanding how school leaders intentionally shape conditions that foster students’ sense of belonging requires further exploration. This study focused on an elementary school principal and sought to identify specific leadership practices that strengthen the sense of belonging for elementary students. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected through a sense of belonging survey and small group interviews. The survey data provided a measure of students’ sense of belonging and were used …

Fostering And Maintaining Relational Trust Between Massachusetts Public School Superintendents And Their School Committees, John J. Robidoux

Educational Studies Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The effectiveness of public school governance in Massachusetts relies on the collaborative partnership between superintendents and elected school committees. However, school committee members often lack professional backgrounds in education, leading to role confusion, political friction, communication breakdowns, and a reduced ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with the superintendent. While the structural roles of these entities are well-defined by policy, there is limited research on the internal, lived experiences of district leaders navigating the multifaceted dynamics of relational trust as they relate to effective school district operations. This study addresses the gap in understanding how relational trust is …

Creating Collaborative Strategies: The Influence Of Principal Leadership In Teacher Retention In Rural Secondary Schools In Dhalai District, Tripura, Northeast India., Valerian Castelino

Educational Studies Dissertations

Teacher retention has become a growing concern across India and the world. In rural, tribal, and multilingual contexts, the challenge is even greater. This research, Creating Collaborative Strategies: The Influence of Principal Leadership in Teacher Retention in Rural Secondary Schools in Dhalai District, Tripura, Northeast India, explores how school leadership influences teachers’ decisions to remain in rural schools. The research focuses on Tripura, a small state in Northeast India known for its tribal diversity, geographic isolation, multilingual classrooms, and limited educational resources. The research is informed by a multi-theoretical framework: Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, Non-Economic Capital Theory, and Transformational Leadership …

Understanding Continuity Of Care Through The Voices Of. Providers And Families In Massachusetts, Ami Patel

Educational Studies Dissertations

Continuity of care is an important component of early childhood education that emphasizes stable, consistent, and responsive relationships among children, caregivers, and families. Although research has demonstrated the importance of stable caregiver-child relationships, much of the existing literature has focused on center-based childcare settings. This qualitative study explored how providers and families perceived long-term caregiving relationships, communication practices, and family-provider partnerships as shaping continuity of care. The purpose of this study was to examine licensed family childcare providers’ and families’ perspectives regarding the perceived developmental benefits, relational experiences, and challenges associated with continuity of care. Guided by attachment theory, sociocultural …

The Perceptions Of K-5 Teachers Regarding Their Preparedness To Implement Trauma-Informed Practices, Matthew P. Londo

Educational Studies Dissertations

Childhood trauma significantly impairs students' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning, yet teachers frequently lack the preparation necessary to address its effects in classroom settings. This mixed-methods study examined the perceptions of K-5 teachers regarding their preparedness to implement trauma-informed practices (TIPs) at a public elementary school in a mid-sized urban district in central Massachusetts. A convergent mixed-methods design was employed to gather data from 20 selected K-5 educators via a structured Likert-scale questionnaire and semi-structured Zoom interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were analyzed through inductive thematic analysis. Findings revealed that participants employed four primary …

Reducing Nurse Burnout Within A Pediatric Specialty Unit At A Midwest Hospital By Incorporating A Peer Mentor Program, Amanda Ortmeier, Gina Crudden

Group: Nebraska Methodist College

Problem: Burnout among nurses continues to negatively impact staff well-being, patient safety, and job satisfaction. Pediatric specialty units face unique stressors related to high patient acuity, emotional demands, complex interdisciplinary collaboration, and family interactions. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement and evaluate a structured peer mentorship program aimed at reducing nurse burnout within a pediatric specialty unit at a Midwestern hospital and to provide mentor education designed to improve mentor self-efficacy and preparedness.

Intervention: Maslach’s Burnout Theory served as the guiding framework for this project, which implemented a 45-day structured peer mentorship program in which experienced …

Co-Prescribing Naloxone With Opioids In The Emergency Department, Autumn K. Boyd, Gina Crudden, Shelley Hultman

Group: Nebraska Methodist College

Problem: The opioid epidemic continues to contribute to significant morbidity and mortality in the United States, with inconsistent naloxone access among high-risk patients discharged with opioid prescriptions. The purpose of this project was to implement and evaluate a naloxone co-prescribing process for high-risk adult patients discharged from the emergency department (ED) while enhancing staff knowledge and confidence in naloxone co-prescribing practices over a 30-day period.

Intervention: Guided by the Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice, this project implemented the Opioid Risk Tool (ORT) to identify ED patients at increased risk for opioid misuse and provided a structured educational program for ED …

Bridging The Gap: Enhancing Adult Cancer Survivors’ Self-Efficacy To Spark Activation Through Evidence-Based Community Support, Julie L. Chytil

Group: Nebraska Methodist College

Problem: The number of cancer survivors in the United States is continuing to grow and yet cancer survivors often lack the knowledge of community resources available to them. Survivors must not only know that resources and programs exist but also trust that these tools are relevant and beneficial to them.

Intervention: The purpose of this project was to implement evidence-based strategies in a community setting to improve self-efficacy among adults who are transitioning from frontline cancer treatment to the next phase of survivorship. Strengthening self-efficacy is an important step toward increasing potential future patient activation and supporting long-term survivorship outcomes. …