Digital Commons Network^™

From Camps To Communities: A Spatial System For Refugee Recovery, Integration, And Independence, Neeya Yahaya

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Global displacement has reached unprecedented levels, with over 114 million people forcibly displaced worldwide (UNHCR, 2024). Although refugee camps are intended as temporary emergency responses, the average duration of displacement has extended to approximately 17 years. During this time, displaced populations are typically housed in rural, border-adjacent settlements with limited access to infrastructure, economic systems, and social services. Designed for short-term survival, these environments often fail to support long-term recovery, resulting in prolonged dependency and continued exposure to instability.

This research defines this condition as temporary permanence: refugees remain in camps for years or decades in environments not designed to …

Piece By Peace: Reimagining Healing Spaces For Us Veterans, Gerdon Chavez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The study of U.S. Veterans mental illness presents a unique opportunity to explore how architecture can respond to the psychological, emotional and economic struggles through spaces that provide solutions beyond conventional institutional healthcare models. Findings suggest that veterans continue to experience complex forms of trauma, including but not limited to, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) and existing clinical spaces are often disconnected, making the reintegration back into society harder. This study will examine how architecture can shift its focus from housing a facility to becoming part of the process by integrating housing, therapeutic spaces and community …

Spaces Of Our Own: Reclaiming Community In Jaipur's Informal Settlements, Daisy Bhambhani

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

India’s rapid urbanization has resulted in fragmented urban fabrics, where women and children remain in vulnerable positions. They face systemic barriers in education, health, and social belonging due to under resourced environments. Despite the nation’s commitments to gender equality and the right to education, slum environments continue to lack adequate infrastructure that supports learning and collective well being. Architecture has the potential to combat these challenges by creating spaces that promote social inclusivity.

While architects and planners have recognized the increasing need for inclusive spaces, most projects do not explore how a built form itself can create empowerment within marginalized …

Building For Shared Experience:Common Ground Through Interaction, Belonging & Elective Learning At Clarkston High School, Tiana Mcbride

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis explores how adaptive reuse and spatial organization can transform a typical high school experience into spaces that support collective belonging and organic interaction. Located in Clarkston, Georgia, a city recognized for its diverse immigrant populations, the project expresses the transition from literal cultural representation to the formation of unified space, without assimilation.

The proposal reuses the existing structural framework of a former school building. Reorganized through a central atrium strategy with the addition of elective class learning to facilitate the natural gathering of students within the spaces they love and choose. Elective programs, commons, library spaces, and shared …

Folding As A Generative Process, Donald E. Malcom

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This research is an exploration of folding in architecture as a way of conceiving of form and space. Transformation of volumes and planes allow for the creation of a pliancy system that generates a complexity of both spatial and form making. The continuous form and space generated by the transformation allows for a phenomenal experience of the space both visual and physical by the incorporation of all aspects of the structure from the floors to the ceiling to the circulation to the structure, all incorporated to the singular system of folding. Folding can be understood as a system of regular …

Getting To The Heart Of The Problem: Blood Pressure Management Through Medication Adherence, Mallory G. Livengood

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Clinical hypertension affects one in four adults globally, making it the most common chronic condition. Despite its widespread impact, hypertension can be prevented, as it represents the most modifiable risk factor in preventing cardiovascular disease. The primary purpose of this evidence-based project was to determine whether a one-month follow-up with a healthcare provider improved medication adherence through enhanced hypertension management. Twelve eligible participants were selected from a primary clinic located in Northwest Indiana, based on their newly initiated anti-hypertensive medications or who required a medication adjustment due to poor hypertension management. Each participant’s preferred method of communication was noted, and …

Breastfeeding Promotion For Infants With Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (Nas), Olivia Czerwonka

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is the exposure in utero to drugs with the incidence in the United States increasing from 4 to 6.3 per 1000 births (Wei et al., 2023). The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement a breastfeeding support intervention to increase breastfeeding frequency and reduce hospital length of stay of newborns with NAS. A tailored multicomponent guideline based upon the current Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding as established by WHO and UNICEF (2017) was implemented. Mothers of infants diagnosed with NAS were recruited using convenience sampling from a Northwest Indiana Hospital. Key stakeholders within the …

Biomimicry Of The Everglades, Angelica M. Moss

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The Everglades Ecosystem is a slow moving river of grasses, encompassing 1.5 million acres from Lake Okeechobee southward to the Florida Bay. The ecosystem is a constant mosaic of gradient habitats, flowing from fresh to saltwater and from grasslands to forest, creating both resiliency, but also an interdependence. All ecosystems possess keystone species, who help to define how the ecosystem is shaped and behaves. In my thesis, I explore several keystone species within the Everglades, namely the mangroves, the family crocodilia, and the roseate spoonbill, and how formal translations of these organisms can produce functional biomimetic buildings that give back …

Behavioral And Molecular Effects Of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid Exposure In Planarians, Emily Pintilie

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The widespread use of pesticides, such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), raises serious concerns about their effects on non-target aquatic organisms. In vertebrates, 2,4-D has been associated with neurotoxic outcomes. Planarians offer a valuable system for toxicological studies because of their well-characterized nervous system, regenerative capacity, and measurable behavioral responses. This study investigated the neurotoxic effects of 2,4-D exposure in the planarian species Girardia dorotocephala, including the assessment of nociceptive behaviors, survival rate, phototactic responses, and DNA methylation. Worms were exposed to various concentrations of 2,4-D (0–100 mg/L) at multiple time points. Nociceptive responses, such as scrunching, C-shapes, and seizures, …

The Detection Of Forever Chemicals From Paper Cups Using Colorimetry, Sara Miller

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are synthetic chemicals added to food packaging products to increase water-resistance and durability. PFAS are a growing concern due to their migration into beverages and foods and have been linked to cancer, immunotoxicity, and thyroid disturbances. The purpose of this study was to quantify PFAS migration from paper cups into water and evaluate toxic effects using planarians. PFAS detection was performed using a colorimetric assay, which forms a colored complex with PFAS, on: perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), heptadeca fluorooctane sulfonic acid potassium salt (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). PFNA and PFOS showed absorbance at 640 nm, while …

Magnifying Genius: Culturally Responsive Leadership And One School’S Story Of Teacher Empowerment Implementing An International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme, Ryan Hansen

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Limited research exists on how principal leadership has shaped teacher empowerment and collective efficacy in public schools implementing the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP; International Baccalaureate Organization [IBO], 2020a).This qualitative study was grounded in culturally responsive leadership (CRL; Khalifa et al., 2016) and leader–member exchange (LMX) theory (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995; Northouse, 2022) as interpretive lenses and examined a leadership problem of practice at Hiller School, a diverse, high-needs public K–8 campus serving students in Grades 6–8. The study centered on how leaders foster teacher agency, identity development, relational trust, and intentional co-leadership during the early stages of …

Modeling Velocity Distributions Of Interstellar Neutral Hydrogen In The Heliosphere, Lucas Robert Dyke

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

As interstellar neutral hydrogen (ISN H) is the most abundant neutral element in the helio- sphere, the region within which the solar wind interacts with the portion of the interstellar medium through which our solar system moves through, it is integral that we aim to under- stand its many properties and interactions within this region. This work details the synthesis and use of a model of ISN H, using trajectory methods to backtrace from a target point at a radial distance of 1 au where explorer probes like Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) and Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) reside. …

Two-Year Retrospective Evaluation Of Frailty To Optimize Postoperative Spinal Fusion Outcomes In Adults Aged 65 And Older, Sheri Loo

Doctoral Projects

Many older adults over the age of 65 have both spinal stenosis requiring spinal fusion surgery and frailty. As life expectancy has increased, many older individuals will undergo elective spinal fusion surgery to decrease their chronic pain in pursuit of improved quality of life. There is currently an underutilization of frailty screening for risk stratification of postoperative complications. A retrospective chart review over a two-year period from July 2023 to June 2025of adults aged 65 and older who underwent posterior spinal fusion surgery, involving 126 participants, was completed. We assessed the correlation between frailty and postoperative outcomes, discharge disposition, and …

Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Stories Of The Unfulfilled Promise Of The American Criminal Justice System, Abigail Clark

College Honors Program

Enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution is the promise that all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States “shall receive equal protection of the laws.” For Black Americans, this promise has been routinely unfulfilled– not only during the “Jim Crow” era, but also continuing after the Civil Rights era into the present. Instead of equal justice under law, Black Americans have been subjected to systematic dehumanization and the erasure of constitutional rights, often leading to a presumption of Black guilt rather than innocence within the criminal justice system and within white public rhetoric. Broken promises of equal …

Climate Change Attributable Flooding And Post-Disaster Housing Market Dynamics: Evidence From Hurricane Harvey, Kaylynn Larrison

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, yet the social consequences of climate change attributable impacts remain relatively underexplored. This dissertation examines whether flooding attributable to climate change was associated with distinct post-disaster recovery outcomes following Hurricane Harvey in Harris County, Texas. To explore this link, parcel-level flood model outputs are integrated with Harris County Appraisal District parcel data and OpenFEMA records on tract-level flood insurance policies and post-Harvey aid. Response variables are operationalized as change scores to capture differences between pre- and post-storm conditions and outcomes are measured over a five-year post-storm period. Across …

Evaluating The Impact Of A Standardized Intimate Partner Violence Screening Tool In A Clinical Setting, Dylan Bogucki

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is defined as any act of violence, including physical, sexual, stalking, or psychological aggression by an intimate partner, former or current. Despite being preventable, IPV remains a leading nonobstetric cause of morbidity and mortality among women, which highlights the need for systematic screening in clinical settings. The purpose of this quality improvement project is to identify women who have previously experienced or are currently experiencing IPV and to connect them with appropriate resources. Twenty-one studies were identified, all demonstrating moderate to high methodological quality and supporting the need for routine IPV screening in women’s health settings. …

Teachers’ Perspectives And Experiences On Using Assistive Technological Tools To Support Middle School Students With Dyslexia, Crystal Courtner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Tactile Stimulations To Mitigate Somatic Anxiety Responses: A Pilot Study, Abigail C. Robbins

Masters Theses

Anxiety is the body’s response to detected danger or stress. Physiological responses include shallow breathing, increased heart rate, sweating, shaking, and muscle tension. Roughly 33.7% of the population experiences anxiety, with approximately 40 million adults in the United States being affected by the disorder. Anxiety can create severe personal, social, and economic burdens. Traditional treatments of anxiety disorders such as medication and psychotherapy can be effective, but present multiple barriers such as cost, accessibility, and side effects. As a result, there is a growing industry for non-invasive, low-cost solutions that can help individuals regulate their physiological anxiety responses and reduce …

Experimental Measurements Of The Forces Acting On A Submerged Beam Using High-Speed Videography, Madelyn Burrell

Masters Theses

The interaction of structures and fluids is highly relevant in many fields but difficult to accurately and reliably characterize. This study demonstrates a novel method of simplifying such problems by analyzing the structural deformations directly, without needing to explicitly solve for the fluid aspect. Six cantilever beams of varying properties were submerged in still water and released from an initial deflection at the free end: the cases consisted of three beam shapes (one of uniform width, one with a narrower free end, and one with a wider free end), with an end mass attached or detached. High-speed videography was utilized …

Landscapes Of Home And Maps Of The Heart: Using Art To Understand The Meaning Of Home For First And Second Generation Immigrants In Worcester Massachusetts, Sophie Sundaram

Fenwick Scholar Program

Landscapes of Home and Maps of the Heart: Using Art to Understand the Meaning of Home for First and Second Generation Immigrants in Worcester Massachusetts explores how individuals with histories of migration understand and experience “home,” and how those understandings can be translated into visual form through portraiture. Developed through conversations with Worcester community members, the project combines studio practice with methodological approaches drawn from sociological and anthropological fieldwork, including participant interviews, relational research practices, and community-based engagement.

Grounded in Worcester, a city shaped by multiple waves of migration and cultural diversity, the project investigates how senses of home are …

Reducing Nurse Burnout In Medical/Surgical Units In South Carolina Acute Care Hospitals, Jessica D. Robinson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Barriers Inhibiting African American Male Nurses’ Promotion To Leadership Positions, Amaziah Ali Dominic

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Redefining Capital Cities: A Smart Growth Evaluation Of Capital Cities And How Albany Can Learn From Them, Richard Turoski Iii

Theses

Mid-sized American capital cities face distinct development challenges determined by historical growth patterns, economic restructuring, and evolving urban priorities. This study examines Albany, New York, through the lens of Smart Growth, a planning framework that emphasizes compact development, mixed land use, multimodal transportation, and reinvestment in existing urban areas. Using comparative policy analysis, Albany is evaluated alongside Columbus, Ohio; Hartford, Connecticut; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, enabling consistent cross-case comparison based on similar roles as state capitals and overlapping comprehensive planning timelines. The research studies Smart Growth principles by structured policy analysis centered on downtown revitalization, mixed-use development, transportation connectivity, waterfront redevelopment, …

Experiences Of Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Nurses Working In A Hospital Setting, Layla C. Bradley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Effective Strategies Psychiatric Hospital Leaders Use To Retain Staff To Avoid Turnover Costs, Christian Azuka Obiajulu Ossai

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Staff Education To Improve Medication Adherence Through Motivational Interviewing, Sonia Thomas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Law Enforcement Perceptions And Lived Experiences Concerning Homelessness, Pedro Osbaldo Preciado

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Risk Factors As Predictors Of Maternal Filicide, Melanie Inez Bailey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

The Effectiveness Of After Care Substance Abuse Treatment Programs From The Perspective Of Released Female Offenders, Sarah Kay Blankenship

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Reducing Burnout Among Psychiatric Practitioners And Therapists, Sarah Lemaine

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.