Digital Commons Network^™

The Heart And Soul Of Engagement In The Float Pool Team, Kymberly Dexter

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: The assistant nurse manager (ANM) role is considered an entry-level management position and is not intended as a permanent career role. The unintended consequence is that there is a high rate of organizational turnover, making it challenging to build and retain a solid, cohesive, and productive team.

Context: A new manager of a float pool team in a 166-bed community hospital found that with little financial investment, a significant impact is made by holding a safe space for listening to the ANM team and designing education and training around what is most important to frontline managers.

Interventions: A baseline …

Bringing Gifts To The Manger, Ann Zlotnik

Marian Library Blog Archive

For the fourth week of Advent, we present Nativity sets that are full of gifts and full of love for the infant Jesus.

Sled Dogs As Gifts. An Ethnography Of Dog Exchanges Among Kennels In Alaska., Allison K. Cruz

Anthropology

This thesis investigates the social relationships that develop through the circulation of sled dogs among Alaskan kennels. It is based on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork at racing events, in sled dog kennels, as well as semi-structured interviews around Fairbanks. The research is informed by anthropological literature on kinship, personhood, and gift-giving economies. It examines how sled dogs are acquired and exchanged in Alaska and offers a novel perspective on the value of dog bloodlines and the relationships that unite breeders, mushers and sled dogs. The main argument is that Alaskan sled dogs are exchanged as gifts (rather than commodities) with the …

Reinforcement Learning-Based Demand Response Management In Smart Grid Systems With Prosumers, Jenilee Jao

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

In this thesis, we introduce a reinforcement learning-based price-driven Demand Response Management (DRM) mechanism in smart grid systems consisting of prosumers. Our proposed approach accounts for the prosumers behavioral characteristics and models the emerging interactions among all the involved actors in the smart grid system, i.e., prosumers, Energy Management System (EMS) and utility companies. In particular, an off-policy reinforcement learning is introduced enabling the EMS to determine the optimal price that should be announced to the prosumers on an hourly-basis towards minimizing the overall systems cost. In this process, the utility companies hourly-based wholesale price and the prosumers energy generation …

Distribution Network Planning And Operation With Autonomous Agents, Abdulraheem Hassan Alobaidi

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

With the restructured power system, different system operators and private investors are responsible for operating and maintaining the electricity networks. Moreover, with incentives for a clean environment and reducing the reliance on fossil fuel generation, future distribution networks adopt a considerable penetration of renewable energy sources. However, the uncertainty of renewable energy sources poses operational challenges in distribution networks. This thesis addresses the planning and operation of the distribution network with autonomous agents under uncertainty. First, a decentralized energy management system for unbalanced networked microgrids is developed. The energy management schemes in microgrids enhance the utilization of renewable energy resources …

Orbital Angular Momentum Orthogonality-Based Crosstalk Reduction: Theory And Experiment, Unaiza Tariq

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Full duplex communication systems allow a single channel to be used for simultaneous two-way communication, increasing spectral efficiency. However, full duplex communication systems suffer from the issue of self-interference between local transmitter and receiver antennas. Analog subtraction and signal processing methods have previously been used to reduce this problem. This dissertation proposes the use of waves carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) to mitigate the problem of self-interference by offering a means of additional isolation between local antennas.

Orbital angular momentum has been widely studied both in the photonics and radio domain. The theoretically infinite orthogonal states of an OAM signal …

Distribution Network Operation With Solar Photovoltaic And Energy Storage Technology, Mohammad Ramin Feizi

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Among distributed energy resources, solar photovoltaic (PV) generation has the largest penetration in the distribution networks. Serving electric vehicles (EV) with renewable resource generation would further reduce the carbon footprint of the energy supply chain for electric vehicles. However, the integration of solar PV and EVs in the unbalanced distribution network introduces several challenges including voltage fluctuations, voltage imbalances, reverse power flow, and protection devices’ malfunctions. The uncertainties associated with solar PV integration and electric vehicles operation require significant effort to develop accurate optimization methodologies in the unbalanced distribution systems operation. In this thesis, in order to cope with the …

Development And Application Of A Design Flow For Photonic Integrated Circuits, Ifeanyi Achu

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Silicon photonics allows for the fabrication of many optical elements on a single photonic integrated circuit (PIC). By taking advantage of the established foundry technology used in the CMOS and silicon’s high refractive index, high feature density manufacturing can be achieved in mass quantities. In CMOS fabrication, from conception of an electronic circuit to testing, the process of designing an electronic circuit is dictated by a design flow which has been developed over the course of decades. This flow includes circuit level design and simulation, layout of the circuit, layout and verification of the chip, fabrication, packaging, and testing. Given …

Surprise Gift Benefits Two Um Programs, Bill Dabney

University of Mississippi News

No abstract provided.

Ela High School Teacher Beliefs About Academic Language Learning, Wendy Aro

Doctorate in Education

The enrollment of English learners (ELs) in K-12 schools in the United States continues to surpass all other student groups reshaping U.S. public schools (National Center for Education Statistics, 2017). Research suggests while learning English, ELs fall behind academically, which can determine how long an EL remains in an English learner program (Wixom, 2014). Educators and leaders are faced with the challenges associated with EL education including professional development, retaining EL specialized teachers, and designing, implementing, and evaluating EL service models. Other challenges include ensuring EL access to grade-level content standards while simultaneously developing the language of the subject area. …

Prioritizing Prosocial Behavior For Preschool Children: How Are Parents Affecting Psb Development?, Deborah Zupito

Doctorate in Education

Scholars and Early Childhood Education (ECE) professionals acknowledge the critical nature of prosocial behavior (PSB) skills in the lives of preschool-aged children. Research specifies that children lacking PSBs are socially and academically disadvantaged. Studies have shown that 30% of preschoolers exhibit negative emotional/social behavior, and 80% of preschool educators report negative social behaviors (NSBs) adversely affecting their jobs. It is well-researched that a child's earliest experiences shape social and emotional behaviors, explicitly parenting and the home environment; however, less research exists about parents' knowledge and perception of their role relating to PSB development in their child's life. This qualitative case …

Lens: A Novel Image Processing-Based Approach For Low-Cost Segmentation Of Computed Tomography Scans Of Lungs, Monica Hinga

Computer Science ETDs

A staggering amount of data has been collected and analyzed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of that data, however, particularly computed tomography (CT) scans of lungs, are difficult to analyze computationally. Segmentation of COVID-19 lesions provides researchers with insights into where lesions form, their volume, and in the case of time course data, how lesions grow as disease progresses. Spatial information, which has received little attention in the literature, has the potential to provide valuable insight to within-host viral and immune dynamics. Unfortunately, state-of-the-art supervised deep learning methods require labeled data, which can be prohibitively expensive to …

Void-Semiconductor Gaas Photonic Crystal Surface-Emitting Lasers By Epitaxial Regrowth And Single-Epitaxy Methods, Kevin James Reilly

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Monolithic semiconductor lasers including edge-emitting lasers (EELs) and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) fail to realize simultaneous achievement of both high-power high-quality beams due to intrinsic limitations of their resonant cavity. Photonic crystal surface emitting lasers (PCSELs) address these structural limitations through employment of a two-dimensional photonic crystal (PC) cavity that creates feedback at a single wavelength for laterally scalable devices. This function of the PC allows PCSELs to power scale with area while maintaining single-mode emission required for diffraction-limited beams. In this way, PCSELs fulfill an industry demand for high-power high-quality lasing from a single chip.

Early PCSELs were fabricated …

Cyber-Secure Distributed Control Of Microgrids With Improved Communication And Control Protocols, Jee Won Choi

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

This dissertation proposes a cyber-secure distributed control of microgrids with improved communication and control protocols. The finite-time event-triggered control protocol for islanded AC and DC secondary control is introduced. For AC microgrids, the proposed strategy can effectively perform frequency restoration and voltage regulations while sharing the active and reactive power among the distributed generators (DGs) based on their power ratings. For DC microgrids, the proposed control protocol can provide accurate current sharing and critical bus voltage regulation. The finite-time control enables a system to reach a consensus in a finite period of time enhanced from asymptotic convergence. The event-triggered communication …

Length-Weight Relationships Of The Bream Abramis Brama (Linnaeus, 1758) In Beni- Haroun Dam Of Mila City (North-East Of Algeria), Tolba Mounia, Hadjab Ramzi, Chikara Bouziani Mohamed, Berrouk Houda, Kaouachi Nouha

Journal of Bioresource Management

The study of fish growth is a valuable tool in providing good understanding on the general biology and growth of fish populations, in addition to the comparison of the same fish species populations living in remote geographic areas. Thus, the present work was designed to study the age and growth of Abramis brama species newly introduced in Beni-Haroun dam (Mila department, Northeast Algeria). Here, the study was conducted on sampling of 141 individuals from July 2015 to October 2016. The age of fishes was determined according to scalimetric method, since the fish sex was determined by macroscopic method, showing that …

The Pain Of Helping: Crisis Response Teams Experiences With College Student Suicide, Audra E. Dowling

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

This qualitative multicase study explores the lived experiences of seven higher education professionals who serve or have served on a crisis response team at the time of a college student suicide. It asks the following research question: How has a college student suicide impacted the individual psychological needs (safety, trust, esteem, intimacy, control) of those serving on a crisis response team? Using constructivist self-development theory (McCann & Pearlman, 1990) as a lens, psychological needs have been analyzed as fulfilled needs or distorted needs across two interviews and three journaling prompts to assess the impact on seven participants in this qualitative …

Pandemic Reflections: Stories Of National Ffa Student Leaders During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Theresa Seibel

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were felt by most every individual in the world, and the effects of the pandemic will have implications for years to come. Even still, it becomes necessary to capture the work and impacts of this life experience of those who lived and led during such a time. The National FFA Organization, with its student leadership, continued to deliver its mission of the organization during the pandemic. This project aimed to develop a digital narrative to contribute to the historical record of FFA officers’ experiences in the National FFA Organization during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The …

Identifying Systems Of Support In High Schools For Gender And Sexually Diverse Youth Living In Conservative Communities: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study, Nuriyah Bender

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Within the first few months of 2022 more than 300 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in states across the country (Human Rights Campaign, 2022). Many of these bills, some of which are now laws, discriminate against transgender students or restrict instruction and materials related to LGBTQ+ topics in schools. Gender and Sexually Diverse (GSD) students often do not feel safe in schools (Kosciw et al., 2020). Using a phenomenological approach, this qualitative study sought to identify the factors that helped GSD students feel the most supported in high schools in order to assist educators with actionable ways they can support students …

Comparison Of Arctic Alaska Historical Snow Data With Satellite-Derived Benchmarks And Model Results Using Ilamb Software, Mary Szatkowski

Engineering

Understanding and modeling the permafrost system, hydrologic cycle, energy balance, and biologic systems in the Arctic are dependent, in part, on snow depth and snow distribution. Point-source snow measurements provide ground-truth observations of snow depth and snow water equivalent, although these measurements may be limited in their spatial and temporal distributions. Satellite-derived remote sensing products and gridded model output provide spatial coverage of snow properties, but their applicability is affected by their balance of resolution, computational speed, and accuracy confidence. The goal of this research is to assess the performance of three snow data products derived from remote sensing techniques …

Research Infrastructure Core Facilities At Research Centers In Minority Institutions: Part I-Research Resources Management, Operation, And Best Practices, Paul B Tchounwou, Mohamad Malouhi, Elizabeth O Ofili, Emma Fernández-Repollet, Daniel F Sarpong, Richard Yanagihara, Renato J Aguilera, Cecilia Ayón, Xiaoxin Chen, Asok Dasmahapatra, Song Gao, Cimona V Hinton, Robert Holt, Vladimir Kolesnichenko, Michael D Powell, Fatima Merchant, Kinfe K Redda, Abiel Roche-Lima, Cecilia M Shikuma, Jacqueline J Stevens, Jose A Torres, Robert T Trotter, James Wachira, Paul Wang, Kristen J Wells, Jason White, Yanyuan Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Program fosters the development and implementation of innovative research aimed at improving minority health and reducing or eliminating health disparities. Currently, there are 21 RCMI Specialized (U54) Centers that share the same framework, comprising four required core components, namely the Administrative, Research Infrastructure, Investigator Development, and Community Engagement Cores. The Research Infrastructure Core (RIC) is fundamentally important for biomedical and health disparities research as a critical function domain. This paper aims to assess the research resources and services provided and evaluate the best practices in …

Toward An Informal Informed Classrooms: Professional Musicians' Informal Music Learning Experiences, Rachel M. Smith

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Authors have studied informal music learning with different age groups. Lucy Green (2005) studied the topic with adolescents and identified it an intuitive and natural way children learn. Chad West and Radio Cremata (2016) studied informal music learning at the collegiate level, and Martina Vasil (2019) studied secondary music teachers who implemented informal music learning strategies in their teaching practices. Informal music learning in adults is relatively under-explored compared to adolescent and collegiate age groups. Utilizing lenses drawn from John Dewey’s curricular ideas to help students find meaning in learning and motivation as viewed through Self-Determination Theory, I sought to …

Improving Access For Medicare Inpatient Psychiatric Patients: A Health Policy Analysis, Malinda B. Whitfield

Doctors of Nursing Practice (DNP) Final Projects, 2020-current

The Medicare Inpatient Psychiatric Services (IPS) policy, originally developed in the 1960s and without any significant or meaningful updates since the 1980’s, is physician specific, does not reflect the current model of care for psychiatric inpatients, and is restrictive for psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) practice. The policy is complex, consists of outdated regulations, and results in millions of dollars in compliance costs for Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPFs) annually (NABH, 2019). Although clearly an important part of the inpatient psychiatric services team, PMHNPs are not identified or defined in the policy (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS], 2019). …

Acoustic And Seismic Signature Of Sustained Volcanic Eruptions, Julia E. Gestrich

Geosciences

Volcanic eruptions of any size can pose a significant risk to the life and livelihood of humans, as well as to infrastructure and the economy. Understanding the dynamics of an eruption is crucial to providing timely and accurate assessments of the eruption and associated hazard. Ideally the monitoring of volcanic unrest and eruption dynamics is done remotely to minimize exposure to volcanologists and maximize the spatial monitoring coverage of instruments. Another important factor is to have real-time data to facilitate rapid analysis and interpretation. Seismic and acoustic (infrasound) waves have proven useful in terms of remote real-time volcano monitoring. However, …

Problems And Suggestions To Improve Pronunciation Skills Of English Language Learners In China, Yi Fang

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project is based on the input hypothesis theoretical framework. The literature review explores the importance of pronunciation in English communication, problems with pronunciation and what causes them will be talked about for people learning English. Lastly, since the goal of this field project is to help English language learners in China improve their pronunciation, the third theme is about how to solve pronunciation problems and what learners need. One of the conclusions is that Chinese language learners' performance in the English language is significantly influenced by motivation, attitudes, parental support, openness to communication, and other linguistic and nonlinguistic factors. …

Experiences And Concerns Of Female Hotel Housekeepers In The First Stages Of The Covid-19 Lockdown In The Balearic Islands (Spain): A Qualitative Study, Xenia Chela-Alvarez, Cristian Sanchez-Rodriguez, Oana Bulilete, Mclara Vidal-Thomàs, Joan Llobera

The Qualitative Report

Strongly enforced mobility restrictions to deter the spread of COVID-19 severely impacted tourism, a pivotal economic sector of the Balearic Islands. Little is known about the experiences of the most economically affected groups, such as hotel housekeepers. This study aimed to explore the experiences and concerns of hotel housekeepers (approximately 13,000 worked in the Balearic Islands before the pandemic) during the first stages of the COVID-19 lockdown. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by telephone in April of 2020. Thematic analysis was used for interpretation. Eighteen hotel housekeepers were interviewed. Main experiences and concerns identified were: (a) distress due to employment status …

Life Story Narratives Of Adults With Intellectual Disability And Mental Health Problems: Personal Identity, Quality Of Life And Future Orientation, Hefziba Batya Lifshitz, Ayelet Shahar

The Qualitative Report

The narrative is a functional skill and a means for sharing stories which consist of a single event or events causally related to the individual’s past, present, and future. In this study we aimed to explore the narratives of a voiceless population in society and in research: adults with a dual diagnosis of intellectual disability (ID) and a mental health problem (MHP). Our operative goals were to explore the meaning of their lives as people with a dual diagnosis, their quality of life, and their aspirations for the future. The core questions of the study were: which type of disability …

Design And Operation Of Ice Roads, Steven Daly, Billy Connor, Jessica Garron, Svetlana Stuefer, Nathan Belz, Kevin Bjella

AIDC Project Reports

This manual provides for the safe and efficient design, construction, maintenance, and operation of ice roads over freshwater. As such, it provides the parties responsible for the ice road guidelines for ensuring the safe operation of the ice road including route selection, minimum ice thicknesses, repair strategies, maximum vehicle weights and speed, and proper signage. The information provided in the manual represents best practices compiled from existing literature and from those who have experience working on ice roads. While every scenario cannot be foreseen, the information contained in this manual should provide sufficient knowledge to extrapolate safe solutions which are …

Knowledge, Attitude, And Practices Of Women Attending Primary Health Care Centers Toward Breast Self-Examination In Al-Karkh Baghdad, 2018, Hind Ahmed Abd Alaziz

Muthanna Medical Journal

Breast cancer (BC) is the most prevalent form of cancer in Iraq, accounting for 21% of all female cancers. It is considered to be a progressive disease with a poor prognosis if detected late. The low level of knowledge and practice of breast self-examination is an important method of prevention. The objective of this study to assess knowledge of Iraqi women at Baghdad-Alkarkh about breast cancer risk factor and their practices of breast self-examination. The aim of the study to assess knowledge of a sample of Iraqi women at Baghdad-Alkarkh about breast cancer risk factors and their practices of breast …

Implications Of Spatial Population Dynamics For Abundance Estimation And Catch Apportionment Of Alaska Sablefish (Anoplopoma Fimbria), Kari Hammarsten Fenske

Fisheries

Spatial dynamics in fish populations are challenging to identify and incorporate into population dynamics models due to the large amount of data required and the uncertainty associated with spatial processes. However, ignoring spatial dynamics can result in biased population estimates and negatively affect population sustainability or the ability to meet fishery management goals. My research explored implications of spatial dynamics for the assessment and management of Alaska sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria). Sablefish are highly mobile, targeted in commercial and recreational fisheries, and documented to have spatial variation in population dynamics such as abundance and biomass. However, gaps remain in understanding the …

Freshwater Pressures On Pacific Salmon In The Coastal Watersheds Of Alaska, Christopher J. Sergeant

Fisheries

This dissertation explores the implications of a warmer and wetter climate on the freshwater life stages of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) in the focal region of southern coastal Alaska. Recent trends and long-term climate change predictions support the notion that arctic and subarctic watersheds will be subject to warming air temperatures, increased rainfall in the autumn and winter, diminishing snowpack, and continued glacial recession. Such atmospheric and terrestrial changes will shift patterns of streamflow, water temperature, and habitat diversity that comprise the basic building blocks of freshwater ecosystems that support Pacific salmon. Alaska's Pacific salmon populations sustain a multi-billion-dollar economy …