Digital Commons Network^™

Bridging The Gaps: Listening To Early Education Leaders As Minnesota Public School Districts Work To Align Their Pre-K And K-12 Systems, Lisa A. Willman

Doctorate in Education

This qualitative study employed a grounded-theory approach to examine how Minnesota public schools align their pre-K to their K-12 systems. One-time, on-line interviews with eight early education leaders probed their districts’ catalyst for aligning the systems, how they continued the work after it was initiated, what successes and challenges they encountered, and their recommendations for other districts planning to do such alignment. Data were gathered using the built-in video-recording option in Google Meet, which also created closed captions and a printed transcript of the information. The resulting data were then analyzed via ATLAS.ti using eight main categories derived from Kauerz …

Educator Preparedness To Leverage Assistive Technologies In The Classroom, Sean Masterman

Doctorate in Education

The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is driving a compelling need for pedagogical change, yet there is disjuncture between the capacity of emerging technologies to address this need and their actual use in the American classroom. These technologies can enable personalization to meet each student’s individualized learning needs. Educator preparedness is the first step toward embracing and integrating the broad capabilities of emerging technologies to help build the future workforce. This qualitative, phenomenological case study assessed the preparedness of middle school general educators in two Minnesota school districts to leverage assistive technologies (ATs) to improve student learning from the perspective of …

Colloid Fabrication For Biomedical Engineering Applications Through Droplet Microfluidics, Lewis I. Larsen

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

The goal of this work was to leverage soft colloid fabrication through droplet microfluidics to improve the biomedical fields of radiotracer microspheres for selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) and 3D hydrogel tissue constructs for cell culture with future potential as a platform to study liver diseases and drug response. The importance of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging microspheres infused with positron-emitting radioisotopes such as Ga-68, Cu-64, and F-18 is that they accurately map tumor-to-liver uptake (TLR) ratio and lung shunting factor of hepatocellular carcinoma. These pretreatment radiotracers model the intravascular accumulation behavior of radioactive therapeutic Y-90 SIRT microspheres. Qualifying patients, …

An Interdisciplinary Education And Service Bundle To Reduce Hospital Resource Utilization And Decrease Pediatric Asthma-Related Morbidity And Mortality, Emily Yates

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this quality improvement project was to reduce hospital resource utilization and improve health outcomes for children with asthma by providing an evidence-based, interdisciplinary education and service bundle to patients and families admitted to a Children’s Hospital in Northern New Jersey with a primary diagnosis of asthma. The 2020 Asthma Management Guidelines published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2020), the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) and a modified systematic review identified common themes among children at risk for asthma-related morbidity and mortality and high hospital resource utilization. These themes included medication misuse, asthma trigger …

The Art Of Sustaining Orchestras Through Intentional Educational Experiences, Kimberly Souther

Dissertations, 2020-current

The purpose of this study is to identify the most current and successful advances in audience engagement that champion connection and result in sustainability through purposeful educational experiences.

The Symphony Orchestra currently serves an audience which represents a multiplicity of perspectives, background, and understanding. In an era of expanded canon and outreach to local communities, the orchestra must acknowledge that change is necessary if we are to truly create fulfilling experiences for our listeners. Unfortunately, many orchestras fail to connect their outreach to the concert hall, woefully categorizing their patrons into pre-determined subsets. What if all patrons were trusted with …

Camargo Guarnieri's Twenty Estudos: A Commitment To Brazilian Nationalism And Virtuosity, Steven Brancaleone

Dissertations, 2020-current

This document aims to find how composer Camargo Guarnieri uses Brazilian trends and incorporates them into his individual style, specifically in his Twenty Estudos for piano. The long compositional period of these pieces displays frequent experimentation and maturation in Guarnieri’s style between 1949 and 1988. The trends that Guarnieri follow can be traced by examining his life, environment, and teachings. Brazilian figure and instructor, Mario de Andrade, also contributes to molding and refining Guarnieri’s ideas. With this study, the Twenty Estudos will display Guarnieri’s individualistic use of Brazilian trends and how they correlate to his mature compositional style.

An Examination Of Maria Schneider’S Big Band Artistry Through The Lens Of Wind Band Arranging, Amy Birdsong

Dissertations, 2020-current

Within the world of instrumental music there tends to be strict adherence to styles and genres that have historically been connected to a standard collection of instruments. Wind ensembles are expected to perform contemporary art music, orchestral transcriptions, or military marches, with little expectation of individual creative interpretation. Jazz ensembles, or “big bands,” are expected to perform styles of music such as “swing,” which cannot be properly notated using western notation, while also being rigidly glued to reduced instrument choices, repetitive chord cycles and standard song forms. While wind ensemble performers are confined to read and perform all aspects of …

From Riches To Rags: The Price Of Haitian Independence, Michael Kuliasha Iii

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In 1699, the French established the colony of Saint Domingue following their acquisition of the western third of the island of Hispaniola from the Spanish Empire. The colony relied on a significant number of enslaved Africans to work on sugar cane plantations as the primary workforce. This led to a plantation-based economy, a large number of enslaved Africans, and the production of sugar cane, which quickly made Saint Domingue the wealthiest colony in the New World. However, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which was a pivotal document of the French Revolution, had a significant …

Effect Of Parenting Techniques On Anxiety In Children, Amber Burton

Student Works

As anxiety among children becomes more prevalent, understanding how parenting styles affect its development may become more relevant. Anxiety affects various aspects of individuals' lives (socially, intellectually, physically, and spiritually), adding extra challenges. Anxiety can be influenced by genetics but is also potentially impacted by the child’s environment. Evidence suggests that children whose parents display higher levels of warmth through acceptance and caring behaviors tend to experience lower levels of anxiety (Butterfield et al., 2021). Additionally, lower levels of anxiety have been found in children with parents who utilize increased levels of autonomy, giving their children the freedom to make …

Las Honduras De Este Déficit Escolar The Pandemic And Its Impact On The Educational And Schooling Experiences Of Front-Line Responders Working At A Private High School In Honduras, Esther María Claros Berlioz

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Centered on the testimonios,“a narration marked by the urgency to make public a situation of oppression or injustice and of resistance against that same condition” (Forcinito, 2016, p. 239) of four female frontline workers employed at a private bilingual high school in a city in Honduras, this ethnographic study provides details and themes about how these essential workers grappled with the shutdown and lengthy interruption of their children's face-to-face schooling. Offering insight into the contextual realities of Honduras and the differences and commonalities between private bilingual and private and public schooling institutions, this study relies on testimonio as a critical …

December 16, 2023, Seattle University School Of Law

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Comparative Lineament And Geomorphic Analysis Of Chaotic Terrains And Noctis Labyrinthus, Mars, Sarah A. Walton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Noctis Labyrinthus (NL) is an extensional trough network connecting the Tharsis rise and Valles Marineris on Mars. Chaotic terrains are a group of polygonally-fractured surface features commonly associated with subsidence due to rapid fluid loss within the subsurface. Polygonal surface patterns are seen at both sites, where geometric topographic highs are bounded by low troughs. Lineaments, topography, and geomorphology of NL and chaotic terrains were analyzed to determine tectonics and fluid influence in the formation and evolution of both sites. NL shows preferential fracture patterns associated with regional extension. Lineaments within chaotic terrains do not show cumulative preferential trends but …

Assessing Risk For Complications In Acute Hematogenous Osteomyelitis In Children: Validation Of 2 Predictive Scores, Adriana Sarmiento Clemente, J Chase Mcneil, Kristina G Hultén, Jesus G Vallejo, Michael E Scheurer, Sheldon L Kaplan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis (AHO) can be associated with severe complications which can be difficult to predict in the clinical setting. The previously published predictive acute complication score ("A-SCORE") and chronic complication score ("C-SCORE") show promise, however, further external validation is needed.

Methods: We performed a retrospective study of 418 children with AHO and analyzed the performance of A-SCORE (variables included bone abscess, fever after 48 h of starting antibiotics, suppurative arthritis, disseminated disease, and delayed source control) to predict risk for acute complicated course (treatment failure, prolonged admission, and/or need for ≥2 bone debridements) and C-SCORE (includes disseminated disease, …

757transfamily: Empowering Parents To Raise Their Transgender Child Through Knowledge, Connection, And Joy, Jessica Gurley

Institute for the Humanities Master's Papers, Projects, and Capstones

Parents of transgender and non-binary children often want to support their children, but are not sure how. Giving these parents the support and resources they need will increase their ability to support their children, further increasing the chance that their children will live a long, healthy, authentic life.

I built a website, and organized a workshop that parents can attend in order to access information and resources about the transgender community. These parents will receive the support they need to be better equipped to support their gender-diverse children. I will be collecting information about the parents' feelings and experience towards …

Short-Term Forecasting Airport Passenger Flow During Periods Of Volatility: Comparative Investigation Of Time Series Vs. Neural Network Models, David H. Hopfe, Kiljae Lee, Chunyan Yu

Publications

Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), known for handling complex data tasks like language translation and speech recognition, are seldom employed in airport management practice for daily and weekly passenger flow forecasting tasks. In this paper, we evaluate the effectiveness and adaptability of various neural network models (RNN, LSTM, GRU, Deep LSTM, Bidirectional LSTM, multivariate RNN, and multivariate LSTM) against standard time series models (ARIMA, SARIMA, and SARIMAX) for a short-term forecasting airport security checkpoint passenger flows at five major U.S. airports during the pandemic.

At Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (ATL), the RNN notably surpasses SARIMA's forecasting accuracy by 34% (DM= 3.44, p …

Policy Analysis: Increasing Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (Pdmp) Use To Improve Patient Safety, Kimberly Manning

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

Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) are state-run electronic databases that collect and monitor the prescriptions of controlled substances. PDMPs help the prescriber understand the patient’s medication history to reduce opioid abuse and misuse, overdose risk, and harmful medication interactions. Considering the national persistent opioid epidemic and its impact on patient safety, it is essential to assess how a large healthcare system encourages PDMP use. PDMP participation is a Virginia Commonwealth licensing requirement, a Center of Disease Control 2022 opioid prescribing guideline, and a healthcare system requirement. The healthcare systems Controlled Substance Policy for Adult Patients (Feghali, 2020) was evaluated using …

Talking Back To White Systems Of Power: A Black Feminist Critical Autoethnography, Kimberly Diggs

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis is a Black Feminist Critical Autoethnography that talks back (hooks, 1989). I use autoethnographic methods to unpack memories and trauma of my experience of being a part of a predominantly white institution (PWI) and a resident of a community in which the institution resides, and whiteness transcends. I incorporate Black Feminist Thought (BFT) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) as theoretical frameworks to enable counter storytelling to disrupt white, hegemonic ways of being. My evocative narratives, poems, and short vignettes provide a lens in which it means for me to be a Black woman in a community that has …

Increasing Medication Adherence In Patients With Bipolar Disorder Using Mobile App Reminder, Emmaculate Ndifor

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

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is the fifth leading course of disability in the world, contributing to many co-morbid conditions and complications. Non-adherence to medication is prevalent in patients with BD. The aim of the project was to use an evidence-based technological intervention to enhance medication adherence in BD patients between 18- 65 years old at an outpatient behavioral health clinic.

Methods: Baseline assessment included a pre Morisky Medication Adherence (MMAS-4) questionnaire. The development of an intervention to improve medication adherence was based on Johnson’s (2002) Medication Adherence Model (MAM).

Interventions: Participants downloaded the Medisafe app, registered medications and set …

Diabetes Health Coaching Program In An Eastern Virginia Health Center: A Retrospective Program Evaluation, Moniqueia Flint

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

The primary goal of diabetes management is to assist patients in controlling their diabetes and minimizing complications. Diabetic patients require continuous medical care that encompasses medication management, multifactorial risk-reduction strategies, and a multidisciplinary team. Health coaching is an emerging tool used to provide education and motivational techniques to individuals for better self-management of their chronic condition. Health coaching is a proven strategy with favorable effects on hemoglobinA1c (HgbA1c), blood pressure, weight, and health behaviors. A diabetes health coaching program (DHCP) was implemented at an eastern Virginia healthcare center (EVHC). The DHCP’s objective was to assist patients in meeting their individualized …

Medical Device Cybersecurity Risk Assessments: Engaging Clinicians To Mitigate Threat, Nicole A. Mohiuddin

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

Much of healthcare practice relies on computers, data and the Internet. This is especially true in the use of medical devices which are connected to the Internet and require strong cybersecurity protocols to ensure their data is secure. Technical advances have resulted in transformations to health care delivery, which have the capacity and capability to improve patient care. A prime example is the increase in interconnectivity between medical devices and other clinical systems. This interconnectivity leaves medical devices vulnerable to security breaches in the same way other networked computing systems are vulnerable (Williams and Woodward, 2015). However, unlike other networked …

Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevalence In College Students With Urinary Tract Infection Symptoms: A Pilot Study, Kathleen Beigh

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

Approximately one in five individuals in the United States has had a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Individuals between 15 to 24 years are considered a ‘higher risk’ for developing new STIs than other age groups. Many STIs are treatable but difficult to detect and carry significant health implications. Chlamydia and gonorrhea can be treated effectively with antibiotics if detected early. STIs are challenging to diagnose due to having few or no symptoms and often go undetected and untreated. A specific concern related to STIs is misdiagnosis as a lower urinary tract infection (LUTI) only in persons born with a vagina …

The Effectiveness Of Garlic Extract Against Spodoptera Litura On Chili, Efrin Firmansyah, Cecep Hidayat, Anna Aina Roosda, Adinda Nurul Fatah Adi Pradana, R Soelistijono

Jurnal Kultivasi

Spodoptera litura is a polyphagous pest and attack many families of cultivated plants, such as chili plants. Application of synthetic pesticides is still the mainstay for controlling this pest in the field. To support eco-friendly plant protection management, it is important to explore potential natural materials such as garlic extract. This research aims to determine the potential of garlic extract in controlling S. litura on chili plants, and to see its indirect effect on chili yield. The research was carried out in two sites, in the laboratory and the field. The experiment used a completely randomized design with 6 treatments …

Are Elementary Teachers Prepared To Teach A Stem Focused Curriculum: A Needs Assessment Of An Inner-City Elementary School, Erica Willie

Masters Theses (Archived)

No abstract provided.

Ceo Narcissism: An Unconventional Approach To Understanding The Importance Of Further Research, Melissa Goldsmith

Student Theses and Dissertations

CEOs are in a unique position of power and can significantly change an organization's overall work culture, global financial standing, policies/governance, and reputation. As such, the CEO must exemplify good stewardship, implement sound strategies to communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders, consider different perspectives, and maintain respect for others' skill sets and expertise. For decades, corporations have focused on this ideal picture of leadership. It is essential to understand how the leadership traits once venerated have changed to include the darker side of a CEO's personality, specifically, the embodiment of narcissistic traits that prove detrimental to the organization's performance …

"A Special Cause Of Corrupting Their Youth": The Long History Of Censorship, Hysteria, And The Representation Of Queer Desire In Literature, Kenia Torres

Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will focus on queer representation in literature, going all the way back to the works of Milton and Shakespeare and include an exploration of contemporary text Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe. I will trace queer representation back to these authors from the canon to show that queer representation in literature and societies’ hysterical reaction to it are neither new nor emergent. Chapter 1 addresses the trending outrage towards books that include LGBTQ+ representation, framing it as a “new” and “emergent” occurrence. Chapter 2 refutes the claims that LGBTQ+ representation is either of those things by introducing Milton’s angels— …

Creating Space For Black Queer Narratives: A Conversation Between Nella Larsen And James Baldwin, Trinity L. Hollis

Student Theses and Dissertations

My project seeks to use the fiction of James Baldwin and Nella Larsen to understand how queerness interacts with race, namely Black identity. I’m guided by Black feminist thought to consider themes of intersectionality, the notion that all aspects of identity are experienced simultaneously. This thesis makes an effort not to alienate one identity from another; the literature that I’m close reading is proof that Blackness and queerness inform each other.

A Bio-Inspired Alternative Positioning, Navigation, And Timing Approach Based On A Potential Game-Theoretic Model, Md Sadman Siraj

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

This thesis addresses the challenge of designing of alternative Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) solutions. Inspired by the evolution of biological ecosystems, we introduce a novel symbiotic PNT solution, based on the principles of Game Theory and the exploitation of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs). A set of actors, consisting of anchor nodes and RISs with known coordinates, collaborator nodes having a rough estimate of their positions, and targets of unknown positions, are cooperating to accurately determine the targets’ positioning and timing. The key objective is to minimize the estimation error of each target and collaborator node, as well as of …

A Symbiotic Content Caching Approach In Next-Generation Information-Centric Networks Based On Game Theory, Aisha B Rahman

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The continuous growth of mobile data traffic with strict time requirements calls for the development of sustainable edge content caching solutions. This becomes more prominent in the setting of Information-Centric Networking (ICN) architectures, where different ICNs are leasing caching slices to the available content providers (CPs), who in turn offer their services to the users. In this thesis, we introduce a novel symbiotic content caching framework that provides the necessary economic benefits to the ICNs and the CPs to mutualistically collaborate among each other. The corresponding mutualistic interactions among the ICNs and CPs are studied under the prism of two …

Location Aware Task Offloading Framework For Edge Computing Empowered By Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces, Md Sahabul Hossain

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

In this thesis, an energy efficient task offloading mechanism in a multi-access edge computing (MEC) environment is introduced, based on the principles of Contract Theory. The technology of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) is adopted and serves as the enabler for the energy efficient task offloading, from the perspective of location-awareness and improved communication environment. Initially a novel positioning, navigation, and timing solution is designed, based on the RIS technology and an artificial intelligent method that selects a set of RISs to perform the multilateration technique and determine the Internet of Things (IoT) nodes’ positions in an efficient and accurate manner …

Modeling Of Asphalt Concrete For Cross-Anisotropic Visco-Elasticity And Heterogeneity, Zafrul Hakim Khan

Civil Engineering ETDs

Asphalt Concrete (AC) is a cross-anisotropic viscoelastic material. This study has developed a methodology to backcalculate the cross-anisotropic properties of the AC layer from the Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) sensor and pavement response data from embedded sensors inside a pavement section. This study has also developed a two-way coupled Multiscale Finite Element Model (MsFEM) with Phase Field Fracture (PFF) to study the microstructural heterogeneity and damage of the AC layer based on the actual field loadings. A Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) and Machine learning-based backcalculation algorithm were developed to determine the layer thickness and dielectric constant from air-coupled Ground …