Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

The Effects Of Full Spectrum Hemp Oil On Extinction Of Stress Enhanced Fear Learning In A Rodent Model Of Ptsd, Tiphanie Chanel

Psychology ETDs

There are only 2 FDA-approved treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) despite the overwhelming evidence of the need for safer and more effective treatments. For example, roughly 50% of treatment seeking patients with PTSD experience relief from conventional pharmaceutical medications and only one third experience full remission. The Cannabis plant is a promising novel treatment for PTSD for several reasons. The endocannabinoid system plays a role in stress, emotion, cognition, suicidal phenotypes, fear memory consolidation, retrieval and reconsolidation and extinction. Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the most widely studied phytocannabinoids found in the Cannabis plant, has both anxiolytic and antidepressant qualities. …

Radio Insights Into Gamma-Ray Mysteries, Seth M. Bruzewski

Physics & Astronomy ETDs

In the time since its launch, the \textit{Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope} has provided new and unparalleled views of the $\gamma$-ray sky, dramatically increasing our understanding of sources of high-energy radiation. During that same time, however, its ``unassociated'' sources have provided a consistent mystery: approximately one third of the modern gamma-ray sky remains completely unaccounted for in other electromagnetic regimes. While some of the fainter sources simply pose challenges in achieving the necessary signal-to-noise ratio, others are well constrained and have resisted traditional investigations for years, and in some cases, for over a decade. Radio astronomy has traditionally been the best …

"I Know The Dream Mine Is True": Mormons, Mining, And The Making Of "Bad Religion" In Early Twentieth-Century Utah, Christine V. Shell

American Studies ETDs

In 1894, folksy Mormon farmer-turned-prophet John H. Koyle, Jr, dreamed that an angel from the Book of Mormon showed him where and how to mine for golden ore and Book of Mormon treasures. Shortly afterwards, Koyle and a handful of friends established the “Dream Mine” at the revealed location, and as word spread additional workers joined the cause—for this was a mine destined to save the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members from financial and spiritual ruin during the long-foretold apocalyptic “Last Days.”

Koyle’s followers took delight and solace from their participation in the Dream Mine’s …

Community Connect: A Strategy To Mitigate The Effects Of Church Shopping On Small Urban And Rural Congregations, Jimmy Greene

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

While serving as an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church, I began to realize that church shopping poses an existential worry to the survival of small churches in North America, mainly those with limited resources. The demand of some church shoppers for social amenities like indoor gyms and theater-style folding seats over personal relationship with God creates low morale for small churches, which often lack a positive response strategy.

This research study proposes a mitigating strategy, Community Connect, to address the social, psychological, missional, and ecclesiological impacts of church shopping on small churches. This socio-missiological, ecclesiological, and pedagogical approach …

Essays In Robust Optimization With Applications To Finance And Renewable Energy, Hao Jiang

Operations Research and Engineering Management Theses and Dissertations

Real-world optimization problems are often sensitive to uncertainties caused by estimation errors, forecasting inaccuracy, and imprecise data information. These uncertainties bring significant challenges to decision-making in many areas. Robust optimization (RO) is a tool for addressing the challenges of parameter uncertainty. In this dissertation, we focus on the studies of RO on two problems. (1) In the study of finance, we proposed a tractable RO model for a Mean-Variance portfolio selection problem. We consider Markowitz's Mean-Variance Optimization when stock returns are modeled using Sharpe's single-index framework, but the model coefficients Alpha and Beta, are not precisely known. This study assumes …

Bitcoin Price Modeling Using Machine Learning Algorithms, Azadeh Golduzian

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

Forecasting in financial markets with various technologies is critical nowadays. The Bitcoin cryptocurrency has grown in popularity in recent years, and as a result, many people all around the world have attempted to forecast its price. To improve forecast accuracy, we must employ multiple types of data and diverse approaches. This thesis combines textual and financial data and employs statistical methods and machine learning to forecast Bitcoin's price as precisely as possible. We show the performance of each strategy using Bitcoin data at the end of each chapter.

Quantifying The Influences Of Abiotic And Biotic Factors On Post-Fire Vegetation In The Southwestern Us, Joseph Lafayette Crockett

Biology ETDs

The ongoing warming associated with climate change is increasing the flammability of southwestern US dry forests. As larger fractions of the landscape are impacted by high-severity fire, the potential exists for forests to convert to non-forest. Given that the forested area in the southwestern US is an important contributor of ecosystem services, quantifying limitations to vegetation establishment is critical to informing post-fire recovery efforts and understanding how ongoing climate change will limit seedling establishment in the future. To that end, this dissertation focuses on post-fire vegetation recovery of southwestern forests. First, I report on the influence of precipitation and topography …

Cultural Educational Narratives: An Exploration Of Latina Stories The Impact Of Cultural Educational Narratives On Decision-Making For Latinas, Marymargaret Carrillo

Graduate Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of cultural educational narratives for six Latinas earning an undergraduate or graduate degree. Each Latina earned their degree from Southern Methodist University, a private university in Dallas, Texas. Specifically, this study examined the college decision-making process based on the Perna Conceptual College Choice Model. Using the lens of Intersectionality and Latino Critical Race Theory, the focus of this study is to understand the narratives shared by Latinas about the stories told to them by the Latino culture about decision-making relating to education. This study employed a qualitative research design. During the study, Latinas were interviewed …

Evaluating Hope: A Trauma-Informed Sensory Training For Early Childhood Educators, Andrea Houtras, Otd, Otr/L

Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate Culminating Presentations

Introduction: Adverse childhood experiences create challenges in sensory integration (Perry, 2006) impacting preschoolers’ participation and occupational performance (May-Benson, 2016). Professional development in trauma-informed sensory training is essential to support early childhood educators working with this population (Loomis, 2018; Perry, 2006).

Objectives: To develop a trauma-informed sensory training and evaluate its validity and usefulness for early childhood educators.

Methods: We used a modified Delphi method to evaluate the training’s adherence to Ayres Sensory Integration® and trauma-informed care principles of practice and usefulness for early childhood educators. A convenience sample of three expert groups reviewed the training and completed surveys to …

Interpretable Word-Level Sentiment Analysis With Attention-Based Multiple Instance Classification Models, Chenyu Yang

Statistical Science Theses and Dissertations

In this study, our main objective is to tackle the black-box nature of popular machine learning models in sentiment analysis and enhance model interpretability. We aim to gain more insight into the decision-making process of sentiment analysis models, which is often obscure in those complex models. To achieve this goal, we introduce two word-level sentiment analysis models.

The first model is called the attention-based multiple instance classification (AMIC) model. It combines the transparent model structure of multiple instance classification and the self-attention mechanism in deep learning to incorporate the contextual information from documents. As demonstrated by a wine review dataset …

Deep Learning For Microbiome-Based Integrative Modeling And Microbial Biomarkers Identification, Sen Yang

Statistical Science Theses and Dissertations

The human microbiome, comprising trillions of microorganisms, plays a pivotal role in modulating host physiology via molecular and metabolite exchanges. One of the major challenges in this field lies in the effective integration of microbiome and metabolomics data, an achievement that holds the promise of substantially enhancing the precision of disease prediction. However, many datasets prioritize microbiome data while neglecting paired metabolome information. Additionally, the prevalent analytical tools face challenges in effectively merging these intricate datasets, leading to possible misinterpretations and reduced prediction accuracies.

To address these challenges, the first part of this research introduces the Microbiome-based Supervised Contrastive Learning …

2023 Fall Commencement, Harding University

Commencement Programs

Program for the Harding University Commencement on December 16.

Commencement Speaker: Keith Cronk

2023-December-16-Etsu Celebrates Class Of Fall 2023, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

East Tennessee State University celebrated more than 1,400 members of the Class of 2023 during two Commencement ceremonies held at the Ballad Health Athletic Center today.

During the morning ceremony, Dr. Jessica Burchette, associate professor of Pharmacy Practice at ETSU Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, was the keynote speaker. Burchette is the 2023 recipient of the ETSU Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching, the highest teaching honor bestowed by the university.

In her remarks, Burchette provided five tips to the graduating class. Among them, she encouraged the graduates to “prioritize people” and to find ways to serve and be generous.

“When …

Wise Mind Program Evaluation, Molly Pylypciw

Psychology ETDs

Addressing adolescent mental health, especially among low-SES and racial-ethnic minority youth is imperative. This study evaluated the effectiveness and acceptability of a school-based socio-emotional learning program, called Wise Mind, delivered to a low-income, racially-ethnically diverse population. Participants (n=45 total; n = 25 intervention; n = 20 control) were ninth graders in both Special and General Education classes at a low-income racially-ethnically diverse high school in the Southwest United States. Eight one-hour sessions of Wise Mind were delivered to the intervention group over the course of eight weeks. Participants responded to questionnaires pre- and post- intervention assessing emotion regulation, mindfulness, interpersonal …

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 …

Correlation Analysis Between Agronomic Character And Yield Of Padjadjaran Maize Hybrids At Medium And High Population Densities, Yuyun Yuwariah, Qinthara Nail Haysa, Damara Bakti Muhammad, Dedi Ruswandi, Fiky Yulianto Wicaksono

Jurnal Kultivasi

Maize is a prospective food commodity that developed in Indonesia. The use of hybrid corn gives better yield than open-pollinated varieties. Spacing management in hybrid maize production can reduce competition between plants, so that the plant canopy and roots can grow optimally. This research aimed to compare the differences in the phenotypic performance of the agronomic characters of Padjadjaran maize hybrid, determine the dominant agronomic characteristics, and determine the correlation between the growth and yield characteristics at medium- and high-population densities. The experiment was carried out from December 2021 until May 2022 at Sanggar Penelitian, Latihan dan Pengembangan Pertanian (SPLPP) …

Environmental Fate Of Sulfur In Sulphur Creek, Valles Caldera, Nm: Implications For Metal Transport And Water Quality, Daniel Lavery

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The 1.2 Ma Valles Caldera in north-central New Mexico hosts a young igneous volcanic hydrothermal system after the model proposed in Goff and Janik (2000). The Sulphur Springs area within Valles Caldera is an acid-sulfate area typical of this model, discharging acidic waters (pH 1.5-3) formed by oxidation of magmatic H₂S at the surface. We report on samples obtained from springs and streams collected between October 2021 and May 2023 in the Sulphur Creek and Alamo watersheds. Sulphur Creek receives input from Sulphur Springs and exhibits low pH (2-4) and high concentrations of Al (≤110 mg/L), Fe (≤60 …

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.

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 …

Investigation Of The Effectiveness Of Intraoperative Radiotherapy In Treatment Of Unifocal Invasive Breast Cancer, Julie Schultz, Annie M. Oslund

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

Objective: Assess the 5 year local recurrence rate of intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) in relation to the conventional treatment of external breast radiotherapy (EBRT) in eligible females diagnosed with breast cancer over age 40.

Design: Systematic literature review.

Methods: PubMed was searched using the following limits and terms: breast neoplasms, intraoperative radiotherapy, randomized control trial, clinical trial, females, English, and published in the last 10 years.

Results: Three studies were found to directly compare IORT and EBRT regarding 5 year local recurrence rates.

Conclusion: IORT was shown to be non-inferior to EBRT in two of the three studies that were examined; …

Shorter Duration Of Dual Antiplatelet Therapy Following Second Generation Drug Eluting Stent Placement, Alexandra Coy, Caitlyn M. Murtha

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women in The United States. Because advanced heart disease is often treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for stent implantation, many patients will be put on dual antiplatelet therapy to prevent adverse effects such as stent thrombosis or restenosis. The purpose of this literature review is to determine if the development of second-generation drug eluting stents allows for a shorter, 6-month, duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) versus the currently recommended 12 months. The articles discussed in this review were obtained on PubMed and narrowed using search terms …

Efficacy Of Dry Cupping Therapy As Treatment For Non-Specific Lower Back Pain, Lucas Albrecht, Kelly Ettari

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

Lower back pain (LBP) is one of the most common conditions affecting adults globally. Non-specific lower back pain (NSLBP) is a diagnosis based on the exclusion of other pathoanatomical causes, and accounts for over 80% of cases of LBP. 1 Current treatments typically involve a multidisciplinary approach. Dry cupping therapy is a noninvasive treatment option that is used to treat musculoskeletal pain. 2 Three studies were analyzed which assess the utility of dry cupping therapy as a treatment modality for non-acute NSLBP; two of the studies were randomized control trials, and the third was a small pilot study. All three …

Efficacy Of The Hepatojugular Reflux Test, Adrienne Irmiter, Cheyanne Dolan, Sarah Edrington

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

No abstract provided.

Are Lidocaine Infusions The Future Of Chronic Pain?, Clara Gilbert, Hayley Loos

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

No abstract provided.

Can A Healthy High Fat Diet Improve Fatigue Symptoms In Patients With Relapse And Remitting Multiple Sclerosis?, Sarah Von Euler, Elizabeth Henry

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

No abstract provided.

Looking To The Future: Vitamin E Infused Highly Cross-Linked Polyethylene Acetabular Cups, Melissa Hango, Sarah Sutter Kaufmann

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

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 …

Green Is The New Black: Exploring How A Philosophical Approach To The Fashion Industry Will Reduce Its Environmental Impact, Darion A. Gibbs

Student Theses and Dissertations

The fashion industry is the third largest contributor to pollution globally, behind only oil and agriculture. It also accounts for one-fifth of the plastic produced annually. Despite its impact, it is hard to trace accountability. For example, mega-retailers often outsource production to developing countries, without strong structures of accountability for their environmental impact. In addition, companies often claim to be environmentally sustainable, but it is easy to inflate the truth, and entities designed to protect consumers have limited enforcement. In this context, who should be held responsible for the fashion industry’s contribution to climate change?

In response, this thesis delves …

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.