Digital Commons Network^™

Integrative Review: Opioid Crisis, Naloxone, And Overdose Mortality, Ja'nae Flowers, Melissa Gayle

Master's Projects

The opioid crisis is a public health challenge that includes widespread use and misuse of opioids, opioid addiction, and overdose deaths (Parkin et al., 2020). Opioids are a class of medications that include prescription analgesics as well as illicit (illegal) drugs. The opioid epidemic began between 1990 and 2000 as healthcare providers began prescribing opioids at alarming rates, which led to misuse, abuse, and addiction. The overall effects of opioid use disorder (OUD) include increased healthcare costs, socioeconomic challenges, and poor health outcomes. Cooperation among healthcare organizations, law enforcement, public policy, and community outreach is required to support patients with …

A Comparative Study Of Patterns, Causes, And Impacts Of Data Breaches Across Geographical Regions And Time Frames, Bhavish Balsara

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The rise of digital technologies and interconnected systems has made data breaches a growing global concern. This culmination project explores the patterns, causes, and impacts of data breaches across various countries with varying levels of economic development and cybersecurity infrastructure from 2020 to 2023. This research aims to provide insights into the global landscape of data breaches and how they have evolved in recent years. The research questions are: (Q1) How do data breach patterns differ between countries with different levels of economic development and cybersecurity infrastructure? (Q2) What patterns and trends can be identified in data breaches when analyzing …

Securing Mobile Payments: The Impact Of Blockchain Technology On Transaction Integrity, Snehal Chaudhari

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study investigates how blockchain, tokenization, and smart contracts improve security and transparency in mobile payment systems, addressing critical vulnerabilities in the increasing mobile payments industry. The main research questions are: (RO1) How can integrating blockchain technology improve the transparency and security of mobile payments? (RO2) Why do tokenization and smart contracts play a crucial role in improving security for mobile payments?

Case study outcomes include: (RO1) Shido Wallet's decentralized blockchain provides more control and transparency over their financial transactions, overcoming traditional security and trust concerns. Project Khokha illustrates blockchain's scalability and efficiency by allowing for high-speed, confidential interbank transactions. …

An Analysis Of Security Risks Posed By Text-Based Generative Ai And Corporate Security Weaknesses Leading To Data Leaks, Tashya Rakshana Byreddy

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Generative AI (GenAI) has become a fundamental part of modern life, influencing how we work, learn, and interact with technology. This project focuses specifically on text-based GenAI, which is widely used for tasks such as information gathering, code improvement, and content creation. Despite its benefits, it presents significant security risks that are often underestimated by users. This project investigates these risks and the corporate security gaps that lead to unintentional data leaks. The project also provides a brief overview of Large Language Models (LLMs), which are based on the deep learning technique known as Transformer architecture, used for performing …

Suspicious Activity Recognition Using Computer Vision, Chaitanya Krishna Karanam

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This culminating experience project explored innovative methods for enhancing anomaly detection in video surveillance systems, a vital concern for public safety and security management. The research questions addressed were: Q1) What emergent approaches in Activity-based Human Action Recognition (AbHAR) lead to significant advancements in surveillance technology driven by human cognition? Q2) How can the processing and detection phases of video monitoring systems be optimized for improved efficiency? Q3) What are the advantages of ensemble approaches over individual algorithms in enhancing the robustness and accuracy of anomaly detection systems in video surveillance?

The findings were: (Q1), That deep learning methodologies, particularly …

Mitigating Credit Card Fraud In European Countries, Gurninder Singh

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The detection of credit card fraud is essential to lower monetary losses and boost consumer trust in financial institutions. The effectiveness of two machine learning models, the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) and Logistic Regression, in identifying credit card fraud was examined in this study. Data was gathered from a large dataset of transaction records to analyze each model's projected accuracy, precision, and recall. The research questions addressed are: (Q1) In terms of recognizing credit card fraud, how do artificial neural networks and decision trees perform differently? (Q2) What are the comparative accuracy levels of Markov versus Logistic Regression when it …

Autism Spectrum Disorder, Vidhya Lakshmi Jeevarathinam

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis requires an integrative approach that combines behavioral, biomedical, and computational methodologies for enhanced accuracy. This study introduces a comprehensive framework that employs machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) techniques alongside linear regression to model relationships between behavioral traits, biomedical markers, and ASD likelihood. Behavioral inputs, such as social interaction patterns, repetitive behaviors, and communication characteristics, are analyzed using linear regression to identify significant predictors of ASD. Simultaneously, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is trained on image datasets to detect visual cues, such as facial expressions, associated with ASD. Advanced techniques, including transfer learning and …

Harnessing The Power Of Peer Collaboration: Effects Of Cooperative Mock Exams On Statistics Anxiety And Self-Efficacy, Kristof Csaba

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study investigated the impact of collaborative mock exams on test anxiety and self-efficacy in undergraduate statistics courses. Students completed a mock exam individually or in pairs and provided pre- and post-activity measures of test anxiety and self-efficacy. Results showed that the collaborative condition exhibited lower statistics anxiety and exam-specific anxiety compared to the individual condition, but no significant difference in post-activity self-efficacy was found. Within-group analyses revealed a decrease in exam-specific anxiety and an increase in self-efficacy across both conditions. Condition by time interactions were not significant, although the pattern of results trended in the expected direction for exam-specific …

The Effect Of Gender Beliefs On Self-Determined Motivation As Measured By Organizational Citizenship Behaviors And Workplace Deviant Behaviors, Ryan Jaramillo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Employees are gauged by their motivation to complete their required job responsibilities, as losses in motivation can result in losses to organizations. Understanding motivation is necessary to achieving beneficial organizational outcomes such as organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) while reducing detrimental employee outcomes such as workplace deviant behaviors (WDBs). To this end, the present study analyzes motivation not through a dichotomy of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, but through a spectrum of self-determination for its relationship to employee behaviors. Gender is a potential moderator that can have important moderating effects between motivation and subsequent outcomes in the workplace. The purpose of this …

The Exploration Of Modern Life And Nature: A Public Relations Campaign Plan For Community Artists, David Mitchell

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Art can unite individuals and foster a sense of community. When art is accessible, it can act as a meeting place for individuals to connect and share their experiences. It may also generate economic opportunities for artists and communities. In this scholarly document, I briefly discussed how artists, particularly community artists, use visual arts to create connections within communities and to preserve cultures. Further, I discussed the lack of research on public relations in the art field and the importance that public relations holds for visual arts. I explained the critical role my public relations plan and non-profit art organization …

Stem Teacher Perceptions In East Tennessee About Using Artificial Intelligence In Classroom Operations, David Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the perceptions of Secondary STEM Teachers in rural East Tennessee about Artificial Intelligence instructional use. The researcher examined secondary STEM teachers' positive attitudes toward AI, challenges of using AI in the classroom, educators' confidence in using AI, and perceived benefits of AI. The participants of this study were located throughout East Tennessee, and had to self-identify as a 6-12 STEM teacher teaching in a rural district. The data were collected through Google Forms and the link to respond was posted in two different Facebook groups for distribution. The survey included 16 …

Mapping Amis Mill In Rogersville, Tennessee In The 1780s Using Geophysical Methods And Remote Sensing, Amy Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Geophysics and remote sensing were used at the Amis Mill and Homesite to determine the location of structures during the 1780s. Areas of interest were surveyed using shallow geophysical and remote sensing techniques including the orchard, horse pasture, original kitchen on the east side of the house, the west side of the house, plowed field, store site, and cemetery. After analyzing the results of the geophysical surveys and remote sensing, 22 sites were chosen to test inside and outside potential features. A large rectangular feature, possibly a tavern with a cellar, was discovered. Four other features were identified, three of …

College Student’S Learning Experiences During Covid-19 Among Traditional And Post-Traditional Students Enrolled In Institutions Affiliated With The Appalachian College Association, Jo Anne Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in the learning experiences, feelings and emotions, level of study support, and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic between traditional and post-traditional college students enrolled in an institution affiliated with the Appalachian College Association.

A two-group comparison research design using a web-based survey was used for the study. Using the College Student’s Learning Experiences during COVID-19 among Traditional and Post-Traditional Students Enrolled in Institutions Affiliated with the Appalachian College Association survey, the research questions were analyzed with a sample size of N = 58, traditional college student group and N=33, …

Comparison Of Pediatric Diabetic Ketoacidosis In Newly Diagnosed Versus Known Patients With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Single-Center Study, Nagham Alsolaimani, Mawadah Kattan, Zahia Algabbani, Ghram Awlia, Yara Alhamdani, Abdulmoien Alagha

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To compare the demographic, clinical, and biochemical characteristics of newly diagnosed versus known patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) presenting with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in a tertiary care center in the Western region of Saudi Arabia. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 147 children and adolescents diagnosed with T1DM who presented with DKAs between January 2019 and December 2023. Data on age, gender, nationality, economic status, episode severity, presenting symptoms, and biochemical markers were collected and analyzed. Results: The mean patient age was 7.24 years, with known patients being older (mean age: 8.24 years) than newly diagnosed patients (mean age: …

Political Embeddedness And Organizational Resilience: Empirical Investigation And Theorisation Of Institutional Translation Mechanisms In Chinese Private Enterprises, Shuai Shao

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

China is governed by the Communist Party of China (CPC), which embodies the nation's core values, mission, and ideological framework. The CPC organization embeddedness represents a distinctive governance arrangement, reflecting the state's Political Integration Imperatives. In the context of significant external shocks such as Covid-19, how does this political embeddedness influence private enterprises' organizational resilience - specifically their capacity to withstand disruptions and their ability to recover? What are the underlying mechanisms driving these effects?

This study employs a mixed-methods approach to investigate how CPC organization embeddedness shapes organizational resilience within China's unique institutional context, and the mechanisms through which …

The Relationship Between A Transient Scientific Phenomenon And Local Journalism At The Beginning Of The Gilded Age, Thomas Hockey

Faculty Publications

In the United States, the nineteenth century was the halcyon era for local newspapers. These publications were the primary source of public information at a time when other periodicals and books had low circulation. The purpose of this paper is to explore how local journalism in the nineteenth-century United States dealt with an occasion outside the boundaries of the commonplace: an unfamiliar natural phenomenon. My example is the total solar eclipse of 7 August 1869. Editors and journalists of the time largely were unaccustomed to covering celestial events. Nevertheless, they sensed—correctly—an interest in the solar eclipse. Articles about the approaching …

The Pagan Reception Of Judaism From The Sibylline Oracles: Insights From Pseudo-Seneca’S Octavia Regarding The Creation And Circulation Of Oral Sibylline Oracles By The Plebs, Kenneth Atkinson

Faculty Publications

According to tradition, the original collection of Sibylline Books ac­quired by the Roman monarch Tarquinius Priscus, which were kept in the Temple of Jupiter in the capital, were lost in the fire of 83 BCE. In 76 BCE, the Senate ordered the college of the quindecimviri to travel to the traditional centers of Sibylline activity in the East to find Sibylline Oracles to replace those destroyed in the fire. According to Lactantius, these officials collected many Oracles from private individuals. This reference suggests that Sibylline Oracles circulated widely. However, based on the witnesses regarding their consultation, it appears that the …

An Account Of The 1453 Ce Ottoman Siege Of Constantinople Interpreted Through A First Century Bce Jewish Text: How An Ancient Collection Of Second Temple Period Poems Changed The Course Of Western Civilization, Kenneth Atkinson

Faculty Publications

On 29 May 1453 CE, the besieged Christian occupants of Constantinople — the capital of the Byzantine Empire and the last surviving portion of the former Roman Empire — knew the end was near when they heard 50,000-80,000 angry Ottoman soldiers, including 5,000 to 10,000 of the elite Janissaries — the Sultan’s shook troops — preparing to breach its walls after a 53-day siege. The 7,000-man army defending the city knew that all was lost. The 21-year-old Sultan Mehmet II — given the sobriquet “the Conqueror” for capturing the city — leveled the roads so his army could reach Constantinople’s …

The Association Between Sports Camp Participation And Perceivedcompetence And Independence Among Visually Impaired Youth, Mary A. Keene, Justin Haegele, Xihe Zhu

Journal of Youth Development

Research on sport camps for visually impaired youth is limited. The purposes of this study were to examine if visually impaired campers’ self-perception of their perceived competence and independence changed as a result of attending a one-week sports camp. Forty visually impaired campers ranging from 10-15 years of age, who attended a one-week sports camp, completed a survey study from two outcome measures of the American Camp Association Youth Outcomes Battery. A bivariate correlation analysis and descriptive analyses were conducted. The campers reported relatively high levels of perceived competence (5.48 ± .57) and moderate levels of perceived independence (4.94 ± …

J Mich Dent Assoc December 2024

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Each month, The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association provides news, information, and features about Michigan dentistry to our state's oral health community and the MDA's 6,200+ members. It stands as the primary publication reaching Michigan dentists.

The December issue includes a timely cover feature on evidence supporting community water fluoridation, a clinical feature answering questions on patient dental records, a guest editorial on leadership by former MDA Journal Editor Dr. Bill Chase, and a Back Page article on how a personal touch makes a difference. We also provide our annual 2024 Author/Title Index and regular departments: The New Professional, …

The Effects Of Individual Differences In Working Memory On Trust Recovery, Connie Ku

All Theses

While trust repair is an active area of inquiry, most technology does not have the ability to initiate trust repair. Thus, it is crucial to examine how unaided trust recovery occurs and the factors that could influence it. Prior research has highlighted the potential importance of individual difference factors such as working memory capacity (e.g., Rovira, Pak, McLaughlin, 2017). However, the specific dynamics of unaided trust recovery and how they are influenced by individual differences are unknown. This study examined how working memory (WM) was related to the process of unaided trust recovery. In addition, this study also examined the …

Higher Order Bessel Beams Integrated In Time (Hobbit) With Engineered Light Frequencies And Applications In Computational Imaging, Tyler Cramer

All Theses

This thesis presents an adaptive optical system which leverages the frequency shifts from an acousto-optic deflector (AOD) form an array of uniformly spaced frequency diverse beamlets. These beamlets are then spatially transformed (wrapped) into a circular array forming a non-diffracting ring with an unprecedented orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode switching rate of 50Mhz with an OAM range of ±64. Along with frequency diversity, the non-diffracting range of the beams are analyzed 6 Rayleigh ranges of an equivalently sized gaussian beam. Inherent in the frequencies superposed on the AOD are associated relative phases which can be controlled to form sets of …

Exploring The Impact Of Leaders’ Emotional Intelligence On Employee Retention And Job Satisfaction: An Employee-Centric Perspective, Stacia Mccambridge

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Employee retention and job satisfaction are crucial for the success of higher education institutions, as turnover incurs high costs and disrupts operations. This qualitative phenomenological study explored how leaders’ emotional intelligence, as defined by self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management emotional intelligence, impacts employee satisfaction and retention in university settings in Southern California. The theoretical framework used for this study was the emotional intelligence theoretical framework of Goleman et al. (2002), which includes self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management competencies to conduct surveys and interviews. The two research questions that guided this study of how employees described, based …

Real-Time Network Simulations For Ml/Dl Ddos Detection Using Docker, Luis D. Garcia

Master's Theses

As the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within cybersecurity continues to

grow, machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) models are increasingly used to

detect cyber attacks. However, these models are rarely evaluated in real-time attack

scenarios to see how subtle changes from the real networking environment can affect

their predictions. To address this issue, we propose a scalable, platform-independent

Docker testbed specifically designed for simulating real-time Distributed Denial of

Service (DDoS) attack scenarios that allows researchers to deploy and evaluate their

pre-trained, ML and DL detection models. Our framework is simple to configure

and can run across Intel and …

The Application Of Generative Ai For Sketch-To-Image Conversion, Jeremy J. Kozlowski

Master's Theses

Sketches have historically been the primary way to identify individuals when images are unavailable. Most commonly, this appears in a police investigation, where the police release a sketch to the public in an attempt to find a suspect. However, sketches occasionally do not provide much detail due to the limitations of both the witness and the artist. A poor sketch greatly hinders the public’s ability to identify someone, decreasing the chances they will be found. To improve upon this inefficient way of identifying individuals, we propose a new pipeline that leverages deep generative artificial intelligence models to create detailed images …

Performance Of Multi-Composite Materials With Corrugated And Cell Geometries Under Low-Velocity Impact, Lukas S. Kolbl

Master's Theses

Composite structures have demonstrated great potential to improve mechanical performance in various applications, including ballistics protection. This study demonstrates that the integration of geometrically optimized composites into core-face sheet assemblies provide great impact resistance. The research investigated the performance of two composite manufacturing methods under low-velocity impact through residual strength and damage comparisons. Corrugated core composites were produced with traditional manufacturing methods, namely compression molding, using twelve stacking sequences. These stacking sequences were chosen to represent four laminate groups, where a unique fiber orientation scheme was employed across three laminate thicknesses (6, 8, and 12 layers). In contrast, honeycomb and …

Finite Element Analysis And Verification Of Transverse Mechanical Properties Of Generally Cylindrical Orthotropic Constitutive Modeling Of 3-Phase Nanocomposite Unit Cell, Christopher J. Hawkins

Master's Theses

Fiber-reinforced composites are increasingly popular due to their specific strength and stiffness, making them ideal for high-performance applications. However, these materials primarily exhibit superior properties in-plane, while their out-of-plane characteristics remain comparatively weaker. Previous research has shown that the most effective method to enhance out-of-plane properties involves the incorporation of carbon nanotubes. Experimental tests have demonstrated significant improvements in properties such as tension, flexural, short beam shear, and fracture toughness. Alongside these experimental studies, analytical equations have been developed to predict the behavior of these composites under various loading conditions, including tension, bending, shear, and fracture. Existing models primarily address …

Bonsai Merkle Tree Streams: Bulk Memory Verification Unit For Trusted Program Verification System, Richard J. Rios

Master's Theses

Today, all modern computing systems are undoubtedly vulnerable to numerous types of attacks that could be targeted toward any layer of the system from dedicated hardware to highly abstracted software. Unfortunately, many devices and systems naturally contain inadequately protected components or software modules that un- dermine their security as a whole. Additionally, security is heavily variable system to system, and has a huge dependence on adequate implementation and ongoing support from device and software manufacturers. To address these various security issues in a very general way, TrustGuard, a containment security system utilizing an external device called the Sentry that would …

Photophoretic Optical Particle Trapping Improvements Using Beam Reflection, Ian A. Garcia, Xiaomin Jin Phd., Kun Hua Phd.

Master's Theses

Current research has shown that photophoretic optical trapping (POT) is a promising method for creating true three-dimensional holograms. A landmark study by Smalley et. al. at BYU was able to generate a full hologram within a 2 cm edge cube with remarkable success. However, a key drawback to this method is its poor ability to hold trapped particles within the focal point of the laser for an extended period of time. An investigation from our group presented at SPIE Photonics West 2023 sought to improve these results by varying the focal length of the trapping and the wavelength of the …

An Investigation Into The Use Of Amateur Astronomy Equipment For Optical Orbit Determination Using A Mobile Telescope Platform, Johan C. Govaars

Master's Theses

The process of optical orbit determination has long been in the domain of large organizations and stationary observatories with highly specialized scientific equipment. This thesis seeks to determine not only if satellites can be captured regularly using purely commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment, but also if initial orbit determinations can be made using that data. Moreover, the use of a mobile telescope platform allows users to circumvent the restrictions of fixed observatories such as low horizon viewing restrictions or existing light pollution.

A completely COTS setup was utilized that included an 8-inch Celestron NextStar 8SE telescope with an f/6.3 focal reducer and …