Digital Commons Network^™

Codifying Domesticity: The Story Of The Recommended Minimum Requirements For Small Dwelling Construction Of 1923, The Housing Policy Of The Hoover Secretariat, And The Impact On American Residential Architecture, Noah Morris

Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design Theses & Dissertations

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, fire disasters and health-safety issues led to the widespread adoption of building codes. While the National Board of Fire Underwriters published the National Building Code in 1905, the code did not maintain regulatory consistency across the nation. This lack of consistency across the nation and socio-economic factors contributed to a nation-wide housing shortage of a million units by 1919. During World War I, the government addressed the housing crisis through the United States Housing Corporation and Emergency Fleet Corporation, building public housing based on the ideals of the Garden City Movement.[1] Following the …

A Computational And Mathematical Approach To The Preclinical Development Of Alpha Emitting Radiopharmaceutical Therapies, Abdulaziz Said

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Numerous candidate nuclides have been undergoing rigorous preclinical development in the pursuit of novel targeted therapies. Successful development of these drugs relies on the understanding of physiological impacts at the macro and micro scales, in addition to a scalable process for their production. Here, mathematical and computerized approaches have been developed to guide this preclinical development. In this report, two alpha emitting nuclides Pb-212 and Ra-223 are modeled. Radium-223 dichloride citrate a newly approved ion indicated for treatment of bone metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer, irradiates lesions through targeted uptake in bone at sites of disease. We have undertaken the …

Safety And Optimality Monitors For Learning-Enabled Systems Using Conformal Prediction, Jackson Cox

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The use of machine learning to create data-driven plant models and controllers has led to an increased need for safety and optimality monitors for model-based systems. System plant models are subject to uncertainty due to learning constraints such as unseen data and overfitting or physical constraints such as unknown dynamics and noise. This uncertainty is detrimental to safety-critical systems and must be properly regulated. To curb this uncertainty, we create prediction sets using the guarantees provided by Conformal Prediction. With a user-specified high probability, these prediction sets contain the true plant system states for an entire prediction horizon, which we …

Suicide Risk Assessment And Student Competency In Cacrep-Accredited Master's Counseling Programs, Meghan Kyle O'Meara

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Suicide remains a public health issue, demanding proficient training of future counselors in suicide risk assessment (SRA). However, concerns persist regarding the competency of counselors-in-training (CITs) in this crucial area. This study explored the predictive relationship between theory of planned behavior (TPB) constructs and students’ perceived competency in SRA. Grounded in the TPB, the research addressed how attitudes (ATT), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) influence intentions and subsequent behavior, using a nonexperimental survey design to collect data from students in Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP)–accredited master's counseling programs via a comprehensive questionnaire. …

Examining The Internet Hunting Styles Of Violent Sexual Predators Who Rape And Murder Their Victims, Rebecca Meyers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The proposed study sought to explore the impact of the internet on the hunting styles of sexual predators who sexually assault and kill their victims. A sample of 32 cases, divided equally among offenders who used the internet to target adult females and those who did not use the internet, was used for the study. The findings showed that various internet-based platforms were used for targeting, including dating apps such as Grindr, Match.com, Meetme.com, Tinder, Craigslist, Sex chat rooms, Kik Messenger, and BDSM sites. Three themes emerged about the impact of the internet on the hunting styles of sexual predators …

Social Media Intelligence: Responding To Crime And Violence In The Digital World, Chloe Lynn Sitton

Theses

The integration of social media into everyday life has transformed how crime is committed, communicated, and investigated. This capstone project examines the emerging field of social media intelligence and its growing influence on modern policing, surveillance, and the community. Drawing from sociological theory, law enforcement practice, legal analysis, and community-based research, this project offers a far-reaching interdisciplinary view of how social media is shaping crime and justice in the United States.

Suicide Risk Assessment And Student Competency In Cacrep-Accredited Master's Counseling Programs, Meghan Kyle O'Meara

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Suicide remains a public health issue, demanding proficient training of future counselors in suicide risk assessment (SRA). However, concerns persist regarding the competency of counselors-in-training (CITs) in this crucial area. This study explored the predictive relationship between theory of planned behavior (TPB) constructs and students’ perceived competency in SRA. Grounded in the TPB, the research addressed how attitudes (ATT), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) influence intentions and subsequent behavior, using a nonexperimental survey design to collect data from students in Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP)–accredited master's counseling programs via a comprehensive questionnaire. …

The Psychological And Physical Impact Of The Opioid Crisis On Families, Adrienne Antoinette Hunter Wells Green

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many rural areas in the United States have experienced an opioid crisis. Social support programs could be created to address social support for the families affected by opioid addiction. The purpose of this non-experimental, cross-sectional research study was to examine the possible relationship between (a) prescription or non-prescription addiction; (b) opioid addiction or another addiction; (c) the amount of family social support of a family member who has ongoing interactions with the individual struggling with addiction; and (d) stress of the family member in a rural area. Bowen’s family systems theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. A non-probability …

Gene Expression Regulation By Au-Rich Elements And Au-Rich Element Binding Proteins, Courtney Fay Jungers

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The regulation of messenger RNA (mRNA) splicing, stability, and translation efficiency are major modes for controlling gene expression – which is essential for life. RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) are trans-acting factors that bind to cis-elements influencing the stability and translation of the mRNA transcript. AU-rich elements (AREs) are cis-elements that are targeted by AU-rich element binding proteins (ARE-BPs). Here, I show a novel role for AREs and AU-rich element binding protein 1 (AUF1) during alternative splicing and report on interactions of RBPs and miRNAs to design a new treatment for breast cancer by interrupting these interactions in the …

Enhanced Lsmc For Valuation Of Options, Amr Mekawy

Theses and Dissertations

In the world of finance, whether you are a hedger or a speculator, a risk-adverse or a risk-advocate, the use of financial instruments and derivatives will remain pertinent to providing new opportunities for mitigating risks as well as generating profit. Among these instruments are Options, which regardless of their complexity, can be an extremely versatile tool to be utilized across a wide range of different markets.

An option is a derivative that gives the holder the right, but not the obligation to buy or sell the underlying asset either before or at the maturity date of the contract. There are …

Distinct Effects Of Extra- And Intracellular Trehalose Supplementation In Freezing Medium On The Post-Thaw Developmental Capacity Of Feline Oocytes, Saengtawan Arayatham, Wirakan Kallayanathum, Panuwat Padungros, Theerawat Tharasanit

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Oocyte cryopreservation is a crucial technique for preserving the genetic material of female cats, yet maintaining post-thaw oocyte developmental competence remains a significant challenge. This study investigated the impact of intra- and extracellular trehalose on the developmental competence of feline oocytes following cryopreservation. In Experiment 1, immature feline oocytes were matured in vitro (IVM) with varying concentrations (0, 1.5, and 3 mM) of intracellular trehalose hexaacetate (Tre-(OAc)6). The matured oocytes were then cryopreserved and thawed prior to in vitro fertilization and embryo culture. Experiment 2 examined the effects of extracellular trehalose supplementation at concentrations of 0, 0.125, 0.25, and 0.5 …

The Four Domains Model Of Artificial Intelligence In Surgical Education: Adapting Applications To Trainee Level, Anant R. Tewari, Jasraj Raghuwanshi, Lawal A. Labaran, Xudong Li

Journal of Innovation in Health Sciences Education

Since the inception of modern medicine, surgical trainees have benefitted from coaching and feedback from senior surgeons. In the high-demand operating room environment, granular feedback is often limited by time constraints. Artificial intelligence (AI) represents a novel frontier in surgical education in that it may be able to provide reliable, objective, and comprehensive feedback in an automated manner. While prior studies have given broad overviews of AI in surgical training, there has been no study to our knowledge that has codified the myriad applications and offered guidance for which applications best suit trainees at various levels of surgical education. We …

Integrating Supports To Meet The Needs Of The Whole Child, Rebecca Wright, Deshonda Stringer

Georgia Association for Positive Behavior Support Conference

Georgia Multi-Tiered System of Supports (GaMTSS) is a data-driven, multi-level prevention system designed to meet the needs of the whole child by implementing a continuum of tiered supports. This session will discuss the integration of academics, behavior, and well-being which is essential for student and educator success. These supports play a critical role in impacting positive school climate. An overview of the five essential components of GaMTSS, with an emphasis on building a strong infrastructure, will also be discussed.

The Private Cause Of Action Under Maine's Unfair Trade Practices Act, Steven A. Shaw

Maine Law Review

In 1970 the Maine Legislature passed the Unfair Trade Practices Act (UTPA) which declared unlawful any "unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce . . . ." UTPA-type statutes, now common to all states, offer several advantages. The statutes provide for a statutory award of attorneys' fees, create a private cause of action which is simple in comparison to analogous common law claims, and offer a flexible concept of unlawful conduct which many courts have shown a willingness to interpret broadly and sympathetically. Although Maine's UTPA was originally …

Supplements To Environmental Impact Statements: Implementation Of The Standards Set By The Council On Environmental Quality, Dale Lynn Gavin

Maine Law Review

Environmental impact statements (EISs) are prepared before any major federal project is undertaken, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). An original EIS may become obsolete if a Project's operation later changes in any significant way, or if previously unsuspected environmental impacts are later discovered. When either of these two events occurs, compliance with NEPA demands that a supplemental EIS be prepared to focus on the changes. The decision whether a supplement is required in any particular situation is guided by standards set by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). In addition, some federal agencies have promulgated their …

Comeau V. Maine Coastal Services: The Quantum Theory And The Rescue Doctrine In Workers' Compensation, George F. Eaton Ii

Maine Law Review

Section 51 of the Maine Workers' Compensation Act provides that in order to be compensable, an employee's injury must arise out of and occur in the course of the employment. The decision of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in Comeau v. Maine Coastal Services upheld the Workers' Compensation Commission's denial of the plaintiff's petition for an award of compensation. In reaching its decision, however, the Law Court departed from the long-settled analytical approach of treating the "arising out of" and the "in the course of" requirements as separate criteria both of which must be met in order to establish a …

Global Historical Tsunami Database, Andrew Allegra

Benefits of Ocean Observing Catalog (BOOC)

The Historical Tsunami Database contains information on tsunami sources and locations where tsunami waves were observed by eyewitnesses, field reconnaissance surveys, tide gauges or deep-ocean sensors.

Pmp2+ Scs Maintain The Survival And Functioning Of Large-Caliber Motor Axons, Mikolaj Kozlowski

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by selective neuronal vulnerability, a phenomenon in which a specific pathology induces the death of a particular subpopulation of neurons. For example, selective neuronal vulnerability in the peripheral nervous system results in sensory, motor, or mixed peripheral neuropathies. While the intrinsic differences between neuronal subtypes cannot fully explain the basis of selective neuronal vulnerability, it is plausible that it partially stems from neuron extrinsic mechanisms such as the malfunction of distinct Schwann cell (SC) subtypes. Recently, we identified an exciting subpopulation of myelinating SCs characterized by the expression of Adamtsl1, Cldn14, and Pmp2 (hereafter referred to …

Improving Clinical Information Extraction From Electronic Health Records: Leveraging Large Language Models And Evaluating Their Outputs, Kriti Bhattarai

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Accurate extraction of clinical entities and phenotypes from unstructured electronic health record (EHR) text is crucial for various clinical research tasks, including cohort identification, tracking temporal patterns in disease progression and deciding treatment course. However, this task remains challenging due to the complexity and ambiguity of medical language. This dissertation explores the application of advanced generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) models, such as GPT-4, GPT-3.5-turbo, Llama-3.1, Llama-3 and Flan-T5, for clinical entity and phenotype extraction from EHRs. Building upon these findings, this dissertation also investigates a hybrid approach where integration of external knowledge sources, such as Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) …

Phosphorus Adsorption Capacity Of Volcanic Scoria, Easton Jeffrey Perkins

Theses and Dissertations

Phosphorus (P) pollution in stormwater runoff poses a significant threat to water quality, contributing to eutrophication and ecosystem degradation. This research evaluates the potential of volcanic scoria (VSco), an abundant and cost-effective resource in Utah, USA, to influence P concentrations in urban stormwater systems. Batch adsorption experiments examined the behavior of VSco across three particle sizes—fine (<0.841 mm), medium (0.841–2 mm), and granular (2.38–9.5 mm)—under conditions mimicking stormwater scenarios. The results reveal that fine VSco exhibited higher adsorption efficiency than medium and granular sizes, achieving notable P removal at higher concentrations. However, at lower concentrations, fine VSco showed potential for P release due to desorption of pre-existing P. Medium and granular VSco showed minimal adsorption capacity and, in some cases, acted as P sources, highlighting a dual potential depending on stormwater conditions. Adsorption isotherms indicate that the adsorption behavior of fine VSco aligns with the Langmuir model, with a finite and relatively low adsorption capacity. Calculated distribution coefficient (Kd) values for fine VSco ranged from 0.04 to 0.005 L/g, indicating weak adsorption efficiency compared to materials like activated carbon (1–10 L/g) or soils with moderate adsorption capacity (0.1–0.5 L/g). Loss-on-ignition tests confirmed that VSco’s performance is driven by its physical and chemical properties, particularly its calcium content, rather than organic matter. The study emphasizes caution in applying fine VSco for stormwater remediation due to its potential to release P under typical runoff conditions. However, fine VSco may still be viable in specific scenarios where P levels are higher, such as in stormwater hotspots or localized areas with elevated concentrations, allowing for targeted remediation. The research underscores the need for further testing to refine VSco’s applications, particularly in low-impact development (LID) practices, such as infiltration basins and rain gardens, to effectively manage P levels while supporting ecological and aesthetic goals. These findings contribute to understanding the complex role of VSco in urban stormwater systems, offering insights for sustainable water quality management and nutrient cycling in urban landscapes.

Artificial Intelligence-Based Methodologies For Early Diagnostic Precision And Personalized Therapeutic Strategies In Neuro-Ophthalmic And Neurodegenerative Pathologies, Rahul Kumar, Ethan Waisberg, Joshua Ong, Phani Paladugu, Dylan Amiri, Jeremy Saintyl, Jahnavi Yelamanchi, Robert Nahouraii, Ram Jagadeesan, Alireza Tavakkoli

SKMC Student Presentations and Publications

Advancements in neuroimaging, particularly diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques and molecular imaging with positron emission tomography (PET), have significantly enhanced the early detection of biomarkers in neurodegenerative and neuro-ophthalmic disorders. These include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica, and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody disease. This review highlights the transformative role of advanced diffusion MRI techniques-Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging and Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging-in identifying subtle microstructural changes in the brain and visual pathways that precede clinical symptoms. When integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, these techniques achieve unprecedented diagnostic precision, facilitating early detection of neurodegeneration and …

Early Considerations And Estimates For The Performance Of An Alaska-Based Earthquake Early Warning System, Alexander Fozkos

Geosciences

The complexity of Alaska presents several challenges for earthquake early warning systems. These include the presence of offshore earthquakes, transform boundaries and crustal faults extending hundreds of kilometers, deep earthquakes, and a complicated coastline. This variety, combined with population centers spread far apart, makes it challenging to anticipate an earthquake early warning system's performance and to design a network accordingly. As Alaska begins to plan for earthquake early warning, our objective is to envision how and how well it might function in Alaska. We present here sets of scenarios with warning time and ground motion estimates for a variety of …

Creating A Digital House Of Knowledge: Ensuring The Continuation And Integrity Of Indigenous Knowledge Transfers In The Digital Era, Jacquelyn C. Cordova

Indigenous Studies

Traditional Indigenous knowledge transfer systems have contributed to the sustainability of highly advanced Indigenous societies since time immemorial. These systems have been purposefully targeted since European arrival to the Americas in the late 1400s and early 1500s, consequently creating barriers for Indigenous Peoples as they strive to conduct their traditional knowledge transfer processes within their communities. These barriers, paired with the continual rise and use of global technologies, have created circumstances where many Native Elders and Knowledge Keepers experience difficulty reaching their youth and community members to ensure the successful transfer of Indigenous data and knowledge to current and future …

Microservice Architecture For Social Media Data Collection, Analysis, And Dashboarding, Sai Ram Manohar Koya

Theses and Dissertations

This research presents a novel methodology for the collection, processing, and analysis of social media data using a microservices-based architecture. The proposed system integrates multiple data streams from various social media platforms, transforming this information into a unified, JSON-based DataObject model for seamless processing and analysis. Unlike monolithic architectures, the microservices approach offers scalability and flexibility, allowing the system to handle the high velocity, variety, and volume of unstructured social media data, including text, images, and videos. By leveraging NoSQL databases like MongoDB, the methodology efficiently manages data in a semi-structured format, supporting real-time analytics such as sentiment analysis, toxicity …

Exploration Of The Gap Between The Secure Web Application Development Competencies Needed By Industry And Those Competencies Provided By Graduates Of U.S. Undergraduate Software Engineering Programs, Gary Allen Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Literature demonstrates that threats and attacks on computer systems and networks have been around since the beginning of computing, and the number, severity, sophistication, and costs of attacks and data breaches are continuing to grow. Several studies suggest that one of the most common causes of data breaches is insecure web applications that contain vulnerable application code. These studies suggest that poor secure web application development practices are a prime cause of the susceptible web applications. Additionally, studies suggest that higher education is not meeting industry’s secure software/web application development needs. Employers have reported that they are not getting the …

Existence And Uniqueness Of Solutions Of Fourth Order Iterative Boundary Value Problems, Zach Whaley

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we study the fourth-order iterative differential equation \begin{displaymath} x^{(4)}(t) = \f(t, x(t), x^{[2]}(t), \dots, x^{[m]}(t)) \end{displaymath} where $x^{[2]}(t) = x(x(t))$ and $x^{[j]}(t) = x(x^{[j - 1]}(t))$ for $j > 2$. We consider the above equation with multiple sets of boundary conditions, and we state results on the existence and uniqueness of solutions for each set of boundary conditions. In Chapter 2, the boundary conditions are conjugate boundary conditions, \begin{align*} &x(-a) = -a, \ x'(-a) = b, \ x''(-a) = c, \ x(a) = a \\ &x(-a) = -a, \ x(a) = a, \ x'(a) = b, \ x''(a) …

Functional Characterization Of Haloarchaeal Udp-Glucose 4-Epimerase And 3-Hydroxybutyryl-Coa Dehydrogenase Genes In Nicotiana Tabacum, Çi̇ğdem Otur, Sezer Okay, Aslihan Kurt Kizildoğan

Turkish Journal of Botany

The objective of the studyAbiotic stress poses a significant threat to plant survival. In response to the challenging conditions, plants have evolved various resistance mechanisms. Recently, genetic strategies have become increasingly prevalent in efforts to enhance abiotic stress tolerance and develop stress-resistant plant varieties. In this study, we employed heterologous expression of two metabolism-related haloarchaeal genes in the Nicotiana tabacum genome to improve its mechanism for salt and drought tolerance.Experimental procedure(s)The U2642 and CL165 genes encoding 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase and UDP-glucose 4-epimerase, respectively, were subcloned into the pIPKb004 vector under the control of Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S (CaMV35S) promoter using the …

Genome-Wide Identification And Characterization Of The Lea Gene Family In Common Bean And The Role Of The Dehydrin Gene Pvhdn3 In Enhancing Salt And Drought Tolerance In Transgenic Tobacco Plant., Gökhan Gökdemi̇r, Zafer Seçgin, Karam Mostafa, Mohamed Farah Abdulla, Musa Kavas

Turkish Journal of Botany

Global climate change exposes crops to numerous abiotic and biotic stress factors, significantly threatening their growth, development, and overall productivity. Among the various abiotic stresses, salt and drought are the most detrimental, having a severe impact on yield stability. Late Embryogenesis Abundant proteins (LEA) represent a broad and varied class of polypeptides that accumulate in response to cellular dehydration across diverse organisms. Nonetheless, there has been a scarcity of studies on this protein family in common beans prior to this investigation. In this study, we identified 69 members of the LEA gene family in common bean, characterized by conserved LEA …

Phylogenomics Of The Tribe Leonureae Reveals A New Genus: Paraleonurus (Lamiaceae, Lamioideae), Mei-Lin Qian, Ya-Ping Chen, Tuncay Di̇rmenci̇, Yue Zhao, Guo-Xiong Hu, Fei Zhao, Ferhat Celep, Bo Li, Chunlei Xiang

Turkish Journal of Botany

With approximately 80 species across six genera (Leonurus, Lagopsis, Panzerina, Lagochilus, Chaiturus, and Loxocalyx), the tribe Leonureae represents one of the most morphologically diverse tribes within the subfamily Lamioideae of Lamiaceae. Previous studies indicated that Leonurus and Lagopsis are not monophyletic, and relationships among and within these genera remain unclear due to limited sampling and DNA markers. In this study, we present the most comprehensive phylogenomic analyses of Leonureae based on complete plastome sequences and 127 nuclear loci retrieved from next-generation sequencing data. Our results provide strong evidence for the monophyly of Leonureae, which can be further divided into six …

Heterologous Expression Of Haloarchaeal Transporter Genes In Nicotiana Tabacum Under Salt And Drought Stresses, Çi̇ğdem Otur, Musa Kavas, Aslihan Kurt Kizildoğan

Turkish Journal of Botany

The objective of the study: Climate change and human activities impose severe biotic and abiotic stresses that threaten plant survival. To cope with these extreme conditions, plants have evolved various resistance mechanisms. In recent years, genetic approaches have been increasingly employed to enhance abiotic stress tolerance and develop stress-resistant plants. In this study, we introduced three transporter-related genes from extreme haloarchaea, which thrive in saturated NaCl environments, into the Nicotiana tabacum genome to improve its salt and drought tolerance mechanisms.E xperimental procedure(s) : The U2845, U3508, and CL165 genes were subcloned into the pIPKb004 vector, which includes the cauliflower mosaic …