Digital Commons Network^™

Excessive Before It Begins: A Critical Analysis Of Racialized Encounters Between Police And African American Men, Lucas Goodwin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the last decade, the racial violence that plagues relations between African Americans and the police has been brought to the attention of the American public by means of cell phone video footage of police use of excessive, and at times lethal, force in encounters with African American men. The images of police brutality that have emerged in this time have outraged millions of Americans, sparking nationwide protests, as well as various social and political movements. While perspectives may abound regarding the causes and significance of such brutality, the data is clear on one thing: Police violence disproportionately harms African …

Factors Affecting Involvement Of Parents Of Students With Learning Disabilities In Saudi Elementary Schools, Mohammed Alyahya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research explores the factors that influence parental involvement in school children with learning disabilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Understanding these factors is crucial, as parental involvement is widely recognized as essential for the academic success of children, particularly those with learning disabilities. This study used a quantitative approach to collect data from parents of students with learning disabilities, including parents' age, gender, income, employment status, and parental beliefs (responsibilities and capabilities). The findings reveal that parental beliefs regarding their responsibilities towards their child's education are the only significant predictor of parental involvement. In contrast, other variables, including age, gender, …

Understanding Widowhood Cultural Practices, Values, And Beliefs, Of Nigerian American Women: An Ethnonursing Study, Prisca Anuforo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Many widowhood cultural practices are detrimental to the health and well-being of widows in Nigeria. Little is known about the experiences of widowhood for Nigerian American women, their cultural practices, and how it affects their health.

Purpose: Understand widowhood cultural practices among Nigerian Americans and how these experiences may affect health and wellbeing.

Methods: The qualitative ethnonursing method was used to collect data from 25 Nigerian American widows. Data were analyzed using NVivo qualitative data manager software guided by Leininger’s four phases of qualitative analysis.

Results: Widowhood cultural practices are modified and undertaken to preserve health and honor the …

The Flax To Linen Project: Bringing History Back To Nh, Delaney Nickerson

Digital Edition

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire.

Disabilities Studies In Nursing Education – “Walking The Walk” Of Disability In Healthcare And Nursing, Clara Vesterman-Starr

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation critically examines the integration of disability studies into nursing education and its potential to address healthcare disparities faced by people with disabilities (PWDs). Despite the increasing visibility of disability rights and advocacy, nursing education continues to implicitly define disability as a deficit, focusing on PWD’s limitations rather than capabilities. This research highlights the pressing need for a paradigm shift toward incorporating disability studies frameworks, which emphasize disability as a cultural identity and social construct, into nursing curricula to better prepare nurses for equitable, patient-centered care. This study employs two research methods: autoethnography and survey. The autoethnography, rooted in …

The Changing Face And Increasingly Targeted Tool Of State Interlocutory Appeals, Elizabeth Lee Thompson

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sloshing Analysis Of An Isothermal Fluid In A Cylindrical Tank For Cryogenic Tank Design Using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics, Dillon Freeman

The Plymouth Student Scientist

This paper investigates the capability of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics to model the free surface sloshing response of an isothermal fluid in a cylindrical geometry. Eleven frequencies for two horizontal driving amplitudes (0.5 mm & 2.0 mm) were validated against experimental results and the influence of the starting direction of the tanks acceleration on the steady state response was investigated. The SPH results reproduced the overall behaviour of the experimental data closely over the range of frequencies tested, but produced higher amplitudes with greater variance in the region of the tanks natural frequency. Furthermore good symmetry was observed between sidewalls for …

Circle Of Security Parenting; A Qualitative Investigation Into The Perceived Long-Term Impact On Parenting In Plymouth, United Kingdom, Rebecca Cartwright

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Parenting is a unique experience for every family and improving this experience for both the child and the parent has long-term benefits for giving the child the best opportunities for the future. Attachment has been noted as a factor which improves a child's development and other areas of their life with a lasting effect into adulthood. An example of interventions used to improve parent-child relationships are parenting courses. Circle of Security Parenting is an 8-week parenting course designed to support attachment by encouraging a group of between four and six parents to reflect on their own childhood and subsequently their …

Changes In Reef Fish Assemblage And Coral Reef Community In A Newly Established Marine Protected Area, Skye Neal

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Coral reef ecosystems are vital to sustaining marine biodiversity and provide invaluable resources to coastal communities. However, coral reefs across the globe are exposed to harmful local and global anthropogenic pressures that can lead to the mortality of key reef-building corals, consequently disrupting ecosystem functioning. Preserving biodiversity of coral reef systems continues to be a challenging topic in conservation. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a globally recognised spatial management tool, designed to protect marine species and habitats from anthropogenic induced stressors. Here, using a long-term dataset collected over the last ten years from the unique coral reef system of Banco …

Development Of A Computational Model To Assess Wave Overtopping Performance Of Floating Structures Using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics, Emily Knott

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Wave overtopping in foul weather presents a hazard to sailors and offshore workers. Predicting the overtopping performance of a ship or structure is important to safety and performance but existing methods are either low accuracy or computationally expensive, and every design must be analysed separately. Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) may be used in the creation of less computationally expensive numerical simulations for overtopping analysis.

This paper extends upon the basic SPH method to incorporate wave generation and rigid body motion, enabling the wave overtopping performance of fixed and floating structures to be determined in two dimensions. This extended model was …

Investigating Climate Change And Nutrient Pollution Effects On Drupella Rugosa Coral Reef Destruction In Koh-Tao, Thailand, Beatrice Canteri

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The introduction and proliferation of invasive species in coral reef ecosystems play a pivotal role as significant contributors to ecological disturbance. These invasive species pose specific threats to the delicate equilibrium of coral reef health by disrupting nutrient cycling, modifying community structure, applying selective pressure on essential coral species, leading to ecosystem degradation. Embarking on an exploration of ecological intricacies, this study focuses on the invasive coral-feeding snail Drupella rugosa in Koh Tao and aims to explore how environmental variables affect its abundance. Although prior research elucidated the impacts of environmental stressors on coral reef degradation, methodological limitations and gaps …

An Exploratory Analysis Of Within And Between-Testlet Local Item Dependence In A Medical School Admission Situational Judgment Test Using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling, Ester Sampson

Theses and Dissertations

To use a Cronbach's alpha coefficient or IRT methods on measuring instruments, both unidimensionality and local item dependence (LID) conditions need to be met. Moreover, LID can potentially introduce an unintended additional dimension into the test at the expense of the constructs of interest. Situational judgment tests use testlet structures, and thus likely present degrees of LID. We explored the latent structure and degrees of local item dependence in a situational judgment test (SJT) used by a Western United States medical school (WMS) for admission purposes. I used a fully deidentified data set from a group of 560 examinees who …

2025-2030 University Library Strategic Plan, Alexis Braun Marks, Rhonda E. Fowler, Jackie Wrosch, Amy Fyn, Katherine F. Mason, Monica Fly Wilson, Amy Singer, Jason Crispell, Sara Memmott, Margaret Loebe, Sarah Fabian

Library Annual Reports & Strategic Plans

Eastern Michigan University Library Strategic Plan for the 2025-2030 Academic Years. Created by the Library Coordinating Committee (LCC) with Input from Library Faculty and Staff During the 2023-24 Academic Year; Endorsed by Library Faculty and Finalized by LCC in Fall of 2024.

Impact Of Self-Efficacy On Motivation In Recent Business Graduates, Steven James Chapman

JWU Dissertations & Theses

Each year throughout the United States, millions of bachelor’s degrees are conferred to recent graduates, and 17% of those graduates earned a business degree (Hanson, 2024). The problem this study addressed was rooted in the commonly held belief that recent graduates with a bachelor’s degree in business were not prepared with the skill sets needed to be successful and positively impact organizations (Berger, 2023; Molinsky & Pisman, 2019). The purpose of this research was to determine the skills that employers and recent graduates deem as most important for recent graduates with a bachelor’s degree in business to possess in a …

Quantifying Interpretation Reproducibility In Vision Transformer Models With Tavac., Yue Zhao, Dylan Agyemang, Yang Liu, J Matthew Mahoney, Sheng Li

Faculty Research 2024

Deep learning algorithms can extract meaningful diagnostic features from biomedical images, promising improved patient care in digital pathology. Vision Transformer (ViT) models capture long-range spatial relationships and offer robust prediction power and better interpretability for image classification tasks than convolutional neural network models. However, limited annotated biomedical imaging datasets can cause ViT models to overfit, leading to false predictions due to random noise. To address this, we introduce Training Attention and Validation Attention Consistency (TAVAC), a metric for evaluating ViT model overfitting and quantifying interpretation reproducibility. By comparing high-attention regions between training and testing, we tested TAVAC on four public …

Enhancing Orthodontic Retraction: A Randomized Controlled Trial On Injectable Platelet-Rich Fibrin's Impact On Tooth Movement, Gabriel Eisenhuth, Sebastian Eisenhuth

Annual Research Symposium

Introduction: Accelerated orthodontics aims to shorten treatment duration while improving patient comfort. Injectable platelet-rich fibrin (i-PRF) has been proposed to enhance orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) by stimulating bone remodeling. This study evaluates the effect of i-PRF on space closure rates, anchor loss, and salivary biomarkers (ALP, AST, and LDH) during orthodontic retraction.

Materials and Methods: Twenty-four participants requiring extractions and space closure were divided into two groups (n = 12 each). Group A (experimental) received i-PRF, while Group B (control) did not. Space closure, anchor loss, and salivary enzyme activity were measured at T0 (baseline), T1 (3 weeks), T2 (6 …

Capacity Of Self Compact Concrete Walls Using Attapulgite As A Partial Replacement Of Cement Under One Way And Two Way Action Restriction, Wissam Kadhim Alsaraj, Luma Abdul Ghani Zghair, Akhlas Hashem Mohammed

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

This investigation about the structural performance of sustainable self-compact concrete walls exposed to eccentric axial regularly dispersed loading, including the effect of aspect ratio (AR) and slenderness ratio (λ) by one-way and two-way action. The experimental program includes testing ten wall panels, the eccentricity of the loading system equivalent to one-sixth of depth. These wall panels are separated into four groups, each one consisting of three specimens. first and second groups clarify the aspect ratio (H/L) effect. The results indicated for decreasing AR from (0.75 to 0.625), (0.625 to 0.5), and (0.75 to 0.5), the increase of final load is …

Exploring The Benefits Of Feature Selection Based On Bat Algorithm And Deep Learning In Brain Cancer Diagnosis, Noor Fawzi Shafiq

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

Brain cancer is considered one of the most dangerous types that must be treated as soon as possible. Therefore, it is necessary to detect brain cancer in its early stages to enhance the diagnosis of the condition. This study proposes to combine the bat algorithm (BA) with deep learning methods to identify and classify brain tumors in medical images accurately.

In this paper, the bat algorithm was used to select distinctive features from the input brain images. The Bat Algorithm (BA) is a metaheuristic optimization algorithm that mimics the echolocation behavior of bats. It efficiently explores the feature space to …

Unveiling The Hidden Threat: How Wireless Networks Fuel Serious Cyber Attacks, Ibtesam Jomaa Hawi

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

The spread of wireless networks has led to an increase in serious cyber attacks due to their weak architecture. This article focuses on reevaluating cybersecurity in wireless network technology by integrating statistical information detection methods and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. To construct a wireless networking scenario that accurately reflects real-life conditions, we created a data fabrication that included four pre-existing anomalies as well as four newly introduced anomalies. The synthetic dataset created from these generation processes contains 20 thousand distinguishable values, which are later divided into training and validation sets. Using the strategy described before, we began to analyze the …

Toward Effective Interfaith Relations Between Christianity And Indigenous African Religious Tradition In The Obolo Context In Nigeria – A Decolonial Theological Approach, Jerome Etenduk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the need for effective interfaith relations between Christianity and the Indigenous African Religious Tradition (IART) in a post-colonial Obolo context in Nigeria. It explores a history of complex religious crises in Obolo and identifies that Eurocentric/colonial theological imagination constitutes a significant reason for the problematic interfaith relations in Obolo. The dominant Eurocentric/colonial theology is founded on the theoretical framework that assumes that Europe (and America) is the hubris of knowledge. It negates and discounts the knowledge systems of other people. To know, they must learn from Europe and America. In this way, European missionaries to Obolo …

A Comparison Of Polymers By Layer Deposition And Open Molding Additive Processes Through Fused Granulate Fabrication, Alexander Ray Gibson

Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM) continues to offer new possibilities in both production and economics. Various industries have quickly adopted AM to rapidly produce parts that would be difficult or cost prohibitive otherwise. Despite ongoing innovations that expand the technology's capabilities, significant limitations persist. Most AM processes are restricted by materials available, an inability to produce large parts, or by not achieving material deposition speeds and volumes to allow for certain products feasible. In addition, tight tolerances for features and surfaces cannot be produced without substantial post processing. Some of the post-processing techniques can even affect the material properties of the finished …

A Study On Improving The Accuracy And Effectiveness Of Similarity Detection Processes In Text Files Using Nlp Techniques, Noor Abdulmuttaleb Jaafar

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

The rapid expansion of the Internet has revolutionized access to information, especially in the area of unstructured data, most of which consists of textual content. While instant access to information brings many advantages, it has also given rise to a prevalent problem – plagiarism. Copying and reusing materials without proper permission poses a significant threat to academic integrity and integrity. Rates of plagiarism, especially in academic and scientific publications, have risen with the advent of the Internet, reaching alarming levels, such as 60% in student projects. This study examines the proposed model that includes computation of similarity using cosine coefficients, …

Intersection Braking Guidance For Trams Based On Lineside Signs, Wencong Tong, Jing Teng, Junxian Li, Xing Yao, Zhongjie Zhang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Trams need to brake frequently due to signal control and safety speed limits at intersections. Due to the inaccuracy of distance judgment, tram drivers tend to reserve extra braking distance at intersections, resulting in lower braking coefficients and a decrease in speed. An intersection braking guidance method using lineside signs is proposed for trams to reduce braking distance redundancy and improve running speed. Drivers are guided to brake with the shortest possible distance by marking the initial braking position and speed of trams with fixed lineside signs. A tram driving simulation system was developed based on a vehicle dynamics …

Increasing Awareness Of The Effectiveness Of Occupational Therapy In Cancer Rehabilitation, Aaliyah Parson, Zeida Gutierrez

Fall 2024 OTD Capstone Symposium

Many cancer survivors are faced with functional limitations when engaging in meaningful occupations due to side effects such as anxiety, pain, fatigue, weakness, nausea, etc. from receiving cancer treatments which can impact their quality of life. Occupational therapy has a significant role in supportive care for cancer survivors by providing occupation-based interventions that focus on maximizing function and mitigating functional decline. However, occupational therapy is underutilized in cancer care due to patients' lack of awareness of the role of OT and how it can improve quality of life after receiving cancer treatment. Therefore, this capstone project took place in Tallahassee, …

Relationship Of Emotional Intelligence To Workplace Stress And Burnout In Behavior Analysts, Elia Santos

Student Dissertations

The experience of stress leading to burnout is at an all-time high in the field of behavior analysis. Increasing job demands for board-certified behavior analysts (BCBA) put newly minted BCBAs at a higher risk of burnout. The problem is that BCBAs only receive technical and clinical training to become certified. Yet, their emotional intelligence (EI), which is associated with stress and burnout, had never been examined. The purpose of this quantitative, associational study was to investigate the relationships between EI, workplace stress, and burnout in BCBAs. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Goleman’s (1995) theory of EI. …

Enhancing Concrete Sustainability With Self-Healing Technologies, Al Shimaa Abdullatif

Theses and Dissertations

Thanks to its strength, durability and affordability, Portland cement concrete is the most commonly used building material worldwide. However, concrete cracking is inevitable due to numerous factors including shrinkage, exposure to external chemicals, internals reactions, excessive loads, to name but a few. Self-healing is a promising technique that can enable concrete to autogenously heal cracks and alleviate much of the damage. Such healing can without a doubt extend the service life with less need for external repair works therefore it contributes to sustainability. Over the years, several means of self-healing agents have been explored including bio-based procedures and the incorporation …

The Role Of Innovation Hubs In Driving Local Entrepreneurial Behavior: The Case Of Creativa Innovation Hubs In Qena And Aswan, Lamees Koura

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the role of innovation hubs in driving innovation and entrepreneurial behavior among local communities, ultimately contributing to the development of better national entrepreneurship ecosystems. The researcher employed a qualitative methodology using a case study approach to conduct an empirical investigation to obtain deeper insights into the innovation hubs phenomenon using the Creativa Innovation Hubs initiative in two governorates in Upper Egypt, Qena and Aswan. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with twenty individuals between beneficiaries and managers of Creativa innovation hubs. The study demonstrated that government efforts to promote entrepreneurship through the Creativa Innovation Hubs Initiative significantly influence …

Neuvac: Nonlinear Extreme Ultraviolet Irradiance Model For Aeronomic Calculations, Daniel A. Brandt, Aaron J. Ridley

Michigan Tech Publications

The need for reliable estimates of solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) for operational space weather nowcasting and forecasting has motivated the development of new model of solar irradiance variability in 59 wavelength bins between 1 and 1,750 Å. The model employs a nonlinear parameterization of rebinned daily FISM2 irradiances and is termed NEUVAC: Nonlinear Extreme Ultraviolet Irradiance Model for Aeronomic Calculations. The model is parameterized in terms of F10.7 and 54-day averaged F10.7 in a backwards-looking window. The model takes advantage of the high accuracy and resolution of FISM2, and the consistent availability of F10.7 data in order to provide the …

Advancing Healthcare Through The Integration Of Digital Twins Technology: Personalized Medicine’S Next Frontier, Sharmin Attaran, Mohsen Attaran

Marketing Department Faculty Journal Articles

The use of Digital Twin technology has been expanding rapidly, and projections indicate that it will continue to proliferate across various applications, use cases, and industries, including healthcare. In recent years, the healthcare sector has seen an acceleration in digital transformation. This fast-paced change offers both opportunities and risks, especially with emerging technologies like digital twins, which are relatively untested and still in the early stages of adoption in medical care. This paper aims to conduct a literature review to explore how digital twins facilitate intelligent automation in healthcare. It defines the concept, traces the technology’s evolution and development, reviews …

Fsec Meeting Minutes December 20, 2024, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.