Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Using The Visual, Auditory/Aural, Reading/Writing, And Kinesthetic (Vark) Model In Ballet Class: A Multifaceted Approach To Teaching Ballet Technique To Children Ages Nine To Twelve Years Old, Angelle Cain Wise

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to generate data that would measure the impact of the application of the Visual, Auditory/Aural, Reading/Writing, and Kinesthetic (VARK) Model learning styles on student comprehension and execution of movement in ballet class. The researcher sought to answer these questions:

Q1 Does teaching students’ using their preferred learning style help them understand the movement thoroughly?

Q2 Does teaching students’ using their preferred learning style help them execute the movement more precisely?

There was a total of twelve participants ages nine to twelve years old and two observers, whom were colleagues of the researcher. A set …

So You Think You Can Teach Dance?: Evaluating Effective Indicators And Assessments For Teaching Ballroom Dance In A High School Setting, Alyssa Arnold

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the most effective learning indicators of ballroom dancing for high school dance educators in Utah’s DSD so that a later date, updated rubrics and assessments could be created and presented as artifacts to DSD’s Fine Arts Supervisor for future teachers. The researcher sought to answer the following questions:

Q1 How are teachers currently assessing students’ ballroom dancing?

Q2 What are the most important learning indicators to teachers?

Q3 Are the learning indicators in alignment with the required standards?

This research took place over two sessions held during students’ regularly held ballroom dance …

Navigating The Terrain: Sense Of Belonging In Geology Field Camps, Ezra J. Hammersfeld

Master's Theses

Social success and feelings of belonging within academic settings play critical roles in students’ continued engagement. Students who feel like they belong are more likely to perform better academically, create feelings of academic self-efficacy, and be more satisfied with their educational experiences (Aelenei et al. 2020; Baker 2013; Chen et al. 2020; Hoffman et al. 2021; Rosenthal et al. 2013; Smerdon 2002; Walton et al. 2012). I examine sense of belonging through analysis of secondary data focused on college student experiences in geology field camps. I approached the study using modified grounded theory (Charmaz 2014) in order to best capture …

Integrating Dance Into Early Childhood Education For Children With Developmental Disabilities: A Curriculum-Based Approach, Stephanie Stine

Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the effects of a structured dance curriculum on the social-emotional learning (SEL) and gross motor development of preschool-aged children with disabilities, specifically those ages three to five, as well as to explore teacher and specialist perceptions of dance as a tool for supporting children’s development. The study was conducted in collaboration with an early childhood education center. Twenty-eight children, ages three to five, participated in ten creative movement sessions designed to promote coordination, balance, and expressive engagement through themed lessons emphasizing emotional awareness and imaginative play.

Quantitative data were collected through observation …

Biochar As Additive And Modifier In Bitumen And Asphalt Mixtures, Chathurika Dassanayake, Nuha S. Mashaan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Incorporating biochar into pavement materials is a novel and environmentally sustainable approach that aligns with global sustainability goals and advances greener pavement technologies. Studies have shown that biochar significantly enhances the strength, durability, and stability of pavements, while also contributing to sustainability by lowering the carbon footprint associated with traditional construction materials. Additionally, the incorporation of biochar contributes to the sustainability of asphalt engineering by reducing reliance on petroleum-based products and promoting the valorization of biomass. The primary objective of this review is to critically evaluate and synthesize existing research on the use of biochar in bitumen and asphalt mixtures, …

Echoes Of The Modern Training Periodization Concepts In Russia Before The October 1917 Revolution, Sandro Bartolomei, Gulnara Mammadova, Renato Manno, Gregory G. Haff, Jay R. Hoffman, Franco Merni

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Abstract – Bartolomei, S, Mammadova, G, Manno, R, Haff, GG, Hoffman, JR, and Merni, F. Echoes of the modern training periodization concepts in Russia before the October 1917 revolution. J Strength Cond Res 39(12): 1327–1330, 2025—The debate on the origins of the discipline of training periodization is still ongoing. The text “Olympic Sport, ” published by B. A. Kotov in 1916, was one of the first known books to focus on training methods and strategies for performance development. The book is also considered the first to deal with training organization and periodization. In addition, Kotov was the only author to …

Determinants Of Consumers' Mobile Network Continuance Intention: The Mediating Effects Of Cognitive And Affective Inertia, Fazlul Hoque, Pi Shen Seet, Stephanie Meek, Saalem Sadeque

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Despite extensive research on customer continuance intention, few studies have explored the mediating roles of cognitive and affective inertia in shaping continuance intention, particularly in emerging markets. We address this gap in an empirical study, grounded in the SOR (Stimulus-Organism-Response) framework, that investigates how trust, satisfaction, and switching barriers influence mobile network users' continuance intention, with cognitive and affective inertia as mediators. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), we analyzed primary data from 407 mobile phone users in Bangladesh, an emerging economy. The findings indicate that trust, satisfaction, and switching barriers have a significant influence on continuance intention. …

Comparison Of Respiratory Responses To Exercise Under Different Heat-Stressful Environments Between Oral Contraceptive And Naturally Menstruating Ovulating Female Athletes, Nanako Hayashi, Toby Mündel, Tze Huan Lei, Claire Badenhorst

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The present study conducted a secondary analysis of previous data (Lei et al., 2017, 2019) to compare exercise-induced respiratory responses under heat stress between the early follicular (EF)/ quasi -EF and mid-luteal (ML)/ quasi -ML phases in naturally menstruating and oral contraceptive pill (OCP)-using female athletes. Additionally, the study aimed to examine the associations between respiratory responses, thermoregulation, and hormonal profiles within each group. Sixteen endurance-trained female athletes participated: eight with a natural menstrual cycle (NM group) and eight using OCP (OCP group). Each participant completed four trials, comprising fixed-intensity cycling (at 125 and 150 W) followed by a 30-min …

Effects Of Exercise Or Diet Or Combined Interventions On Treatment Efficacy Of Chemotherapy For Cancer: A Systematic Review, Cristina Crespo-Garcia, Francesco Bettariga, Dennis R. Taaffe, Carolyn J. Peddle-Mcintyre, John P. Campbell, Emily Jeffery, Anna Maria Markarian, Anita Borsati, Alice Avancini, Sara Pilotto, Daniel A. Galvao, Robert U. Newton

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose of Review: While exercise and dietary interventions in patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy have been demonstrated to be safe and feasible and improve patient-reported outcomes, the effects on treatment efficacy have not been widely examined and remain unclear. This review aimed to examine the effects of exercise, dietary, and combined interventions on tumour response and time-to-event outcomes in patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Recent Findings: A systematic review of intervention studies was conducted based on PRISMA guidelines Databases searched were PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, Embase, and Web of Science. Methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed using the RoB2 …

Exploring Fathers’ Child And Family Support During Aboriginal Mothers’ Incarceration, Bon Miu, Paul Leslie Simpson, Tony Butler, Mandy Wilson, Destiny Kynuna, Robert Shaw, Jocelyn Jones

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aboriginal women are one of the fastest-growing subgroups among the Australian incarcerated population. Their incarceration affects increasing numbers of children, families, and communities. Few studies have examined the role of fathers when mothers are incarcerated. Using 49 in-depth interviews with Aboriginal mothers in Western Australian prisons, we explore the types of child and family support fathers provide based on the incarcerated mother’s perspective. Four themes were identified: (1) diverse support and involvement by fathers; (2) absence of father’s support due to death or incarceration; (3) parental cooperation and communication; and (4) supports and challenges to maintaining family networks. Overall, fathers …

Interhemispheric Inhibition Modifies Reaction Time Of The Index Finger, Liam C. Tapsell, Christopher Latella, Anthony J. Blazevich, Janet L. Taylor

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Interhemispheric inhibition (IHI) acts between hemispheres to decrease motor cortical excitability. IHI changes during movement preparation, but it is unknown whether altering IHI, independent of other factors, alters movement initiation. For the index finger abductor muscle (first dorsal interosseous; FDI), IHI is weaker during contralateral index abduction than adduction. Thus, this study aimed to modulate IHI through contralateral contraction and measure resultant changes in reaction time. Fifteen healthy participants (age 19–39 years) completed a reaction-time task requiring brief left index finger abduction. Prior to reactions, participants started either a sustained isometric abduction or adduction contraction of the right index finger. …

Did Copyright Fail Music Artists?, Rachel Landy

Articles

Music soundtracks our lives, supports over two million domestic jobs annually, and is listened to more than ever before. The record industry is thriving, having made over $17 billion in 2024. Yet, many professional artists are barely surviving. Artists signed to record deals lament royalty payments that amount to a fraction of a penny for each stream of their songs. So where is all the money going, and who, or what, is to blame? Public rhetoric and existing legislative proposals implicate copyright as a guilty party. But are those concerns justified?

This Article unpacks the music supply chain. It builds …

Public Defender Discretion, Alma Magaña

Articles

A focus of criminal legal system reform efforts has been the curtailment of police, prosecutorial, and judicial discretion, which has been criticized for its arbitrariness and its contribution to racial, class, and gender disparities. However, one system actor has largely escaped similar scrutiny: public defenders, who, by grant of authority from ethical rules of practice and Supreme Court jurisprudence, have significant decision-making authority in the cases of indigent persons charged with crimes.

This Article will, for the first time, explore the historical rationale for giving public defenders the power to make life-altering decisions for their clients. Specifically, it dissects the …

Lstm Network-Based Scheme For Automatic Characterization Of Power Quality Disturbances, Akram Elmitwally, Mohamed Nader

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Recognition of power quality (PQ) troubles is a critical task in the electrical power industry. Most previous works solve the classification problem using separate feature extraction phase and classification phase. Each phase has its own techniques, and consumes a computation time. This study proposes to utilize the long short-term memory (LSTM) network as a deep learning model to classify the PQ events in one shot. The LSTM network uses its particular processing to classify a PQ event signal directly by reading its time-sequence data. Then, a dedicated post-classification algorithm (PCA) extracts start time, end time, duration, amplitude, and total harmonic …

The Effect Of An English Mother Tongue On Spanish Language Acquisition, Erin Wallace

Honors Theses

This study investigates how English influences the Spanish acquisition of English-speaking learners by analyzing written errors, background factors, and interview data. Using two linguistic classification frameworks, it identifies both the types and underlying causes of errors, revealing that gender and plural agreement issues, verb forms, word order problems, and subjunctive misuse are the most frequent difficulties. These errors primarily stem from first-language transfer, overgeneralization, and instructional gaps. The findings highlight the need for targeted practice, contrastive analysis, and greater exposure to authentic Spanish input. Despite limitations such as small sample size and incomplete interview participation, the study offers direction for …

A Story Of Life Through Death: An Osteobiography Of Two Individuals From The Late Saxon Period, Isabella Ragazzi

Honors Theses

The Anglo-Saxons were the most influential inhabitants of the British Isles in the years AD 450-1066, reigning during a time marked by much warfare, pestilence, and famine. Their impact on British history is still seen through archival materials as well as the archeological and bioarchaeological records. A recent development in the field of bioarchaeology is the osteobiography, which places skeletal analysis in context of the overall culture to create the most complete interpretation of the individual and their life history. Involving both traditional bioarchaeological evaluation and isotopic analysis, this method was applied to two Anglo-Saxon skulls donated to the University …

An Assessment Of The Relationship Between Stress And Glucose Levels In Medical Laboratory Science Students, Jayla Edwards

Honors Theses

Stress is prevalent among college students. Prolonged, unmanaged stress can affect physiological processes such as glucose metabolism. This study aimed to examine the effects of stress on glucose levels of medical laboratory science (MLS) students at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). To achieve this, the participants’ perceived stress levels and glucose levels were measured at the beginning of the semester and during finals week, a period when college students typically experience the most stress. There were nineteen MLS students that participated. Data was collected at two phases: phase 1 at the beginning of the semester and phase 2 during …

Beyond The Classroom: The Role Of Cultural Capital In College-To-Career Transitions, Keynijah Sullivan

Honors Theses

For many college students, the transition into the workforce is shaped not only by academic knowledge, but also by access to less visible resources, often referred to as cultural capital. Research has been done in the past that discusses how cultural capital is transferred through families, its role in academic settings, and its impact on employability. However, there is a gap in research focusing on the role of cultural capital in college-to-career transitions. This study uses qualitative methods, specifically semi-structured interviews with junior and senior undergraduates at the University of Southern Mississippi. The purpose of this study is to better …

Performance And Interpretability Analysis Of Code Generation Large Language Models, Vishnu S. Pendyala, Neha B. Thakur

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

As Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly getting integrated into software development workflows, understanding their reliability, error patterns and interpretability in real-world development scenarios is crucial for establishing their practical utility. This study evaluates and interprets the performance of 15 open-source LLM models, including Code LLaMa, Granite Code, DeepSeek-Coder-V2, and Yi-Coder on code translation and generation from requirements using the Rosetta Code dataset across diverse programming languages and tasks. Syntactic correctness and code quality are quantified using metrics such as CodeBLEU, chrF, and METEOR. Interpretability is explored through Feature Ablation and Shapley Value Sampling to elucidate prompt processing mechanisms. Results …

Interpretive Prediction Of Hyperuricemia And Gout Patients Via Machine Learning Analysis Of Human Gut Microbiome, Jia Wei Tang, Alfred Chin Yen Tay, Liang Wang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Hyperuricemia (HUA) and gout result from imbalances in uric acid metabolism and are closely associated with the gut microbiota. Advanced analytical methods facilitate the exploration of microbiota complexity. In this study, 16S rRNA sequencing data from stool samples of 233 patients were thoroughly collected. Machine learning (ML) and Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) interpretability algorithms were applied to identify core taxa and predict the metabolic functions. The results revealed that the high-contribution core taxa identified by SHAP in each group, such as Oscillospiraceae_UCG-005 and Rhodococcus provided the basis for ML prediction. Among the five classification models, Random Forest (RF) achieved the …

Learning To Be Trauma-Informed: An Examination Of Individual-Level Factors Predicting Perceptions Of And Response To Trauma-Informed Practice Trainings, Kelly Daniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Trauma is a substantial threat to public health. As such, significant effort has been exerted into developing interventions which mitigate the consequences of trauma. Trauma-informed practice (TIP) aims to alleviate the effects of trauma by building policies and practices focused on safety, trust, transparency, support, collaboration, and empowerment. This study investigated how individual-level factors, including readiness for organizational change, perceived benefit of TIP training, and personal trauma history affect one’s ability to apply a TIP lens in a sample (n =100) of members of a graduate-level college. Further, it explored if one’s perceptions of and response to trauma-informed practice training …

The Reciprocal Relationship Between Physical Activity And Prosocial Behavior Among Rural Left-Behind Children: A Cross-Lagged Mediation Analysis Of Psychological Resilience, Dawu Huang, Xin Xiong, Peiyi Wang, Juan Xu

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Introduction: Although physical activity benefits youth development, little is known about how it is related to prosocial behavior over time, especially among structurally disadvantaged groups such as rural left-behind children in China. This longitudinal study examined the bidirectional relationship between physical activity and prosocial behavior and the mediating role of psychological resilience.

Methods: A total of 612 children (Grades 5–6; approximately 10–12 years old; 50.5% male) from three schools in Ji’an City, Jiangxi Province, completed measures of physical activity, psychological resilience, and prosocial behavior at three time points over 6 months.

Results: Crosslagged mediation structural equation modeling revealed reciprocal pathways: …

Uncovering Conserved Biosynthetic Gene Clusters And Interbacterial Interactions Of Myxobacteria In Polymicrobial Communities, Shailaja Khanal Pokharel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Myxobacteria are prolific producers of specialized metabolites and key contributors to microbial interactions within soil and other environments, yet fundamental questions remain about the conservation of their biosynthetic capacities and the dynamics that shape their coexistence with neighboring microorganisms. This dissertation addresses these gaps through three integrated research directions. In Chapter 2 we utilized a pan-genome framework across eleven genera and 195 sequenced genomes,including ten newly reported isolates, and found five BGCs were identified as the conserved BGCs across the Myxococcota. These clusters encode metabolites with established ecological functions, none of which are known toxins, suggesting selective maintenance of signaling …

An Integrated Study Of Instrument Performance And Scientific Yield: Evaluation Of The Grape Design, Karla Georgina Onate Melecio

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents the end-to-end development, characterization, and in-flight validation of the 3-dimensional Gamma-Ray Polarimeter Experiment (GRAPE), a wide-field-of-view (FoV) Compton polarimeter designed for high-energy astrophysics. The primary scientific motivation is to address unresolved questions in the physics of Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) jets, for which gamma-ray polarimetry is a critical diagnostic. GRAPE is designed to measure the degree and angle of $\gamma$-ray polarization within a targeted energy band of \SIrange{50}{500}{keV} to cover the peak energy output (E$_{pk}$) of observed GRB spectra. This work establishes the instrument's scientific readiness through two principal contributions. First, the instrument's fundamental low-energy response was characterized …

Relationships Among Institutional Betrayal, Adverse Healthcare Experiences, And College Student Health, Saba Mustafa

Honors Theses

Institutional betrayal is defined as the trauma experienced by an individual who feels that their trust in the ability of an institution to keep the individual safe is broken. Healthcare-related institutional betrayal has primarily been explored among working adults, individuals with chronic conditions, and individuals from racially diverse backgrounds. However, healthcare-related institutional betrayal has seldom been explored in college student samples, who may have different healthcare needs compared to other patient populations. The present study explored college students’ experiences with institutional betrayal due to negative healthcare experiences. Survey data were gathered from 157 college students. Measures included healthcare provider trust, …

Social Media Mining For Extracting The Experience Of Neurodivergent Individuals On Twitter (X) And Reddit, Kartik Thakkar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Neurodiversity refers to the natural neurological variations in the human brain such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette syndrome and other neurological disorders. it’s estimated that around 15% to 20% of the world’s population is neurodivergent. This means a significant portion of people experience neurological differences in how they think, learn, and interact with the world.

Social Media has become an important space for neurodivergent individuals to share their experiences, build communities, and seek support. This thesis explores how the online venues like X (Twitter) and Reddit offer themselves as digital spaces where …

An Integrated Lithospheric Geotherm Model From Seismic Data And Plate Ages, Amanda R. Leaman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This research aims to develop advanced methods to accurately depict temperature profiles within the lithosphere, the Earth’s rigid outer layer. These temperature profiles extend from Earth’s surface to the asthenosphere, the ductile layer below the lithosphere. Constraining the poorly-known temperature distribution within the upper Earth is important for modeling the deformation of Earth’s crust over varying timescales and is essential for advancing realistic simulations of Earth dynamics. Here, I utilize enhanced global seismic data, coupled with recent advances in our understanding of mineral systems, to create several global lithospheric models in which I estimate temperature profiles from seismically observable features …

A Learning‑Augmented Dynamic Programming Approach For Orienteering Problem With Time Windows, Guansheng Peng, Lining Xing, Fuyan Song Ma, Aldy Gunawan, Aldy Gunawan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recent years have witnessed a surge of interest in solving combinatorial optimization problems (COPs) using machine learning techniques. Motivated by this trend, we propose a learning-augmented exact approach for tackling an NP-hard COP, the Orienteering Problem with Time Windows, which aims to maximize the total score collected by visiting a subset of vertices in a graph within their time windows. Traditional exact algorithms rely heavily on domain expertise and meticulous design, making it hard to achieve further improvements. By leveraging deep learning models to learn effective relaxations of problem restrictions from data, our approach enables significant performance gains in an …

A Cultural Staff Education Project To Improve Hypertension Management In African American Adults, Rosemary Nguatem Folefa Fonya

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In this evidence-based educational project, I identified the gap in practice with the lack of nurses' knowledge in culturally tailored hypertension management among nurses caring for African American adults at a family nurse practitioner clinic. In this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project, I focused on a staff education initiative to improve nurses' knowledge to reduce disproportionately high rates of hypertension, complications, and mortality due to factors such as limited access to care, medication nonadherence, mistrust of providers, and improve on culturally competent interventions. The guiding practice-focused question was: Does educating nurses on hypertension in the African American population improve …

Agentguard: An Active Threat Discovery System For Package Confusion Using Multi-Agent Collaboration, Wei Ma, Yu Li, Zhi Chen, Ye Liu, Lingxiao Jiang, Qiang Hu, Junyi Tao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The proliferation of open-source software (OSS) has made software supply chains prime targets for attacks like Package Confusion, where adversaries publish malicious packages with names deceptively similar to legitimate ones. Existing detection methods often rely on simple lexical similarity or passive analysis of known package pairs, struggle with high false positive rates (FPR), fail to proactively identify emerging threats, and are vulnerable to adversarial evasion. To overcome these limitations, we introduce AgentGuard, a novel framework for proactive, single-input package confusion detection. AgentGuard employs a multi-agent architecture that autonomously discovers potential confusion targets using fine-tuned word embedding model to hybird semantic …