Digital Commons Network^™

Deaf College Students’ Lived Experiences In Pk-16 Education: A Deaf Crit-Informed Qualitative Study, Bridget Catherine Taylor

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This qualitative study focused on Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and orally Deaf college students, examining Deaf education from the perspective of linguistic and cultural minority students. The study offers theoretical perspectives for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers by examining the lived experiences of students who took part in Deaf education in the United States from PK–16. Deaf Critical Theory (DeafCrit) was the theoretical framework used to analyze the qualitative data.

Ankimedbench: Evaluating Hierarchical Medical Knowledge In Language Model Embeddings, Neel Patel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Despite achieving over 90% accuracy on medical benchmarks, recent studies show physicians cannot effectively leverage language models to improve clinical reasoning. Current benchmarks test isolated factual recall, but clinical practice requires hierarchical navigation through diagnostic categories—starting broad and narrowing systematically from chest pain to cardiovascular pathology to myocardial infarction to specific STEMI types. Existing evaluations cannot measure whether models preserve this taxonomic structure essential for clinical reasoning.

We introduce AnkiMedBench, built from 16,512 medical flashcards used by students preparing for licensing exams. Cards are organized across six hierarchy levels spanning 16 broad medical specialties to 672 specific diseases and conditions. …

Role Of Recreational Fisher Information In Fisheries Management, Rebecca M. Krogman, Stephen M. Taylor, Aaron J. Adams, Ross E. Boucek, Steven M. Lombardo, Chelsey A. Crandall, Susan F. Steffen, Alejandro Acosta, Eduardo Bone Moron, Sepp Haukebo, Kieran Hyder, Zachary M. Radford, Warren M. Potts

Books & book chapters

Fisheries managers work with the three components of fisheries—biota, environment, and people - to achieve recreational, stewardship, and socioeconomic goals. Although manipulation of biota and the aquatic environment remains popular (e.g. harvest regulation, protecting or enhancing habitats, and guarding water quality), the human dimension of fisheries must also be considered throughout the fisheries management process. Managers can and should engage fishers in a myriad of ways, from identification of problems to guidance on alternatives, and from measurement of change to evaluation of success. In this chapter, we review common fisheries management goals and objectives; detail information needs stemming from those …

How Native Landscaping And Irrigation Can Conserve Water In Mediterranean Climates, Samuel Carlson

Sustainable Supply Chain Management

This paper explores how using native plants and proper irrigation can lead to sustainable water management in Mediterranean climates, and reinterprets water scarcity as a supply chain issue. Touching on growing populations, climate change, and water pollution, it examines international case studies from Chile, Egypt, and Spain to compare domestic examples at multiple California universities.

Powering Up Clinical Practice: Mastering Clinical Literature Search Techniques In Embase For Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellows, Evelyn Wang

HSLIC Faculty and Staff Instructional Resources

This didactic EMBASE session for Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) fellows demonstrates how to translate pediatric clinical questions into EMBASE search strategies. It use of keywords and Emtree, proximity and Boolean operators, PV Wizard, device and drug searches, and workflows for organizing results to support clinical decision‑making

A Novel Of Bounded Zeghdoudi Distribution: Estimations, Simulation And Applications, Mohammed Elgarhy, Hanene Hamdani, Laxmi Prasad Sapkota, Ahmed M. Gemeay

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

In this article, we introduce a new unit Zeghoudi distribution, which is called the bounded Zeghoudi distribution (BZD), an innovative modification of the Zeghoudi distribution (ZD). This new suggested distribution retains the original ZD’s simplicity while improving modeling flexibility and accuracy for data constrained to the unit interval. The BZD displays numerous significant characteristics, including decreased, left-skewed, right-skewed, and unimodal probability density functions, but the hazard rate function can be J-shaped, U-shaped, and bathtub-shaped. Some important statistical features of the BZD, such as moments, mean, variance, moment generating function, lower and upper incomplete moments, mean residual life, mean inactivity time, …

Content Aware Intra And Inter Prediction Using Texture And Motion Analysis, Yashaswi Karthik Reddy Danda

Theses

Modern video codecs rely on highly optimized block based intra and inter prediction frameworks,  in which block partitioning is determined through exhaustive rate distortion optimization (RDO)  searches. These exhaustive searches evaluate many possible block configurations to identify the  partitioning that minimizes overall rate distortion cost, and they have proven extremely effective  across diverse visual content. This thesis explores a complementary perspective by investigating  whether block partitioning can be guided more directly by content characteristics specifically,  texture complexity for intra prediction and motion complexity or motion density for inter  prediction.  For intra prediction, we introduce a texture adaptive approach that utilizes …

The Effect Of Phosphate Fertilizer And Organic Matter On Phosphorus Status, Ph, And Cabbage Yield In Andisols, Mahfud Arifin, Emma Trinurani Sofyan, Anni Yuniarti, Rina Devnita, Sastrika Anindita

Jurnal Kultivasi

Andisols are characterized by high phosphorus (P) retention, which often limits P availability for crops. This study aimed to analyze the independent and interactive effects of P fertilizer and organic matter (i.e. manure and rice straw compost) on P retention, total P, available P, P uptake, soil pH, and cabbage yield. This research was conducted in pot experiments in plastic house, applying P fertilizer (0, 90, 180, 270 kg ha-1) and organic matter (20 kg ha-1 of chicken, sheep, cow manures and rice straw compost) on Andisols planted with cabbage. The experiment used a factorial randomized design. The results showed …

Effects Of Supplemental Led Lighting And Biofertilizer On Yield And Fruit Quality Of Japanese Strawberry Cultivars In Indonesia, Reginawanti Hindersah, Febby Fitriyani, Kenji Endo, Masakazu Nakayama, Syariful Mubarok, Gita Bina Nugraha

Jurnal Kultivasi

Growing strawberries in soilless substrates in the greenhouse relies on fertilizers and supplemental light to boost yield and fruit quality. The research evaluated the properties of the biofertilizer and its effectiveness on the yield of Japanese strawberry cultivars Nanatsuboshi and KS-75 under controlled greenhouse conditions, with and without light-emitting diodes (LED) as supplemental light. The cell viability and plant-growth-promoting properties of a liquid consortium biofertilizer consisting of nitrogen-fixing bacteria and phosphate-solubilizing microbes, were characterized. Laboratory analysis confirmed the biofertilizer's composition, and a greenhouse experiment using a completely randomized design tested treatments of biofertilizer, LED, and their combination. The biofertilizer contained …

Fruit Characteristics Of F1 Nil Sletr1-2 Vary With Parental Background, Imas Mintarsih, Anne Nuraini, Farida, Erni Suminar, Rika Meliansyah, Syariful Mubarok

Jurnal Kultivasi

The Sletr1-2 allele, which reduces ethylene sensitivity in tomatoes, offers a promising approach to extending fruit shelf life by slowing ripening-related metabolism. However, the trait’s success depends on compatibility with the recipient cultivar’s genetic background. This study evaluated fruit characteristics of F1 near-isogenic line (NIL) hybrids carrying Sletr1-2 in the commercial backgrounds ‘Costoluto’, ‘Oxheart’, and ‘Sart Roloise’. The field trial was carried out between May and August 2024 at the Experimental Station of Universitas Padjadjaran, Sumedang, Indonesia, following a randomized complete block design with eight biological replicates for each treatment. The results revealed that fruit characteristics of F1 NIL Sletr1-2 …

Biophysical Simulation Enables Segmentation And Nervous System Atlas Mapping For Image First Spatial Omics, Lina Mohammed Ali, Aldrin Kay Yuen Yim, Emanuel Gerbi, Thien Nguyen, Nicholas Tu, Faith Ikede, Remi Sampaleanu, Diana Grigore, Jason Waligorski, Colin Kremitzki, Liya Yuan, Wendy Dong, Robi Mitra, Jeffrey Milbrandt, William Buchser

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Spatial omics (SO) produces high-definition mapping of subcellular molecules within tissue samples. Mapping transcripts to anatomical regions requires segmentation, but this remains challenging in tissue cross-sections with tubular structures like axons in peripheral nerve or spinal cord. Neural networks could address misidentification but are hindered by the need for extensive human annotations. We present SiDoLa-NS (Simulate, Don't Label-Nervous System), an image-driven (top-down) approach to SO analysis in the nervous system. We utilize biophysical properties of tissue architectures to design synthetic images of tissue samples, eliminating reliance on manual annotation and enabling scalable training data generation. With synthetic samples, we trained …

Protocols For Antioxidant Testing: A Mini Review Of Common Assays And Approaches, Abdulsalam Halboup, Sameer A. Alkubati

AUIQ Complementary Biological System

Antioxidants play a pivotal role in mitigating damage caused by oxidative stress, which is implicated in aging, inflammation, neurodegeneration, and various chronic diseases. With the growing interest in natural and synthetic antioxidants across nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and food industries, the need for reliable, reproducible, and standardized testing methods has become increasingly urgent. This mini-review provides a structured overview of the most widely used antioxidant testing protocols, categorized into in vitro chemical-based assays (e.g., DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, metal chelation), cell-based assays (e.g., DCFH-DA for intracellular ROS detection), and in vivo biomarker-based models. Each method’s principle, experimental protocol, advantages, and limitations are critically …

Prevalence Of Giardia Infection: A Cross-Sectional Study In Basra Province, Iraq, Sarah Kamal Naser

AUIQ Complementary Biological System

Giardiasis is a common parasite infection that is seen more frequently than any other parasitic infection worldwide. This infection is especially prevalent in tropical areas and in developing nations that have a poor standard of living and poor health conditions. The Giardia parasite is able to infect people of any gender, as it enters the body by the mouth, passes down the oesophagus, and finally reaches the stomach, where it is not negatively impacted by gastric acids. The goal of this study is to determine the extent to which patients who were treated at Al-Zubair General Hospital in Basra, Iraq, …

Midlife, Michael Sevcik

Poetry MFA Theses

Abstract

Midlife by Michael James Sevcik is a collection of poetry that explores issues of age, gender, sexuality, identity, desire, family, and loss within a predominantly domestic space while addressing broader social, cultural, and philosophical issues using a phenomenological poetics grounded in everyday experience. The collection is organized into three distinct yet interrelated “movements:” the first movement, “Anchored,” establishes an existential yearning amidst professional and amorous stasis and familial pressures. The second movement, “Liminal,” explores temporality and its relationship to place and memory. The third movement, “Renewal,” incorporates travel, family history, and art, transforming them into critical modes of aesthetic …

The Hidden World Of Evil: Documenting Serial Killers Through The Centuries, An Evolution., Semieca Wilson

Master of Arts in Human Services

The following is an analysis of the phenomenon of serial killers from their development over time, and why it mattered due to how they operated on society. Cases reported from the past to present century were read and analyzed in search of recurring psychological patterns, changes in methods of inspecting cases and the effects of cultural, technological transformation on both felons as well as those who trailed them. The site is a product of my professional interest in the area of criminal psychology and forensic analysis and reflects my objective to provide myself and other interested professionals, academics, law enforcement …

How To Talk To A Seahorse: Communication In Transmasculine Gestational Experiences As Told Through Narrative, Emerson Armstrong

Communication ETDs

Transmasculine experiences before, during, and after pregnancy were evaluated using focus groups and autoethnographic research. As transgender people are more likely to experience inequality in healthcare encounters, this project aims to shed light on, and counter sensationalized accounts of male pregnancy, as transmasculine gestational individuals sought normalization in their experiences of pregnancy. Seven focus groups consisted of 90 minute sessions, with a total of 15 participants. Transcripts were analyzed using a trans narrative approach to find a greater understanding about identity construction, challenges, and changes around trans pregnancy. Asking about communities and healthcare experiences worked to create a complete picture …

2025 Fall - Commencement Program, Office Of The Registrar, East Tennessee State University

ETSU Commencement Ceremonies and Programs

No abstract provided.

The Incorporation Of Salivary Diagnostic Testing In Dental Hygiene Program Curriculum; A Pilot Study Using A Self-Reported Questionnaire, Carrie B. Palmer-Hawkins

Dental Hygiene ETDs

This study evaluated the incorporation of salivary diagnostic testing in dental hygiene program curricula. A recruitment email and survey link were sent to a convenience sample of 296 CODA-accredited program directors in the United States. Using a descriptive research approach, the survey gathered quantitative and qualitative data exploring directors’ perspectives on the role of salivary testing in dental hygiene education. Thirty-seven responses were gathered over three weeks, and 34 participants were included in the study, resulting in a response rate of 13%. Thirty-eight percent (n=13) reported incorporating salivary testing into their dental hygiene program curriculum through didactic or clinical coursework. …

176th Commencement, Fall

Commencement Programs

Commencement program (graduate and undergraduate exercises) for fall 2025

2025 Fall Commencement, Harding University

Commencement Programs

Program for the Harding University Commencement on December 13. 
Commencement Speaker: Dr. Susan Kehl

From Public To Private: Understanding Parental Perceptions On Middle School Transitions, Joseph P. Peeden

Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore parents/guardians’ perceptions of their children’s transition from elementary to middle school, focusing on transitions to private middle schools and differences based on prior schooling (private versus public elementary) and gender. In this study, I addressed the lack of understanding regarding how private education transitions impacted students academically, socially, and culturally, including challenges related to social-emotional learning and cultural adjustment. I collected data from 75 parents/guardians using questionnaires and conducted 20 follow-up interviews in the Southeast United States to examine their experiences. I found that students transitioning from public schools to private …

Neurobehavioral Mechanisms Of Psychotic-Like Experiences And Cannabis Use, Ethan Campbell

Psychology ETDs

As cannabis use has increased steadily over the past decade, there is critical need to evaluate early cannabis use as a potential risk factor for the development of psychosis. Neurobehavioral mechanisms underlying novelty salience could clarify how cannabis exposure may influence subclinical psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). The present study leveraged dynamic functional connectivity and task-fMRI to assess the role of novelty processing in cannabis use and PLEs. A group of brain regions dynamically tied to the salience network while viewing short films were found to increase their activation as a function of stimulus novelty during a novelty bandit task. PLEs were …

The Effect Of Platelet Rich Plasma Injection Vs. Steroid Injection On Plantar Fasciitis, Brian Nangle, Lasya Ampaty

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

Objective: Assess the ability of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections to perform better than steroid injections in a population refractory to conservative treatment. Design: Systematic literature review. Methods: Searches were done in PubMed and Scopus, utilizing the terms platelet-rich plasma, steroid injection, and plantar fasciitis. The following limits and terms were used: published in the last 5 years, randomized control trial, used both VAS scale and AOFAS scale. Results: All 3 studies demonstrated that PRP injections allowed more pain reduction and improved stability when compared to steroid injections. Conclusion: PRP injections offer a well-tolerated, minimally invasive procedure for patients refractory to …

Investigating The Fatigue Behavior Of Inconel 939 And Inconel 718 Through Micromechanical Testing, Mohammad Hossein Shahini

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A detailed evaluation of fatigue crack growth (FCG) in a silicon-modified Inconel 939 alloy, fabricated via laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing (L-PBF AM), was performed using cyclic bending tests on pre-notched microscale cantilevers with a cross-sectional dimension of 25 µm × 25 µm. To our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate that such microscale cantilever tests can effectively capture both the threshold and Paris-law regimes of FCG, despite the limited specimen size. The precise fabrication of these small-scale specimens allows for controlled fatigue crack propagation relative to the microstructure while minimizing the presence of volumetric defects. Notably, …

Assessment Of Fish Community Dynamics, Movement, And Morphology In Relation To Stream Barriers In The Upper Illinois Bayou Watershed, Risa Mccollough

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Intermittent streams are increasingly recognized as vital components of river networks by supporting dynamic fish communities shaped by variable hydrology and habitat connectivity. They are becoming increasingly vulnerable to fragmentation by anthropogenic activities, namely road crossings, dams, and climate shifts that intensify seasonal drying. In response, I conducted two studies in the Illinois Bayou watershed in Arkansas to assess the effects of fragmentation on fish community dynamics and morphology in intermittent streams.

In the first study, I examined temporal fish community dynamics across two barriers: a natural waterfall in Dare Creek and a low-water crossing in Dry Creek. Simultaneously, I …

Travels In West Africa: A Critical Edition, Erere Iwhi

Student Works

First published in 1897, Mary Henrietta Kingsley’s Travels in West Africa became one of the most influential travel narratives of the Victorian era, changing the way British audiences encountered accounts of West Africa and its peoples. This critical edition examines the book not only as a travel narrative but also as a material artifact shaped by the historical, publishing, and cultural networks that guided its production, circulation, and reception. Extending its analysis beyond Kingsley's experiences of exploration, this edition investigates the forces behind the book’s creation, including Kingsley’s intellectual development, her identity as an independent female traveler and writer, and …

Patient-Derived Ovarian Cancer Models Provide Insight Into Cancer Cell-Intrinsic And Immune Cell-Dependent Effects On Therapeutic Response, Parisa Nikeghbal

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy, largely due to late diagnosis and resistance to chemotherapy. This dissertation applies patient-derived organoids (PDOs), xenograft-derived organoids (PDXOs), and humanized xenografts (huPDX) to investigate therapeutic responses and immune interactions. Organoids were shown to retain critical features of the original malignancy. Across platinum-sensitive, -resistant, and -refractory cases, both PDOs and PDXOs exhibited drug sensitivities that aligned with patients’ clinical classifications. Building on this foundation, a drug screen revealed novel strategies. Auranofin restored platinum sensitivity in Notch3-active models, afatinib broadly reduced viability, and adavosertib–gemcitabine and sorafenib–topotecan combinations produced synergy. Extending this work, immune interactions …

Knowledge Production As Identity Expression: A Third-Space Perspective On Sustainable Careers, Alicja Syska

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This conceptual paper advances our understanding of sustainable careers by focusing on the knowledge creation activities of third-space practitioners in higher education. Specifically, we apply and extend the Process Model of Sustainable Careers to examine how different forms of knowledge production in three different institutional and national contexts – writing for publication, practice-based expertise, and curriculum development – contribute to career sustainability at the intersection of academic and professional/administrative roles and domains. The critical element of this extension is ‘identity expression’ in the form of knowledge production, which acts as an integrating mechanism that flows through and connects the original …

Design And Evaluation Of The Influence Of Mutual Induction On Microbial Electrolysis Cell Performance And Biogas Production, Ashley L. Blackwell

Civil Engineering ETDs

Microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) present a pathway for energy recovery in wastewater treatment by converting organic substrates into methane or hydrogen. Traditional MEC designs typically rely on physical electrode contacts and expensive materials, which restrict their scalability. This study introduces the first induction-based MEC that uses mutual inductance between an external copper wrap and an internal coil to generate a fluctuating electrical potential, removing the need for expensive electrodes. The induction-stimulated reactor showed faster total organic carbon removal and a higher CH4/CO2 ratio compared to a conventional anaerobic digester, indicating improved carbon-to-methane conversion, although total gas yield remained similar. Microbial …

Efficacy Of Oil And Gas Production Site Remediation In U.S. Arid/Semi-Arid Regions, Skye Ontiveros

Architecture and Planning ETDs

Oil and gas production (OGP) is expanding, paralleled by its polluting leaks and spills (LS), and outpaced by its waste. This raises the question: Does remediation of LS occur effectively when needed to protect the environment and public, particularly in major producing regions like arid/semi-arid regions (ASAR), which account for approximately 72% of US oil and 42% of gas production? To answer, a review of the eight largest national remedial laws, sourced from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), identified 14 OGP exemptions for remedial determinants (RDs): factors affecting remedial frequency and efficacy (e.g. LS monitoring and chemical disclosure). An …