Digital Commons Network^™

Integration Of Phenotyping Into A Preliminary Investigation Of Stand-Alone Web-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Among A Non-Treatment Seeking Sample, Anna B. Parlier-Ahmad

Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is the most common substance use disorder. However, most people with AUD do not receive treatment. Among those who do, it is only moderately effective largely due to the heterogeneity of people with AUD. Many of these individuals, particularly those with mild AUD, can reduce or cease alcohol use without specialized treatment. However, efforts to refer those with more severe AUD to community residential or outpatient programs have been largely unsuccessful, especially among women who often face practical barriers like lack of transportation and childcare. Technology offers innovative opportunities to make treatment more readily accessible to …

Narratives Of Illness Identity Development In Adolescents With Cancer, Rachel Holder

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Adolescence is a pivotal developmental stage characterized by the development of independence, autonomy, and identity. A diagnosis of cancer can be disruptive to this process (Grinyer, 2009; Hazen et al., 2008; Neylon et al., 2023). How one incorporates cancer into their identity, or illness identity, has been associated with clinical outcomes, including adherence, life satisfaction, psychosocial functioning, and health-related quality of life and could be a target for supportive interventions aimed at adolescents with cancer (Commissariat et al., 2020; Luyckx et al., 2008, 2018; Meyer & Lamash, 2020; Oris et al., 2016; Raymaekers et al., 2020). Prior literature has …

Rehabilitation In Stroke-Related Flexor Synergy, Shawn J. Dirocco

Theses and Dissertations

Upper extremity abnormal flexor synergy caused by stroke can impair individuals by coupling upper extremity muscles with deltoid activation. Previous studies have shown that reduction in deltoid loading can decrease flexor synergy. Robotic rehabilitation has the ability to allow for reduced deltoid loading while assisting or constraining joints along the arm to increase rehabilitation outcomes. The effects of higher degree of freedom low impedance robotics needs to be tested to learn how various parameters affect flexor synergy in comparison to end point robotics. During the first experiment, we tested 16 chronic stroke patients with flexor synergy problems in 3 tasks. …

Trauma-Informed Beliefs And Our Child Welfare System, Gabriela Ana Aisenberg

Theses and Dissertations

The integration of trauma-informed care (TIC) into behavioral health and child welfare systems has garnered increasing attention, reflecting a growing acknowledgment of the pervasive and multifaceted impacts of trauma on individuals, families, and service delivery structures (Barnett et al., 2019; Bartlett et al., 2018; Bassuk et al., 2017; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2014). Legislation such as the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) has led to increased adoption of trauma-informed practices through increased funding for training and services (Bowen & Murshid, 2016; Brown et al., 2023). Research shows that providers’ understanding and implementation of TIC is …

Intuitive Mixed Reality Interfaces For Creative And Interactive Robotics: Roboart, Magnaforma, And Playmeow, Miles Popielamc

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis details the development and application of intuitive Mixed Reality (MR) interfaces designed to broaden access to robotic control for creative and interactive uses. The central contribution is the RoboART system, a novel MR interface built with the Microsoft HoloLens 2 to program an ABB GoFa collaborative robot for non-expert users, such as artists. The work describes RoboART's application in the Magnaforma project, where it enabled complex artistic expression.

Additionally, the thesis introduces the PlayMeow project, which explores adaptive pet interaction through a laser-guided turret. This system's control strategies were deeply informed by the intuitive paradigms developed for RoboART, …

Optimal Data Splitting Methods, Sujay Mudalgi

Theses and Dissertations

In predictive modeling, effective data splitting is crucial for creating statistically representative training and validation sets. The state-of-the-art data splitting methods are based on minimizing the energy distance between the split subsets. However, there are a number of limitations in the existing methods, which this dissertation aims to address. First, the existing methods were computationally inefficient. Thus, Chapter 2 proposes a method to scale up these approaches for big data. Here, we introduce scalable Twinning (s-Twinning), which significantly improves the execution speed of data splitting without sacrificing accuracy. Second, the existing methods did not consider the predictive relationship in the …

Machine Learning Models Leveraging Patient-Similarity And Clinical Temporality For Disease Prognoses, Ahmad F. Al Musawi

Theses and Dissertations

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) constitute a comprehensive and high-dimensional repository of clinical data, encompassing a wide array of patient-level information such as diagnoses, procedures, medications, laboratory results, and unstructured clinical narratives. These data hold immense potential for advancing predictive modeling in healthcare, including tasks such as disease progression modeling, hospital readmission prediction, and length of stay (LoS) estimation. However, the intrinsic complexity of EHR data—manifested in its heterogeneity, sparsity, and temporal dynamics—poses significant analytical challenges that limit the generalizability and interpretability of conventional machine learning models. Recent methodological advancements in deep learning and graph-based learning, particularly Graph Neural Networks (GNNs), …

Treatment Resistant Obesity Among Midlife Women Receiving Care From A Specialized Weight Management Clinic, Emily C. Stevens

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Obesity is a complex chronic disease that conveys significant health risk. Women with obesity are at greater risk for associated conditions including heart disease, hypertension, ischemic stroke, and sex-specific cancers compared to their male counterparts. Midlife may present unique challenges for women as it is during this life phase that they experience an increase in their overall obesity prevalence and severity. Some midlife women experience treatment resistant obesity (TRO), a phenomenon not previously explored in the research literature, conceptualized as failure to achieve clinically meaningful weight loss of ≥ 5% after having received medically specialized obesity care for one …

Visible Modulation Of Epsilon Near Zero Materials, Jonathan M. Weber

Theses and Dissertations

While Epsilon-Near-Zero materials have offered many benefits from their introduction to the field of nonlinear optics, those materials have also narrowed the range of wavelengths often studied. With reliable and proven enhancements to light-matter interaction in the ENZ region, many researchers have had little reason to extend the spectrum measured in experiments. The purpose of this work is to measure the intensity dependent refractive index of Indium Tin Oxide across a broad spectral range, from ultraviolet to near infrared, to improve the understanding of semiconductor nonlinearities far from Lorentz and Drude resonances. Furthermore, the visible region is naturally low-loss in …

Characterization Of Nanoplastic-Induced Exacerbation Of Asthmatic Pathophysiology In A Murine In Vivo Model, Keith Li

Theses and Dissertations

As global plastic production increases, so does the environmental and biological presence of nanoplastics (NPs), raising growing concerns about their potential impact on human health. These particles have been detected in various organs, including the lungs, yet their role in respiratory inflammation remains largely unexplored. Emerging evidence suggests that NP exposure may influence immune responses in the lungs, particularly in individuals with preexisting conditions such as asthma. However, the specific ways in which these particles interact with allergen driven inflammation are still unclear.

In this study, a murine model of allergic airway inflammation was used to investigate how surface modified …

Intervertebral Lateral Bending Moment Differences In The Lumbar Spine Of Baseball Pitchers Across Throwing Velocities, Justin Humenay

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction Baseball pitching imposes substantial mechanical demands on the lumbar spine, a crucial link in the kinetic chain responsible for transferring energy from the lower body to the upper extremity. While increased pitch velocity is associated with greater trunk forces the specific intervertebral loading patterns during high-velocity pitching remain unclear. This study investigates differences in lateral bending moments across lumbar spinal segments between collegiate pitchers throwing at high versus low velocities.

Methods Twenty right-handed collegiate pitchers were divided into two groups: high-velocity (n = 10, 90.3 ± 1.6 mph) and low-velocity (n = 10, 81.6 ± 1.1 mph). Motion capture …

Periodic Trends In The Electronic And Magnetic Structure Of Superatomic 3d Transition Metal Chalcogenide Clusters, Gabriel Bohannon

Theses and Dissertations

We have systematically investigated the electronic structure of octahedral transition metal chalcogenide clusters, TM₆S₈(CO)₆, in which the transition metal atoms are from the 3d series in order to identify if periodic properties emerge. We were motivated by the identification of closed electronic shells with electron counts of 96, 100 and 114 in similar clusters from the 4d and 5d transition metal series. Further motivation was the finding of a dual-shell closing in the Fe₆S₈(CN)₆^5- cluster. This cluster is stabilized with a large spin magnetic moment due to the …

Rare Variant Analysis Of Electronic Health Record-Defined Major Depressive Disorder In The All Of Us Research Program, Stephen Emil Vieno

Theses and Dissertations

The underlying pathogenesis of MDD remains poorly understood, with multiple competing hypotheses regarding its exact etiology. As a heterogeneous disorder with relatively low heritability, large-scale genome-wide association studies of MDD have relied on increasingly large sample sizes to identify common genetic variants associated with the disorder. However, the rare variant genetic architecture of MDD is still largely unknown. The aim of the present analysis was to use the AoU—a United States-based biobank that integrates healthcare records from over 50 healthcare systems and possesses whole genome sequencing data for participants—to perform a gene set–based analysis of MDD. This analysis presented several …

Modeling Vaccination Strategies And Intervention Impacts On Infectious Disease Dynamics, Elizabeth B. Amona

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores how mathematical and statistical modeling can inform vaccination strategies and evaluate the impact of interventions during infectious disease outbreaks. Motivated by the challenges observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the research integrates compartmental modeling, Bayesian inference, and agent-based simulation to assess policy effectiveness and disease control across varying contexts. The first study develops a SEIRDV model that incorporates government interventions and vaccination rollout to examine COVID-19 dynamics in Qatar. A Bayesian approach is used to estimate parameters and compute time-varying transmission rates. The model captures shifts in transmission following policy changes and quantifies the reduction in deaths attributable …

Exploring Collaboration In Interdisciplinary Ei/Ecse Programs: A Qualitative Study On Service Provider Preparation, Meagan Dayton

Theses and Dissertations

Interdisciplinary preparation is critical for early childhood special education professionals, yet few programs are designed to support such collaboration across disciplines. This study aimed to explore how interdisciplinary EI/ECSE preparation programs support collaboration. The study was guided by the following research questions: (1) How are program components designed to support the development of collaboration skills? (2) What is the student experience of collaboration in the program? (3) What connections exist between program components, student experiences, and the development of collaboration skills? Using a qualitative multiple-case study approach grounded in ecological systems theory, data were collected from program documents and interviews …

Bugs In The Flux: Links Between Arthropod Diversity And Spatial Variation Of Soil Respiration In A Temperate Forest, Erin-Darby H. Mcclain

Theses and Dissertations

Soil respiration (Rs) is the largest terrestrial flux of carbon (C) to the atmosphere, with heterotrophic contributions to Rs varying spatially and temporally. While microbes are the primary and most thoroughly studied source of soil heterotrophic respiration (Rh), contributions from higher trophic organisms, including arthropods, are rarely quantified and poorly understood. Arthropod abundance and diversity correspond with variation in soil microclimate, which is influenced by site factors including canopy structure, site productivity, and disturbance. However, the extent to which these site factors influence arthropod abundance and diversity, and consequently, spatial variation in Rs is not known. The objective of our …

Automated Treatment Planning Framework For Cervical Cancer In Brachytherapy, Suman Gautam

Theses and Dissertations

Brachytherapy (BT) is a critical treatment modality for cervical cancer that delivers ionizing radiation directly to the tumor using intracavitary (IC) and/or interstitial (IS) applicators. In high dose-rate (HDR) BT, a remote afterloader guides the radioactive source to specific dwell positions for defined durations, known as dwell times, allowing for a conformal dose to the tumor while minimizing exposure to surrounding organs at risk (OAR). However, due to the inherent nature of ionizing radiation, some dose to OARs is unavoidable, creating a fundamentally conflicting objective in treatment planning: maximizing tumor coverage while minimizing OAR dose. This characterizes the problem as …

Plasmon-Assisted On-Chip Integration Of Quantum Emitter For Scalable Quantum Networking, Samprity Saha

Theses and Dissertations

In recent decades, quantum theory has sparked a revolutionary outlook on our long-standing perception of information processing and communication technologies. Photon-based quantum systems, relying on single photons governed by quantum mechanics, hold immense promise for quantum networks due to their resilience against decoherence and fast propagation speeds. However, challenges persist in realizing practical quantum networks, including the need for scalable, robust, and cost-effective quantum light. To address these challenges with classical photonic concepts, this thesis focuses on a plasmon-assisted approach for on-chip integration of single-photon sources. The study aims to develop a scalable solution for integrating quantum emitters on-chip, leveraging …

An Adaptive Method For Covariate Balancing In Block Randomized Clinical Trials, Ren Rasnick

Theses and Dissertations

Clinical trials are randomized in part to limit allocation bias, but also to ensure comparability between treatment arms for a baseline variable of concern. Comparable with regard to a baseline variable of concern is necessary for the validity of statistical methods. However, comparability is not guaranteed for trials of any size and is even more likely in trials with < 200 total participants. We propose a new method for adapting the allocation of participants in a sequentially allocated two-armed study with a small sample size to better ensure comparability.

The proposed method calculates the expected final imbalance (lack of comparability) based on the current participant values. Unlike several other methods, our method ensures the final desired sample size for each treatment arm, utilizes the expected final imbalance, increases comparability between …

Journal Of Family Of Strengths Website Re-Designed!, Alice Sherwood

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

The Journal of Family Strengths (JFS), formerly Family Preservation Journal, is an open-access, double-blind peer-reviewed online journal produced by CHILDREN AT RISK in partnership with the Texas Juvenile Crime Prevention Center – Prairie View A&M University and The TMC Library.

For additional information, visit the Library Blog

How To Touch Your Bile, Aleckxi Dorhofer

Theses and Dissertations

I have been reflecting on my past decade-long struggle with anorexia and bulimia. Reinterpreting this experience through the lenses of mythology and magic, I have constructed these Stygian carcasses (from the river Styx, which serves to separate the living and the dead) using my own bodily proportions in muslin, an intermediary material which requires transformation. In this work, I utilize these forms to symbolically rot for me as my body did, performing a type of sympathetic magic (magic worked from afar on another person) on myself, extending my life and allowing all which occurs between birth and death to affect …

Associations Between Community Violence Exposure And Internalizing Outcomes: The Moderating Role Of Racial Identity, Kimberly S. Lazarus

Theses and Dissertations

Community violence continues to be an ongoing public health crisis, driven by structural inequities and systemic disinvestment. Due to historical discriminatory policies and ongoing systemic barriers, Black adolescents are disproportionately affected, placing them at heightened risk for adverse mental health outcomes, particularly post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and depressive symptoms. While existing literature highlights racial identity as a promotive factor linked to a lower likelihood of negative health outcomes, less is known about its protective role in buffering the mental health effects of adversity. There is an increasing call for public health researchers to consider racial-ethnic factors as potential moderators in …

Characteristics Of Permanent Teeth Undergoing Surgical Endodontic Evaluation: A Retrospective Study, Yasamin Mojarad

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: This study examines the pre-surgical clinical and radiographic characteristics that may influence the choice of apicoectomy over nonsurgical retreatment in a more detailed approach, focusing on the clinical factors that come into the evaluation phase. We hypothesize that there are certain patterns observed through a pre-operative CBCT that may impact the decision for surgical intervention. The study aims to assess patterns in the decision-making in surgical treatment planning.

Methods: Retrospective review analyzing 142 cases treated or planned for apicoectomy by VCU endodontic residents. Data collected from CBCT and PA radiographs included: restorations, quality of prior root canal treatment, presence …

Hyperreality Ain’T Really Real: Postmodernity, Social Media, & Blackness, Micah White

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examines the interplay between postmodernity, social media, and African American identity formation through focus group analysis and Grounded Theory methodology. The research investigates how social media’s postmodern features—fragmentation, hyperreality, commodification, and context collapse—shape identity development among African Americans, who historically navigate cultural disruption and systemic racism. Data from semi-structured interviews with two generational focus groups revealed that participants engaged in sophisticated identity curation to balance authenticity and protection in racially charged digital spaces. Key findings highlight the tension between empowerment and marginalization, as social media served as both a platform for racial affirmation and a source of …

A Multimethod Approach To Examining Racial Coping Socialization Among Black Adolescents, Rachel J. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Experiences of racial discrimination are pervasive in the lives of Black youth and result in race-related stress. Racial coping has been found to mitigate the negative physical and mental health effects of racial discrimination; thus, it is imperative that we understand the process that Black youth undertake to navigate racialized experiences by utilizing a person-centered approach. Additionally, parents socialize their Black youth to navigate racialized experiences, indeed, previous research has investigated racial and emotion socialization as separate phenomena, however, this does not reflect the integrated nature by which racial and emotion socialization processes are interconnected during parents’ and youths’ discussions …

A Mixed Methods Study: High School Teachers’ Perspectives On Incorporating Mindful Artmaking In Their Classroom As A Mental Health Resource, Sherry A. Bosarge

Theses and Dissertations

Mental health concerns and the need for mental health resources for high school students continue to rise in Virginia. Some of the reported benefits to the current mental health services and resources offered in Virginia schools are increased academic outcomes, attendance, and positive behaviors. The reported barriers to current mental health services and resources are lack of participation, lack of training, time constraints, funding, and resources. This explanatory sequential mixed methods study examined high school teachers’ perspectives on the benefits and barriers to incorporating mindful artmaking in their classrooms as a mental health resource at a local high school. This …

Still An Athlete? An Exploration Of Athlete Identity, Body Appreciation, And Psychological Flourishing In Middle-Aged Former Collegiate Athletes, Kelly Furr

Theses and Dissertations

Collegiate athletes, upon retirement, are encouraged to develop other interests outside of sport to form a well-rounded identity. Yet middle-aged people often struggle to complete recommended strength training and exercise guidelines, and many continue to struggle with body appreciation and psychological well-being beyond adolescence and young adulthood. Using a cross-sectional survey design, 482 former NCAA athletes completed the Athlete Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS), Exercise Identity Scale (EIS), Body-Appreciation Scale (BAS-2), and Flourishing Scale (FS). The study used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to determine if athlete or exercise identity positively affects body appreciation and psychological flourishing through the mediating variable of …

A Mixed Method Case Study Of Leadership For Change: Authentic Transformational Leadership In A Local Baptist Church, Hui Sun

Theses and Dissertations

This convergent parallel mixed methods case study explores how a local Baptist church navigated organizational change during and after the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of authentic and transformational leadership. Grounded in organizational leadership and open systems framework of organizational change, the study examined two primary hypotheses: (1) RBC demonstrated an authentic transformational leadership paradigm in its change processes since 2020, and (2) this paradigm significantly and positively influenced perceived leadership effectiveness.

Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with six leaders (three pastors, one minister, one staff leader, and one deacon) and 11 raters (five lay leaders, five congregants, …

Using Habituation And Affective Forecasting To Distinguish When The Passive Enjoyment Of Harm Begets The Active Pursuit Of Aggression, Drew M. Parton

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the antecedents and impellers of aggression is key to preventing violence, and individual differences have been identified as some of the key factors of interest in the study of aggression. Antisocial personality traits such as psychopathy, Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Sadism have received considerable focus from researchers. Among these traits, Sadism stands above them all as arguably the most malevolent of all trait constructs in psychology. Sadism shows the strongest correlations with aggression among malevolent traits and is uniquely linked to unprovoked aggression, even when it is costly. Sadism thus represents an extreme risk factor for aggression, and studying its …

Brute Gamification, Catherine Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Digital platforms are surreptitious structures that gamify the ways in which we engage and exchange. They dictate every step of our journeys even as we navigate onward with a sense of absolute agency. The harder that we try to win, the more the platform will win!

In Brute Gamification, I employ image-based installation and performance to unravel the terms and conditions with which these platforms dictate our lives. A literal platform supports a series of image-games, all of which are about to end in a draw. Through prescribing the user to a designated path to focus on this non-ending as …