Weight Bias Education In Medical Training: Insights From Stakeholder Perspectives, Tracy L. Olivier, Lisa K. Diewald, Stephanie H. Felgoise, Austin Kanyuh, Renata Brito-Cherrin, Margaret Brace, Gail E. Furman, Rebecca Shenkman

PCOM Scholarly Works

Introduction: Weight bias among physicians remains a significant barrier to equitable healthcare for patients with obesity. One possible contributing factor is the absence of a structured curriculum addressing weight bias within medical education. Methods: This project explored medical students’ and faculty members’ understanding of weight bias and identified gaps within the medical school curriculum. Participants’ responses were subsequently used to inform the development of e-learning modules for implementation within a medical school curriculum. Semi-structured focus groups were conducted with stakeholders, including medical students and faculty from a private osteopathic school of medicine. Transcripts of these discussions were analyzed using Colaizzi’s …

Toxic Exposure, Judy Ann Clausen

UF Law Faculty Publications

Service members are often exposed to toxins in service. When they file claims for disability compensation, they struggle to link their diseases to toxic exposure while serving. Congress stepped in to ease their burden by creating presumptions, relieving the veterans of the burden of proving a nexus between the exposure and their disease. In 2022, Congress enacted the PACT Act which expanded presumptive service connection for veterans whose service involved exposure to toxic substances. But, for veterans whose conditions do not fall within these presumptions, problems with the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) benefits adjudication system make it difficult to …

Improving Nurse Confidence And Patient Safety Through Timely Nonpharmacologic Delirium Prevention Interventions: A Quality Improvement Project, Claire E. Mccabe

Master's Theses and Capstones

Abstract

Background

Delirium prevention is an ongoing patient safety priority within a Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) because delirium contributes to preventable patient harm, including unplanned device removal, prolonged mechanical ventilation, falls, increased mortality, and long-term cognitive impairment. Key signs of delirium include fluctuating awareness, severe confusion, disorganized thinking, and difficulty focusing. Although the ABCDEF bundle is established within the local MICU, an implementation gap remained in consistently integrating nonpharmacologic prevention strategies into routine nursing workflows.

Methods

The purpose of this quality improvement project was to improve nurse confidence, awareness of workflow opportunities, and implementation of evidence-based delirium prevention interventions …

Computationally Modelling Nmda Blockages Within A Neural Network, Anya Raetsch

UNH URC Open (2026 and after)

The N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) Receptor is fundamentally important to memory formation within the brain due to its control of calcium entry into the cell.  In recent years, there has been an increased interest in long-term effects of NMDA blockages on the brain, due to the “re-wiring” of communication channels (synapses) between neurons. This project models the effects of NMDA blockages due to drugs such as Ketamine, and how the blocking of NMDA receptors affects firing rates, which can then be applied to studying long-term plasticity within the neural hierarchies. Using the Nest Online Simulator, a 50x50 grid of neurons was created …

From Franco To Vox: Historical Memory And The Politics Of Immigration In Spain (2026), Abby Fitzwater

International Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

Spain’s transition to democracy following the death of Francisco Franco in 1975 prioritized political stability and national reconciliation through the “Pacto del Olvido” (“Pact of Forgetting”), limited public confrontation with the authoritarian legacies of Francoism. This paper examines how unresolved historical memory and nationalist narratives continue to shape contemporary immigration discourse in Spain, particularly through the rise of the far-right political party VOX. Drawing on scholarship surrounding nationalism, historical memory, immigration, and right-wing populism, this study argues that elements of Francoist nationalism persist within contemporary political discourse through narratives emphasizing national unity, cultural cohesion, and territorial defense. Using qualitative discourse …

How Have Trump-Era Immigration And Visa Policies Affected International Students From The 75 Restricted Countries At Minnesota State University, Mankato, Ameer Wazwaz

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Trump era immigration and visa policies have created a restrictive environment that disproportionately burdens international students from countries subject to United States travel restrictions and heightened vetting regimes. These policies operate through nationality-based entry restrictions, discretionary denials, extended administrative processing, and intensified screening. At Minnesota State University, Mankato, students from restricted countries face delayed arrivals, visa denials, disrupted reentry after travel, and uncertainty regarding immigration compliance, potentially reducing enrollment rates, increasing dropout risk, intensifying psychological stress, and weakening institutional trust.

This study employed a mixed methods of explanatory case study design centered on Minnesota State University, Mankato. Data sources included …

Marginalizing Messages, Emotional Impacts, And Coping Strategies: Exploring The Experiences Of Bangladeshi Female Gamers In Online Multiplayer Gaming Spaces, Tahura Tabassum Tari

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study explores the experiences of Bangladeshi female gamers in online multiplayer gaming spaces, focusing on the marginalizing messages they encounter, the emotional and social impacts, and the coping strategies they use. Although online gaming is often seen as an open and inclusive digital space, for many women it remains shaped by sexism, exclusion, and cyberbullying. In Bangladesh, these experiences are further influenced by patriarchal norms, moral policing, and gendered expectations. Using a qualitative research design, this study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews with Bangladeshi female gamers who actively participate in online multiplayer games, along with cyber-ethnographic observation of gaming-related Facebook …

Natalist Incentives And Stratified Reproduction: Framing Of Reproductive Policies Under The 2025 Trump Administration By Print News Media, Sadie K. Marsh

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In this research, I seek to analyze the reproductive policies set forth by the Donald J. Trump Administration in the year of 2025. In this analysis, I ask, what role stratified reproduction plays in the framing of the natalist policies by the news media. Secondly, I ask the following questions: 1) What reproductive health issues were centralized in the print news coverage of the 2025 Trump Administration? 2) Does the mainstream news media identify how President Trump’s policies differentially benefit and marginalize individuals in a manner that privileges some mothers over others? To answer these questions, I conducted a qualitative …

Helena María Viramontes’ Under The Feet Of Jesus And Sandra Cisneros’ The House On Mango Street: An Exploratory Analysis Of Female Friendship In The Chicana Feminist Bildungsroman, Patrice Donnelly

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This exploratory analysis examines female friendships presented in two mid-twentieth century Chicana feminist Bildungsroman, each between a Chicana protagonist and a female friend as foil. One friendship in Under the Feet of Jesus, by Helena María Viramontes, is interracial; the other, in The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is Chicana. Both friendships interrogate the boundaries within mainstream feminism, particularly its monolithic views and complicity with power. Each friendship offers a Chicana feminist perspective centering family and cultural community. The theoretical foundation includes classical and contemporary understandings of Bildungsroman as literary form, Toni Morrison’s American Africanism, …

The Importance And Development Of Team Record Keeping Practices: The Development Of Record Keeping Practices For Bowling Green Men's Rugby, Fitzpatrick Metzger

Master of Education in Applied Human Development Graduate Projects

If you participated in team sports, do you know the history of the teams you played for? It is fair to assume that athletes who play at the top collegiate level have greater knowledge of the team’s history for which they play. These high-level collegiate teams have the funding and resources necessary to document their team’s history properly. Club and Varsity sports indeed have separate budgets and resources available. Throughout the sports industry, it is well known that each university provides its athletic department with differing annual budgets, which are dependent on many different factors. Based on the Proposed Fiscal …

Sense Of Belonging In Black Female Student Athletes At Predominantly White Institutions (Pwis), Danai Hardges

Master of Education in Applied Human Development Graduate Projects

Where do I belong? This is a question most people ask themselves when placed in new environments. This is a common experience for marginalized individuals. Feelings of belonging can have an intense impact on how an individual interprets their experiences within a setting. Looking at the individual differences that influence an individual’s sense of belonging is important in understanding their experiences. This concept has been explored with intercollegiate athletes in the past. There is a plethora of research grasping an understanding of the difference in realities for student-athletes versus non-student athletes, female athletes versus male athletes, and Black student-athletes versus …

Poorly Controlled Type 2 Diabetes (T2dm) In A Rural County In Texas: A Diabetes Intervention Bundle, Roxanne Morales

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains a significant public health concern, particularly in rural and underserved communities where patients often face barriers to effective self-management. This quality improvement (QI) project evaluated the impact of a diabetes intervention bundle consisting of individualized diabetes education, biweekly support phone calls, and digital self-monitoring tools on glycemic control, body weight, diabetes knowledge, medication adherence, diet compliance, and physical activity. The project was implemented over an eight-week period in a rural family medicine clinic and included 18 adults with uncontrolled T2DM (HgbA1c >7%). Participant outcomes were evaluated using pre- and post-intervention clinical measures, the Diabetes …

Churches' Struggles After Receiving Freedom For Its Mission, Július Filo

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Július Filo, Prof. ThDr. Dr.h.c. Professor of practical theology at the Evangelical Theological Faculty of Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. Bishop emeritus of the Lutheran Churches (1994-2006). Chairperson of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Slovakia (1994-2005). In his research focusses on renewal of congregational life, missiology, diaconal theology, liturgical theology.

Evaluating The Relationship Between Body Composition And Bmi In Rotc Air Force Cadets, Joseba Iparraguirre

Master of Education in Applied Human Development Graduate Projects

Body mass index (BMI) is commonly used to categorize weight status and screen for obesity-related health risk; however, BMI does not distinguish between fat mass and fat-free mass and may misclassify physically trained individuals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between BMI and percent body fat in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadets at Bowling Green State University and to examine sex differences in BMI and adiposity. Eighteen cadets (11 males, 7 females; ages 18–23) completed anthropometric assessment for BMI calculation and body composition assessment using air displacement plethysmography (Bod Pod). A Pearson product–moment correlation indicated …

Increasing Oral-Gut Axis Health Literacy In Underserved Communities With Community-Involved, Pantry-Accessible Nutrition Education: A Conceptual Framework And Program, Audrey Kho, Yinon Gankin, Polina Pine

Chemistry: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In metropolitan U.S. areas, health inequities caused by socioeconomic disparity continue to influence oral health, nutritional status, and the risk of chronic diseases. Diets heavy in added sugars and poor in fiber and vital micronutrients are especially harmful to the oral–gut axis, which connects diet, microbial balance, inflammation, and systemic and neurological health. Due to institutional hurdles to health literacy, limited access to preventive health education, and food poverty, these eating habits are more common among low-income individuals. Only 36% of low-income parents in Chicago report being in good health, compared to 75% of parents with better incomes, underscoring the …

Internal Talent Development Integration With Organizational Strategy: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study, Hermenia Faith Ricks

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of executives in a healthcare organization regarding internal talent development and integration with organizational strategy. The purpose of the study addressed the problem statement by examining the meaning executives ascribed to internal talent development as it relates to organizational strategy and the fostering of human capital. The problem addressed in this study was that internal talent development is often inadequately embedded in organizational strategies, limiting organizational competitiveness and long-term performance. The study sought to address the research question How do executives in a healthcare organization exploring the …

Advancing Ethical Innovation In Human–Ai Collaboration: Trust And Legitimacy In Technology-Mediated Teams, Sanket Ramchandra Patole

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Human Resource Development (HRD) confronts a central paradox in the digital age. The technologies designed to broaden access to learning and collaboration often reproduce the same social hierarchies that HRD seeks to challenge. Artificial intelligence (AI), digital collaboration platforms, and algorithmic management are widespread features of organizational life. Yet these systems do not generate inclusive outcomes for all workers. Women of Color (WoC), situated at the intersection of racialized, gendered, and technological structures, experience digital transformation as both possibility and constraint. They encounter opaque decision systems, diminished authority in virtual teams, and digitally-mediated microaggressions, while also developing new capacities for …

Parents’ Discursive Constructions Of Digital Play During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Rebekah Willett, Jacqueline Kociubuk

Graduate School of Library and Information Studies Faculty Publications

This article analyzes parents’ discursive constructions of their children’s digital free play during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on interviews in the United States with 21 parents who had children ages four to 11, the article first identifies characteristics of play that are evident in parents’ descriptions of their children’s digital play. These characteristics indicate parents’ shifting understanding of digital play under the conditions of the pandemic, particularly ways digital play responded to the social and emotional needs of their children. The analytic discussion which follows complicates two dominant discourses parents employ: digital play as social and safe, and digital play …

Ordered Mini-Batch Training For Differentially Private And Encrypted Logistic Regression, Ryan Leone

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Logistic regression has found extensive use as a supervised machine learning algorithm due to its simplicity and efficiency in binary and multivariate classification tasks. As data sharing grows across connected devices, safeguarding sensitive personal and industrial information is of increased importance. Privacy-preserving machine learning techniques such as differential privacy and homomorphic encryption offer mathematically rigorous security guarantees, but introduce difficult accuracy, privacy loss, and computational overhead issues. This thesis investigates PPML for logistic regression through a collaborative mini-batch training framework. I propose and implement an ordered mini-batch strategy, compare it to standard shuffled methods, then integrate differential privacy noise injection …

Inferring Genes And Biological Systems Under Selective Pressure In The Secondarily Temperate Cryonotothenioids, Esteban Cabrera

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Notothenioid fishes represent one of the most compelling examples of adaptive radiation driven by extreme environmental change, having diversified in the chronically cold waters of the Southern Ocean. While most cryonotothenioids evolved highly specialized cold-adapted characteristics, several secondarily temperate species later re-invaded warmer environments. These lineages provide a rare opportunity to examine evolutionary reversibility and the genomic mechanisms enabling escape from extreme specialization. In this study, we investigate two secondarily temperate species, Dissostichus eleginoides and Champsocephalus esox, comparing their protein-coding orthogroups to background sets from Antarctic cryonotothenioids and basal temperate teleosts. Using phylogeny based evolutionary models (BUSTED, aBSREL, and RELAX) …

Examining The Enactment Of Teacher Leadership Through Self-Created Social Network Maps, Shanna Dawn Anderson

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Much of a teacher’s work is unseen. It extends beyond classroom instruction and into collaborative, relational work that positions teachers as essential actors in educational change. Yet this work occurs within a neoliberal education system that intensifies accountability, erodes professional autonomy, and reinforces hierarchical, patriarchal models of authority. Although schools depend on teachers’ expertise, these structures constrain opportunities for collaborative professionalism and relational forms of leading and learning. This study pushed back on the neoliberal agenda and examined the phenomenon of teacher leadership. Using descriptive and interpretive phenomenology, I analyzed self-created social network maps and narrative data to understand how …

Seeking The Goodness In Culturally Responsive Practices Of New Jersey Suburban Public Elementary Teachers, Kimya S. Jackson

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In the United States, suburban elementary schools continue to diversify, while teaching staff remain predominantly White, creating urgency for culturally responsive practices (CRP) in non-urban settings (Stanford, 2023). In this study, I examined CRP’s goodness enacted by four teachers in New Jersey suburban elementary schools, a context shaped by state mandates for diversity and inclusion (New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE), 2022). The question guiding my research was: In what ways do New Jersey suburban elementary (kindergarten through fifth grade) schoolteachers engage in culturally responsive practices? Using Lawrence-Lightfoot and Hoffman Davis’s (1997) portraiture methodology, I developed portraits of four suburban …

Introduction To Shakers At The Center: Manifesting Spirits & Spectacles In Nineteenth-Century America, Douglas L. Winiarski

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Magazine, January 2026, National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper and Static Line Magazines

This issue of the National Smokejumper Association (NSA) Smokejumper Magazine, contains the following articles:

Message from the President; Smokejumpers in Indochina; Visionary in Aisle Three!; 2025 NSA Scholarship and Education/Training Grant Awardees; The Greatest Generation; You can Get Great Firefighters; You Just Have to Work for It; Bagger Crew; The OC Fire Program: A Fire Path to Life; The Summer My Life Changed; Only In Alaska; Burned Out: It Doesn't Have to Be This Way; Jumpin' at 300 Feet; 56 Years Later; Round vs. Square; Featured Member: Ken Herrick; Notes From the Ranks; Thoroughly Modern McCall; Sounding Off; Odds and …

Explicit Teaching Of Chatgpt In Introductory Educator Preparation Programs, Emily George, Lotta Larson

Posters

I will share success stories on what works in the field, teacher candidate & classroom teacher feedback on ease of use and effectiveness for task. Will provide a list of field-tested ideas to ease the workload of general and special education teachers.

Designing A Two-Semester Undergraduate Data Science Sequence For Computer Science, Mathematics, And Actuarial Science Majors, A. Jayawardhana

Posters

The proposed two-semester sequence is designed to provide students with a rigorous foundation in statistical thinking, computational modeling, and modern machine learning. The curriculum integrates probability, inference, optimization, and algorithmic learning into a coherent framework for data-driven decision-making. The sequence progresses from statistical foundations to computational machine learning systems, emphasizing both theory and implementation.

Ai As A Support Tool For International Students, Gabi Alvarez, Derrel Fincher

Posters

This poster presentation explores the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to enhance teaching, learning, and communication in higher education, with a special focus on supporting international students. Demonstrating how AI can serve as a supportive tool to foster inclusion, improve communication, and enhance learning experiences for diverse student populations. Drawing on my experience as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Teaching and Leadership at Pittsburg State University, this project examines how AI-supported strategies can help bridge language barriers, clarify academic expectations, and improve student engagement. Many international students arrive at PSU with strong academic backgrounds but must …

Wild Rice Life Cycle: An Integrated Science, Social Studies, And Ela Lesson, Rhett Zima, Lily Deming

OER Materials

This lesson is designed to deepen students’ understanding of wild rice, a plant native to Minnesota, by integrating life science concepts such as structure, function, life cycles, and seed dispersal with prior knowledge from English Language Arts and Social Studies. Using the 5E instructional model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate), students participate in a structured, inquiry-based learning experience. They begin by connecting to prior knowledge and generating questions, then investigating the life cycle and growth patterns of wild rice through hands-on exploration. As students build their understanding, they analyze how the plant’s seed dispersal supports its survival and reproduction. …

Inclusion Meets Innovation: Exploring Vr Technological Acceptance And Accessibility Barriers For People With Physical Disabilities, Andrew E. Bedard

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

The central goal of this work was to examine the usability barriers Middle School and High School students encountered while using VR during an educational learning activity. 20 Middle and High School students aged 11–21, with little or no prior VR experience, participated in a set of explanatory VR activities, after watching instructional videos. After the activity, students completed a brief survey on their ease of setting up the headset, using the controllers, and managing both devices during gameplay. This study used a mixed-methods approach, combining descriptive survey results with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), which was ultimately framed in the …

Integrating Discipline-Specific Literacy In Business Education: Implications For Skill Development, Katherine M. Mitzner, Quinn J. Longueville

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Literacy is a vital part of a students’ education. Not only is it important to know how to read, but it is also important for students to comprehend what is read. There are many aspects of literacy, including content area literacy and disciplinary literacy. This thesis explores the importance of disciplinary literacy in the context of a business education lens and how business literacy impacts the success of a secondary student. It explores disciplinary literacy, the impacts of business literacy on other fields, implementation in the classroom, and professional development for literacy strategies. Application materials related to the findings are …