Digital Commons Network^™

Fostering Reading: Review Of A College Bridge Program For Deaf And Hard Of Hearing High School Students, Cara Wilmot

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods formative program evaluation examined the reading component of a summer College Bridge Program (CBP) designed for high school students who are deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh). Persistent disparities in reading outcomes among d/Dhh students have been linked to differences in language access, communication access, and opportunities to receive specialized instruction. Using the Context, Input, Process, Product (CIPP) evaluation model, this study evaluated how the CBP identified and addressed students' reading needs, implemented evidence-based instructional practices, and supported reading development through a three-week summer program.

Participants included 45 d/Dhh high school students from 12 southeastern states, as well …

Growth And Dielectric Characterization Of Epitaxial Sr1-Xmgxtio3 Thin Films, Richard Badu

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Complex oxide materials with ferroelectric ground states remain promising candi dates for next-generation high-capacitance and nonlinear microelectronic applica tions. One of those materials is SrTiO3 (STO). However, STO is an incipient fer roelectric with anomalously high dielectric permittivity at low temperatures. STO crystals possess a highly polarizable lattice that is sensitive to even small amounts of impurities. Substituting Mg into the STO matrix is predicted to induce a corre lation between ferroelectric and relaxor behavior. In this thesis, we demonstrated the growth of a series of epitaxial STO and Sr1-xMgxTiO3 thin films using molec ular beam epitaxy. The surface evolution …

Investigating The Effects Of Pressure On Fe And Co Intercalated 2h-Tas2 Through First-Principle Calculations, Ronald E. Putnam Jr.

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using first-principles methods, we investigate the effects of applied isotropic pressure on the electronic and magnetic properties of intercalated Fe1/3TaS2 and Co1/3TaS2. Fe1/3TaS2 has been shown to be a ferromagnet that undergoes structural and magnetic phase transitions under applied pressure. The magnetic phase transitions are observed to be linked to the structural shift, and a mixture of magnetic phase states is present between 3 GPa and 6 GPa. Co1/3TaS2 was found to be antiferromagnetic, as confirmed by experimental work. One- and two-unit-cell systems of Co1/3TaS2 are analyzed, both showing band splitting that disappears under pressure. The application of pressure forces …

Availability And Utilization Of School Library Resources And Its Impacts On The Academic Excellence Of Secondary School Students In Edo State., Iyobosa Ewere Mrs., Ben Asuquo, Glory Mbah Mrs.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study examines availability, and utilization of school library resources and its impacts on the academic excellence in secondary school libraries in Edo state. The descriptive survey research was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 2162 senior secondary school students from Idia Girls’ College, Boiling Point Academy and UNIBEN Demonstration Secondary School. The sampling techniques used for the study was Random Sampling Technique, a total of 216 respondents was used as the sample size representing 10% of the total population. A well structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to respondents .A total of 216 copies of …

Look-Ahead Cyber-Threat Forecasting For Connected And Automated Transport: A Spatio-Temporal Graph Learning Approach, Md Al Amin, Mohammad Shafat Ahsan, Jannatul Maua, Arifa Akter Eva, M.F. Mridha, Md. Jakir Hossen

Student Publications [Scholarly]

Modern intelligent transportation systems (ITS) increasingly rely on connected electronic control units (ECUs), exposing in-vehicle networks to cyber-attacks such as message injection on the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus. While prior work has focused on post-factum detection, this paper addresses the underexplored task of forecasting cyber-attacks before they occur. We propose a spatio-temporal graph neural network (STGNN) architecture that models CAN traffic as a dynamic graph sequence, where nodes represent active CAN IDs and edges capture statistical co-activation patterns. Each graph snapshot encodes temporal features such as inter-arrival statistics and entropy, and is processed using graph attention layers followed by …

Attention-Based Geo–Textual Fusion Network For Disaster Risk Prediction, Mohammad Shafat Ahsan, Mst Sanjida Alam, Syed Sajjad Ahmed, Md Tanzimul Islam, Hashibul Ahsan Shoaib, M.F. Mridha, Md. Jakir Hossen

Student Publications [Scholarly]

Natural disasters pose recurring threats to human life and infrastructure, demanding intelligent systems that can process heterogeneous data streams and provide actionable insights in real time. Existing approaches often treat textual signals from social media and emergency communications separately from spatial hazard attributes, limiting their effectiveness in capturing the full complexity of evolving crises. This paper proposes an AI-driven geo–textual intelligence framework that integrates disaster-related text with GIS-based hazard features for real-time risk prediction and evacuation planning. The framework employs contextual text encoders and a neural GIS encoder, fused through an attention mechanism that dynamically weights cross-modal signals. Experiments on …

En Ritmo: A Praxis In Decolonizing Traditional Dance Spaces, Megan Curet

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

En Ritmo: Praxis in Decolonizing Traditional Dance Spaces is an investigation that explores the intersection of bomba, a traditional Puerto Rican song, music and dance form, and North American contemporary dance. This PhD research aims to decolonize culturally hegemonic dance spaces through a cultural syncretism of contemporary dance and the elements of bomba as foundational principles for training both professional and non-professional dancers. This practice challenges traditional Western dance training paradigms. Therefore it is crucial to clarify that this research is not positioned within the realm of pedagogy; rather, it critically interrogates and deconstructs the distinctions between dance practice and …

Una Nueva Herramienta Para Estimar El Volumen Muscular Independientemente De La Edad, El Sexo Y El Nivel De Actividad Física, José J. Rivera-Sánchez, Laura P. Burgos-Morelos, Daniel Castillo-Castillo, Gerardo Méndez-Suárez, Juan C. Lopez-Alvarenga, Damián Carrillo-Ruíz

School of Medicine Publications

Antecedentes: Actualmente, la evaluación del volumen muscular requiere técnicas invasivas o de imagen, lo que aumenta los costos y retrasa la evaluación, y las mediciones antropométricas con frecuencia son inexactas.

Objetivo: Desarrollar una fórmula matemática para estimar el volumen del cuádriceps.

Material y métodos: Se evaluaron 127 sujetos: 40 adultos sedentarios de 20 a 35 años, 47 atletas adultos de 20 a 45 años y 40 adultos sedentarios de 70 a 94 años. Se dividieron en grupos de desarrollo y de validación. Se realizaron mediciones de variables antropométricas y fuerza de agarre, y se desarrolló la fórmula de predicción del …

An Empirical Framework For Evaluating Semantic Preservation Using Hugging Face, Nan Jia, Anita Raja, Raffi Khatchadourian

Publications and Research

As machine learning (ML) becomes an integral part of high-autonomy systems, it is critical to ensure the trustworthiness of learning-enabled software systems (LESS). Yet, the nondeterministic and run-time-defined semantics of ML complicate traditional software refactoring. We define semantic preservation in LESS as the property that optimizations of intelligent components do not alter the system's overall functional behavior. This paper introduces an empirical framework to evaluate semantic preservation in LESS by mining model evolution data from HuggingFace. We extract commit histories, $\textit{Model Cards}$, and performance metrics from a large number of models. To establish baselines, we conducted case studies in three …

Color-Blind Resilience: How Uniform Climate Standards Reproduce Environmental Inequality In The Rockaways, Aaryan M. Nair

Publications and Research

This paper examines how ostensibly uniform climate resilience standards can reproduce environmental inequality in socially uneven landscapes, using the Rockaway Peninsula in New York City as a critical case study. While flood-resistant building codes, zoning regulations, and insurance frameworks are designed to provide equal protection across flood-prone areas, this analysis argues that their “color-blind” application obscures and intensifies underlying disparities in financial capacity, housing conditions, and tenure. Drawing on environmental justice (EJ) theory, the paper identifies two key mechanisms through which inequality is reproduced. First, “code without capacity” demonstrates how uniform technical standards—such as elevation requirements under NYC Building Code …

All Games Have Equilibria, M. Ali Khan, Arthur Paul Pedersen, Maxwell B. Stinchcombe

Publications and Research

Research on Nash equilibrium existence for infinite games has grown into a patchwork of technical preconditions and counterexamples. This paper presents a unified program in equilibrium theory by revising the predominant model of mixed strategies based on countable additivity. A game is specified by a nonempty set of players and, for each player, a nonempty action set and a bounded von Neumann-Morgenstern utility function. Every such game is shown to admit a Nash equilibrium in finitely additive mixed strategies. In addition, the equilibrium correspondence for any such game is shown to be nonempty, compact-valued, and upper hemicontinuous, and the same …

Sustainable Community-Wide Model To Enhance Cancer Data Usage And Utility, Emily S Boja, Mousumi Ghosh, Ying Huang, Tung-Shing Mamie Lih, Rawan Shraim, Gregory Wheeler, Diana Thomas, Rakesh Khanna, Stephanie Sandor, Jinghui Zhang, Sapna Oberoi, Nicolas J Llosa, Aditya Suru, Fernanda Silva Michels, Eric Durbin, Anna Fernandez, Lucy Han, James Galbraith, Yin Lu, Brian Furner, James H Tanis, Michael Watkins, David Higgins, Gavriel Matt, Xin Zhou, Yang Li, Marcin Cieslik, Jamie Estill, Michael Sierk, Yanling Sun, Weiping Ma, Joseph Flores-Toro, Freddie Pruitt, Subhashini Jagu, Elmer A Fernández, Daniela Orschanski, Stephanie J Spielman, Jaclyn Taroni, Trinh Nguyen, Brian Capaldo, Erin Beck, Tanja Davidsen, Johanna Goderre Jones, Minghong Ward, Anne Sturcke, Jennifer M Torres Del Valle, Sean Hanlon, Danielle Daee, Brandon Wright, Nathaniel Boyd, Heather Basehore, Liang Liu, Ying Hu, Daoud Meerzaman, Huiqing Li, Ying Wu, Gregory H Reaman, Erin Rudzinski, Jack F Shern, Brigitte Widemann, Warren Kibbe, Jaime Guidry Auvil

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Despite vast investments in data collection, generation, and sharing from childhood cancer studies, for example, Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Program, Childhood Cancer Data Initiative, and other efforts, secondary use of data remains a challenge especially for rare diseases. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Office of Data Sharing (ODS) aimed to promote FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data sharing practices to enhance data utility, accelerate discovery, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration. NCI ODS launched its inaugural Data Jamboree focusing on childhood cancer alongside its third Annual Symposium in September 2025. Over 120 participants with diverse backgrounds coalesced into 23 multidisciplinary teams …

Associations Of Blood Pressure Level And Variability With Cortical Thickness: A Cross-Sectional Analysis From The Maracaibo Aging Study, Romeo De Leon, Shana Garza, Silvia Mejia-Arango, Kristina Vatcheva, Sokratis Charisis, Claudia L. Satizabal, Luis J. Mena, Joseph H. Lee, Joseph D. Terwilliger, Eron Manusov

School of Medicine Publications

Background: Although high blood pressure (BP) level and variability are associated with Alzheimer's Disease (AD), their relationship with cortical thickness in brain regions that are associated with AD is unclear. Furthermore, the role of 24-hour BP has not been examined. We investigated the associations of office and ambulatory BP measures with cortical thickness in brain regions implicated in AD.

Methods: We performed a cross sectional analysis of 304 participants without dementia from a population-based study with office and 24-hour BP and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. We considered cortical thickness values derived from 10 regions throughout the frontal, parietal, and …

Enhancing Offshore Wind Resource Assessment Through Neural Network-Based Hf Radar Data Analysis, Nikolas Martzikos, Matthew Craven, David Walker, Daniel Conley

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The increasing demand for offshore wind energy underscores the need for accurate wind speed estimation to support the design and operation of offshore wind farms. High-Frequency Radar (HFR), a widely used remote sensing technology in oceanographic research, offers promising potential for wind resource assessment, particularly in areas where conventional measurements are limited. This study explores the application of artificial neural networks (ANNs) for offshore wind speed prediction using HFR-derived data, addressing key challenges in model development and training. A key feature of this approach is the use of a decade-long dataset from the Celtic Sea, off the southwest UK coast, …

Angle-Based Formation Stabilization And Maneuvers In Port-Hamiltonian Form With Bearing And Velocity Measurements, Ningbo Li, Pablo Borja, Arjan Van Der Schaft, Jacquelien M.A. Scherpen

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

This paper proposes a port-Hamiltonian approach for angle-based formation stabilization and maneuvers using bearing and velocity measurements with an underlying triangulated Laman graph. The corresponding port-Hamiltonian controller is designed using virtual couplings on the errors of angle constraints in angle space. Then, the angle constraints and agent actuators are mapped by the constraint Jacobian, which can be applied to other formation constraints. In addition, to avoid unavailable distance terms in the control law, an estimator is designed based on port-Hamiltonian theory and the property that energy is coordinate-free for different sensor modalities using bearing and velocity measurements, which permits our …

Scope 3 Carbon Emissions Assessment For Manufacturing Smes, Kourosh Halat, Stephen Childe, Nick Golding, John Summerscales

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

This paper addresses the challenges facing managers of Small-andMedium-Size Enterprises (SMEs) when conducting environmental sustainability assessment at the value chain level, particularly Scope 3 Greenhouse Gases GHG) emissions. The paper investigates issues related to data availability and data quality for Scope 3 assessment and identifies dimensions of Scope 3 reliability.Utilising a series of in-depth case study analyses with SMEs in the south-west of England, UK, the paper fills a gap in supply chain sustainability research by identifying practical challenges. The findings show that SMEs encounter persistent difficulties in assessing emissions associated with purchased goods and services and downstream activities linked …

Usable Authentication: Are We There Yet?, Nathan Clarke, Steven Furnell

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

With technology increasingly embedded in everyday life, the demand for secure and usable authentication methods has never been greater. Traditional password-based systems continue to dominate, despite well-known usability and security challenges. This paper explores the evolution of user authentication technologies, from secret knowledge and tokens to biometrics and emerging approaches such as Passkeys. It critically evaluates the extent to which usability has been achieved, identifying both successes—such as biometrics integrated into smartphones—and persistent issues, including inconsistent guidance, ecosystem dependence, and accessibility barriers. Drawing on academic and commercial developments, the discussion highlights the growing burden on users who must authenticate across …

From Predictions To Explanations: Explainable Ai For Autism Diagnosis And Identification Of Critical Brain Regions: 18th International Joint Conference, Biostec 2025, Kush Gupta, Amir Aly, Emmanuel Ifeachor, Rohit Shankar

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmentalcondition characterized by atypical brain maturation. However, the adaptationof transfer learning paradigms in machine learning for ASD researchremains notably limited. In this study, we propose a computeraideddiagnostic framework with two modules. This chapter presents atwo-module framework combining deep learning and explainable AI forASD diagnosis. The first module leverages a deep learning model finetunedthrough cross-domain transfer learning for ASD classification. Thesecond module focuses on interpreting the model’s decisions and identifyingcritical brain regions. To achieve this, we employed three explainableAI (XAI) techniques: saliency mapping, Gradient-weighted Class ActivationMapping, and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis.This framework demonstrates that …

Biocompatibility Of Silver And Hydroxyapatite Antimicrobial Nanocoatings On Titanium Alloy Dental Implants With Human Gingival Fibroblasts, S Morgan, R D Handy, V M Salih, R N Salaie, C J Tredwin, A Besinis

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

OBJECTIVES: Peri-implantitis compromises soft and hard tissues around dental implants, often leading to implant failure. Antibacterial nanocoatings offer a promising infection control strategy, but maintaining biocompatibility is essential. This study investigated, through a range of assays and analytical techniques, the biocompatibility of antimicrobial silver and hydroxyapatite (HA) nanocoatings applied to titanium implants with human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs).

METHODS: Silver and hydroxyapatite nanocoatings were applied to the surface of titanium alloy specimens using electroplating, deposition and sintering techniques. The biocompatibility of the nanocoatings with HGFs was assessed by measuring cell metabolic activity (alamarBlue), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, collagen production (Sircol assay), …

Heat Transfer From A Partially Buried Circular Cylinder In Oscillatory Flow, H. Thomas, R. Stuhlmeier, A. G.L. Borthwick, S. Michele

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

With the growing abundance of man-made cylindrical structures located on or close to the seabed, it is important to be able to assess their potential environmental impact. Herein, a model is presented of the viscous-thermal boundary layer in the vicinity of a circular cylinder resting on, or partially buried in, an otherwise flat seabed. To model the influence of wave-induced motions near such a cylinder, we assume oscillatory flow in which the water particle displacements are small with respect to the cylinder radius. A perturbation expansion is utilised to derive solutions of the boundary layer equations, leading to analytical solutions …

A Coupled Thermo-Hydraulic Transfer Model For Soil Freezing, Antai Dong, Xiong Zhang

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Frost heave is a common challenge in cold regions, threatening infrastructure stability. Despite decades of research, numerical simulation remains difficult due to the complex nature of coupled processes. This study presents a coupled thermo-hydraulic model for soil freezing, developed within the framework of unsaturated soil mechanics. The model uses suction and temperature as primary variables and incorporates a method to estimate ice content. It employs a soil freezing characteristic surface (SFCS), previously developed in related work, to calculate unfrozen water content as a function of both suction and temperature in partially frozen soils. The model is implemented in COMSOL for …

Quantifying The Response Of Bankfull Channel Width To Active Faulting In The Qianhe Graben On The Southwest Margin Of Ordos Block, China, Zhiheng Liu, Sarah Boulton, Suiping Zhou, Jianhua Guo, Tingting Wu, Wenjie Zhang, Ling Han

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

River longitudinal profiles have been widely used to quantify the transient landscape response to active faulting, but the fluvial cross-section is often ignored, yet width can also reveal river incision and tectonic activity. Channel width responds to tectonic forcing through flow concentration effects resulting in channel narrowing where vertical incision dominates during uplift acceleration. Here we employ a novel bankfull channel width extraction method using Landsat and ZY-3 satellite images, and SRTM DEM data to evaluate the cross-section landscape response to active faulting in the Qianhe Graben of southwest Ordos, China. Although some areas are difficult to access (e.g., thick …

Assessing The Application Of Optical-Photothermal Infrared Spectroscopy For Single-Grain Chemical Palynology, Laura Scoble, Hao Meng, Simon J. Ussher, Mark F. Fitzsimons, Lauren Ansell, Mustafa Kansiz, Billy Simmonds, Nick Stone, Ralph M. Fyfe

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Single-grain pollen analysis is essential for advancing chemical palynology, which classifies morphologically similar taxa based on taxon-specific pollen and sporopollenin chemistry. Fourier-Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and microspectroscopy (μFT-IR) are widely used to differentiate morphologically similar grains but face limitations from Mie scattering and coarse spatial resolution. Here, we present the first application of Optical-PhotoThermal Infrared (O-PTIR) spectroscopy to chemically treated single pollen grains, using Molinia caerulea as a model taxon to fully test and evaluate the technical capabilities and limitations of this technique. O-PTIR achieves sub-micron “super-resolution” infrared spectroscopy through non-contact, non-destructive measurements by exploiting the photothermal effect. O-PTIR spectra …

Triangulating Primary Sources, Professional Judgement, And Llm-Generated Summaries: Educating Nurses In An Ai-First World, Sarah Oerther, Daniel B. Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

A Transdisciplinary Approach To Advancing Water Security And Public Health: The “Nurse + Engineer” Model For Achieving Sustainability In Wash Systems Using Community-Based Participatory Research, Daniel B. Oerther, Sarah Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Human health is linked to the health of the environment, a concept referred to as planetary health. As environmental challenges become increasingly complex, single-disciplinary approaches are insufficient to achieve sustainable solutions. This article presents a transdisciplinary framework, termed the "Nurse + Engineer" model, as a novel methodology for addressing complex problems at the nexus of environmental engineering and public health. The model integrates the technical design and systems-level thinking of environmental engineering with the community-based, patient-centered care of nursing. This work details the key lessons learned from the retrospective application of this framework to a series of multi-year, community-based participatory …

First Remi Experiments At A Cryogenic Ion Storage Ring, M. Schulz, F. Herrmann, W. Zhang, A. Dorn, M. Grieser, F. Grussie, H. Kreckel, O. Novotny, A. Wolf, T. Pfeifer, C. D. Schröter, R. Moshammer

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We have recorded double, triple, and quadruple coincidences between neutralized projectiles, recoiling target ions, and two electrons created in collisions of slow anions with neutral atoms. The experiments were performed at the cryogenic storage ring in Heidelberg. The recoil ions and ejected electrons were momentum-analyzed using a Reaction Microscope (ReMi) spectrometer. Various processes involving electron detachment from the projectile accompanied by various transitions in the target were investigated. Detachment without any transition in the target is qualitatively well described by a quasi-free electron model in the case of an Ar target. In detachment with single target ionization, no signatures of …

Tracking Co2 Illinois Ccs Monitoring Wells, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about the Illinois carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. Includes information on the project's CO₂ monitoring system.

Mitigating The Effects Of Technology Use In The Classroom: An Occupational Therapy Approach, Hannah E. Ibach

Occupational Therapy Capstones

Background: The average child spends three times the recommended time on technology, which is leading to a wide range of consequences affecting education, such as fine motor, cognitive, and social deficits (Christensen, 2021; McGough, 2021; Qi et al., 2023). Parents and teachers play a crucial role in helping children be prepared for their education, yet many are not aware of the impacts of too much technology use (Srivastava, 2022). Developing strong foundational skills early in childhood is critical for setting the stage for long-term educational success. When skills are nurtured from a young age, children are better prepared to adapt …

Pathways To Participation: Enhancing Inclusion For Individuals With Idd, Katie Koxlien

Occupational Therapy Capstones

Background: Youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) continue to experience barriers to meaningful community participation despite policies promoting inclusive community-based services (Friedman, 2017). Sensory sensitivities, difficulty with transitions, and overstimulating environments frequently limit engagement and increase anxiety or behavioral responses when appropriate supports are not present (Bagatell et al., 2022; Dean et al., 2018; Tint et al., 2017). Research indicates that inclusion requires intentional programming that incorporates structured supports, consistent routines, and opportunities for meaningful engagement (Edwards et al., 2021; Hall, 2016).

Methods: The purpose of this scholarly project was to develop a week long sensory exploration camp for …

Superintendent Accountability In High Achieving School Districts: A Qualitative Multiple Case Study In The State Of Washington, Kristin Lind Jacobs

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The primary goal of a school district is to promote and support student academic achievement. Superintendents of public school districts across the United States should therefore be held accountable for student performance within their districts. Establishing a successful public school district requires interconnected relationships among the superintendent, the school board, accountability structures, and evaluation processes.

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to understand how superintendent accountability, in regard to student achievement, was conducted and accomplished by school boards who believe they hold the superintendent accountable for student learning. This study focused on school boards governing high-achieving school …