Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating Changes In The Stable Isotopic Composition Of Juniperus Osteosperma Over 34,000 Years Of Climatic Shifts, Lisa S. Garcia

Biology ETDs

Isotopic compositions of plants from the past provides empirical evidence for paleoclimatic shifts and plants physiologically response. This study used Neotoma paleomiddens (fossilized debris piles) collected from Death Valley National Park, which contained preserved abundant plant materials. These middens range from modern to >35,000 years and capture different climatic events in Earth history. Employing Juniperus osteosperma (Utah Juniper) leaves found in middens, I investigated variation in carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic composition. To help interpret paleomidden results, we used modern field and herbaria samples of Juniperus from a spatial gradient stretching across their geographic range. Results showed δ ¹³C …

Reassembling Riparian Ecosystems: Stream Restoration Effects On Vegetation, Arthropods, And Aquatic-Terrestrial Connectivity, Katelyn P. Driscoll

Biology ETDs

Riparian areas exist at the aquatic-terrestrial interface and provide disproportionate ecosystem services, yet multiple stressors have degraded these zones globally. Stream restoration seeks to reverse degradation, but rigorous evaluation of treatment effectiveness remains limited. I conducted a before-after-control-impact (BACI) study in the southern Rocky Mountains to evaluate two stream restoration treatments—beaver dam analogs (BDAs) and plug-and-ponds (P&Ps)—across three dimensions of riparian ecosystem response. Using Bayesian analysis, I quantified treatment effects on functional diversity and composition of riparian plant communities. Using generalized linear mixed models, I evaluated restoration effects on riparian arthropod abundance, richness and guild composition across lateral gradients and …

Continuous Polygenic Trait Evolution Under Brownian Motion With Gaussian Mixture Models, Mary S. Hopkins

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

Gaussian mixed-models (GMMs) show promise as a tool for modeling polygenic trait evolution for multiple taxa with established phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs). When phenotypic traits are influenced by more than one gene, neither a gene tree nor a species tree may be completely adequate to model specific cross-taxa dependencies. In such cases common solutions include using trees inferred from concatenated DNA sequences [35, 95] and consensus gene trees [35]. The GMM-based model, first proposed by Jiang in 2017 [55] allows traits to evolve on more than one tree with distinct topologies. This approach provides a framework for trait evolutionary modeling …

Inherited By “Merit”: What Caste Carries Across The Indian American Diaspora, Aarushi V. Jaiswal

English Undergraduate Distinction Projects

This project traces the rhetorical formation termed “meritocratic nationalism,” a political vocabulary that makes national belonging conditional on moralized merit, converting structural advantage into the language of individual character. Meritocratic nationalism is traced across three political figures whose rhetoric represents successive moments in a single ideological trajectory. Reading Narendra Modi’s 2014 and 2018 Independence Day addresses and his 2014 Madison Square Garden speech to the Indian American diaspora as the formation’s originating texts, this project argues that Modi’s recurring moral tetrad of conduct, values, traditions, and ability translated the structurally concentrated advantages of India’s upper-caste professional class into a universalist …

From Body Positivity To Body Power: How Music Therapy And Body Liberation Intersect To Address Body Oppression In The Therapeutic Space–A Literature Review, Katherine M. Perkoski

Expressive Therapies Theses

With the rise of overt fascism, anti–fat bias, anti–intellectualism, anti–multiculturalism, anti–diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the persistence of white, capitalist, cisheteropatriarchy narratives around bodies, music therapists need to recognize how client and therapist bodies show up in practice. In this critical literature review, bodies will be sociopolitically and culturally contextualized, and the intersections of music therapy, body liberation, and body power will be discussed. Music therapists need to address the body oppression faced by sociopolitical identities such as race, gender, disability, age, body size, sexuality, neurodiversity, class, ethnicity, nationality, housing status, and immigration status. The music therapy field needs to …

Thoughts From The Pit: Can Raving Change The World? A Literature Review Exploring Rave Culture As Expressive Arts Healing, Marissa Rose Renella

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review examines the structural and philosophical commonalities between expressive arts therapy (EXA) and rave culture. Drawing on scholarship from anthropology, cultural studies, health sciences, transpersonal psychology, neuroscience, and expressive arts therapy, this review identifies five core principles shared between the two fields: transformational experiences, multimodality, entrainment and flow, containment and ritual, and community and social action values. Across each principle, the literature reveals not surface-level similarity but deep convergence — two fields that have, independently and through different lineages, arrived at the same understanding of what human beings need in order to heal, grow, and connect. To the …

Attachment Under Threat: Parental Cancer, Child Development, And Dance/Movement Therapy As An Embodied Intervention—A Literature Review, Victoria E. Groves

Expressive Therapies Theses

Parental cancer is a significant family-based stressor that can disrupt children’s attachment security and emotional regulation. This literature review examines how parental cancer can interfere with parent-child attachment processes and explores dance/movement therapy (DMT) as a potential intervention. Literature from attachment theory, psycho-oncology, trauma research, somatic psychotherapy, and DMT is synthesized into a cohesive conceptual framework linking caregiving disruption, neurobiological stress responses, and embodied patterns of regulation in children. Findings suggest that parental cancer is associated with increased attachment insecurity through changes in caregiver availability, emotional attunement, and children’s perceived attachment security. These disruptions contribute to the internalization of chronic …

Re-Painting Motherhood: A Community-Based Expressive Arts Project Exploring Motherhood’S Myths, Realities, And Hopes Through A Narrative Therapy Lens, Lauren Grignaffini-Morris

Expressive Therapies Theses

This thesis examines how socially constructed ideals of motherhood shape maternal identity, distress, and isolation, and explores the potential of addressing these experiences through a community-based expressive arts project. Drawing on motherhood studies, expressive arts therapy, and narrative therapy, the project highlights the potential benefits of utilizing expressive arts in a community setting to ease the tension between romanticized cultural narratives and the lived realities of mothers. Conducted with a support group for mothers in rural Vermont, the project used visual art, movement, creative writing, and collaborative mixed-media painting to examine problem-saturated motherhood stories, connect through embodied experience, and explore …

Playfulness And Awe: How Ecodramatherapy Can Facilitate The Experience Of Positive Emotional States To Reduce Perceived Stress, Corey Jennifer Maier

Expressive Therapies Theses

This paper investigates the question, “can a play and awe-based Ecodramatherapy intervention help to reduce levels of perceived stress in a group of food forest volunteers?” Methods for investigation and subsequent discussion of results draw from the Biophilia Hypothesis, Stress Reduction Theory, and Trait Activation Theory to guide conceptualization. Based on a review of the literature suggesting that playfulness and awe have an effect on both perceived and physiological stress, the author created an Ecodramatherapy intervention designed to evoke playfulness and awe for a group of 4 stressed food forest volunteers. The volunteer group was of mixed ethnicities and genders …

Exploring The Potential For Meaning-Making In Expressive Art Therapies Interventions In Treatment Of Complicated Grief For Gun Homicide Survivors: A Literature Review, Ash Landrein

Expressive Therapies Theses

Research shows that the violent nature of homicide and the extreme lethality of firearms in conflict lead to increased psychological impairment for survivors and communities affected. Black and Latinx communities are disproportionately affected by gun violence, yet are historically underresearched and underserved. Social constraints and systemic negligence complicate and stigmatize the bereavement process. This literature review examined culturally relevant grief practices, theories and components of meaning-making (MM) post-loss, and Expressive arts interventions for facilitating meaning, safety, and reconnection for survivors, through an intersection of race, ethnicity, gender, and age. Cumulative research shows that MM can help individuals experiencing complicated grief …

Becoming A Body-Centered Psychotherapist: Developing A Reflective Method For Navigating Dual Professional Identity In Dance/Movement Therapy Training, Emma Rose Barbosa

Expressive Therapies Theses

The field of mental health counseling frequently prioritizes verbal modalities, often leaving dance/movement therapists (DMTs) in training to navigate clinical environments that diverge from their primary movement-first modality. Without adequate preparation for this tension, emerging DMTs risk losing access to their primary treatment modality at a critical stage of professional development. The literature review highlights the mind-body connection as a theoretical foundation for somatic integration in clinical practice, examines the development of the internal witness through authentic movement practice, and explores selected current perspectives on DMT within individual counseling contexts. To investigate further themes, a heuristic study was conducted during …

Opening Space For Joy: Play As A Pathway In Dance/Movement Therapy With Adults In Addiction Recovery, Brittany M. Walsh

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review examines the cultivation of joy through play in dance/movement therapy (DMT) for adults in addiction treatment. Substance use disorders (SUDs) and addictive behaviors are complex, multifaceted conditions influenced by biological, psychological, social, and systemic factors; however, treatment approaches often prioritize symptom reduction and traditional talk-based models. Although necessary, these approaches often fail to honor the whole person, and can inadvertently reinforce shame, stigma, isolation, and dehumanization. Drawing on trauma-informed, neurobiological, relational, and decolonizing frameworks, this review positions joy as a fundamental aspect of human experience and an affirmation of dignity. Playful processes in DMT have the potential …

Exploring Immigration-Related Trauma With Trauma-Informed, Culturally Relevant Creative Processes, Alexandra Gadway

Expressive Therapies Theses

The Latinx population is one of the fastest growing racial and ethnic groups in the United States, yet there is still a great need for culturally appropriate training tools and screenings to support folks experiencing immigration-related trauma. This study explores ways art therapy can foster connection and empowerment for a Latinx child impacted by immigration-related post-traumatic stress, if only the field considers expanding its culturally relevant and trauma-informed creative-based processes. Newer literature in trauma-informed expressive therapies suggests a bottom-up approach, wherein tapping into the kinesthetic and sensory levels of the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) allows us to process through movement, …

Rhythms Of Hippocampal Function And Memory After Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure, Lilliana May Sanchez

Psychology ETDs

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders involve morphologic and neurobiological abnormalities in offspring subjected to prenatal alcohol exposure. Although not as well studied as high exposure, moderate prenatal alcohol exposure represents the most common and undetected form in humans. While learning and memory deficits have been well characterized at the behavioral level in humans with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and in animal models of moderate prenatal alcohol exposure, few studies have determined the circuit or systems level mechanisms of the behavioral deficits. A complete understanding of the neural bases of memory deficits after moderate prenatal alcohol exposure is needed to ultimately identify …

"Oh That I Had A Dozen Voices": Accessible Music For Volunteer Church Choirs, Nicholas D. Klemetson

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted church music ministries across the United States. In an era during which church attendance and interest in organized religion are declining, churches were forced to shut their doors, which only deepened the worsening issues in the US and internationally. Most houses of worship in the United States are modest in size but contain a small but enthusiastic group of volunteers who find great fulfillment in sharing their musical gifts to express God’s love. Despite these churches being the majority, mainstream music publishers’ offerings cater overwhelmingly to larger music ministries with sufficient participation to present SATB …

When You Consider The Radiance: Sergii Bulgakov, Beauty, Personhood, Daniel Adam Lightsey

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation’s primary interlocutor is Sergii Bulgakov (1871-1944), the prominent Marxist economist later turned Idealist religious philosopher and finally Russian Orthodox priest and dogmatician who was forcibly exiled from his homeland in 1922 never to return. The thesis this manuscript pursues is that Bulgakov’s theology of beauty and metaphysics of personhood are inextricably enmeshed. Chapter 1 begins with beauty, specifically the problem or “tragedy of beauty,” a thematic to which Bulgakov consistently draws attention regarding the religious experience of postlapsarian persons. Chapter 2 assays Bulgakov’s chief rudiments of personhood as such, providing a kind of grammar for his metaphysical structuring …

What Is Mine, Yours And Ours: Bodily Metaphor And Neuropsychology, Alicia K.E Parham

Art Theses and Dissertations

Mapping the landscape of the brain has taken human lifetimes to navigate, both structurally to understand how our biological functions interact and functionally as our thoughts and emotions shape our existence. Neurological stimulus and response inform our reality, shape our thinking, and affect our bodies in profound physiological ways. Our nervous system acts as a bridge from what we experience physically to what we feel emotionally, through the sending of electrical signals to all parts of our body.

My art practice explores the interactions of neuroscience with outside stimuli. It is rooted in the personal: learning that a neurological condition …

Incorporating Principles And Wisdom From Hospital Chaplaincy And Pastoral Ministry To Create A Ministry Model To Address Social Isolation And Loneliness In Black Churches, Albert A. Kemp

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

To address the growing and widespread epidemic of social isolation and loneliness, with special focus on Black churches, this dissertation developed a program with the following areas of application: 1) how healthcare trained chaplains can coordinate with churches to positively impact individuals identified as lonely and socially isolated with better social and physical health, 2) how principles of chaplaincy and pastoral care can mitigate and intervene competently when such people are identified, and 3) how the project’s model can be organized, taught, and incorporated into existing arenas of church ministry.

The purpose of the project was to create a ministry …

A Hospital Spiritual Care Volunteer Program: Embodying Vocation And Decreasing Social Isolation And Loneliness In Adults Sixty-Five And Older, Stacy L. Auld

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Social isolation and loneliness have become familiar terms since the COVID-19 pandemic, but the problem did not start there. We have seen a steady rise in the number of people who face social isolation and loneliness over the past fifty years, and now research shows that this problem is impacting people’s health, especially in adults sixty-five and older. These social diagnoses are being addressed by public policy and in health care settings, but they should also be addressed by United Methodist clergy in their care for their parishioners. Therefore, I am writing this dissertation to my clergy colleagues to raise …

Machine Learning And Formal Methods In Quantum Chemistry: Theory And Application, Ishna Satyarth

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the progress in inter-disciplinary application of machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML/AI) have truly transformed various fields, from weather forecasting and drug development to medical diagnostics, energy, and sustainability. Computational chemistry uses computational tools to model, predict, analyze, and explain chemical phenomena, while the Quantum chemistry specifically uses techniques based on quantum mechanics (as opposed to classical mechanics or empirical models). Quantum chemistry or Computational chemistry has also observed a momentum in application of ML techniques over the past decade significantly accelerating results and providing valuable insights into vast datasets, often surpassing traditional methods.

This dissertation explores …

Characterizing A Potential Cbp/P300 Histone Acetyltransferase Homolog In Tardigrade Germline Specification And Development, Brittney Michelle Hartshorn

Honors Projects

Germline specification is a fundamental process that ensures the proper development of germ cells. Germline specification occurs either through germ cell determinants maternally inherited through the mechanism of preformation or through induction, where cell interaction and epigenetic modifications direct specification. Determining how these mechanisms evolved and diverged remains an important question in developmental biology. Despite research on germline regulation in model organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans or Drosophila melanogaster, such regulation remains poorly understood in many other animal groups. Tardigrades are an emerging model system for investigating developmental mechanisms due to their phylogenetic placement and experimentally tractable embryos. CBP/P300 is …

La Raza In The U.S.-Mexico Borderlands: A Comparative Regional Study Of Mexican American Elite Identity-Making From Texan Independence To The Mexican Revolution, Davis Diego Massey

History ETDs

After the U.S. annexed much of Mexico following the Mexican-American War, Mexicans in  the incorporated regions began to think of themselves as a racial group within the U.S. rather  than a distinctive nationality. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo promised citizenship  rights to all Mexicans in the area. The Treaty promises rarely were put into practice, as they  were left up to the enforcement of territories and states. Even where enforced, the rights of  citizenship were restricted and defined on the basis of race. Local laws excluded  Afro-Mexicans and Mexican Natives from exercising the rights promised by the Treaty. This …

La Raza In The U.S.-Mexico Borderlands: A Comparative Regional Study Of Mexican American Elite Identity-Making From Texan Independence To The Mexican Revolution, Davis Diego Massey

History ETDs

After the U.S. annexed much of Mexico following the Mexican-American War, Mexicans in the incorporated regions began to think of themselves as a racial group within the U.S. rather than a distinctive nationality. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo promised citizenship rights to all Mexicans in the area. The Treaty promises rarely were put into practice, as they were left up to the enforcement of territories and states. Even where enforced, the rights of citizenship were restricted and defined on the basis of race. Local laws excluded Afro-Mexicans and Mexican Natives from exercising the rights promised by the Treaty. This …

Technical Advancements In Single-Molecule Spectroscopy For High-Throughput Measurement Of Long-Time Dynamics, Quyen B. Le

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy is a powerful technique for resolving transient biomolecular dynamics and quantifying free energy landscapes, kinetics, and binding interactions. However, two fundamental limitations restrict its broader application: slow, labor-intensive data acquisition and the limited observation time imposed by fluorophore photobleaching. These limitations hinder its use in drug discovery and biomedical engineering applications that require both high-throughput and access to long-time dynamics. In this work, both challenges are addressed through technical advancements. First, a simple, generalizable approach is introduced to automate data acquisition, eliminating manual intervention during experiments. This increases the acquisition rate by more than an order of …

Nuclear Deterrence: Enhancing The Mission Through Smart Factory Predictive Solutions, Jarrod Matthew Ronquillo

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

To meet the stewardship and modernization initiatives set by the Department of Energy new technologies must enter the manufacturing facilities within the nuclear deterrent complex. Predictive solutions begin with collecting data. An equipment health monitoring device was created to streamline data collection and organization for equipment and processes. A predictive and process performance dashboard was developed for a deionized water system. The dashboard used Western Electric statistical process rules and a machine learning regression algorithm to predict when the resistivity would fall out of specification. Lastly, a remaining useful life calculation was developed for all equipment related to nuclear deterrent …

Does Adjunctive Low-Level Laser Therapy Provide Additional Benefit Following Temporomandibular Joint Arthrocentesis With Hyaluronic Acid? A Randomized Clinical Trial, Moataz Bahaa, Abdelrahman Fahmy Dr., Hesham Morsi, Mahmoud Elfaramawy

Dentistry

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate whether adjunctive low-level laser therapy (LLLT) provides additional clinical benefit over an optimized arthrocentesis protocol with hyaluronic acid in patients with ADDwoR. Materials and methods From December 2022 to December 2023, a single-blinded prospective randomized clinical trial was conducted at The British University in Egypt’s Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The study involved 40 female participants diagnosed with Anterior Disc Displacement without Reduction (ADDwoR). Following TMJ arthrocentesis, subjects were assigned to one of two parallel cohorts: Group A received ten subsequent sessions of low-level laser therapy (LLLT), while Group B served as the …

The Effect Of Acute Hypoxia Exposure, With Exercise, On Bone Metabolic Biomarkers, Alyssa Bailly

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Hypoxic environments, resulting from decreased atmospheric partial pressure of oxygen, reduce oxygen availability in the blood and tissues, leading to a mismatch between supply and demand. This elicits several physiological adaptations and may influence bone metabolism. Although evidence suggests that hypoxia can modulate bone remodeling through hypoxia-inducible pathways, findings remain mixed, with most data derived from chronic hypoxic exposures in animal and cell culture models. Exercise, an essential stimulus for bone health, may exacerbate hypoxic stress; however, the skeletal response to acute hypoxic exposure combined with exercise remains unclear. We propose that intermittent exercise in hypoxia may increase negative markers …

Microtubules In Breast Cancer: Exploring The Α/Β-Tubulin Toggle Switch And Its Implications In Human Breast Cancer, Annemarie Ianos

Student Theses and Dissertations

Microtubules, composed of a/b-tubulin heterodimers, play a central role in breast cancer tumor growth by polymerizing, leading to metastasis and depolymerizing, contributing to proliferation. Human enzymes protein kinase Ca (PKC-a) and cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (Cdk-1) mediate phosphorylation at sites a:Ser165 and b:Ser172, respectively, influencing the growth of microtubules. It is possible that alternating phosphorylation at these sites contribute to an a/b-tubulin “toggle switch” that mediates microtubule instability and tumor growth.

The project investigates the influence of the toggle switch model on microtubule stability by determining the impact of mutants (a:S165D, a:S165N, a:S165S_P, b:S172S_P and a:S165S_P/b:S172S …

Cfd Simulation Analyses Of The Blowdown Phase Of A Depressurized Loss Of Forced Cooling Accident In A Htgr, Keenan Kresl-Hotz

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

This research numerically investigates the helium-air mixing in HTGR containment cavities during the blowdown phase of a simulated DLOFC accident. The results of the performed CFD simulation analyses, using the commercial code STAR-CCM+, are compared with reported measurements from an experiment conducted at CCNY. The analyses investigate the effects of the RANS and LES turbulence models, numerical mesh refinement, time-step size, and flow rate and temperature of the injected hot helium into the scaled reactor cavity. Calculated parameters analyzed include the pressure and spatial distributions of temperature and oxygen concentration in the simulated reactor and steam generator cavities. CFD oxygen …

Shaping Emergent Competitive And Cooperative Behaviors In Multi-Agent General-Sum Games, Ethan F. Erickson

Honors Projects

Reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms can train agents to solve problems in environments using complex behaviors that are not explicitly programmed, known as emergent behaviors. The goal of our research is to investigate how different RL reward values influence the emergence of competitive and cooperative behaviors in games with teams of multiple agents. Specifically, we focus on general-sum games, in which the sum of gains and losses of each team may be non-zero, allowing situations for agents to mutually benefit or mutually fail. Using Unity’s ML-Agents Toolkit to train agents with RL self-play in bounded 2D environments, we identify high-level behaviors …