Fall Prevention In The Lobby Of The Emergency Department At Sutter Medical Center Sacramento, Tanya Rodriguez Duarte, Vaneza Espino, Roshni Hayer, Yajari Mendoza

ELMSN E-Portfolio. A collection of Scholarly and Creative Works

Background: In 2024, Sutter Medical Center Sacramento (SMCS) reported 17 patient falls in the Emergency Department (ED) lobby, with 94% (n = 16) occurring in the triage area. Patients awaiting placement after triage are not classified as admitted and thus are not included in CMS’s inpatient fall reporting program. However, due to the known safety risk, SMCS ED leadership began tracking lobby falls locally and partnered with University of the Pacific nursing students to address this issue.. Aim: This quality improvement project aimed to reduce the incidence of falls in the ED lobby through enhanced fall risk identification, timely reassessment, …

The Kangaroo Care Project: Implementation Of Skin-To-Skin (Sts) In Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Bianca Wong, Katherine Do, Martha Calero, Lydia Nambala

ELMSN E-Portfolio. A collection of Scholarly and Creative Works

Background: Skin-to-skin contact, also known as kangaroo care or kangaroo mother care, is an intervention typically done after birth to promote physiologic stability, bonding, and breastfeeding.

Aim: The Kangaroo Care project aimed to increase the incidence of skin-to-skin contact in the neonatal intensive care unit at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento.

Methods: A pre-survey was conducted to assess staff comfort with skin to skin. Interventions to increase skin-to-skin rates included staff e-learning, unplanned extubation mock codes, nurse champions, and a policy change to Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento’s handbook.

Results: TBD. Preliminary results indicated use of STS in the NICU and post-results …

Staying Ahead Of The Pressure: A Multimodal Intensive Care Unit Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injury Quality Improvement Project At Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, Mijung Lim, Daniela Tobler, Raquel Youkhana

ELMSN E-Portfolio. A collection of Scholarly and Creative Works

Background: Hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) are a major quality and safety concern, particularly in the intensive care units (ICUs) where critically ill and immobile patients face elevated risk. At Sutter Medical Center Sacramento (SMCS), nine confirmed HAPIs and two under investigation were reported within the medical ICU, cardiac ICU, and neurosurgical ICU by May 2025, exceeding the hospital’s target and prompting a system-wide quality improvement initiative.

Aim: The aim of this project was to: (a) reduce ICU-acquired HAPIs to fewer than four cases per quarter by December 2025 and (b) increase nursing compliance with early and ongoing prevention strategies, including …

Improving Maternal Mental Health Awareness And Support In Perinatal Black And Latina Women, Jasman Hans, Lesly Carrillo, Kayla Huynh, Brianna Harrison

ELMSN E-Portfolio. A collection of Scholarly and Creative Works

Background: Black and Latina women in California experience disproportionately high rates of perinatal mental health disorders due to limited access to care, stigma, and systemic inequities.

Aim: In collaboration with BeMomAware, this Quality Improvement project aimed to enhance maternal mental health literacy among Black and Latino individuals in the Oak Park community of Sacramento. The project sought to increase awareness, knowledge, and access to culturally appropriate mental health resources through an educational video and community session.

Methods: Interventions included a short educational video and an in-person community session providing culturally relevant information about perinatal depression and anxiety disorders, available resources, …

Computational Study On Protein Docking With Vascular Disease Application, Lohitha Reddy Shanigaram

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates how computational methods can help us understand protein docking and vascular diseases by integrating machine learning. The main goal of this research is to develop a system that can predict whether variants in the SOX17 gene are associated to Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), a significant vascular condition. To do this, a dataset of 1,063 SOX17 variants was created using publicly available sources such as ClinVar, gnomAD, LOVD, and Ensembl. The study included cleaning and structuring the dataset, encoding genomic data and training a Random Forest classifier to classify variants as positive, negative, or unknown for disease association. …

An Audio Data-Driven Roadway Digital Twin And Its Underlying Framework For A Digitized Transportation Construction Environment, Anisha Deria, Pedro J. Chacon Dominguez, Yong-Cheol Lee, Jin W. Choi

Michigan Tech Publications

The increasing need to build and maintain transportation systems has led project managers to manage multiple projects simultaneously. Roadway projects often entail several miles of job site, making it difficult to keep track of progress and maintenance activities. To improve the situation, this study proposes an audio data-driven roadway digital twin framework for real-time and remote monitoring of construction projects. The latent characteristics of a digital twin required for establishing a digitized work environment were investigated. As a primary method of seamlessly linking virtual and physical environments, audio data classified and analyzed by deep neural network (DNN) has been employed …

Burnout And Compassion Fatigue Within Dispatch, Emily A. Mcfarren

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Continual exposure to trauma coupled with a general lack of

administrative support contributes to greater occupational risk for burnout and

compassion fatigue among first responders, causing many to leave the

profession. As the first line of communication for emergencies, dispatchers,

specifically emergency call takers are no exception. Yet, few studies have

investigated the prevalence and impact of burnout and compassion fatigue on

dispatchers in comparison to other first responders such as police, fire, or

emergency medical services (EMS). This study aimed to extend this line of

inquiry by surveying a stratified random sample of dispatchers working in

California dispatch centers …

Definition Of The 3d Position And Motion Status Of The Moving Heart Based On 2d Projections, Lawrence D. Orijuela

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis presents a novel application of deep learning to the estimation of pulmonary vein coordinates using X-ray image pairs from a FORBILD Thorax phantom derived motion dataset. A Siamese neural network was developed to predict the 3D coordinates of one pulmonary vein at a time, specifically the Right Superior Pulmonary Vein (RSPV), Left Superior Pulmonary Vein (LSPV), Left Inferior Pulmonary Vein (LIPV), or Right Inferior Pulmonary Vein (RIPV), based on two-dimensional projection images.

The input data consisted of over 1.6 million grayscale X-ray image pairs across 1331 virtual patients, each annotated with ground truth 3D coordinates. To manage memory …

Ontogenetic Analysis Of Parasaurolophus Braincases (Ornithischia, Hadrosauridae) From The Kaiparowits Formation (Upper Cretaceous) Of Utah, Usa: Comparing Juvenile And Adult Morphology, Amanda "Billie" C. Guerrero

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study documents the ontogenetic development of the braincase in Parasaurolophus, a lambeosaurine hadrosaurid dinosaur known for its distinctive cranial crest. Whereas the crest has been extensively examined for its roles in communication and display, the braincase remains less understood, despite its structural and functional relationship with the crest. This research compares the braincase morphology of a juvenile specimen (RAM 14000, "Baby Joe"), a subadult specimen (RAM 17000), and an adult P. tubicen (NMMNH P-25100), to investigate how developmental changes influenced sensory systems, neurocranial architecture, and biomechanical adaptations across ontogeny.

Detailed morphological analysis reveals progressive changes from juvenile to …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On National Hockey League Fan Attendance, Ramon E. Rivera

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic struck swiftly around the world, causing several societal functions and normalcies to adapt or shut down completely. This culminating project explores the effects of COVID-19 on arena fan attendance of the National Hockey League (NHL). This project was guided by the following three research questions: Q1 – How did the NHL arena closures affect fan attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic? Q2 – What factors influenced NHL fan arena attendance before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic? Q3 – What factors impacted the NHL arena fan attendance after the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic? An empirical model developed …

Rethinking The Performance Evaluation, Jason C. Crowley

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This paper delves into the complexities of performance evaluations within community college settings, aiming to inform a more effective approach specific to the unique characteristics of staff attracted to this work. Grounded in the understanding of validity in psychometric measurement and management theories, it seeks to identify evaluation criteria that prioritize enhancing the working environment which is known to impact overall organizational performance over traditional results-driven metrics to measure individual staff performance. Key theoretical underpinnings include discussions on validity, highlighting that measuring validity against the underlying goal of the performance evaluation (i.e., increased organizational performance) has been largely ignored in …

Property Management System, Abbas Kurnool

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The real estate industry generates and manages large amounts of data, including tenant information, lease agreements, property maintenance schedules, and financial transactions. Reliance on traditional manual methods often results in inefficiencies, fragmented data, and delays in decision-making. To overcome these challenges, this project presents the design and implementation of a Real Estate Property Management System (REMS) for Future Properties, a company aiming to optimize its operations through digital transformation.

The proposed system is developed on Microsoft Dynamics 365 as the core platform, integrated with the Microsoft Power Platform tools (Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power Pages). This integrated framework provides …

Motivating Through Assessment: Exploring Best Practices In Continuation High Schools, Stephanie Milton

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This qualitative exploratory case study examined how continuation high school teachers perceive and implement assessment practices that foster student motivation and accurately measure learning. Grounded in Assessment for Learning (AFL) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the study sought to identify assessment strategies that promote autonomy, competence, and relatedness among students who are at risk of academic disengagement. Seven teachers from a Continuation High School in the Coachella Valley participated in semi-structured interviews to explore their experiences, beliefs, and classroom practices regarding assessment and motivation. Data were analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) method, with triangulation across interviews and literature to …

Writing The Script: Shaping Korean National Identity, Media Imperialism And The Revolution Of K-Dramas, Isai J. Martinez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis explores the role of South Korean television dramas (K-dramas) as cultural artifacts that the Korean creators have created and become agents, which in turn has constructed and projected globally the modern South Korean national identity. Positioned at the crossroads of cultural imperialism, nationalism, resistance and appropriation, K-dramas have become extremely critical to reshaping South Korea’s place in the global media landscape. Through the lens of the Hallyu (The Korean Wave), this study analyzes how K-drama’s navigate an ambiguous cultural space which simultaneously resists Western media dominance while appropriating global forms including platform-based distribution, tailoring original content to …

Groundwater Arsenic Contamination In The Oro Grande Wash, Dalila Boice

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study investigates the distribution of naturally occurring arsenic in groundwater within the Oro Grande Wash in San Bernardino County, California. Depth-discrete groundwater quality data were collected over multiple years using nested and Westbay monitoring wells. Water quality results showed higher levels of arsenic in the deeper aquifers, ranging between 600 feet and 1,000 feet below ground surface. Arsenic levels in these regions reached as high as 66 µg/L. At roughly 800 feet and below, water quality data from the wells reveal that arsenic concentrations exceeded the 10 µg/L maximum contaminant level (MCL) in 87% of cases. These data provide …

Un Women Strategic Plan Model For 2026–2029: Preventing Femicide & Advancing Women’S Safety In Latin America And The Caribbean, Daisy Uriarte Villalobos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This strategic plan outlines the UN Women Latin America & Caribbean Regional Office (LACRO) multi-year framework for 2026–2029 to prevent femicide and empower communities toward safer living conditions. The plan guides organizational and community priorities, incorporates innovative digital safety tools, and establishes monitoring practices centered on achieving justice for survivors.

Femicide remains one of the region’s most pressing public issues, with rates escalating over the past two decades. While progress has been made through youth leadership initiatives and strong women’s rights organizations, major challenges persist. These include limited protection services, inconsistent coordination across the justice sector, rising digital violence, and …

Diabetes-Induced Mitral Valve Degeneration: Tissue-Engineered Solutions And Antioxidant Therapy, Samantha Hahn

All Theses

Mitral valve (MV) fibrosis is a progressive pathological condition characterized by leaflet thickening and stiffening, ultimately compromising valve function. This process is accelerated in diabetes, where chronic hyperglycemia elevates reactive oxygen species (ROS) and alters the mechanics of the extracellular matrix (ECM), collectively promoting the activation of valvular interstitial cells (VICs). Under healthy conditions, VICs maintain a quiescent, fibroblast-like phenotype responsible for sustaining ECM homeostasis. However, pathological biochemical cues or mechanical stress drive VICs toward a myofibroblast phenotype. While this transformation is essential for short-term repair, its persistence contributes to maladaptive MV remodeling and fibrosis. Diabetic stressors may be mitigated …

Mitral Annular Calcification In Diabetes: Valvular Interstitial Cells, Antioxidant Therapy, And Tissue Engineering Approaches, Raleigh J. Keenan

All Theses

Mitral annular calcification (MAC) is a chronic, progressive, and degenerative condition that impairs mitral valve function and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. The mitral annulus is a saddle-shaped, fibrous structure that is primarily composed of collagen and elastin. The annulus also contains interspersed lipids that are involved in cellular metabolism, as well as inflammatory and osteogenic signaling. These lipids increase the annulus’ susceptibility to calcification, under conditions that increase mechanical stress (hypertension) and promote atherosclerosis (diabetes mellitus). These conditions intensify calcification by promoting the activation of valvular interstitial cells (VICs), increasing fibrosis, and inducing osteogenic differentiation. Although it is …

Conference Realignment And Coaching Perspectives: Examining Social Support From Coaches To Athletes In The Acc, Big 12, And Big Ten, Brannon H. Timms

All Theses

The purpose of this study is to understand, from a coach's point of view, their perspective on conference realignment and how, if at all, it has changed their relationship with their athletes as it pertains to social support. Findings indicate that coaches expressed awareness of social support needs for their student athletes; notable gaps remain in emotional, esteem, and informational support. Based on the participants' responses, tangible support emerged as the only form of social support provided by these coaches. Coaches also expressed a desire for further legislation regarding NIL to maintain competitive fairness among NCAA athletics. The results underscore …

Reproduction And Larval Development Of The Invasive Asian Longhorned Beetle In South Carolina, Lindsey A. Stone

All Theses

The Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis Motschulsky; ALB) is a major threat to forest health due to the damage done by larval feeding in host trees. In 2020, ALB was discovered in Charleston County, South Carolina, which presents a novel climate for this invasive pest in North America. I investigated the reproductive biology and larval development of ALB to support detection and management efforts. By exposing 19 host trees to mated pairs of adults, I was able to determine rates of oviposition success (55%), egg viability (55%), and early larval survival (56%). On average, females chewed nearly 1 egg …

Investigating The Impacts Of Azole Antifungals On Growth Of Cryptococcus Neoformans, Gnanambika Sindhe

All Theses

Cryptococcus neoformans, an opportunistic fungal pathogen is responsible for cryptococcosis, leading to approximately 181,000 deaths annually, predominantly in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Fluconazole, a widely used fungistatic azole, is often administered due to its relative affordability and lower toxicity. However, resistance to fluconazole in C. neoformans can arise through aneuploidy, complicating treatment efforts. This study aims to deepen our understanding of resistance mechanisms to azole drugs by comparing fluconazole with other azoles, including both clinical and agricultural azole antifungals. Disk diffusion assays were performed to evaluate the ability of C. neoformans to develop resistance to these compounds, focusing …

Exploring Augmented Reality Non-Driving-Related-Task Locations To Enhance Driver Situation Awareness In Conditionally Automated Vehicles, Tyler Riley

All Theses

With the approval of conditionally automated vehicles, or SAE Level 3 automated vehicles, drivers can now engage in non-driving related tasks (NDRTs) during automation. However, conditionally automated vehicles require drivers to resume vehicle control when the system prompts them, and the decreased situation awareness due to NDRT engagement may impact drivers’ takeover performance. This thesis investigates the prospective use of wearable augmented reality (AR) glasses by conditionally automated vehicle drivers to engage in visual NDRT. Specifically, this study examined how NDRT display location affects drivers’ situation awareness in a driving simulation experiment with 60 participants. Three NDRT display locations were …

Tradespace Exploration For Multiple Collaborative Vehicles, Mrunal Deshmukh

All Theses

Modern military operations demand systems that adapt to uncertain, rapidly changing missions across diverse terrains. Traditional single-platform vehicle design is insufficient for such complexity. This research introduces a hierarchical tradespace exploration framework for designing and evaluating families of heterogeneous ground vehicles under a System-of-Systems (SoS) architecture. The framework treats vehicle design as a co-optimization problem, where a “parent” vehicle (e.g., a Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport) coordinates specialized “child” vehicles for reconnaissance, amphibious tasks, terrain traversal, and stealth missions. Unlike conventional approaches that optimize vehicles individually, this study emphasizes collaborative performance, resource sharing, and adaptability at the family level. Central to …

Investigating Workplace Management Conditions Influence On Interpreter Motivation And Interpretive Program Performance, Jessica M. Henry

All Theses

Organizations, including non-profit and government agencies such as the National Park Service and nature centers, that provide informal education (also known as interpretation) seek ways to achieve their mission and enhance their organizational performance (Anderson et al., 2022; Weiler & Ham, 2010). For informal education organizations that provide interpretation to visitors, one measure of organizational performance is the achievement of an organization’s desired visitor outcomes. Theory suggests that positive organizational performance is associated with positive workplace management conditions and high employee motivation. Thus, this study explored the relationships between interpreters’ perceptions of workplace management conditions, motivation, and performance on interpretive …

Evaluating High School Students’ Perceptions About The Construction Industry: Views To Consider And Improve The Inclination Towards A Career In Construction, Radhika Soni

All Theses

The construction industry continues to face a critical workforce shortage, intensified by declining interest among high school students who often hold narrow or negative views of construction careers. This study examines students’ perceptions of the construction industry, the experiences that shape those perceptions, and the factors influencing their likelihood of pursuing construction-related careers. A mixed-methods design was used, consisting of a survey distributed to students in Grades 9–12 across the upstate region of South Carolina. Quantitative analyses included descriptive statistics, Kruskal–Wallis tests, Mann–Whitney U tests, and Spearman correlations, while qualitative responses were examined through thematic analysis.

Findings show that most …

Crafting Well-Being: Specialty Coffee As Leisure, Leah C. Dodge

All Theses

This thesis explores how individuals engage with specialty coffee as a leisure practice in Upstate South Carolina. Drawing on Flow Theory and Craft Consumption Theory, it examines how meaning is constructed through everyday interaction. Using semi-structured interviews with 15 self-identified enthusiasts in South Carolina, the study analyzes how participants describe their involvement with specialty coffee, reflect on its value, and situate it within local contexts. Findings suggest that specialty coffee encourages sustained engagement in which well- being is created through personal investment, community involvement, and awareness of global contexts. The research contributes to scholarly discourse by conceptualizing leisure as a …

The Development Of Tools For The Production Of Fusarium Oxysporum Race 4 Resistant Cotton Varieties, Thomas Rylands

All Theses

Fusarium oxysporum race 4 (FOV4) is a fungal pathogen that infects cotton (Gossypium spp.) plants, resulting in fusarium wilt (FW) disease that causes significant wilting, yield loss, and eventually death. Since cotton is such an important crop globally, with tens of millions of bales of fiber produced and sold worldwide each year, it is critical to develop effective strategies to combat this pathogen. This research aims to achieve that goal through two projects: (i) develop an efficient co-culture system to test fungal treatments in vitro, and (ii) develop a computer vision pipeline to more accurately assess plant resistance …

Barriers To Modernizing Aviation Maintenance Technician Education To Meet Emerging Industry Needs, Durwa Chavan

All Theses

Modernizing aviation maintenance education is essential to keep pace with emerging technologies, including electric propulsion systems and advanced avionics. As aircraft systems become more digitized and interconnected, there is a growing demand for qualified technicians who can conduct advanced diagnostics and maintenance. However, training programs have not kept pace with these technological shifts, creating a gap between workforce preparation and industry needs.

Using a qualitative research approach, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with industry professionals, educators, and regulatory personnel to identify gaps in existing training programs and Airman Certification Standards (ACS). This study addresses the disconnect between current aviation maintenance …

Dwelling / Knowing / Loving: Imaging The Immanent Present, Joel Pasquarelli

All Theses

This thesis serves as an attempt to articulate, understand, and testify to my experiences within the immanent present. Defined as moments where the world impresses itself upon my awareness with such a force that it eclipses all else, the experience of immanence is necessarily undeniable and ephemeral. These moments are accompanied by a combined sense of exultation in the world’s existence and poignant longing for something beyond. I feel as though I am embedded within something great and meaningful, as the material world acts upon me, yet I remain ever unsatiated by this experience as the world inevitably returns once …

Learning To Be Trauma-Informed: An Examination Of Individual-Level Factors Predicting Perceptions Of And Response To Trauma-Informed Practice Trainings, Kelly Daniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Trauma is a substantial threat to public health. As such, significant effort has been exerted into developing interventions which mitigate the consequences of trauma. Trauma-informed practice (TIP) aims to alleviate the effects of trauma by building policies and practices focused on safety, trust, transparency, support, collaboration, and empowerment. This study investigated how individual-level factors, including readiness for organizational change, perceived benefit of TIP training, and personal trauma history affect one’s ability to apply a TIP lens in a sample (n =100) of members of a graduate-level college. Further, it explored if one’s perceptions of and response to trauma-informed practice training …