Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of Emerin In Myogenic Differentiation, Nicholas Marano

Theses and Dissertations

The nucleus harbors genetic material encapsulated by the nuclear envelope which is composed of an inner and outer nuclear membrane. The establishment and organization of chromatin at the INM is essential for cell fate during the differentiation program. Integral INM proteins are responsible for chromatin organization at the nuclear envelope. Emerin is a highly conserved type II integral INM protein with roles in chromatin organization, cell signaling, and nuclear structure. Mutations in the emerin gene cause Emery Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy 1 (EDMD1). Emerin is ubiquitously expressed, but loss of emerin function affects specifically skeletal muscle and cardiac tissue. The precise …

Parental Perspectives On Preparedness Of Young Adults With Intellectual Disabilities For Transition To Adulthood, Oretha Bennett-Spence

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract Oretha Bennett-Spence PARENTAL PERSPECTIVES ON PREPAREDNESS OF YOUNG ADULTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES FOR TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD 2026 JoAnn Manning, Ed.D. Doctor of Education The transition from high school to adulthood presents significant challenges for young adults with intellectual disabilities and their families. Although schools are required to provide transition services, limited research has examined parents’ lived experiences navigating this process. This qualitative study explored how parents perceive their child’s preparedness for adulthood and postsecondary life. Guided by Schlossberg’s (1981) 4S Transition Framework and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study examined the experiences of six parents whose young adults were …

Faculty Senate Minutes March 30, 2026, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Call to Order
• Approval of Minutes - March 2, 2026
• University Business
• Faculty Senate Business
• Reports
• Budget and Faculty Welfare
• Faculty Development and Educational Leadership
• Sustainability Council
• Information
• EPC Report - March 5, 2026
• Employee Benefits
• Task Force Report
• Additional Business
• President Elect Nominations
• Faculty Senate Spotlight
• 2026-2027 Faculty Senate Calendar
• Adjourn - 4:39

Community Accountability And Covenant At The Unitarian Universalist Congregation Of Atlanta, Serethiel Freeman

Emerging Writers

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta is a multi-faith, covenantal community united by a shared commitment to kindness, respect, and diversity, and it strives to use community accountability mechanisms to address harms that arise from unconscious bias. Currently, UUCA's commitment to diversity is falling short as the congregation struggles to use community accountability to address harm. The covenant is an essential part of the Unitarian Universalist faith tradition, and it has the potential to shape and guide the use of community accountability within a congregation. However, at UUCA, the covenant has not been interwoven into congregational life. This article argues …

March 30 Elections, Census & Redistricting Update, Jeffrey M. Wice

Elections, Census & Redistricting Updates

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Physical Custody On Relationship Satisfaction In Adults, Mathew Aaron Richards

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Custody decisions are often informed by attachment-based arguments, yet little research has examined long-term effects of custody type on adult outcomes. This study involved examining whether joint versus sole physical custody predicted relationship satisfaction, testing both parental attachment and socioeconomic status as mediators. Data were collected from 226 adult participants (mean age = 33.42), whose parents separated before age 13. Validated measures were used to assesse relationship satisfaction, parental attachment, and socioeconomic status. Participants who grew up in joint physical custody arrangements reported significantly higher relationship satisfaction compared to those who experienced sole physical custody (b = 0.54, p = …

Starting The Engine, Rowan Rodgers

Emerging Writers

This is a nonfiction narrative about how the author gained and grew their motivation for fine arts and education. The piece discusses early obstacles in school and how the author eventually overcame them with newfound skills and supporters.

Artificial Intelligence-Enhanced Cardiac Point-Of-Care Ultrasound: A Prospective Single-Arm Study, Lior Fisher, Michael Fiman, Yuval Yarkoni, Ella Segal, Boris Fishman, Kobi Faierstein, Noa Rubin, Adiel Am-Shalom, Howard Amital, Qiong Zhao, Smadar Kort, Praveen Mehrotra, Ehud Schwammenthal, Robert Klempfner, Eyal Zimlichman, Ehud Raanani, Elad Maor

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical utility of combining artificial intelligence (AI) with handheld focused cardiac ultrasound (FoCUS) performed by noncardiologist physicians in clinical care settings.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this prospective, single-arm study conducted from July 1, 2022, through December 31, 2023 (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05455541), 660 adult patients presenting to the emergency department or internal medicine wards were assessed with handheld ultrasound devices enhanced by AI algorithms. These algorithms provided automated analysis of ventricular function, valvular disease, pericardial effusion, and inferior vena cava size. Participating physicians received focused training and performed examinations either in response to clinical suspicion or as part …

Deep Brain Stimulation For Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review Of Molecular Imaging With Pet, Shiv Patil, Alexander Gerlach, Fnu Jeevika, Raj Patel, Emily Christner, Jaskeerat Gujral, Om H. Gandhi, Milo Writer, Nicholas M. Wang, Anastasia Kopylova, Satoria A. Zagorski, Cyrus Ayubcha, Thomas Werner, Abass Alavi, Mona-Elisabeth Revheim

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

BACKGROUND: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an evolving technique for the treatment of various psychiatric disorders refractory to conventional pharmacotherapy. Neuroimaging with positron emission tomography (PET) has an important role in the planning, delivery, and post-surgical monitoring of DBS. This study aims to determine the clinical relevance of PET as a biomarker of disease status and response to DBS for patients with psychiatric disorders.

METHODS: We performed a systematic review of the PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases to identify original research studies that applied PET to study the effects of DBS for patients with psychiatric conditions (major depressive …

Law As A Form Of Life: On Capitalism And Critical Theory, Justin Deystone

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.

Evaluating And Treating Pediatric Scoliosis, Bob Underwood, Michael Benvenuti, K Aaron Shaw

Pediatrics in Practice: A CME Podcast

In this episode, pediatric orthopedic surgeons Aaron Shaw, DO, and Michael Benvenuti, MD, discuss how pediatricians can confidently assess, evaluate, and refer children with suspected scoliosis. They cover practical screening tips, red flags that warrant further workup, and how treatment decisions are made—from observation and bracing to surgical care—offering clear guidance for partnering with families and orthopedic specialists.

Click here to stream the podcast episode.

Unveiling The Effects Of Speaker Quality And Congruency On Virtual Academic Conference Outcomes, Luz Suplico Jeong, Nelson Guillen, Jr., Francia Santos, Reynaldo Bautista, Jr., Alexander Josiassen

Asia-Pacific Social Science Review

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of virtual academic conferences (VACs), yet limited research sheds light on the effects of speaker quality and congruency on the outcomes of virtual academic conferences. This exploratory study investigates how speaker quality, speaker quality congruency, and participant motivations influence satisfaction and behavioral outcomes in VACs. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), we analyzed data from 282 participants (academics and students) who attended virtual conferences. The study examined relationships among peer motivation, recognition motivation, speaker quality levels, speaker quality congruency, participant satisfaction, willingness to revisit, and word of mouth intentions. Results revealed that …

Effectiveness Of The Panorama Instructional Strategy In Developing The Learning Of Basic Floor Exercise Skills Among First-Year Female Students In Artistic Gymnastics, Maysaa Ridha Ghanim

Modern Sport

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the Panorama instructional strategy in learning fundamental floor exercise skills in artistic gymnastics among beginner female students. An experimental design with pre- and post-tests for two equivalent groups (experimental and control) was adopted. The sample consisted of 30 first-year female students from the College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Baghdad, who were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group was taught using the Panorama instructional strategy, while the control group received traditional instruction based on explanation and demonstration. The educational program included basic …

Design And Standardization Of A Composite Test To Measure Basic Basketball Shooting Types Among University Student-Players, Faris Sami Yousif Shabba, Dani Thamer Sami Yousif, Faris Sami Yousif Malik

Modern Sport

Tests in the sports field constitute an essential tool for achieving optimal results and evaluating player performance, particularly in competitive sports such as basketball. The importance of shooting emerges as it is the only means of direct scoring and the critical statistic that distinguishes victory from defeat. The researchers observed that previous tests of basic shooting types whether administered individually or in combination do not adequately reflect the complexities of actual game situations. Therefore, the problem lies in the need to address this gap by designing a composite test that simulates various playing conditions related to basic shooting skills. The …

Effect Of Transition And Fast-Break Training On Fatigue Delay, Blood Lactate Levels, And Offensive Skill Performance In Young Basketball Players, Omar Mohammed Majid Saud

Modern Sport

Basketball is defined as a high intensity sport which significantly depends on an anaerobic energy system, specifically its phosphagen and lactate components, especially during very fast transitions from the offensive phase to defensive failure and vice versa. These scenarios involve continuous accelerations/decelerations coupled with accurate actions under time constraints. The relevance of these requests is even higher for under-18 players, as they are at a special stage (against the above-mentioned physical and physiological development) directly affecting the capacity to resist fatigue and keep performance levels in the 2nd half during competition. This accumulation of lactic acid leads to an erosion …

From Pen To Prompt: A Professional Learning Guide For Ai-Assisted Writing In Secondary Classrooms, Tracy Parks

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education at Morehead State University by Tracy Parks on March 30, 2026.

A Study Of Early Childhood Coaches’ Preparedness To Implement Lgbtq+ Affirming Social–Emotional Practices, Nicole Lynn Muñoz

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative collective instrumental case study examined how early childhood consultation specialists (coaches) perceive and implement LGBTQ+ affirming practices in early learning environments serving children from birth to five. Although legal and policy advancements have increased recognition of LGBTQ+ identities, early childhood education remains an underexamined context for inclusive practice. Grounded in a constructivist and interpretivist paradigm and informed by Queer Theory, Transformative Leadership Theory, Practice-Based Coaching, and the Pyramid Model, data were collected through interviews, surveys, and reflective field notes with a purposeful sample of New Jersey coaches. Findings highlight how coaches define inclusion, navigate organizational conditions, and identify …

Edga-Based Directed Educational Units And Their Effect On Visual Memory And Some Basketball Skills Among Female Students, Hanaa Abbas Abdullah

Modern Sport

This study aimed to design teaching units based on the EDGA model and examine their effect on visual memory and selected basketball skills (high dribbling, low dribbling, chest pass, rebound, and ladder shooting) among first-level female students at the College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Baghdad. An experimental design with two equivalent groups and pre- and post-tests was used. The research population consisted of 26 first-year female students (2025–2026). Twenty-four students (92.31%) were selected as the research sample after excluding two students. The participants were randomly assigned into an experimental group (n = 12), which studied using …

The Effect Of Using A Ground Contact Angle Sensor On Improving Start Mechanics In Short-Distance Sprinters (100 M) Among Youth Athletes, Intisar Muzhir Saddam

Modern Sport

This study aims to investigate the effect of using a ground contact angle sensor on improving start mechanics among youth short-distance sprinters. The researcher employed an experimental approach using a control and experimental group design. The training program was applied to a sample of (n = 12) sprinters over an intervention period of (6) weeks. The experimental group followed a training program supported by ground contact angle detection technology, while the control group continued with conventional training. The study relied on objective biomechanical measurements, including a ground contact angle sensor (electronic sensor), high-speed video analysis, and force platforms to measure …

Reflective Thinking And Its Relationship With The Performance Of Selected Offensive Basketball Skills Among University Students, Rawaa Jawad Kadhim, Intisar Owaid Ali

Modern Sport

The current study explores the correlation between reflective thinking and the chosen offensive basketball skills in students. This involved evaluating the degree of reflective thinking and relating it to performance in certain offensive skills, that is, receiving, high dribbling, chest passing, long passing, and lay-up shooting. The descriptive correlational design was chosen as it was consistent with the nature of research problems. The sample consisted of undergraduate students, and it was chosen based on predetermined scientific criteria. The study used various measures, such as a reflective thinking scale and three composite skills tests in basketball. The average of the reflective …

Validating Hybrid Simulation Of Restaurant Noise With Real-World Data, Samuel Underwood

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Restaurants exhibit noise levels that vary with occupancy over a typical operating day. When noise levels become excessive, customer comfort is diminished. While many previous works have surveyed noise levels in restaurants over short time intervals, there has been little work to comprehensively examine noise levels over a full operating day, while also tracking occupancy levels and thoroughly measuring unoccupied acoustical parameters. This dissertation work contributes to the existing body of restaurant acoustics work by measuring unoccupied and occupied acoustical conditions in 21 restaurants in the Midwest, correlating user reviews, scores, and crowdsourced noise levels measured in 943 venues in …

Evaluation Of Transportation Policy Effectiveness In The United States: Case Of Personal Electric Vehicles And Commercial Electronic Logging Devices, Hania Afzal

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Together, electric vehicle (EV) adoption and the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate illustrate two dimensions of transportation technology policy: the first driven largely by environmental and market-based incentives and the second by safety regulation and compliance requirements. Examining these cases side by side for the United States allows for a more comprehensive analysis of how technology adoption unfolds under different policy regimes, offering insights into the broader relationship between policy design, industry response, and public outcomes. The commercial motor vehicle (CMV) sector presents a different but equally important policy challenge in transportation technology adoption. Unlike consumer passenger vehicles, CMVs are …

Artificial Intelligence For Automated Ct Quality Assurance: Improving Accuracy, Efficiency, And Standardization ​, Angelina Garcia, Francisco Parada, Shannell Rojas, Lizzette Serrano, Vanessa Vanegas

Research Methods Poster Session 2026

No abstract provided.

Gene-Agnostic Therapeutic Strategies For Inherited Retinal Diseases: Neuroprotection And Immunomodulation, Lucas W. Rowe, S. Patricia Becerra, Robert E. Maclaren, Robert L. Avery, Charles C. Wykoff, Allen C. Ho, Carl D. Regillo, Dean Eliott, Andrew Osborne, Katie M. Binley, Thomas A. Ciulla

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

Background/Objectives: Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) represent a genetically heterogeneous group of disorders caused by mutations in over 280 genes with more than 3100 identified variants. While gene-specific replacement therapies have achieved landmark success with voretigene neparvovec (Luxturna) for biallelic RPE65-associated retinal dystrophy, developing individual therapies for each genetic subtype remains impractical. This review examines gene-agnostic therapeutic approaches utilizing neuroprotection and immunomodulation that target common pathophysiological mechanisms shared across multiple IRD genotypes. Methods: We reviewed the literature on neuroprotective and immunomodulatory gene therapy strategies for IRDs, focusing on neurotrophic factors and complement system modulation. Results: Neuroprotective approaches delivering neurotrophic factors—including pigment …

Teacher Bias And Elementary Student Disciplinary Outcomes, Madeline A. Griffitt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

The discipline of students has long been an issue in schools. Children and teenagers are just that, and they will misbehave. However, the discipline gap clearly indicates that responses to misbehavior are different for different students (Lorenzetti & Johnson, 2023; Santiago-Rosario et al., 2021). Black students are disciplined more frequently and more severely than any of their peers (Kupchik & Ward, 2014; Welsh & Rodriguez, 2024). This study investigates what, if any, relationship exists between a teacher’s race, gender, age, and bias score (as measured by Project Implicit’s (n.d.) single category race implicit bias test) and the number of referrals …

An Interpretable Hybrid Deep And Reinforcement Learning Paradigm For Glioma Prognosis, Renuga Devi M Ms

Theses and Dissertations

Brain tumors are highly aggressive and lethal types of cancer, particularly gliomas. These cancerous growths show complicated pathophysiological behaviours and with poor prognosis despite therapeutic advances. Due to their biological differences and infiltrating growth, as well as overlapping radiological characteristics, they pose great difficulty in diagnosis, grading, and survival prediction. Artificial intelligence technology, which includes machine learning , deep learning, and reinforcement learning has developed into a new paradigm for the automation of brain tumor diagnostics and personalized treatment. The main goal of this study is to create an integrated AI-based framework that can perform brain tumor segmentation, grading and …

Development Of Deep Fused Neural Architecture For Ancient Tamil Palm-Leaf Manuscript Recognition, Hariharan P Mr

Theses and Dissertations

Digitizing Tamil palm-leaf manuscripts is important for education, communication, and the preservation of cultural heritage. The complex structure of the Tamil script, the wide range of handwriting styles, and the degradation seen in ancient Tamil palm-leaf manuscripts make these texts very difficult to read and understand. Digital Image Processing (DIP), document analysis techniques, and traditional Optical Character Recognition (OCR) are unable to handle noise, background interference, faded ink, and limited labelled data, motivating the need for robust, effective Deep Learning (DL)- based solutions.

As a prerequisite to understanding and designing effective recognition systems for ancient manuscripts, this thesis first examines …

Does Law Constitute Society?, Jeremy Kessler

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Market: What Does It Mean To Theorize Capitalism?, Amy Kapczynski

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.

Indeterminacy And The Political Economy: Cls, Legal Politics, And Defetishizing The Lpe Debate, Akbar Rasulov

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.