Understanding Structure-Property Relationships Within Polyolefin-Derived Vitrimer Systems, Mikaela Sadri

Dissertations

Polyolefins are extremely ubiquitous materials due to their satisfactory material properties, ease of synthesis, and low cost. Unfortunately, their extensive use has led to a global plastic waste mismanagement problem. As such, notable efforts have recently focused on converting these commodity polymers into vitrimers, or dynamic networks, to extend their use-life and tailor their properties. However, the fundamental polymer physics of these emerging materials, remain largely underexplored, hindering their widespread implementation. To address this challenge and enable a more sustainable future, the overarching goal of my dissertation research is to understand the fundamental structure-property relationships within complex polyolefin-derived vitrimer systems. …

Teaching Students Who Have Been Identified With Autism In The Private Piano Teaching Studio: An Application Of General Music Resources And Interviews With Specialists In The Field, Joy Parker

Dissertations

This dissertation is a practical resource for private piano teachers seeking to gain a better understanding of teaching students with autism. Resources used in general music instruction of students with autism were consulted, and relevant information was adapted for the private piano setting. Additionally, resources that are tailored to private piano teaching of students with an identified disability were consulted.

Interviews with three individuals who have experience working with individuals with autism were conducted, and methods and strategies that they found to be most successful were ascertained. One of the interviewees was Dr. Derek Polischuk, Professor of Piano and Director …

Establishment Of Neonatal Sepsis Predictors Utilizing Non-Invasive Monitoring Techniques, Dalton Janssen

Dissertations

Neonatal sepsis remains one of the leading causes of global neonatal mortality. Reactionary approaches for diagnosis and treatment have dominated the tactics in addressing neonatal sepsis but clinical intuition is an untapped resource that could lead to earlier prediction of sepsis onset. Nurses and other staff with specialized training and experience who have served as routine caregivers for a specific patient are able to identify when the patient’s status is altered. This clinical intuition may be substantiated by referencing specific patient trends in non-invasive measures over time. This retrospective, exploratory study examined whether variation in non-invasive monitoring variables could serve …

Investigating The Use And Acceptance Of Information And Communication Technologies By University Faculty In Liberia And Its Implications To Sub-Saharan Africa, Michael K. Gray

Dissertations

This descriptive, non-experimental, correlational quantitative study examines the relationship between components of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and Human Capital Development (HCD) in determining the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) among university faculty in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). With the increasing importance of ICT in educational transformation across developing regions like SSA, understanding the underlying factors that influence ICT acceptance is essential for effective policy and implementation strategies. The researcher surveyed 336 university faculty in Liberia using a questionnaire designed to capture perceptions related to TAM constructs (perceived usefulness …

Smokejumper Biographies For 1964 Rookie Class, National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Biographies by Rookie Year

This document contains short biographies of smokejumpers who rookied in 1964.

Smokejumper Biographies For 1963 Rookie Class, National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Biographies by Rookie Year

This document contains short biographies of smokejumpers who rookied in 1963.

Energy-Stable And Efficient Finite Element Schemes For The Shliomis Model Of Ferrofluid Flows, Guo Dong Zhang, Kejia Pan, Xiaoming He, Xiaofeng Yang

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, we aim to design two energy-stable and efficient finite element schemes for simulating the ferrofluid flows based on the well-known Shliomis model. The model is a highly nonlinear, coupled, multi-physics system, consisting of the Navier–Stokes equations, magnetostatic equation, and magnetization field equation. We propose two reliable numerical algorithms with the following desired features: linearity and unconditional energy stability. Several key techniques are used to achieve the required features, including the auxiliary variable method, consistent terms method, prediction-correction method, and semi-implicit stabilization method. The first scheme is based on a hybrid continuous/discontinuous finite elements spatial approximation, and the …

Fisheries Research Report No. 350: Recreational Vessel Retrievals In Western Australia - 2009 To 2024, Stephen C. Bradshaw, Claire B. Smallwood, Stuart J. Blight, Troy Matthews, Karina L. Ryan

Fisheries Research Reports

This report provides a time series (2009 – 2024) of the total number of recreational vessel (powerboat) retrievals at a spatial (boat ramp) and temporal (annual, month, hour) resolution for 32 boat ramps distributed from Wyndham to Esperance. This time series has been developed using a workflow that outlines each step, from acquiring raw video data to producing a completed time series of vessel retrievals. As part of this workflow, modelling was undertaken to impute counts of vessel retrieval for sites and hours for which data had not been read, or for which there were significant outages. Features within the …

Newsletter, Wku Staff Senate

Staff Council

Newsletter created by WKU Staff Council to report on work accomplished.

2025-2026 Lindenwood University Global Graduate Course Catalog, Lindenwood University

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Building Capacity For Born-Digital Archives Through Accessioning Workflows At The Friends Historical Library, Emily Higgs Kopin, J. Hutchison, James E. Truitt

Library Staff Works

Large archival institutions have contended with the challenges presented by born-digital materials for much longer than smaller institutions, with the latter only recently beginning their own attempts to manage these items. This case study details the process of starting a born-digital archival accessioning program and iteratively designing workflows scalable for a small institution. We review our approach to acquiring storage space and assessing our existing born-digital holdings and needs, lay out our initial accessioning workflow, discuss our processes of documentation and iteration, and reflect on tensions with archival education and best practices. By sharing this case study, we aim to …

Fisheries Research Report No. 353: Ecological Risk Assessment For The North Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource, Kimberley A. Smith, Brett Crisafulli, Gabby E. Mitsopoulos, Fabian I. Trinnie, Taylor Grosse, T Thompson, Stephen J. Newman

Fisheries Research Reports

On the 26 March 2025, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) convened an ecological risk assessment (ERA) of the fisheries that access the North Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource (Resource). This Resource comprises a large number of tropical demersal scalefish species that occur in waters of the North Coast Bioregion, including tropical snappers, emperors and cods.

This document contains the results of the ERA along with the background information used to support the risk scoring process. This includes an overview of the Western Australian commercial fisheries that access the Resource, namely the Pilbara Fish Trawl Interim Managed Fishery, …

Creativity: Interwoven In The Curriculum Or An Afterthought?, Amanda Bourne

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Students are identified as gifted and talented based on their abilities, including both academic and creative strengths. This study examined whether teachers foster creativity in their classroom, their perceptions of creativity, and how they incorporate creativity in their classroom. Using a mixed methods convergent parallel design, teachers at a K-8 school in the southeastern United States responded to questions about how they define creativity, how they incorporate creativity into the classroom, and their teaching practices, using the 45-item Creative Fostering Teaching Behaviour Index (CFTIndex). The study found that teachers implement practices in their classrooms that promote creativity, though there are …

Deposition Of Nickel/Iron Oxide Co-Catalysts Onto Titanium Dioxide Towards Water Photolysis, Md Towhidul Islam Tareqe

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Photocatalytic water splitting is one potential approach for sustainable hydrogen production, offering an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels. This process typically employs metal–semiconductor hybrid systems, where the semiconductor absorbs sunlight to generate charge carriers, and the metal cocatalyst facilitates charge separation and surface redox reactions. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is a widely studied semiconductor due to its stability and abundance, but its limited absorption of the solar spectrum requires the incorporation of efficient cocatalysts. Platinum is regarded as the benchmark cocatalyst due to strong proton binding energy that easily facilitates the reduction of water to produce hydrogen gas. …

From Heaven To Hell: A Reinterpretation Of Comparison Between Germany’S Airborne Fallschirmjäger Operations And The Allied Airborne Operation At Arnhem In World War Ii, Jeremy Herbert

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis examines the legacy of the German paratrooper corps and compares them to similar Allied operations during World War II. Relying on archival documents as well as 80 years of analysis by historians, the thesis argues that the overwhelming consensus among historians of the German Fallschirmjäger as a failed experiment is undeserved, since the pitfalls experienced during their operations pale in comparison to similar British operations. The German invasion of Crete in 1941 serves as the base example for Anglophone historians who favor the idea of German failure solely based on the number of German casualties. In reality, the …

Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-To-Zion Journey Through Every National Park, Conor Knighton

Common Reading Experience

From CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Conor Knighton, a behind-the-scenery look at his year traveling to each of America's National Parks, discovering the most beautiful places and most interesting people our country has to offer.

When Conor Knighton set off to explore America's "best idea," he worried the whole thing could end up being his worst idea. A broken engagement and a broken heart had left him longing for a change of scenery, but the plan he'd cooked up in response had gone a bit overboard in that department: Over the course of a single year, Knighton would visit every national …

A Quality Improvement Project To Improve Touch Exposures In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit., Jeremi Tricia Braga

Doctor of Nursing Practice Papers

Introduction: Premature infants in the NICU are exposed to many noxious stimuli that could cause negative effects on development. The SENSE® program has been developed to provide developmentally appropriate sensory stimulation for neonates. This project will focus on sense of touch primarily with KC or also referred to as skin-to-skin.

Environment: This QI project took place in to a Level III NICU at a tertiary medical center in Louisville, Kentucky. The facility has a total of 421 beds including the NICU that is licensed for 34 beds and caring for infants born prematurely as early as 22 weeks to term …

Enhancing Nurse Competence And Self-Efficacy In Delivery Of Medication Education At Discharge: A Quality Improvement Project Using The Teach-Back Method., Quinesia James

Doctor of Nursing Practice Papers

Medication nonadherence in pediatric psychiatric care contributes to worsening symptoms, delayed developmental progress, and increased hospitalizations. Adherence rates remain as low as 30–60%, accounting for up to $300 billion in avoidable healthcare costs annually. Low health literacy and inconsistent education strategies further complicate adherence. This quality improvement project took place on the child and adolescent psychiatric units at the project site, a large teaching hospital in a metropolitan area in the south-central United States, which serves patients aged 5–17 with complex mental health needs. The initiative aimed to improve nurses’ competence, self-efficacy, and time efficiency in delivering medication discharge education …

Implementation And Rvaluation Of A Mindfulness-Based Intervention On Compassion Fatigue And Depressive Symptoms In Perioperative Nurses: Quality Improvement, Felicia R. Preston

Doctor of Nursing Practice Papers

Background: Compassion fatigue (CF) and depressive symptoms (DS) impair the well-being of nurses worldwide, contributing to mental health conditions, poor patient care, absenteeism and turnover. Perioperative nurses are vulnerable to developing CF and DS due to demanding working environments, continually managing postsurgical pain, complications, and emotionally intensive procedures. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) may enhance a nurse's resourcefulness and offer coping strategies against CF and DS.

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to implement the Three Minute Breathing Space (3MBS), a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) and to evaluate its effects on CF and DS among perioperative nurses.

Methods: …

Reducing Inpatient Falls On A Cardiac Progressive Care Unit: A Quality Improvement Project., Danielle R. Turner

Doctor of Nursing Practice Papers

Background: Inpatient falls are harmful to patients and to the healthcare organization. Fall prevention interventions and strategies are necessary in the acute setting to reduce the number of falls and increase patient safety.

Environment: This quality improvement project will take place at a Midwest acute care hospital on a cardiac PCU. This is a 38-bed unit where there has been an increased number of patient falls.

Purpose: The John Hopkins Evidence Based Practice Model was used to design, implement, and assess a nurse-driven, bedside, visual tool to reduce the number of inpatient falls on a cardiac progressive care unit.

Methods: …

Exploitation For All: The Factors That Enable Pig Butchering Schemes To Weaponize Cybersecurity's Weakest Link, Melaney Freeman

Boise State Graduate Student Projects

This paper discusses pig butchering schemes and how they leverage human weaknesses through advanced social engineering and manipulation techniques that are enabled through the use of human trafficking, forced labor, and government corruption in Southeast Asia. Details regarding scammer exploitation and the formation of a victim-offender identity is presented, followed by the explanation of factors that allow organized crime groups to exist. Essential tactics used by scammers are examined to understand how they weaponize people's vulnerabilities for the duration of the scam to build a relationship with the victim and earn their trust in order to financially exhaust them through …

Mantle Flow And Crustal Deformation Revealed By Seismic Anisotropy In The Subduction Zone Beneath Myanmar, Enbo Fan, Mingming Jiang, Yinshuang Ai, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu, Yumei He, Yiming Bai, Guangbing Hou, Yuan Ling, Chit Thet Mon, Myo Thant, Kyaing Sein

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The oblique convergence of the Indian and Eurasian plates drives significant deformation in the crust and mantle beneath Myanmar. However, the crustal deformation in the Indo-Burman Ranges (IBR) and mantle flow beneath Myanmar and adjacent areas remain unclear due to limited studies. We utilized data from the newly deployed second phase of the China-Myanmar Geophysical Survey of the Myanmar Orogen array to perform shear wave splitting analysis of PKS, SKKS, and SKS (XKS) phases. Our results, together with previous findings, provide new insights into mantle flow and crustal deformation across central Myanmar. In the IBR, we observed a transition from …

An Application Of Vocal Pedagogy For Thai Singers, Phitchaya Klimov

Dissertations

Vocal pedagogy incorporates diverse techniques and methodologies that aim to maintain longevity of the voice and to improve vocal performance, range, and tone. While vocal pedagogy has been extensively studied in Western music traditions, its application in the context of Thai singers remains unfamiliar. This dissertation will investigate the application of vocal pedagogy for Thai singers, with a focus on understanding the unique challenges faced by them. It will outline pedagogical approaches to address these challenges and will therefore lead to more authentic performances. “Complete mastery of the voice as an instrument is an idea toward which every singer must …

Public Services Annual Report 2024-2025, Amanda K. Izenstark

Public Services Reports

Annual report of the Public Services Department at the University of Rhode Island Libraries.

Assessment Of Social Media Use And Strategies For Combating Misinformation Among Extension Educators In Arkansas, Enoch Teye Kwao Ametepey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study assessed the use of social media by Extension educators in Arkansas and examines strategies for identifying and combating misinformation within agricultural extension services. Guided by the Uses and Gratifications Theory, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and the Third-Person Effect Theory for objectives one, two, and three, this research employed quantitative and qualitative approaches, specifically, two quantitative cross-sectional surveys and a qualitative focus group study developed into a three article dissertation. The first article assessed the extent to which Extension educators utilize social media for professional activities, revealing that social media is predominantly used …

Graduate School Of Engineering And Management Academic Catalog 2025-2026, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Air Force Institute Of Technology, Walter F. Jones

AFIT Documents

No abstract provided.

Fisheries Research Report No. 361: 2024 Assessment Of The Status Of The Elasmobranch Resource Of Western Australia, Matias Braccini, Alex Hesp

Fisheries Research Reports

This document provides the 2024 risk-based weight of evidence stock assessment for the elasmobranch (sharks and rays) resource of Western Australia (WA). Gummy (Mustelus antarcticus), dusky (Carcharhinus obscurus), whiskery (Furgaleus macki), and sandbar (C. plumbeus) sharks are the most commonly captured species (~80% of the elasmobranch catch) and have been selected as indicator species for the status of the temperate elasmobranch ‘suite’. However, over 100 elasmobranch species have been caught in commercial and/or recreational fisheries in WA and, with the increasing number of elasmobranch species being listed in national and international protection lists, species-specific scientific advice on stock status at …

High School Students’ Navigation Processes In An Internet Reading Task: A Descriptive Video Analysis, Hyeju Han, Kole Norberg, Byeong-Young Cho, Scott H. Fraundorf

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Most research on internet reading has identified skilled readers based on well-established theories of print reading. Nevertheless, an emerging body of work suggests that higher competency in print reading does not fully account for competency in internet reading comprehension. The authors conducted a descriptive video analysis of high school readers’ online navigation behaviors to identify characteristics that could account for differences in their internet reading outcomes. In particular, they focused on students with high grade point averages but diverging internet reading outcomes. The authors found that the participating students with lower outcomes tended to adopt a linear path of navigation …

The Effect Of Supervisor Multicultural Competence And Supervisor Cultural Humility On The Supervisory Working Alliance And Trainee Nondisclosure: A Structural Equation Model, Johnny Liang

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

Parental post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms have been associated with various psychological and behavioral outcomes in their offspring. Utilizing a sample of (N=330) adult offspring of trauma-exposed parents, this study used self-report and behavioral measures to examine the relationship between parental PTSD symptom severity and adult participant’s romantic attachment insecurity, pathological personality traits, and facial emotion recognition (FER) accuracy for subtle emotional expressions. Additionally, it explored the role of maladaptive parenting behaviors on these associations. Results indicated that higher parental PTSD was associated with higher levels of parental care and an affectionate constraint parenting style. Additionally, parental PTSD was related …

New Graduate Nurse Retention: The Effect Of Financial Literacy On New Graduate Nurse Intent To Stay, Jenna Elizabeth Hluwood

Dissertations

New graduate nurses (NGNs) undergo a range of life changes during their transition from an academic environment to clinical practice. To decrease NGN role strain, burnout and attrition, nurse educators and managers must do their part to limit the effects of transition shock. Therefore, Judy Duchscher’s (2009) theory of transition shock was the theoretical framework for this study. An essential component of transition shock is the responsibility of financial management. With no literature available to detail the financial literacy of NGNs, original research in this area of study was needed. The purpose of this quantitative exploratory study was to determine …