Digital Commons Network^™

Too Old For Dolls? Assessing The Efficacy Of Doll Therapy In Reducing Major Neurocognitive Disorder Symptoms To Alleviate Caregiver Burden, Ginny Price

Honors Theses

Dementia, formally known as major neurocognitive disorder (MNCD), is a complex condition that disables the independence of a person in completion of daily activities. This disorder results in the need for assistance from several caregivers to ensure that their needs are properly met. As their condition declines, the volume of needs increases, placing more responsibility on the caregiver, increasing their stress, and leading to a complication known as caregiver burden. Doll therapy is a non-pharmacological intervention that focuses on alleviating certain behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. It is the aim of this literature review to determine the efficacy of …

Robert Harriott V. Attorney General United States

2025 Decisions

Agency

School Nurses' Role In Creating A Culture Of Preparation For Cardiac Emergencies, Dena L. Hinkle, Marisa A. Dressler, Katherine M. Miller, Shannon L. Beetz

Nursing Department Graduate Presentations/Conferences

Recent legislation in Illinois schools has focused on enhancing cardiac preparation in schools by establishing written emergency plans that are to be disseminated to employees within thirty days from the start of the school year. This web-based education tool was created as a centralized hub for employees to locate pertinent information regarding cardiac emergencies. The intent is to increase cardiac emergency preparedness in schools with access to evidence-based resources and content. The project began by performing a literature review to collect data on cardiac emergencies within the school, leading to the development of the web-based educational portal. The Cognitive Theory …

Integrating Music Content Into The Secondary Mathematics Classroom: Facilitating The Process Of Designing Interdisciplinary Lessons, Denae Bumpus

Honors Projects

Many people enjoy music, and music has a multitude of connections to mathematics, so it makes sense for a mathematics classroom to incorporate musical elements into the instruction, but the literature has shown that many math teachers do not have a strong enough musical background to feel confident in incorporating music into the math class. Therefore, this research sought to provide a resource to help secondary mathematics teachers integrate age-appropriate musical applications to their mathematics lessons which connects standards of mathematics into standards of music. Specifically, the paper connects the Ohio Standards of Mathematics for Geometry with the course objectives …

Depalmitoylation Regulates Metabolism And Mitochondrial Function, Sarah Lilly Speck

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Tens of millions of Americans suffer from metabolic disorders, predisposing patients to cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, liver disease, infertility, and cancer. Unfortunately, the etiology of many of these diseases remains a mystery, limiting our ability to identify targets for pharmacologic therapies. Due to the relationship between altered lipid dynamics and metabolic dysfunction, we decided to study the effect of the posttranslational lipid modification, S-palmitoylation, on metabolism. S-palmitoylation is the only known reversible lipid modification for proteins, and this depalmitoylation process is catalyzed by acyl-protein thioesterases including APT1 and APT2. We hypothesized that APT deficiency in various tissues would predispose mammals …

High-Quality Factor Phase Gradient Metasurfaces With Dynamic Reconfigurability, Lin Lin

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Free-space optical communication holds immense potential for surpassing the bandwidth limitations of conventional physically defined channels. Achieving flexible and efficient communication in free space requires compact, robust optical components capable of dynamically tuning laser light without relying on bulky lenses or mechanically driven mirrors. Metasurfaces, or flat optics, have garnered significant attention due to their densely arranged subwavelength nano-resonators, which impart phase, amplitude, and polarization changes comparable to those of traditional bulky optics. However, conventional phase gradient metasurfaces are constrained by passive designs based on geometric configurations and the weak light-matter interaction inherent in most dielectric materials, limiting their applicability …

Nurse Practitioner And Physician Assistant Staffing To Bridge Physician Shortages In North Carolina Rural Clinics, Robin Alisha Tyson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Physician shortages in North Carolina rural counties are a problem that continues to affect patient care, which has necessitated the need to use other disciplines such as nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). The purpose and review question for this integrative review focused on determining best practices for utilizing PAs and NPs in rural clinics and how these staffing options could improve health outcomes. The administrative management theory served as the framework for this project by emphasizing the functions of planning, organizing, coordinating, and teamwork. A search of both empirical and nonempirical literature for years 2019 through 2024 was …

Sirt6 Deficiency Promotes Senescence And Age-Associated Intervertebral Disc Degeneration In Mice, Pranay Ramteke, Bahiyah Watson, Mallory Toci, Victoria Tran, Shira N Johnston, Maria Tsingas, Ruteja Barve, Ramkrishna Mitra, Richard Loeser, John Collins, Makarand Risbud

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

Intervertebral disc degeneration is a major risk factor contributing to chronic low back and neck pain. While the etiological factors for disc degeneration vary, age is still one of the most important risk factors. Recent studies have shown the promising role of SIRT6 in mammalian aging and skeletal tissue health, however its role in the intervertebral disc health remains unexplored. We investigated the contribution of SIRT6 to disc health by studying the age-dependent spinal phenotype of mice with conditional deletion of Sirt6 in the disc (Acan^CreERT2; Sirt6^fl/fl). Histological studies showed a degenerative phenotype in knockout mice …

A Novel Way Of Conceptualizing And Measuring Situation Selection, Jiyoung Kwak

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Situation selection is a form of emotion regulation where people approach or avoid certain things, places, or objects to proactively regulate their emotions. Though it is the only strategy that occurs before encountering emotion-eliciting events, situation selection remains understudied. The present research proposes a new measure of Day Recollection Situation Selection (DRSS) in which participants are prompted to recall the day's events before reporting their approach and avoidance behaviors. Across two studies, we aimed to: (1) develop the DRSS measure, (2) compare it to existing measures of situation selection and well-being, (3) examine within- and between-person variability, and (4) compare …

An Intervention To Empower People To Confront Sexism, Rebecca Grace Drake

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Even though sexist comments and behavior occur frequently in everyday life, people do not often confront the individuals who are responsible. However, interpersonal bias confrontations can be powerful tools for reducing expressions of bias and norm setting. The current studies tested an intervention designed to increase confrontations by harnessing theory and research on what holds people back from confronting. We designed a half-hour intervention consisting of engaging and evidence-based videos on confronting bias and self-reflection exercises to increase personal relevance. The module aimed to boost confronting by intervening at multiple points of the decision-making process by increasing recognition of sexism, …

Topological And Optical Properties Of Two-Dimensional Materials, Haonan Wang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Recent advances in condensed matter physics have revealed a wide range of novel quantum phenomena in two-dimensional (2D) materials. The discovery of unique topological, magnetic, and optical properties in solids has greatly expanded our understanding of quantum phases in electronic structures. As more material systems are proposed theoretically and realized experimentally, our research focuses on uncovering and explaining these phenomena through effective models and first-principles calculations. First, we explore topological mosaic patterns in moiré superlattices—structures composed of periodic, spatially distinct domains, each with different topological properties. These domains give rise to periodic edge states along domain walls. We explore the …

Circuit-Specific Vulnerability In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Samuel Brunwasser

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between brainwide functional decline and accumulation of pathological protein aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is complex and not well understood. A set of highly interconnected cortical regions known as the Default Mode Network (DMN) exhibits selective vulnerability to both functional decline and amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques in early AD. One possibility is that early Aβ accumulation in the DMN drives vulnerability. However, it is unknown whether there is something intrinsic to neuronal projections within the DMN that biases these circuits towards dysfunction. In this dissertation, I describe the development of a multisite in vivo electrophysiology pipeline for chronic …

Benefits And Applications Of Learning With Virtual Reality, Michael W. Timm

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Education is a fundamental pillar of society. It equips students for employment and interpersonal relations. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a transformative technology in the field of education. The aim of this paper is to synthesize existing research in order to determine the benefits of utilizing virtual reality in a variety of education settings, such as K-12 classrooms, universities, and workplace training. This paper observes significant benefits of virtual reality in constructivist and experiential learning, gamified learning, and tailored practice. This analysis also finds that virtual reality is advantageous for educational accessibility, particularly for absentee students and impoverished students. …

May 8, 2025, James Madison University

The Breeze, 2020-

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

All The Regulatory Light We Cannot See: The Impact Of Loper Bright On Regulating Artificial Intelligence In The Workplace, Bradford J. Kelley

Seton Hall Journal of Legislation and Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Soft Tissue Mobilization Is More Effective Than Self-Stretching In Reducing Common Wrist Extensor Tendon Stiffness In Recreational Tennis Players, Olivia Potts, Noah Knackstedt, Cayton Ruby, Harold Merriman, Joseph Day

University of Dayton Doctor of Physical Therapy Annual Research Symposium

Purpose/Hypothesis: Increased muscle and tendon stiffness plays a role in the development of musculoskeletal pathologies. A number of interventions have been proposed to temporarily reduce muscle/tendon stiffness including soft tissue mobilization (STM) techniques and stretching. The purpose of this study was to investigate the immediate and short-term effects of STM versus self-stretching on common extensor tendon (CET) stiffness in a group of recreational tennis players.

Subjects: Healthy recreational tennis players

Materials/Methods: Stiffness, measured with the shear wave modulus in kilopascals (kPa), was obtained at rest on the dominant CET using 2D ultrasound imaging shear wave elastography (SWE) (GE Logiq S8, …

Society’S Press: Designing A Digital Commons To Promote Critical Thought And Civil Discourse, Louis Driver

Honors College Theses

This thesis proposes the design of a new digital commons aimed at counteracting the negative incentives that currently dominate online discourse. This paper outlines the research and design of a system that promotes informative, medium-length, user-generated content, emphasizing thoughtful communication over virality. Inspired by academic peer-review practices, the proposed platform will implement a community-driven moderation model to reduce low-quality contributions and foster constructive feedback.

Cpg Methylation Changes Associated With Hyperglycemia In Type 1 Diabetes Occur At Angiogenic Glomerular And Retinal Gene Loci., Xiaojian Shao, Sophie Le Fur, Warren A. Cheung, Marie-Pierre Belot, Kevin Perge, Natacha Bouhours-Nouet, Candace Bensignor, Lucie Levaillant, Bing Ge, Tony Kwan, Mark Lathrop, Tomi Pastinen, Pierre Bougnères

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Chronic hyperglycemia is a major risk factor for glomerular or retinal microangiopathy and cardiovascular complications of type 1 diabetes (T1D). At the interface of genetics and environment, dynamic epigenetic changes associated with hyperglycemia may unravel some of the mechanisms contributing to these T1D complications. In this study, blood samples were collected from 112 young patients at T1D diagnosis and 3 years later in average. Whole genome-wide bisulfite sequencing was used to measure blood DNA methylation changes of about 28 million CpGs at single base resolution over this time. Chronic hyperglycemia was estimated every 3-4 months by HbA1c measurement. Linear regressions …

The Crystal Mountain Fluorite Deposit: Scandium-Rich Mineralization And Geochronology, Natalie Kilanowski-Doroh

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The Crystal Mountain fluorite mine is located in the Sapphire Mountains of the Bitterroot National Forest, near Darby, Montana. Crystal Mountain was a significant US producer of high-purity fluorspar between 1952 and 1972. As well, the deposit is rich in yttrium (Y) and scandium (Sc), and could possibly be a domestic source of these critical metals. The ore occurred as lodes of massive fluorite up to 10 m thick and 100 m long (now mined out), with few other associated minerals. Recent studies have speculated that Crystal Mountain may be a rare example of a magmatic fluorspar deposit. The main …

Research On Automated On-Site Construction Of Timber Structures: Mobile Construction Platform Guided By Real-Time Visual Positioning System, Kang Bi, Da Wan, Haining Zhou, Wenxuan Zhao, Chengpeng Sun, Peng Du, Hiroatsu Fukuda

College of Architecture and the Built Environment Faculty Papers

In recent years, the AEC industry has increasingly sought sustainable solutions to enhance productivity and reduce environmental pollution, with wood emerging as a key renewable material due to its excellent carbon sequestration capability and low ecological footprint. Despite significant advances in digital fabrication technologies for timber construction, on-site assembly still predominantly relies on manual operations, thereby limiting efficiency and precision. To address this challenge, this study proposes an automated on-site timber construction process that integrates a mobile construction platform (MCP), a fiducial marker system (FMS) and a UWB/IMU integrated navigation system. By deconstructing traditional modular stacking methods and iteratively developing …

Policy To Decrease Attrition Rates Amongst Mental Health Nurses, Ashley E. Burnett

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

The high attrition rate among mental health nurses in the United States presents a critical challenge, leading to increased operational costs, workforce shortages, and compromised patient care. This policy proposal seeks to address the issue of mental health nurse turnover by offering a structured approach to enhancing job contentment and dealing with stress factors within the workplace. In line with the purpose of the study, quantitative and qualitative data from workforce surveys, peer-reviewed literature, and policy evaluations are combined to determine common retention strategies. Findings indicate that mentorship programs, competitive salaries, flexible scheduling, and workplace support systems significantly reduce burnout …

California Red Hummingbird Flowers: Color Convergence Across Four Biochemical Categories, Melissa León-Osper, Victor Rossi, Katie Conrad, Josephine Hernandez Mena, Elaine Meslow, Amelia A. Fuller, Eduardo Narbona, Justen B. Whittall

Chemistry and Biochemistry

There are 129 red-flowered species in western North America that fit the hummingbird pollination syndrome. Theory predicts that these flowers should produce a specific red color that is conspicuous to hummingbirds but not to bees. In a few well-studied cases, red flowers can be produced with pelargonidin, cyanidin, or both—sometimes complemented with the addition of yellow carotenoids and sometimes not. Which pigment combinations are most common in California and whether they affect conspicuousness to hummingbirds and bees remain unknown. To determine the taxonomic distribution of the pigments responsible for red hummingbird-pollinated flowers, we quantified the color of 36 red-flowered species …

Associations Between Screen Time, Executive Functioning, And Book Use In Preschool-Age Children From Rural Mississippi, Anabel W. Mccraney

Honors Theses

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between screen time, executive function (EF), and book use in a sample of preschool-age children from rural Mississippi. To measure this relationship children were asked to complete three different EF tasks measuring impulse control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. To measure the child’s frequency of screen and book use, a parent-report survey was used. The results indicated that there might be a relationship between EF, screen, and books within certain variables. There was a relationship found between screen time and fewer books reported in the household. Between EF and …

Gender Employment Gap Within Professional Sports Team Front Offices, Reilly E. Fitzpatrick

Honors Theses

This research paper analyzes the causes of the gender employment gap, or the underrepresentation of women, within professional sports team front offices. The research question, What are the effects on female employees working in the sports industry with the prevalent difference in the number of women employed, analyzes the female experience in the industry. To answer this question, a group of female employees were surveyed on their experiences in the industry. An emphasis was placed on if a woman had at least one negative experience in the industry and also if that negative experience led them to have a decline …

Challenges Us Study Abroad Students Face When Acculturating To A Foreign Food Environment, Sydney C. Davis

Honors Theses

Studying abroad presents a unique opportunity for college students to immerse themselves in new cultures, including experiencing different food environments and dietary customs. However, adapting to a foreign food culture can pose various challenges that impact students’ overall health, eating behaviors, and study abroad experiences. The purpose of this study to develop a survey instrument designed to investigate the extent to which U.S. study abroad students embrace, accept, and face challenges with different aspects of Italian food culture, using the Social Ecological Model (SEM) as a guiding framework. Initial survey items were developed with information obtained from focus group discussions …

Health Equity And Social Determinants Of Health Nurse Education, Jacqueline Arana Clements

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The primary care setting provides integrated healthcare services where nurses address many healthcare needs, develop patient relationships, and practice in the context of family and community. To provide comprehensive care, nurses must complete a social determinants of health screening that addresses the social factors that impact clinical outcomes. In 2021, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published a nursing education strategy on educating nurses on social determinants of health. This project aimed to develop a staff education program to prepare primary care nurses on the concepts and terminology encompassing social determinants of health, identifying the severity of health …

On The Deconstruction Of Nothingness In Digital Communication, Matthew S. Lindia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project argues that digital technologies call for a new problematic of communication, centered around the conditions of (im)possibility for creating perfect digital profiles of users as generated from user data. Beginning with Edmund Husserl’s analysis of essentially occasional expressions, this dissertation posits that user data occurs on three levels: (1) the level of expression, where a user wants-to-say something through their inputs, (2) the level of facticity, where biometric data are involuntarily produced by the user, and (3) the level of nothingness, where the user’s inaction, such as not-answering, is taken as data. Moving beyond what Husserl’s framework can …

A Theory-Based Intervention To Mitigate Weight Bias Among Nurses: A Pilot Study, Gregory S. Marler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: As obesity rates continue to rise, a growing number of individuals living with obesity will seek medical care, increasing their exposure to weight-biased healthcare providers. This bias presents a significant risk, as it can lead to compromised care, diminished trust in medical professionals, and ultimately poorer health outcomes. Nurses, as frontline caregivers, must recognize the harmful impact of weight bias and take proactive steps to mitigate its effects. Addressing this bias is essential to ensuring equitable, high-quality care and improving patient outcomes.

Aim: The study explored the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of an intervention for acute care …

Linking Geographic Distribution And Niche Through Estimation Of Niche Density, Tad Dallas, Cleber Ten Caten

Faculty Publications

1. The availability of suitable niche space constrains where species can occur geographically. This tie between niche space and geographic space is crucial when estimating species geographic distributions in a changing climate. However, specific combinations of climatic conditions may be overrepresented in geographic space, highlighting the potential disconnect between climatic niche area and geographic range size.
2. We develop a niche density estimator that accounts for the geographic availability of climatic niche space, relate this to traditional estimates of niche area and explore how these niche estimates are related to species geographic range size.
3. To do this, we use data on over …

Culturally And Linguistically Responsive Mtss: Ethical And Actionable Strategies For Supporting Multilingual Learners In Multi-Tiered Frameworks, Arnold Rodríguez Robles, Matthew Quirk, Meghna Paul, Emmanuel Perez, Julian Mcguinness, Erin Dowdy, Emily Grande Gonzalez, Claudia Zavala Lara, Catherine Draper-Rodriguez

Education and Leadership Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper examines the ethical and legal considerations in providing services to multilingual learners (MLs) before special education evaluations, focusing on the decision-making process within Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). Legal mandates require districts to ensure MLs have equitable access to the general education curriculum and are provided with language support before special education assessment. However, school teams often face ethical and logistical challenges navigating MLs through MTSS, especially when employing a “one size fits all” approach. The unique needs of MLs may be overlooked, leading to misinterpretation of language differences as learning disabilities. Drawing on Armistead et al.'s (2011) …