Digital Commons Network^™

Validation Of Non-Invasive Methods For The Measurement Of Gonadal And Inter-Renal Steroid Hormones In A Desert-Adapted Amphibian (Scaphiopus Couchii), Alexander T. Baugh, Callie Cho , '23, Alice Onyango-Opiyo , '23, Sophie A. Rodner , '25, Senna Mieth , '25, Daniel Oakes , '24, Liam Halstead , '25

Biology Faculty Works

For aquatic and semi-aquatic vertebrates like amphibians, it is possible to estimate excreted hormone levels using non-invasive methods such as waterborne and salivary sampling. These techniques allow monitoring of endocrine activity over varying, repeated and simultaneous integration periods while minimizing handling-related stress that can ‘contaminate’ hormone estimates, including estimates of baseline glucocorticoids. Here we have validated the extraction and quantification of three steroid hormones (corticosterone, CORT; 17-b estradiol, E₂; testosterone, TST) in Couch’s spadefoots (Scaphiopus couchii)—a desert-adapted anuran of special interest for physiology, evolution and conservation—using non-invasive waterborne and minimally invasive salivary hormone methods. We combined extraction and …

New Jersey, Elizabeth Ford

Thin Blue Advantage: Police Exceptionalism and the Two-Tier System of Public Sector Collective Bargaining

Police and non-police bargaining units are treated differently in New Jersey, and the difference in treatment is reflected in statutes, case law, and Public Employment Relations Commission decisions. While the Commission is consistently more favorable to police unions, its decisions are often inconsistent, unpredictable, and made in spite of conflicting precedent.

· Commission Membership. The composition of the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission is disproportionately representative of unions.

· Poor Quality Decisions. The Commission’s decisions are often inconsistent, unpredictable, and made in spite of conflicting precedent.

· Impasse Procedures Favor Police Units. Police units must submit their negotiating impasses …

New York, Elizabeth Ford

Thin Blue Advantage: Police Exceptionalism and the Two-Tier System of Public Sector Collective Bargaining

In New York there are several areas of difference in the treatment of police and non-police collective bargaining. They include the following:

• Fragmentation. New York City has its own, separate system for regulating collective bargaining, which is not included in this analysis.
• Impasse Process. When an impasse in bargaining is reached, police have access to binding interest arbitration. Non-police do not.
• Disciplinary Decisions. New York law provides that decisions on the discipline of police employee are excluded from bargaining. The same is not true for non-police employees.
• Investigation and Oversight. The process for imposing discipline, and …

Alaska, Elizabeth Ford

Thin Blue Advantage: Police Exceptionalism and the Two-Tier System of Public Sector Collective Bargaining

There are not enough cases from the Alaska commission to draw general conclusions about the commission’s treatment of mandatory subjects of bargaining in police and non-police contexts. In the cases discussed below, the commission typically found that the employer’s interests outweighed the employees’ interests, with a slight preference to find bargaining subjects mandatory in the police context.

Case Study Exploring How Data-Driven Decision-Making Influences Culture At A Title I Elementary School, Cameron K. Ramirez

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

This qualitative case study explores how data-driven decision-making influences school culture at a Title I elementary school in Texas. Grounded in the conceptual frameworks of data-driven decision-making (Gill et al., 2014) and transformational leadership (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2005), this study investigated how school leaders and staff implement, interpret, and sustain data practices within a high-accountability context. Using a phenomenological approach, interviews were conducted with the principal, assistant principal, two instructional specialists, and three teachers, and artifacts were collected for data triangulation. The findings revealed that effective data use is cultivated through immersive, contextualized professional learning, collaborative systems, leadership modeling, and …

Strategies For Enhanced Meg Data Analysis In Clinical Practice And Emerging Frontiers, Pegah Askari

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Epilepsy and dementia are debilitating neurological disorders that pose substantial challenges for patients, caregivers, and healthcare systems. Advances in magnetoencephalography (MEG) and signal processing offer new opportunities to improve diagnostic accuracy, surgical planning, and treatment monitoring. This dissertation presents a unified body of work comprising artifact removal, automated event detection, and deep learning-based biomarker discovery. These approaches collectively enhance the clinical utility of MEG for diverse patient populations.

The first study addresses a significant technical obstacle in the management of drug-resistant epilepsy. Patients receiving responsive neurostimulation (RNS) have historically been excluded from MEG as the data is contaminated by device-related …

Functional Enhancement Of Pancreatic Islets Through Photobiomodulation For Potential Diabetes Therapeutics, Kelli Fowlds

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Islet transplantation is a potential therapeutic route for type 1 diabetic patients facing chronic ketoacidosis and/or hypoglycemia unable to be properly regulated with standard insulin administration. However, successful engraftment is hampered by a multitude of factors. Harvested islets face rapid, substantial degradation due to hypoxia and nutrient depletion once isolated. Transplanted islets are additionally susceptible to the instant blood-mediated inflammatory reaction (IBMIR). This combination of factors leads to more than half of transplanted islets failing to engraft post-surgery. Many areas of research are dedicated to investigating alternative approaches or supplemental treatments to improve the success rate of engraftment and insulin …

Novel Electrophysiological Biomarkers In Pediatric Drug Resistant Epilepsy And Genetic Epilepsy Syndromes, Sakar Rijal

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Pediatric epilepsies, particularly those that are drug-resistant or genetically driven, represent some of the most complex neurological disorders encountered in childhood. Central to their pathophysiology is a disruption in the delicate balance between cortical excitation and inhibition (E/I), often resulting from impaired GABAergic interneuron function. This imbalance manifests as aberrant network dynamics and altered neural oscillations, giving rise to seizures and long-term cognitive impairments. In this thesis, we developed a translational framework to identify electrophysiological biomarkers that (i) assess cortical E/I imbalance and (ii) map epileptogenic zones, with the aim of enhancing diagnosis, guiding surgical planning, and informing therapeutic monitoring …

Vendor-Independent B0 Shimming Framework With Application To Metabolic Mri In Human Gliomas, Mahrshi Jani

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

High and ultra-high field MRI and MRSI offer markedly improved signal-to-noise ratio and spectral dispersion, enabling in-vivo characterization of tumor metabolism with unprecedented detail. However, these benefits are tightly coupled to high demands on static magnetic field (B₀) homogeneity, particularly in the brain where susceptibility interfaces near the skull base and paranasal sinuses generate complex, higher-order field perturbations. In glioma patients, additional susceptibility variations arise from surgical cavities, hemorrhage, calcifications, and cystic components, further degrading B₀ homogeneity. As a result, shimming often become the main bottleneck limiting robust, whole-brain spectroscopic imaging and, consequently, our ability to map metabolic …

Comment On: Sleep Patterns And Quality Depend Not Only On Gender And The Time Of Year, But Also On A Variety Of Other Influencing Factors

Neurosciences

No abstract provided.

Bibliographic Instruction And The Need For “Librarian-First” Oer Repositories, Michael Kirby

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

An Evaluation On The Uncertainty For The Routine Of Dosimetry Calibration At The National Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory, Albania, Klotilda Nikaj

International Journal of Nuclear Security

Every employer must, in relation to any work with ionizing radiation that they undertake, take all necessary steps to restrict so far as is reasonably practicable the extent to which their employees and other persons are exposed to ionizing radiation. This goal leads to an increased awareness about the proper maintenance and annual calibration of the personal dosimeters to ensure an accurate and precise radiation dose. The present work has described the performance of the radiation system of the ¹³⁷Cs source at the National Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL), located at the Institute of Applied Nuclear Physics at the …

Vision Of Nuclear Power Deployment In Latin America And The Caribbean: A Focus On Small Modular Reactors And The Regional Experience Of Central Argentina De Elementos Modulares, Alejandra Loreto Alfaro, Florencia Rentería, Camila Araujo

International Journal of Nuclear Security

Increasing the number of nuclear power reactors in the Latin American and Caribbean region presents technical, financial, regulatory, and environmental challenges. Focused on fostering economic stability, growth, and human capacity development, the deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) emerges as a key aspect in the region’s energy landscape. The emergence of SMRs represents an opportunity for multidisciplinary cooperation among different sectors. To comprehensively address the challenges related to the protection of nuclear facilities in the region, the Tlatelolco Treaty and the Non-Proliferation Treaty should be strengthened as legally binding instruments to enforce the safety and safeguarding principles integral to the …

Associations Between Older Hispanics’ Diabetes Control And Their Caregiver’S Health Literacy, Jorge Rico

Nursing Dissertations - Archive

Background: Older Spanish-speaking Hispanics are a rapidly growing population in the United States that face disproportionally high rates of diabetes and inadequate health literacy. Familism is valued among Hispanics and caregivers may play an important role in overcoming the social determinants of health facing this vulnerable population. Methods: This descriptive correlation study sought to explore correlations between the caregiver’s health literacy and the patient’s control of diabetes. Findings: Mixed effects model found a significant correlation between the caregiver’s print literacy and the patient’s hemoglobin A1c. Conclusion: The findings are encouraging for future research to explore interventions that target the caregivers …

Perception Of Spirituality By Intensive Care Unit Nurses, Adejoke Felicia Ogidan

Nursing Dissertations - Archive

ICU nurses are identified as a population of nurses with a high risk of experiencing psychological stress due to the nature of their job in the ICU (Lyndon, 2015; Welp et al., 2015). Psychological stress is detrimental to nurses' mental health and the quality of patient care.

According to Watson’s Transpersonal Human Caring Theory, the spiritual perception of the nurse influences the nurse’s spiritual care practice, which in turn affects their self-care and care provided by the nurse to patients (Watson, 2021)This research explored the ICU-Ns' perception of spirituality and its relationships with spiritual care practices and self-assessed competency in …

Case Management For End-Stage Renal Disease Patients, Jamie L. Andrews

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Background: Social determinants of health (SDOH) and health literacy directly impact adults with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on hemodialysis (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases [NIDDK], 2022; Ulrich, 2020). Adults with ESRD account for 1.5 million hospital admissions and 500,000 re-admissions within 30 days annually (NIDDK, 2022). Case management is essential in reducing re-admissions for adult ESRD patients, requiring abilities to identify factors affecting adult ESRD patients appropriately.

Methods: Therefore, an evidence-based practice (EBP) project using the IOWA Model framework was implemented to increase the knowledge base in identifying care and resources for ESRD patients for telephonic …

Nursing Workplace Rituals: Communication Before, During, And After Covid-19, Angel Infante

Nursing Dissertations - Archive

ABSTRACT

NURSING WORKPLACE RITUALS: COMMUNICATION BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER COVID-19

Angel Infante, PhD

The University of Texas at Arlington, 2025

Professors: Dr. Deborah Behan (Committee Chair), Dr. Yungfei Kao (Committee Member), and Dr. Jessica Grace Smith (Committee Member)

Background: According to Griner et al. (2021) many disruptions caused confusion for healthcare workers during the pandemic. Communication is imperative when dealing with everyday disruptions in a hospital setting. However, it is even more important to learn about the different types of communication and what is communicated during a past pandemic to know how and what to communicate in a future pandemic. …

Improving Pediatric Delirium Assessment Documentation And Nursing Knowledge In A Pediatric Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, Heather E. Herrera

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Pediatric delirium is prevalent in the Pediatric Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (PCICU). It is associated with longer PCICU stays, extended hospital stays, prolonged duration of mechanical ventilation, and higher hospital costs (Mallick et al., 2022). It has also been associated with increased mortality risk and decreased quality of life after hospital discharge (Rohlik et al., 2021). Due to the adverse sequelae associated with pediatric delirium, routine screening with a validated screening tool is recommended (Flagg & Mauney, 2023). Despite consensus guidelines advocating routine screening for pediatric delirium, routine screening is not being completed (Flagg & Mauney, 2023).

Decreasing Hospital-Acquired Clostridium Difficile Infections, Angel S. Louder

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Clostridium Difficle Infection (CDI) is a significant healthcare threat due to its ability to be transmitted rapidly in healthcare settings. Patient engagement and participation in infection prevention initiatives at admission will lead to early implementation of isolation precautions, diagnosis of infectious pathogens, and treatment. A quality improvement project was implemented at a south-central Texas acute care hospital to engage alert and oriented adult patients, using a bundled approach to screen for the early detection of CDI within 48 hours of hospital admission, thereby reaching the goal of reducing hospital-acquired CDIs. This initiative improved patient engagement with CDI screening, reducing confirmed …

Enhancing Patient-Centered Efficiency: Reducing Cardiology Clinic No-Shows Using Technology, Pre-Visit Planning & Patient Resources, Pat Shirey

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) affects 48% of U.S. adults, requiring regular cardiology visits to manage risk factors and the early detection of complications (American Heart Association, 2019). No-shows disrupt continuity of care, worsen health outcomes (Choi et al., 2020), and decrease clinic efficiency (Goossens et al., 2022). A North Texas cardiology clinic reported a 31.9% overall no-show rate and a 42.1% no-show rate for new patients, costing $1.3 million annually.

Purpose: This quality improvement project aimed to reduce no-show rates through a patient-centered cardiology appointment bundle to improve continuity, patient outcomes, and efficiency.

Methods: This eight-week project utilized the Plan-Do-Study-Act …

A Quality Improvement Approach To Reducing Post-Surgical Acute Care Falls, Tiffany C. Mitchell

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Inpatient falls remain one of the most preventable adverse events in hospitals. Falls result in serious injuries and increasing healthcare costs. This quality improvement project evaluates the implementation of Fall TIPS to reduce fall incidence and promote sustainable safety practices.

Gaps In Knowledge: Topological Insights Into The Structure Of Science, Gavin Engelstad

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

Understanding scientific development is essential to ascertaining the mechanisms leading us into the future. Building this understanding requires both methodological developments and empirical research. This thesis contributes in both aspects using a topological approach to examine scientific knowledge. The first section presents a new algorithm to find optimal cycle representatives for homological features in complex networks, a context for which we demonstrate existing algorithms can be inadequate. The second section applies a number of topological methods, including our cycle optimization algorithm, to data on individual scientific fields, demonstrating the value of topological approaches and highlighting new insights about how science …

Leveraging Crispr Technology To Model Beta-Propeller Protein Associated Neurodegeneration And Explore Mechanisms Of Neurological Dysfunction, Brandon Lee Meyerink

Dissertations and Theses

Neurons are highly compartmentalized, specialized cells that are foundational to brain function. Moreover, the neurons we have early in life are the same cells that we carry through our entire life. For these cells to stay healthy and functional over this long period, a process called autophagy is used to clear unwanted, toxic, or unneeded materials from the cell. Alterations in autophagy caused by genetic mutations can lead to the death of neurons and neurodegenerative disease. Here, we use CRISPR technology to genetically modify mouse models to generate a model of autophagy associated neurological disease and study the molecular function …

Benefits Of A Hybrid Learning Environment On Work-Life Balance, Thomas Robert Anez

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the impact of hybrid learning on the work-life balance of graduate-level students, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges associated with this evolving educational model. Hybrid learning offers flexibility, enabling students to balance academic responsibilities with professional and personal commitments. Many students benefit from reduced commuting time, asynchronous learning options, and the ability to tailor their schedules to fit their needs. However, the study also reveals challenges, including difficulties in maintaining clear boundaries between work, school, and personal life, and the potential for increased workload perception and burnout. Through a qualitative, phenomenological approach, this research captures the lived …

The Mystical City Of God: The Angels And Anthropological Identity, Depicted Through Mary, Gilbert Perez

Obsculta

A quick reflection on the mystical experiences of Maria of Jesus of Ágreda. Focusing on the importance of Angelology within greater Catholic thought by highlighting its deep relationship with Mary, the Mother of God. Moving from a slow understanding of knowledge concerning God, multiple excerpts from the text cover varying aspects of human identity by investigating the knowledge concerning the angels. Culminating in Mary, and how she becomes an adored creation that reveal human and angelic anthropology.

The Importance Of Fauna-Mediated Sediment O2 Consumption In The Ngom Hypoxic Zone, Hannah Beck, Kanchan Maiti

Faculty Publications

The northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) coastal shelf adjacent to the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers system experiences strong seasonal hypoxia in the late summer and coupled physical-biological models suggest that hypoxia formation in the NGOM is sensitive to benthic biogeochemical processes. However, the processes driving sediment oxygen consumption and their relationship to bottom oxygen concentration remain enigmatic. This study for the first time concurrently measured in situ total oxygen uptake (TOU) and diffusive oxygen uptake (DOU) during two different hypoxia seasons. The relatively large DOU: TOU ratio of 0.33 ± 0.07 observed during this study suggests more significant benthic infauna …

Femicide Is A Human Rights Violation, Not A Cultural Consequence: Why Nigeria Is Violating The Maputo Protocol, Bolu Jegede

Human Rights Brief

Femicide, the most extreme form of gender-based violence, is the intentional killing of women simply because they are women. It is driven by harmful societal norms, such as oppressive gender roles, systemic discrimination towards women and girls, and gender power imbalances. Femicide is a universal problem but gaps in data on this issue mask the true scale of violence. For the first time since 2013, when the UNODC began publishing regional estimates, Africa surpassed Asia as the region with the highest number of victims.

Very Short-Term Solar Irradiance Forecasting Based On Open-Source Low-Cost Sky Imager And Hybrid Deep-Learning Techniques, Martin Ansong, Gan Huang, Thomas N. Nyang’Onda, Robinson Juma Musembi, Bryce S. Richards

All Grantees Publications

Solar irradiance (SI) forecasting is vital for reliable photovoltaic (PV) operation. This is especially true for regions like Africa where many SI forecasting approaches rely on scarce historical data and the inherent instabilities of electric grids are further compounded by SI variability. Accurate solar forecasting is essential for improving grid management, enabling operators to balance supply and demand and enhance stability. Ground-based sky imaging is a promising technique for SI forecasting that do not require extensive historical data. However, commercial sky imagers are expensive and offer limited flexibility. This paper introduces the Karlsruhe low-cost all-sky imager (KALiSI), made from off-the-shelf …

The Impact Of Seasonal Hydrological Disturbances On The Presence And Formation Of Toxic Cyanobacteria Blooms In Coastal Louisiana, Courtney Nicole Hammond, Sibel Bargu, Caitlin R.R. Turner, Matthew Hiatt, John R. White

Faculty Publications

Estuaries in the Gulf, especially Lake Pontchartrain Estuary in southeastern Louisiana, USA, are experiencing significant changes due to climate change and coastal restoration efforts. Lake Pontchartrain Estuary receives nutrient-rich Mississippi River water through a controlled diversion called Bonnet Carré Spillway (BCS), which has been associated with toxic cyanobacterial blooms (cyanoHABs). This study examines the seasonal factors influencing cyanoHABs in the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary when the BCS is closed, addressing gaps in the understanding of HABs related to other physical drivers. Field samples collected in 2021, during the closure of the spillway, revealed significant evidence of seasonal variations in cyanoHAB formation. …

Corrigendum: Diatom Transcriptional And Physiological Responses To Changes In Iron Bioavailability Across Ocean Provinces (Frontiers In Marine Science, (2017), 4, (360), 10.3389/Fmars.2017.00360), Natalie R. Cohen, Kelsey A. Ellis, Robert H. Lampe, Heather Mcnair, Benjamin S. Twining, Maria T. Maldonado, Mark A. Brzezinski, Fedor I. Kuzminov, Kimberlee Thamatrakoln, Claire P. Till, Kenneth W. Bruland, William G. Sunda, Sibel Bargu, Adrian Marchetti

Faculty Publications

In the published article, there was an error in Figure 3 as published. The initial (T0) phytoplankton community composition at site C2 was incorrectly displayed, with prasinophytes erroneously appearing as relatively abundant taxa. The corrected Figure 3 appears below. The average transcript proportions of phytoplankton taxa (outer charts) and diatom genera (inner charts) from initial seawater (T0) and during the first time point (T1; see Supplementary Table 1) within the Fe addition (Fe) and DFB addition (DFB) treatments at each site. Note that for site O5, the T2 control (Ctl) treatment is provided as the Fe-limited comparison. A text correction …