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A Mixed Methods Study Of Special Education Teacher Perspectives On Special Education Teacher Shortages In Northeast North Carolina, Jennifer L. Mason

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This mixed methods research study aimed to investigate the perspectives of special education teachers regarding special education teacher shortages in Northeast North Carolina. Two research questions were addressed through the utilization of a survey and interviews. The survey instrument comprised 30 quantitative items, employing a 4-point matrix style Likert scale. Following survey completion, interviews were conducted with six participants to provide a more in-depth understanding of the survey findings. From the perspective of special education teachers, data analysis revealed that special education teacher shortages are primarily attributed to adverse working conditions, including excessive workloads, administrative paperwork, student behavior, the utilization …

The Implications Of The Menstrual Cycle On Upper Extremity Function And Injury Risk, Kaitlyn Ashley Armstrong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the leading cause of time lost from work in the healthcare industry (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022). Women account for 75 percent of the total employment in hospitals (BLS, 2022). It is important to identify key risk factors that may be contributing to the high rates of injury in this sector. Females bring a variety of unique factors into account, and understanding these factors could be critical for improving individual health and the burden placed on the system due to absenteeism resulting from injury. The cyclical hormonal fluctuations that occur over a menstrual cycle …

Les Conditions De Vie De La Classe Ouvrière Dans Les Chefs-D’ Œeuvre De Ousmane Sembène, Sawel Awuni

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Francophone African literature emerged as a vehicle for criticism of the colonial system, subsequently shifting its focus to neocolonialism as a new stage of imperialism. Literature and film served as instruments for critiquing imperialist structures, which engendered societal issues and fostered division among Africans. This study examines how Sembène’s books and films satirize society and their continued relevance to contemporary issues in the countries and cities depicted in these literary and cinematic works. To conduct this study, two books and a film were selected as primary sources: Le Docker Noir, Les Bouts de bois de Dieu, and “La Noire de…”. …

Because Kids: Improving Reading Outcomes For Students In A Low-Performing Rural School, Cornishee Jekee Bruce

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this applied research study, I aimed to improve reading growth among at-risk, low-performing fifth and sixth-grade students at West Upper Elementary School, which was designated as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement school. I employed a data-driven decision-making framework, introduced the iReady reading computer program, and used high-quality instructional materials to address students' ongoing literacy issues. The research revealed a slight decline in the lowest reading percentiles by integrating quantitative and qualitative data collection methods through a Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle for continuous improvement. However, significant gains emerged in lower performance tiers, including significant decreases in the number of students at the …

Designing Security Primitives Using Digital And Analog Discrete-Time Chaotic Systems, Mrittika Chowdhury

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we explore the design of lightweight, reconfigurable, and entropy-rich security primitives using both digital and analog discrete-time chaotic systems. By leveraging the inherent unpredictability, sensitivity to initial conditions, and nonlinear dynamics of chaos theory, we present two distinct architectures: a pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) built using digital chaotic maps and a physically unclonable function (PUF) constructed from a compact analog chaotic oscillator. Each system is tailored for efficient implementation on resource-constrained platforms while maintaining strong statistical and security properties.

Measuring The Dynamic Exponent Across The Excitation Spectrum Of The Fredkin Spin Chain, Coleman Kristopher Irby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spin chains are thoroughly studied models used throughout statistical physics. They make considerable simplifications to complex many-body systems that allow us to analyze complex behaviors such as phase transitions. With these large interacting systems, it is often impossible to solve them analytically. However, with the advent of digital computers, we are able to investigate these models numerically and to extrapolate to the thermodynamic limit. Our area of study concerns the Fredkin Spin Chain model. The Fredkin Spin Chain is a well studied model which has an exactly solvable ground state and an unusually large dynamical exponent, z. Much analysis has …

Asking Pharmacists About Over-The-Counter Oral Contraceptives: Intention Among Adolescents And Young Women, Ivy Leong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The recent availability of over-the-counter oral contraceptives eliminates many barriers to accessing birth control. Even with this easier accessibility, pharmacists can still play an important role in educating users, especially adolescents and young adults. However, hesitation to reach out to pharmacists among younger populations has been documented. Additionally, little is known about the underlying driver of this hesitation.

This study aimed to examine predictors of young females’ willingness to seek assistance from pharmacists for over-the-counter oral contraceptive use and to determine the difference in the effect of these predictors between adolescents (age 16 to 17) and young women (age 18 …

A Profile Of Contempt: Its Expressive Function In The Age Of Profilicity, Eric Michael Servatius

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contempt permeates modern political discourse and popular media. Nevertheless, within the psychological and philosophical literature on reactive attitudes, moral emotions, and negative sentiments, contempt remains comparatively understudied. In this paper, I examine contempt’s intimate connection with social identity and argue that existing accounts of contempt largely overlook the broader social role it plays in a contemporary moment characterized by digital communication and fluid group dynamics. I contend that public expressions of contempt serve two primary expressive functions in modern society: (1) to signal group identification and (2) to enforce group norms—not for the target of contempt, but for third party …

A Catalyst For Change: A Program Evaluation Of Professional Learning Communities At Title I Elementary Schools, Sheila R. Wright

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This mixed methods program evaluation analyzed the implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) in four Title I elementary schools within a North Carolina district. This study examined stakeholders' perceptions regarding the impact of the PLC framework on instructional practices, the significance of collective efficacy within the framework, and the characteristics that define an effective PLC, as defined by Hord's (1997) five dimensions. The North Carolina Educator Effectiveness System (NCEES) requires educators in North Carolina to implement PLCs to promote collaboration and improve student achievement (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2018). The study's results were utilized to assess stakeholders' perceptions …

Exploring Commonalities Of Effective Elementary Teachers, Doneen Johnson

Doctor of Education Dissertations

Low performing schools have consistently faced challenges in narrowing the achievement gap and meeting the needs of diverse learners, especially those living in high poverty situations. Effective teaching can significantly influence student outcomes and positively shape students’ academic trajectories through the use of high-impact strategies and relationship-centered instruction. This convergent mixed-methods study aimed to define and understand the characteristics of effective teachers, investigate the perceptions of effective teachers about the reasons for their success, and identify the strategies effective teachers use to support students in low performing elementary schools in a North Carolina school district. Quantitative data sources included a …

Through Their Own Eyes: A Mixed Methods Study On Perceptions And Reflections Of Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy Of North Carolina Elementary School Teachers, Bria C. Wright

Doctor of Education Dissertations

Historical inequities disproportionately impacting historically marginalized communities continue to persist in classrooms today. Culturally responsive teaching plays an important role in addressing these inequities by recognizing and affirming diverse cultural identities. The purpose of this study was to explore elementary school teachers’ culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy (CRTSE) perceptions. This mixed methods convergent parallel study examined CRTSE across five domains: culturally congruent instruction, cross-cultural communication, culturally relevant curricula, cultural diversity knowledge, and cultural caring learning communities. Quantitative data were collected from 147 North Carolina elementary teachers using the CRTSE Scale, and qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 16 participants. …

Symposium Transcript, In Re Opioid Litigation: The Trial Phase, Rodger D. Citron

Touro Law Review

In October 2023, Touro Law Center held a two-day conference on “The Past and Future of Opioid Litigation.” The inspiration for the conference was an extraordinary five-month jury trial in Suffolk County presided over by Hon. Jerry Garguilo. The trial, which was the first in the United States to include all parties in the pharmaceutical supply chain, from manufacturers to wholesale distributors to retail sellers, began in the summer of 2021. Ultimately, in 2022, the case settled. This allowed Judge Garguilo and attorneys from the case – Jayne Conroy, who represented one of the plaintiffs, Suffolk County, and Harvey Bartle, …

Opioid Settlements And Profitable Public Nuisances, Clayton J. Masterman

Touro Law Review

The global settlements between state and local governments and opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers require opioid defendants to transform their businesses and pay more than $40 billion to abate the ongoing opioid epidemic. The $40 billion in abatement funds is a substantial pool of money that is likely to help states combat opioid use and abuse. Large as the payments are, however, they are significantly smaller than the profits that the opioid defendants made over the course of the epidemic or the total harm that they caused. This Article argues that the global opioid settlements incentivize future defendants to create …

Impact Of An Herbicide Treatment In An Annual Grass Invaded Sagebrush Steppe, Jordan Dino Santia

Undergraduate Scholarship

Globally, rangelands are being threatened by invasive annual grasses (IAGs) that alter fire regimes, drive vegetation type conversion, and alter ecosystem function. This study evaluates vegetation responses to an Imazapic treatment applied in 2020 to control a population of Taeniatherum caput-medusae, an IAG, that flourished following a severe wildfire in 2013. The site, located on a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) grazing allotment east of Klamath Falls, Oregon, has been monitored annually using the Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) protocol since the Summer of 2022. Over this period, very little T. caput-medusae has been detected while bare ground has …

Systematic Analysis Of Fatal Collisions Between Mobile Equipment And Pedestrian Workers To Inform The Use Of Proximity Detection Devices, Damien Burlet-Vienney, François Gauthier, Chantal Gauvin

Articles dans des actes de congrès

Context.

Collisions between mobile industrial equipment and pedestrian workers (PWs) are a major occupational health and safety concern, particularly on construction sites (e.g., during earth-moving operations). The use of driver aids, such as proximity warning devices designed to alert workers and drivers of potential collisions, is a growing and constantly developing avenue of prevention (e.g., AI-enhanced cameras; RFID tags). However, structured feedback to guide the implementation of these technologies on mobile equipment remains rare (e.g., technology choice, installation and settings).

Objective/Methodology.

 In this context, a systematic analysis of all fatal accident reports related to this issue for the province of …

Facial Recognition Technology And The First Amendment, Joseph A. Tomain

Michigan Technology Law Review

The growing ubiquity of facial recognition technology (FRT) is a problem. While much has been written on harmful government use of FRT, little has been written about harmful use by private actors. This Article helps fill that gap in the literature by providing a detailed analysis of the First Amendment interests at stake when private actors use FRT. Specifically, this Article analyzes whether laws that limit the use of publicly available photographs to create “faceprints” for inclusion in FRT databases violate the First Amendment rights of the private actors creating these databases.

In May 2025, a multidistrict litigation against Clearview …

Mapping Glams: Creating A National Dataset Of Glams To Develop A Categorical Climate-Change Risk Assessment Scale, Edward Benoitiii, Jill Trepanier, Jennifer Vanos, Emily Fisher, Kaitlyn Bailey, Annie Waddell, Haley Moore, Mandy Hatman, Mary Sidwell, Symonne Russell, Virginia Seger, Paige Boutte, Amanda Latta, Zoe Mohammad, Kyriel Felton, Erin Deliman, Breanna Benson-Pearce, Wendy Johnson, Allyson Russell, Baillie Pretzer, Christopher Reeder, Melissa Mcconnell, Lisa Dahlke, Kaitlynn Melear, Lillian Bodi, Savannah T. Lyle, Zach Lannes, Gwen L. Wells, Benjamin A. Teincuff, Jason M. Straight, Tiffany Rockwell, Shane T. Manthei, Jennifer L. Benner

Faculty Publications

Introduction. The PROTECCT-GLAM project aims to assess and address climate risks for U.S. galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs). The project team began with creating a national dataset of GLAMs. Method. The project team used existing datasets that required different auditing and manipulation techniques to align its data. Following the data normalization, the master file included 77,960 entries. Analysis and Results. The project team used ArcGIS Pro to analyze a dataset of galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs) for risk from sea level rise, finding 16,877 GLAMs within 30 kilometres of the U.S. coast, with California, New York, Maryland, Florida, …

Vertebrate Fossils Of Louisiana, Suyin Ting, Lorene E. Smith, Connor D. White, Irene Martí Gil

Special Publications of the Museum of Natural Science

No abstract provided.

An Early Web History Of Vaccine Skeptical Digital Rhetorics, Miles C. Coleman, Will Mari

Faculty Publications

Vaccine hesitancy is a public health threat stoked by vaccine skeptical rhetorics that circulate via the Web. While there is a body of work that studies the digital rhetorical tactics of vaccine skeptics, most of this work focuses on the Web rhetorics of the “Web 2.0” era, leaving the “Web 1.0” era relatively understudied and, in turn, foreclosing opportunities to look back before moving forward in the current moment. In efforts to yield glimpses into the antecedents of digital culture that have shaped contemporary vaccine skeptical discourses, in this article, we draw on systematically sourced website “snapshots” of vaccine skeptical …

Identification And Computational Modeling Of Molecular Precursors To Carbonaceous And Inorganic Grains In Cosmic Media, Athena Renee Flint

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mechanistic and spectroscopic data for small astronomically-relevant molecules are necessary to make sense of astrophysical observations and modeling results. For certain groups of species, including cyclopropenylidenes, silica, silicates, and ortho-benzyne derivatives, more small-scale astrochemical insights are needed to bridge the gap between atoms and small molecules and larger structures. As these understudied species are among those that can be difficult to study experimentally, quantum chemistry provides an excellent medium for carrying out such work. Within this dissertation, elucidation of reaction pathways, qualitative and quantitative rate predictions, and computation of rovibrational spectroscopic data are combined in order to better understand the …

Slope Stability Hazard Investigation Of Calhoun County, Mississippi And The County Road 210 Landslide, Miles Heath Grames

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses geological field data, laboratory characterization of sediments, and multiple computational models of slope stability to investigate a landslide that occurred in Calhoun County, Mississippi. The primary hypothesis is that intense rainfall led to the saturation of the slope, triggering failure through the reduction of shear strength.

Fieldwork included drilling at the failure site to obtain subsurface samples and drone-based site characterizations. Laboratory analysis included soil descriptions, grain size analysis, and Atterberg limit testing. Sample characterizations revealed a stratified soil profile dominated by fine-grained silts and clays, including an organic-rich lignite layer (OL). Strata generally exhibit low permeability …

Chemical Composition And Cardiorespiratory Health Effects Of Fine Particulate Matter (Pm2.5) From Ambient Sources And Gunshot Residue: Investigating The Role Of Rage-Driven Inflammation And Oxidative Stress, Samuel Cole Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 30 million people in the U.S. use firearms for recreation or occupation annually. The discharge of firearms releases a complex chemical mixture into the breathing zone of the individual. Historically the primary concern of this exposure was the inhalation of lead (Pb), however gunshot residue (GSR) is composed of inorganic and organic components that are understudied in regards to airborne concentrations and health relevance. In addition to chemical composition, GSR released into the air is composed of various size particles from unburnt propellent and projectile fractionation. A size fraction of major health concern is particulate matter less than 2.5 …

Leveraging The Zebrafish Model For The Study Of Human Health Impacts Of Particulate Matter Exposure: Exploring Biological Effects Of Fuel Source Emissions, Autism Spectrum Disorder-Like Behaviors, And Molecular-Level Reproductive Impacts, Shayla Victoria

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Particulate matter (PM) is the solid and liquid portion of air pollution that can be found at various size fractions, including PM2.5, which is 2.5 μm or smaller in aerodynamic diameter. PM is a complex mixture, containing a wide variety of chemical constituents, including inorganic compounds (heavy metals), organic compounds (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), and pesticides, that have been individually linked to human health impacts. These include cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, but due to its small size and chemical composition, PM has the ability enter into systemic circulation and cause dysregulation of other physiological processes, such as neurodevelopment and reproduction, which …

A Spoonful Of Sugar: A Mathematics Board And Card Games Intervention For Kindergarten Students At Risk For Mathematics Disabilities, Leah Kai Tiisler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early mathematics knowledge in kindergarten students can predict their later success in school and in life, while difficulties with mathematics early on can derail a child’s future unless they are provided with effective interventions. Ideally, interventions should be developmentally appropriate, playful, low in stress, and easy to implement. Board games and card games can be integrated into math interventions and easily adapted to include early arithmetic elements. This dissertation investigates the impact of a mathematics board and card game intervention on kindergarten students at risk for mathematics disabilities. The study employed a single-subject research design to assess the effectiveness of …

Improving Detection Capabilities Of Traditional Machine Learning (Ml) Algorithms Against Data Poisoning Attacks On Image Data, Sabrina Perry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning (ML) algorithms play a critical role in automated decision-making systems across domains such as healthcare, finance, and autonomous systems. However, these models are increasingly vulnerable to adversarial threats, particularly poisoning attacks that manipulate training data without the knowledge of the ML developers. As ML models are often trained on publicly available data, data poisoning is trivial for attackers to perform, with no way to determine if training data is legitimate, poisoned during data collection, or poisoned during training in the current ML training pipeline.

This dissertation investigates data poisoning attacks, with a focus on label flipping and gradient …

Study Of The Ultrasonic Properties Of A Tissue-Mimicking Phantom Of Human Brain, Utsab Acharya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Preparing tissue-mimicking phantoms for brain ultrasound studies presents unique challenges due to the need to replicate the complex acoustic properties of cerebral tissue. Human brain tissue exhibits a speed of sound typically between 1520 and 1540 m/s, an attenuation coefficient ranging from 0.58 to 2.42 dB/cm in the 1–3 MHz frequency range, and a notably low backscatter coefficient between –94 and –82 dB/(cm・sr). Accurately reproducing these parameters simultaneously in a synthetic phantom is difficult because of the naturally low scattering properties of brain tissue and the interdependence of ultrasonic attenuation and scattering mechanisms. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has emerged as a …

The Profiled Feldman-Cousins Method For Confidence Interval Construction For The Nova 3-Flavor Oscillation Analysis, Andrew Joseph Dye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The small interaction cross-section of neutrinos makes experimental neutrino physics particularly responsive to technological advancements. A significant development leveraged by the NOvA experiment is large-scale parallel processing, enabling novel computational approaches to longstanding experimental challenges. Central to managing the resulting high-throughput data is NOvA’s implementation of the Freight Train model, designed for efficient data production and handling.

This dissertation details the methodology and execution of the NOvA 2024 3-Flavor Oscillation Analysis, supported by a comprehensive dataset spanning ten years. It emphasizes frequentist results refined through the Feldman-Cousins (FC) technique, specifically addressing confidence interval corrections in parameter estimation. The computational intensity …

Human Masters/Robot Servants: Highly Automated Vehicle Design, Intoxicated Drivers & Vicarious Liability, William H. Widen, Marilyn Wolf

Journal of Law and Mobility

A traditional engineering role is to design a safe product. Safety engineering is an exercise in harm avoidance ex ante. In contrast, liability attribution is an exercise to compensate for loss post hoc—traditionally viewed as a legal matter. We observe that, when a natural person incurs liability for a loss that exceeds insurance coverage, economic ruin can follow. Neither engineering nor law focus on the loss suffered by defendants considering law as a “safety risk.” The highly automated vehicle (HAV) design space, however, provides an opportunity to prevent this kind of economic harm from occurring ex ante just as attention …

Legislating For The Future, Jonathan S. Gould, Rory Van Loo

Faculty Articles

Public policy must address threats that will manifest in the future. Legislation enacted today affects the severity of tomorrow’s harms arising from biotechnology, climate change, and artificial intelligence. This Essay focuses on Congress’s capacity to confront future threats. It uses a detailed case study of financial crises to show the limits and possibilities of legislation to prevent future catastrophes. By paying insufficient attention to Congress, the existing literature does not recognize the full nature and extent of the institutional challenges in regulating systemic risk. Fully recognizing those challenges reveals important design insights for future-risk legislation. We first examine Congress as …

The Prison Life-Course And Correctional Misconduct, Zachary Nathanial Buckner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to apply a developmental and life-course perspective to the understanding of correctional misconduct for those serving long-term sentences by conducting three separate analyses that examine the development of misconduct over time, and the influence of personal and prison characteristics on misconduct. Data were provided by the Department of Corrections in a Northwestern state in the United States and included all adults in custody who were currently incarcerated and had been incarcerated for a minimum of 15 years consecutively at the point of data collection in March 2023. The first analysis used group-based trajectory modeling …