Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Relationship Between Leadership Styles And Staff Retention In Healthcare, Stephanie Michelle Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

The Ministerial Exception And Its Relationship To The First Amendment, Erik W. Stanley

Tulsa Law Review

No abstract provided.

Wounded Domestic Ecologies: Ecofeminist Readings Of Gendered Trauma In Purple Hibiscus, Erere Victory Iwhi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus through an ecofeminist and postcolonial ecocritical lens, developing the concept of "wounded domestic ecology" to analyze how gendered violence operates within domestic space. Drawing on trauma studies, particularly J. R. Kurtz and Rob Nixon's concept of slow violence, it argues that harm in the novel is accumulative, produced through repetition, surveillance, ritual, and spatial regulation. Eugene's household functions as an environment that disciplines bodies, governs language, and embeds fear into everyday life. In contrast, Aunt Ifeoma's home in Nsukka offers a counter-ecology structured by sound, shared labor, and dialogic authority, interrupting the …

It's (Not) Raining Men: Exploring The Themes Surrounding Low Male Presence In Pediatric Nursing, Marcin Janczak

Honors Projects

Background: Men remain underrepresented in nursing, with an even smaller presence in pediatric nursing. Purpose: To examine pediatric-specific themes that may contribute to the low presence of men in pediatric nursing, and strategies to counteract these potential barriers. Methods: CINAHL Ultimate and Google Scholar were searched for primary research published from 2015 to 2025 related to male nurses, male nursing students, gender bias, pediatric care, and clinical experiences. Findings: Four major themes emerged: gender stereotypes and the feminization of pediatric nursing, sociocultural barriers and gender bias, fear and distrust toward male nurses, and psychological and professional impacts on men in …

Interview With Nydia Tapia-Gonzales, Nydia Tapia-Gonzales, Logan Dovalina

Rio Grande Valley Oral Histories

In this oral history interview conducted on June 5, 2026, in Harlingen, Texas, Nydia Tapia-Gonzales (b. 1962, Matamoros, Tamaulipas) reflects on her bicultural life along the U.S.–Mexico border and her long engagement with architecture, tourism, and historic preservation in the Rio Grande Valley.

Born and raised in Matamoros’s Colonia Jardín while attending schools in Brownsville (Colegio Don Bosco and Incarnate Word Academy), Tapia-Gonzales describes a fluid childhood spent moving between the two cities. She discusses her early fascination with architecture—sparked by her grandmother’s traditional house, mid-century modern homes in Matamoros, and her father’s newspaper work—as well as her teenage work …

Commute Times And Remote Workers In Mountain West Cities, 2019-2023, Maisoon Faris, Mia Tschan, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Transportation & Infrastructure

This fact sheet presents 2019 to 2023 data on city-wide travel times, the number of remote workers, and the amount of time lost and saved by commuters across seven Mountain West cities: Mesa, AZ; Phoenix, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Colorado Springs, CO; Denver, CO; Las Vegas, NV; and Albuquerque, NM. The data are derived from the 2025 Yardi Kube report, “Back on the Road: U.S. Commutes Increase Amid a Hybrid Work Era,”  which includes commute time and remote worker data for the 50 largest cities across the United States. The year 2022 is used as a base comparison to show changes …

The Shrinking Caspian Sea: Eco‐Hydrological Responses To Human And Climate Pressures, Jesse Duku, Mohammad J. Tourian, Marzi Azarderakhsh, Rovshan Abbasov, Ali Mehran, Ali Torabi Haghighi, Stefanos Xenarios, Azara Boschee, Salih Babagiray, Mojtaba Sadegh, Nima Shokri, Ali Nazemi, Alireza Farahmand, Samaneh Ashraf, Temur Khujanazarov, Elmira Hassanzadeh, Dalal Najib, Daniel Placht, Shamshagul Mashtayeva, Ekaterina Rets, Hamid Norouzi, Kaveh Madani, Manoochehr Shirzaei, Hossein Shafizadeh-Moghadam, Chiyuan Miao, Ali Mirchi, Shuo Wang, Amir Aghakouchak

Publications and Research

The Caspian Sea, the Earth's largest inland water body, faces water level decline, drawing comparisons to the collapse of the Aral Sea. Unlike the Aral Sea, the relative roles of climatic variability, hydrological changes, and anthropogenic pressures on the Caspian Sea remain poorly understood. Here, we integrate satellite observations, in situ hydrological records and reanalysis data to examine recent drivers of the Caspian water loss. We show that total river inflow to the Caspian Sea has declined significantly, primarily due to reduced discharge from the Volga River. At the same time, precipitation over the basin has remained broadly stable, while …

Evaluating Chest-Worn Light Logger Adherence: Development And Application Of A Wear/Non-Wear Model, Carlyn Patterson Gentile, Adah Thomas, Ryan Shah, Blanca Marquez De Prado, Nichelle Raj, Christina Szperka, Geoffrey Aguirre

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Light exposure plays an important role in overall health because it entrains circadian rhythms. Recent technological advances in wearable light loggers allow measurement daily light exposure habits. Using a chest-worn light logger, our goal was to (1) develop methodology for differentiating adherent versus non-adherent use, and (2) define differences in lighting intensity in indoor and outdoor environments, to improve data reliability in future clinical studies using this technology. Four testers used a 10-channel chest worn light logging device under different conditions of wear and non-wear (experiment 1), and another tester made measurements with the light logger across a variety of …

‘Wala Kaming Alam Sa Stroke Care’ (We Don’T Know Anything About Stroke Care): Experiences Of Care Providers Delivering Stroke Rehabilitation Care In The Philippines, Fiona Leggat, Sarah Ann Buckingham, Aira Patrice Rueda Ong, Bridie Kent, Nena Marie Santos, Annah Teves, Vergil Boac, Paula Melizza Valera, Elda Anota, Maria Mercedes Barba, Myrna Estrada, Neil Bryan Pita, Alyssa Dar Juan, Lorraine Faeldon, Fiona Jones

School of Nursing and Midwifery

BackgroundIn the Philippines, rising stroke prevalence and healthcare inequalities present a concerning outlook. While acute stroke care is prioritised, rehabilitation remains undervalued. The experiences of healthcare providers who deliver stroke support are also under-researched.Objective(s)Our study aimed to explore the experiences and needs of care providers across multiple regions of the Philippines to inform the development of stroke support initiatives and programmes.MethodsForming part of the Tulong, Ugnayan ng Lingap At gabaY (TULAY) project, a qualitative descriptive design involving semi-structured interviews was used. Care providers with professional or voluntary community healthcare service delivery roles were recruited. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic …

Expanding Transmobilities: Understanding Genderdiverse And Transgender Travel Behavior Through An Art-Informed Methodology, Nicholas Michael Puczkowskyj

Dissertations and Theses

Transgender and genderdiverse people face discrimination and harassment in public when making trips in Portland, OR. People who identify as genderdiverse or transgender create unique travel behavior due to the influence of their internalized and expressed gender identity and through interactions in public. This dissertation examines how gender identity influences the travel behavior of genderdiverse and transgender people and how these experiences influence their subjective wellbeing when making trips in Portland, Oregon. Traditional one-on-one interviews were conducted in conjunction with allowing the interviewees to produce art as a non-verbal form of expression and communication of their experiences making trips in …

Relationship Between Sleep And Meal Timing With Glycemia Parameters In Individuals With Obesity Participating In A Randomized Time-Restricted Eating Study., Sirimon Reutrakul, Stacey L. Simon, Qi Wang, Emily N C Manoogian, Satchindananda Panda, Suryeon Ryu, Zan Gao, Caleb Griffiths, Erika Helgeson, Douglas G. Mashek, Niki Oldenburg, Lisa Senye Chow

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Background/Objectives: Circadian misalignment, including mistimed sleep or eating, is associated with altered glucose metabolism. The importance of eating window timing for time-restricted eating (TRE) is increasingly recognized. This secondary analysis examined associations between meal to sleep timing intervals and glycemic parameters in individuals with obesity across three dietary interventions [TRE, CR: caloric restriction, and UE: unrestricted eating]. Methods: Participants aged 18-65 years with obesity were randomized to a 12-week intervention: TRE (8 h eating window), CR (15% reduction in daily caloric intake), or UE (usual eating habits). CGM and actigraphy were assessed over two weeks at baseline and end-intervention. Mixed …

Scaffolded Reflection And Research Assignment For Sociology 101, Sara Martucci

Open Educational Resources

Dr. Sara Martucci created these assignments as part of a funded project focused on converting more sections of high-enrollment foundational courses to use Open Educational Resources and Pedagogy.

Automated Physical Activity Support For Adults And Youth From Low-Income Communities: Single-Arm Pilot Study., Jordan A. Carlson, Frank T. Materia, Mallory Moon, Suryeon Ryu, Cory Yeager, Chelsea Steel, Kacee Shields, Harpreet Singh Gill, Jannette Berkley-Patton, Delwyn Catley

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Mobile health (mHealth) interventions are growing in popularity, but less research has focused on low-income families, particularly interventions integrating wearable devices with automated personalized messages.

OBJECTIVE: We tested a preliminary wearable-integrated mHealth intervention with initial personalization elements among adults and youth from low-income urban communities, focusing on feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary evidence of physical activity behavior.

METHODS: Participants were 83 adults and 31 youth recruited through community health events held in low-income urban communities. Using a single-arm pre-post design, participants were enrolled into a 7-week beta-version mHealth intervention that integrated a Garmin activity monitor with automated text messages. Messages …

Stories That Stretch Us: Jury Duty As Anti-Rage Bait, Howard Schaap

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Today’s naturalism, today’s manipulative authors, are the creators of the maze of social media that lead us toward very specific ends, and it’s tearing at our national fabric."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the effect of story styles on our thinking from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Stories that Stretch Us

Mississippi Institute Of Arts And Letters Honors Faulkner Conference, Rebecca Lauck Cleary

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi's Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference will receive a Citation of Merit from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters for its decades of work preserving and expanding William Faulkner's literary legacy.

Does A Common Threat Unite?: Alliance Formation In East Asia Under Chinese Pressure, Sean G. Mcclellan

Honors Theses

The study explores whether a shared geopolitical threat fosters alliance formation among East Asian nations, focusing on Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea in the context of increasing Chinese influence. Integrating insights from international relations theory and social psychology—particularly Realistic Conflict Theory and the out-group unifying effect—the research evaluates whether perceived Chinese aggression corresponds with increased positive sentiment toward the United States. Utilizing data from the Asian Barometer Survey, linear regression analysis is conducted to assess how perceptions of Chinese and U.S. influence, democratic values, and political affiliation shape public attitudes. Results show that while negative views of Chinese and U.S. …

Extraction Of Key Themes In Online Health Discourse Using Unsupervised Learning And Large Language Models, Miranda G. Scully

Computer Science Senior Theses

Health online discussion boards are a modern platform that allow patients to interact with each other and the healthcare system as a whole, making them valuable sources of information for clinicians seeking to better anticipate treatment experiences and barriers. This study focuses on one such community, r/suboxone, a subreddit where patients using Suboxone share their experiences and ask questions. Our analysis is motivated by previous work that proposes event-based classification systems for such posts which buckets posts from r/suboxone into one or more of five high-level labels (Access Logistics, Co-Occurring Drug Usage, Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Administration, Psychophysical Effects, …

Colonial To Neoliberal Governmentality In Monument Governance: Shifting Positionalities Of The Monument Adjacent Communities In India, Ujal Kumar Mookherjee, Shreyasi Bhattacharya

Socio-Legal Review

Organised monument governance in India began during the colonial rule. The colonial governance enterprise was bureaucratic and worked through stringent laws which often came down heavily on the monument-adjacent communities. The totalising nature of Indian colonial governmentality fractured the local community, disabling their engagement with the State either as civil society, as individuals or as social groups, while on the other hand enabling such engagement through a “community” constructed on religious lines. Colonial continuities in monument governance meant that a roughly similar position continued in the post-colony. On the international plane, however, there has been a discursive shift in valorisation …

2026 Umn Morris Student Leader Awards Announced, Communications And Marketing

Campus News Archive

No abstract provided.

Chatgpt, Where Should I Go? A Qualitative Exploration Of How Large Language Models Are Experienced As Support For Travel Planning, Mohammad Amin Kuhail, Asbjørn Følstad, Saifeddin Alimamy

All Works

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used for travel planning. Yet, little is known about how travellers experience and interact with such language models. This qualitative study explores how users employ LLMs to plan trips, drawing on the hedonic/pragmatic model of user experience to examine functional and affective dimensions. We collected data from 104 participants with prior experience using LLMs for travel advice through open-ended questionnaire responses. Thematic analysis revealed three key insights: (1) users value the pragmatic benefits of LLMs, such as efficiency, clarity, and confidence in decision-making, while also appreciating hedonic qualities, including inspiration, enjoyment, and authenticity; (2) …

Acceptance Of Shared Autonomous Vehicles: Exploring The Attitudes And Perspectives Of Older Adults, Sara Sohaee Urbina

Dissertations and Theses

The fast development of autonomous vehicle systems will create major changes in how people move around. Previous research shows that these technologies can benefit older people who struggle with mobility, safety and access to transportation. Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs) enable older people to achieve self-reliance while obtaining essential services which enhance their quality of living. The successful deployment of SAVs requires users to accept this new technology which they must also be willing to use. This research study investigates which elements affect older adults to adopt SAVs by using an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework.

The research design of …

Foundations' Deep, Emily Williams, Morgan Williams

University Honors Theses

Most historic buildings do not survive as they were built, yet preservation frameworks still tend to evaluate them as if they did.

Foundations' Deep begins with a structure located in Helena, Montana 59602, a building that sits uneasily within the categories it has been asked to meet. Built in the early twentieth century, it has persisted through alteration, abandonment, and use. What remains is not a stable artifact but a record of accumulated decisions, some careful and many indifferent, now embedded in the fabric of the building itself.

The thesis grows from this condition and from the limits of the …

Why Are Some Children Under 24 Months Still Undernourished In Urban And Peri-Urban Vientiane? A Mixed-Methods Study, Kethmany Ratsavong, Dirk Essink, Pamela J. Wright Phd, Ms, Med, Rn, Cen, Somphou Sayasone, Sengchanh Kounnavong, Jacqueline E. Broerse

Publications

Child undernutrition remains a significant public health challenge in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs), including Lao PDR, where high levels persist even in urban areas with generally available and accessible food. This study aimed to explore factors underlying the persistently high rates of undernutrition among young children in urban (Saysetha) and peri-urban (Pakgneum) districts of the Vientiane Capital in Lao PDR. A cross-sectional survey employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, combining a structured questionnaire of 333 mother-child pairs for quantitative analysis with semi-structured interviews of 47 caregivers for qualitative insights. The prevalence of malnutrition among children under 24 months …

The Civil Liability Gap For Oil Spills Caused By Non-State Armed Groups: The Case Of The Mv Sounion Tanker In The Red Sea, Emery Hansell

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

On August 21, 2024, the Greek-flagged oil tanker MV SOUNION ("Sounion") was attacked by Houthis as it passed through the Red Sea. The Houthis, a rebel group that controls large swaths of Yemen, then set the ship ablaze, threatening to spill roughly 1 million barrels of crude oil into the water. The cleanup was anticipated to cost $20 billion. The question thus arises: who would—and who should—pay for that cleanup? At the moment, there is no effective solution.

As an initial matter, current international law focuses on State liability and is therefore unlikely to require the Houthis—as a non-State actor—to …

Community-Based Organization Leaders' Perceptions On Efforts To Promote Informal Learning Among Young Low-Income Readers, Virginia S. Rector

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Recommendations For Disclosure Of Artificial Intelligence In Scientific Writing And Publishing: A Regional Anesthesia And Pain Medicine Modified Delphi Study, Michael R Fettiplace, Anuj Bhatia, Yian Chen, Steven L Orebaugh, Michael Gofeld, Rodney A Gabriel, Daniel I Sessler, Hannah Lonsdale, Brittani Bungart, Christopher P Cheng, Garrett W Burnett, Lichy Han, Matthew Wiles, Steve Coppens, Thomas Joseph, Kristin L Schreiber, Thomas Volk, Richard D Urman, Vesela P Kovacheva, Christopher L Wu, Edward R Mariano, Vivian H Y Ip

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the scientific process is advancing at a remarkable speed, thanks to continued innovations in large language models. While AI provides widespread benefits, including editing for fluency and clarity, it also has drawbacks, including fabricated content, perpetuation of bias, and lack of accountability. The editorial board of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine (RAPM) therefore sought to develop best practices for AI usage and disclosure.

Methods: A steering committee from the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine used a modified Delphi process to address definitions, disclosure requirements, authorship standards, and editorial oversight …

Case Study Answers Are Not Elementary: How A Positive Outlier K-5 School Beat The Odds, Douglas Aaron Ferguson

Education Dissertations

There are a limited number of case studies of positive outlier elementary schools, otherwise known as schools that are beating the odds, and more of such studies are needed in order to effectively replicate positive problem-solving solutions. Positive outlier schools and districts, the focus of this dissertation, are those that score significantly above demographically similar schools and districts on standardized state testing. For example, none of the existing case studies highlight organizational culture as a key factor despite the fact that many of the more targeted topically focused studies cite school culture as a top factor. Additionally, the longest running …

Monoclonal Antibodies Targeting Pcdh7 Inhibit Tumor Growth And Enhance Immune Responses In Kras-Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Nicole Novaresi, Poorva Ghosh, Shayna Thomas-Jardin, Hui Deng, Xuejun Fan, Zhiqiang Ku, Wei Xiong, Xiaorong Zhou, Jingfei Zhu, Huiyu Li, Mahesh S Padanad, Bethany Smith, Chul Ahn, John D Minna, Zhiqiang An, Ningyan Zhang, Kathryn A O'Donnell

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

We identified an important oncogenic role for protocadherin 7 (PCDH7), a cell surface protein frequently overexpressed in lung adenocarcinoma and associated with poor clinical outcome. Pcdh7 depletion reduces tumor burden and prolongs survival in KrasLSL-G12D; Tp53fl/fl mice. These findings nominate this cell surface protein as an actionable therapeutic target and highlight the therapeutic potential of PCDH7 inhibition for non–small cell lung cancer. We report the development and characterization of high-affinity anti-PCDH7 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that inhibit downstream mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway activation and suppress tumor growth in multiple mutant KRAS–driven models. A lead mAb (mAb7) sensitized tumors …

Amc-F1 Regulates Mitochondria-Autophagy Crosstalk Independent Of Nutrient Stress, Yuqin Wang, Raksha K Rao, Trung Vu, Ayano Sekine, Zhengmei Mao, Nami Mccarty

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

Mitochondria and autophagy are fundamental yet distinct regulators of cellular homeostasis. Here, we identify AMC-F1 (Autophagy-Mitochondria Coupling Factor 1; formerly TRIM44) as a central integrator of mitochondrial bioenergetics and autophagy. Using Amcf1 knockout and knock-in mouse models, we demonstrate that AMC-F1 bidirectionally regulates these pathways: its loss reduces mitochondrial respiration and autophagic flux, whereas its overexpression promotes mitochondrial elongation and increases autophagy independently of nutrient stress. Transcriptomic analyses reveal AMC-F1-dependent regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis programs that engage autophagy, involving mitochondrial respiratory chain complex genes under basal conditions and mitochondrial organization factors under starvation-induced autophagy. Although dispensable under homeostasis, this coupling …

Chromatin Insulators Homie And Nhomie Can Interact With Distant Copies Either Together Or Separately, With Distinct Outcomes For Enhancer-Promoter Interactions, Miki Fujioka, Wenfan Ke, Paul Schedl, James B. Jaynes

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Chromatin insulators, a.k.a. boundary elements, separate regions of the chromosome with distinct chromatin characteristics, including distinct histone modifications. This activity affects gene expression by allowing chromatin domains to be stably regulated and maintained. Insulators also block enhancer-promoter interactions and, somewhat paradoxically, facilitate other interactions, particularly when they stitch together distant regions of the chromosome by pairing with specific partners. Here we explore how long-range interactions facilitated by insulator pairing are affected by the presence of two potentially competing partners. Our results show that when two partners are present, they can reduce each other's effects on distant gene expression, suggesting that …