Digital Commons Network^™

Surgical Repair Of An Atypical Midsubstance Distal Biceps Tendon Partial Tear: A Case Report, Michael M. Valenzuela, Genoveffa R. Morway, Christopher M. Jones

Orthopedic Surgery Resident Research

[No abstract available]

Pseudoachondroplasia, A Case Report (Preprint), Alec J. Pupo, Connor J. Stinson, Autumn Dye

Internal Medicine Resident Research

No abstract available.

Wearable-Derived Heart Rate Variability Reveals Autonomic Dysfunction In Schizophrenia (Preprint), Alec J. Pupo, Stephanie H. Felgoise

Internal Medicine Resident Research

Autonomic dysfunction has long been implicated in schizophrenia, yet objective physiological markers remain underutilized in psychiatric research. Heart rate variability (HRV), a noninvasive measure of autonomic regulation, is conventionally derived from short electrocardiographic recordings. In this study, we tested whether continuous, wearable-derived HRV can identify physiologic alterations in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Using the NIH All of Us database, we analyzed second-level Fitbit heart rate data from 26 individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum diagnoses and 26 matched controls. Frequency-domain analyses focused on ultra-low frequency (ULF), very low frequency (VLF), and truncated low frequency (tLF) bands, given sampling constraints. Schizophrenia participants showed significantly reduced power …

Elevated Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte Ratios In Schizophrenia: Insights From A Precision Medicine Cohort (Preprint), Alec J. Pupo, Connor J. Stinson, Chinwendu Madukwe, Stephanie H. Felgoise

Internal Medicine Resident Research

Systemic inflammation has been increasingly implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a readily available marker of systemic inflammation, has not been thoroughly investigated in large, demographically-matched schizophrenia cohorts. Using data from the All of Us Research Program, we analyzed participants with schizophrenia (n = 396) matched to controls (n = 396) by sex, race, and age. NLR was calculated as the ratio of each participant’s median neutrophil count to median lymphocyte count across all available measurements, excluding extreme values (NLR > 7). Distribution normality was assessed using the Shapiro–Wilk test, and group differences were evaluated with the …

Town Of Sugar Hill, New Hampshire 63rd Annual Report Year Ending December 31, 2024, Sugar Hill Town Representatives

Sugar Hill, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Annual Reports Of The Selectboard And Other Town Officers, Charlestown, N.H., For The Year Ending December 31, 2024, Charlestown Town Representatives

Charlestown, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

2024 Milton Annual Town Report, Milton Town Representatives

Milton, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

"I Always Thought That I Could Be Both Gay And Religious, But I Am Not So Sure Anymore": A Conversation Of The Lived Experiences Of Gay Men At Religious Institutions, Christopher Smith

Dissertations of Practice

This Dissertation of Practice explores how gay men navigate their identities while attending religiously conservative colleges and universities. These institutions often create conflict between students’ sexual identities and their faith before college life. Rather than focus on the voids or deficit, this study focused on how students are able to feel a sense of belonging through each other, even when support form Faculty and Staff is not always present. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, this study examines how interactions at multiple levels—from peers and faculty to institutional policies and broader society—play an impact in their college experience.

Using a …

Leading Transition: How Special Education Directors Make Meaning Of Their Leadership In Advancing Pathways To Employment, Deanna Gill

Dissertations of Practice

LEADING TRANSITION: HOW SPECIAL EDUCATION DIRECTORS MAKE MEANING OF THEIR LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCING PATHWAYS TO EMPLOYMENT

Dede Gill, Ed.D.

Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations

Northern Illinois University, 2025 Kelly Summers, Co-Director Alexios Rosario-Moore, Co-Director

Despite decades of legislative reform and an expanding body of research on effective transition practices, students with disabilities continue to experience disproportionately poor post-school employment outcomes when compared to their non-disabled peers. Nationally, individuals with disabilities are employed at approximately half the rate of those without disabilities, and their poverty rates remain substantially higher. These outcomes persist even as federal and state mandates such …

New Graduate Nurse Professional Perseverance Strategies In A Time Of Crisis, Jennifer E. Smith Edd

Dissertations of Practice

This qualitative grounded theory study examined how new graduate nurses who entered practice just prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic developed and sustained resilience while navigating extraordinary professional and personal challenges. The study focused on associate degree nurses who graduated between December 2018 and May 2022 and were employed in acute and sub-acute care settings with direct patient care responsibilities, including the care of patients with COVID-19. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and reflective journal entries and analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding.

Findings revealed that resilience was not a static characteristic but an evolving process influenced …

Digital Community Policing: Using Social Media To Engage Students And Enhance Campus Safety, Dathan C. Jackson

Dissertations of Practice

Campus police increasingly rely on social media to reach students, yet little is known about how these efforts influence trust, collaboration, and perceptions of safety. This qualitative case study examined how one public research university’s police department uses social media to support community-policing goals. Data came from student interviews, departmental policy analysis, and a review of social media content.

Findings showed three central patterns. First, top-down, compliance-oriented messaging limited connection and failed to meet students’ expectations for open, two-way communication. Second, consistent and authentic engagement, online and in person, helped build shared responsibility and strengthened trust in campus safety efforts. …

From Marginality To Mattering: A Narrative Inquiry Into International Student Involvement In Higher Education, Nehemiah Jiyong Chung

Dissertations of Practice

From Marginality to Mattering: A Narrative Inquiry into International Student Involvement in Higher Education

International students contribute to the campus community through diversity, cultural aspects and to the local economy within the university community. However, they often face unique challenges to their involvement which leads to feelings of marginality and impacting their sense of belonging. Using Schlossberg’s theory of Marginality and Mattering, this narrative inquiry explored the lived experiences of international students in seeking involvement opportunities at mid to large public university in the Midwest of the United States. This study highlighted international students’ reflections on their initial attempts to …

“No Regrets, Just Adjustments”: The Role Of Mental Health Services In Redefining Community College Student Success, Leslie Wester

Dissertations of Practice

Mental health concerns have gained attention over the years especially with college students. As mental health concerns grow, mental health services have been increasing made available to students in community colleges in many areas of the United States. In Illinois, the Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act was implemented in 2020 to ensure services are available to students.

With more community college students utilizing mental health services, what influence do those services have on students’ personal higher education journeys, specifically the goals that they have regarding their own success? How do these goals align with community college indicators of …

Exploring The Relationship Between Margin In Life And Preferred Enrollment Status Of Adult Learners In Nursing Programs, Katherine Hodur

Dissertations of Practice

ABSTRACT

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARGIN IN LIFE AND PREFERRED ENROLLMENT STATUS OF ADULT LEARNERS IN NURSING PROGRAMS

Katherine Quintana Hodur, Ed.D.

Department of Counseling and Higher Education

Northern Illinois University, 2025

Gudrun Nyunt, Director

As the nursing shortage in the United States continues, there is an urgent need to graduate more registered nurses. Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs within community colleges play an important role in addressing this shortage by offering a more affordable option compared to traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs. As more adult learners seek out nursing as a new career, ADN programs …

Beyond Grit: Structural Determinants Of Resilience Among College Women With Children In The U.S., Juliana Kahrs

Dissertations of Practice

This critical quantitative analysis explores how social determinants of health, including basic needs security, caregiving and work responsibilities, healthcare access, discrimination experiences, and institutional support predict resilience among U.S. college women with dependents. Using data from the Spring 2021 ACHA-NCHA III survey (n = 4,417), this study integrated the Health Equity Framework with the Social Ecological Theory of Resilience to examine multilevel influences on resilience. Descriptive analyses highlighted disproportionate burdens among single, first-generation, and racially minoritized groups. Bivariate chi-square tests revealed significant associations between resilience and sense of belonging, basic needs security, employment, healthcare utilization, and self-assessed overall health. Multinomial …

Internal And External Motivational Factors Affecting High School Students' Career And Technical Education Course Selection, Joseph Bruno

Dissertations of Practice

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the roles self-efficacy, expected outcomes, personal goals, and social influences play in high school students’ career and technical education (CTE) course selection. Grounded in social cognitive career theory, this dissertation explored how self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, personal goals, and social influences shaped students' decisions to enroll in specific CTE courses. The dissertation was completed in three parts. Following an introduction, Part 1 is an in-depth literature review on what CTE is and its history, a background on social cognitive theory, social influences, self-efficacy beliefs, and expected outcomes and personal goals. Part 2 …

Nourishing Flourishing: Elevating Elementary Educator Jouissance, Julie T. Siemianowski

Dissertations of Practice

This study was conducted, predicated on the following theories: Nel Noddings’s ethics of care, Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory (social cognitive theory), and positive psychology’s Martin Seligman’s PERMA (well-being). For the purposes of this study, Seligman’s PERMA (positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment) theory encompasses both Kerry Howells’ gratitude and David Chan’s gratitude and subjective well-being. Qualitative methodology, specifically, the combination of narrative inquiry and case study guided and informed my data collection. Through semi-structured interviews and story-telling, teachers and literacy leaders shared their stories of external distressers and internal factors contributing to their professional jouissance or lack thereof.

Key words: …

Southeast South Dakota Experiment Farm Annual Progress Report, 2025, Southeast South Dakota Research Farm

Agricultural Experiment Station and Research Farm Annual Reports

This is an annual report of the research program at the Southeast South Dakota Research Farm in cooperation with the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and the SDSU College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences and has special significance for those engaged in agriculture and the agriculturally related businesses in the ten-county area of Southeast South Dakota. The results shown are not necessarily complete or conclusive. Interpretations given are tentative because additional data resulting from the continuation of these experiments may result in conclusions different from those based on any one year.

Defining Leadership, Kathleen O'Loughlin Dmd, Mph

Journal of the American College of Dentists

Great leaders possess positive core values that extend trust and inspire people to follow and achieve common goals. Leadership skills can be learned, and it is a lifelong process for most people. Communicate carefully, be self-aware, be kind, admit mistakes, self-assess, be emotionally intelligent, accept help, learn from the best, and do not fear conflict. Leaders can manage it!

Summary Of: Ai Diabetic Retinopathy Screening In A Primary Care Setting In Rural Maine, Rachel Heuer Md, Emma Daybranch Mph, Anastasia Tsomides Do, Jessica F. Dibiase Mph, Neil Korsen Md, Brian Nolan Md

Northern New England Clinical & Translational Research

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness globally. Early diagnosis and treatment reduce the risk of vision loss by 98%.

Study found @ "AI Diabetic Retinopathy Screening in a Primary Care Setting in Rural M" by Rachel Heuer, Emma DayBranch et al.

Red Light! Green Light! An Analytic Frame & Learning Device For Race Talk, Ashley Carey, Hilary Lustick, James Noonan, Peter Piazza

Education Faculty Publications

Predominantly White educator groups often struggle to talk about race, even when that is their explicit aim. This study examines conversational patterns in one district’s antiracist book study to explore how individual comments promote or obstruct racial dialogue. We find that contributions that blocked race talk (what we call red lights) dominated discussions, reinforcing norms of race avoidance, while those that opened and encouraged race talk (what we call green lights) were rare. We use these terms to structure our analysis and propose them as a framework to help educators identify and disrupt race-avoidant conversational patterns to encourage racial literacy …

Maine State Franco-American Hall Of Fame Inductees, State Of Maine, Franco-American Collection, University Of Southern Maine

Maine State Franco-American Hall of Fame

A list of Maine State Franco-American Hall of Fame recipients, 2002-2025.

The document features inductee bios and relevant links.

Eviction Court In Multnomah County: Improved Legal Outcomes For Tenants Amidst Rising Eviction Filings, Alex Farrington, Lisa K. Bates, Colleen Carroll, Yi Wang, Azad Amir-Ghassemi, Minji Cho, Natalie J. Cholula, Andrew Lindstrom

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

To examine how court processes at the Multnomah County Circuit Court impact tenants, our team conducted a series of court observations at the downtown courthouse between October and December 2023. In particular, we examined how the court handled the increasing size of eviction dockets during this period, the availability of legal assistance and other onsite services for tenants, the court’s implementation of new rules from Oregon House Bill 2001 (HB 2001), and any changes HB 2001 had on eviction case outcomes in Multnomah County. From our court observations, we found that high-volume eviction dockets were handled in a way that …

"Where Will My Family Go?" The Financial, Housing, And Health Challenges Of Families Facing Eviction, Natalie J. Cholula, Alex Farrington, Lisa K. Bates, Marisa A. Zapata, Jacen Greene

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

To better understand how eviction affects families with children, the Evicted in Oregon team conducted focus groups with 74 tenants from Baker, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, and Washington counties in Oregon. During focus group discussions, we asked participants whether they had children in the household at the time of eviction and how it impacted them. Parents reported that their children’s well-being was their main concern during the eviction process. They also described how eviction led to disruptions in their children’s education, health and medical treatments, and living arrangements. Based on our findings, we provide a set of policy and program …

Understanding The Challenges And Satisfaction Among The Medical Professional Preceptors, Cornelia Ko

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This study evaluates the Penn Medicine Family Medicine Clerkship program through a mixed-methods approach, exploring the challenges and factors influencing the satisfaction of medical professional preceptors when precepting students. A quantitative survey with 54 preceptor participants reveals the top challenges preceptors face: workload, conflicts with patient care, and limited clinical space. Despite this, there is strong support for the program, with 89% of preceptors enjoying the role and 85% expressing willingness to continue to precept for the next three years. Finally, data analysis shows no statistical correlation between preceptor motivation with gender, ethnicity, age group, years of serving, or total …

Infant Health Equity In Oklahoma: A Mixed-Methods Exploration Of Personal, Organizational, Environmental, And Policy Factors Contributing To Black Infant Mortality, Ayesha M. Lampkins

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Black women experience higher rates of adverse birth outcomes, including infant mortality. There is a gap in the literature on multilevel strategies to achieve infant health equity and engage Black women. This study is unique in that no others have looked at the views of Oklahoma Black women to inform and address infant health equity strategies and utilize these views to provide context to existing infant mortality data. The study research questions are: 1) What views on infant health equity and infant mortality are held by Black women in Oklahoma? 2) What differences exist between Black and White mothers in …

Developing A Collaborative Governance Framework For Hazard Mitigation Project Management: A Grounded Theory Approach Using Social Network Analysis, Kara R. Buckmaster

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

As time passes and risk increases, the need for effective hazard mitigation is becoming more critical for communities to build resilience against future disasters. This study utilized a grounded theory approach to identify the actors involved in a network for hazard mitigation project development and implementation at the local level, what challenges these networks face, and what factors help them succeed. Local hazard mitigation program managers across the United States were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews to share their experiences. Qualitative analysis of participant responses and social network analysis were conducted to build visual models of the local networks …

Secondary Teachers' Perceptions Of Social Emotional Learning: A Mixed Methods Study, Ryan Taylor

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

The mental health needs of adolescents continue to rise, and there is consensus within the literature that universal promotion of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in schools is one way to improve student well-being (Vetter et al., 2024). Teachers play an important role in the success of new Social Emotional Learning (SEL) initiatives, yet their voices appear to be missing from the literature. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to dig deeper into the landscape of SEL in secondary classrooms in Pennsylvania. Participants included 63 secondary teachers who completed a survey, with nine of those teachers participating in one-on-one …

The Impact Of Structured Weekend Group Therapy On Restraints, Seclusion And Length Of Stay On Inpatient Psychiatric Units, Victoria Grau

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Group therapy is an essential part of inpatient psychiatric treatment, with documented positive effects including better medication compliance, lower readmission rate, and improved self- esteem. Patients who are admitted for an inpatient psychiatric stay have a small window of time in which behavioral health staff can work with them. Group therapy can help patients develop a plan for these issues and provide a foundation for successful discharge and symptom management. The project site is a mid-size teaching hospital in an urban community with higher rates of mental health diagnoses than the national average. Group therapy was conducted initially Monday – …

Screening For Relative Energy Deficiency In Sport (Reds) And The Female Athlete Triad In Female Undergraduate Collegiate Athletes: A Quality Improvement Project, Maria A. Marziano

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This quality improvement (QI) project investigated female collegiate athletes’ knowledge and prevalence of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) and the Female Athlete Triad (Triad). The increase in female athletics brings a growing concern for performance-related health risks, including low energy availability (LEA), menstrual dysfunction, and low bone mineral density (BMD). This study assessed the effectiveness of education and self-screening in identifying at-risk athletes and encouraging resource application for intervention. A mixed-methods design was employed, utilizing retrospective data along with pre- and post-intervention surveys. The study involved 33 female collegiate athletes from lean endurance sports, assessing knowledge, risk factors, and …