Digital Commons Network^™

The Body As Architecture: Reframing Spacesuit Mobility Through Mechanical Counterpressure And Human-Centered Design, Kenza Iddir

RhetTech

For more than 60 years, the spacesuit has served as the single most critical, yet structurally constrained, element of human spaceflight. Its dual identity as both a protective exoskeleton and a life-sustaining pressure shell has shaped the design and performance of every extravehicular activity (EVA) system ever flown. As exploration shifts toward long-duration lunar and Martian missions, the limitations of these traditional “mobile pressure chambers” have become increasingly apparent, particularly in relation to mobility, metabolic cost, and environmental durability. This paper presents the historical evolution of gas-pressurized suits and the constraining biomechanical and material factors since the earliest EVA missions. …

Silence Or Self-Disclosure? Examining The Psychological And Relational Factors Shaping Political Communication Between Gen Z And Their Families, Bradford E. Netherton

Communication (PhD) Dissertations

This dissertation examines the psychological and relational factors shaping political communication between Generation Z and their families. Using Communication Privacy Management (CPM) and Family Communication Patterns (FCP) theories as a dual framework, the study investigates how emotions, relational turbulence, and family orientations influence political self-disclosure during face-to-face gatherings. Data were collected via an online survey of 488 Gen Z participants (ages 18–28) following the 2025 Thanksgiving holiday. The results reveal a critical distinction between negative and positive privacy boundary strength. Negative boundary strength, characterized by defensive and restrictive regulation, was consistently associated with heightened experiences of fear, anger, frustration, and …

2026 Spring Commencement Program, The University Of West Alabama

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Identification Of Shark Size And Species Responsible For Bite Marks On Sarasota Bay Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), Sydney Haas

Theses & ETDs

No abstract provided.

A Step Into The Field Of Education : Sneak Peek Into My Career, Emma Reiser

Theses & ETDs

This senior project explored and reflected on my development as an aspiring educator through academic research and hands-on classroom experience. The goal of this project was to gain a deeper understanding of the teaching profession and to better prepare for a future career in education. To accomplish this, I combined a literature review of key educational concepts with an internship at an elementary school, where I observed and participated in classroom instruction under the guidance of a mentor teacher. The literature review focuses on the foundational components of effective teaching in education, including, teacher responsibilities, classroom management, parent–teacher relationships, pedagogy …

The Dual Erosion Of Political Identity: Nationalism And Cosmopolitianism In Transition, Jaylen Turner

Theses & ETDs

This thesis examines how nationalism and cosmopolitanism have changed as political identities under intensified globalization, treating them not as opposites but as overlapping, variably activated networks of belonging. Drawing on constructivist theory and debates on universalism, it analyzes World Values Survey data from Waves 5–7 (2005–2022) using repeated-measures ANOVAs on indicators such as national pride, willingness to fight for one’s country, national-citizenship identification, immigration attitudes, world-citizen identification, cross-national trust, and confidence in the United Nations. The findings show a dual erosion of both national and world-citizen identifications in the late 2010s and early 2020s, alongside stable or improving pragmatic orientations …

Digital Orientalism: Examining Eastern Practices In The Wellness Industry, Celia Golden

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

As popularity rises for global and domestic wellness retreats as tourist destinations, their predominantly Western audience invites an American offshoot of Orientalism that commodifies Asian names and practices into “mindfulness.” This paper examines the guest guide of the Miraval Berkshires wellness facility and its treatment of Eastern practices. Findings revealed 55.6% of the specialists at the Miraval Berkshires employ Eastern techniques, and 74.14% of those offerings are restricted to paid and private sessions to create exclusivity. The word “ancient” is disproportionately leveled against Eastern practices in the guest guide to further cement them as relics of the past. Alongside minimalist …

Geospatial Science And The Changing Environment: Applied Methods For Sustainable Agriculture And Landscape Management, Harrison Wakefield Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rapid environmental change is disrupting agricultural productivity, ecological function, and the long-term resilience of managed landscapes. At the same time, the rapid growth of geospatial data science has improved our understanding of environmental change and increasingly is being used to improve sustainability in agricultural and environmental management. However, critical gaps remain that limit the applicability of data-driven insights in landscape management. This dissertation investigates the potential of geospatial analytics for sustainable agriculture and landscape management, with a focus on applied methods that operate across spatial and temporal scales. Using field, landscape, regional, and national datasets, it explores the capabilities and …

Fixing Wages In The Name Of Training: Residency Programs And The Forgotten Antitrust Question, Yousef Ziyadi

Barry Law Review

No abstract provided.

Patient Privacy In The Digital Age: Reimagining Health Data Laws To Protect Patients’ Constitutional Rights, Adriana Almeida Mehtani

Barry Law Review

No abstract provided.

Association Between Cholinesterase Inhibitor-Overactive Bladder Antimuscarinic Prescribing Cascade And Risk Of Delirium And Falls Among Individuals Living With Dementia, Sarah Beth Tucker, Bryan L. Love Pharm D., Chijoke M. Okeke, Erin D. Zwick, Chengwen Teng Pharm.D., Ph.D., Jingkai Wei, Ibraheem M. Karaye, Saud Alsahali, Krithika Rajagopalan, Ismaeel Yunusa Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Background

Prescribing cascades occur when cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI)-induced urinary incontinence is misinterpreted as a new condition, leading to overactive bladder (OAB) antimuscarinic initiation. We evaluated whether the ChEI-OAB antimuscarinic prescribing cascade was associated with delirium or falls compared with mirabegron in older adults living with dementia.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Anlitiks All-Payor Claims database (2015–2020). Participants were adults aged ≥ 65 years with dementia newly prescribed a ChEI with no prior ChEI or OAB therapy (180 days). A 60-day window identified OAB treatment initiation after ChEI therapy. Exposures were OAB antimuscarinics or mirabegron. Outcomes were …

Alexa Johnson Honors Portfolio, Alexa K. Johnson

Honors Capstone Portfolios

Alexa Johnson's honors capstone portfolio captured in May 2026.

Jenna Shoultz-Thao Honors Portfolio, Jenna Shoultz-Thao

Honors Capstone Portfolios

Jenna Shoultz-Thao's honors capstone portfolio captured in May 2026.

Beyond Student Voice: The Agency Blueprint For Democratic Inquiry And Creative Problem Solving, Noam Oren

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The purpose of this Master of Science project in Creativity and Change Leadership is to establish a foundational framework for schools to cultivate a climate that empowers students to act and create within their communities. The primary contribution is the Agency Blueprint, a scalable model designed to adapt to diverse educational settings. By synthesizing the four-stage Creative Problem Solving (CPS) framework with Democratic pedagogy, the blueprint—supported by the Lundy Model and the REAL framework—provides the necessary scaffolding for students to transition from passive subjects to active agents of change. Whether implemented for a small cohort or a larger student body, …

Future Ready Young Adults: Building Creative And Adaptive Thinkers, Robell Yeung

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Abstract of Project

Future Ready Young Adults: Building Creative and Adaptive Thinkers addresses a developmental gap in educational practices that prioritize technical proficiency over the psychological frameworks necessary for navigating systemic ambiguity. This project introduces an interdisciplinary, modular curriculum specifically designed for the challenges of emerging adulthood. By synthesizing Creative Problem Solving (CPS), James Clear’s habit architecture, and Martin Seligman’s PERMA model, the curriculum provides a structured pathway for cultivating creative self-efficacy and financial capability. Moving beyond traditional views of innate creativity, this model employs asset-based frameworks to treat cognitive agility and ambiguity tolerance as developable competencies. The project culminates …

Cultivating Well-Being & Vibrant Futures Through Creativity: A Community-Based Library Initiative In Rural America, Alyssa M. Bump

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Cultivating Well-Being & Vibrant Futures Through Creativity: A Community-Based Library Initiative in Rural America presents the development and design of a creativity-based community program for public libraries in Allegany County, New York. Developed in partnership with the Allegany County Area Foundation (ACAF), this project aims to foster creativity as a tool for well-being, connection, and future-oriented thinking for adults in a rural context.

The program consists of a three-session series that integrate elements of Creative Problem-Solving (CPS), mindfulness, and creative well-being practices to support creative self-efficacy. Designed utilizing the Torrance Incubation Model of Teaching and Learning (TIM), each session aims …

Impacts And Perceptions Of Holistic Education Practices, Kaitlyn Mj Calabrese

Leadership Education Capstones

This study examined educators' perceptions of holistic education and its impact on students. It

addressed the problem of the limited emphasis on developing the whole student within

traditional education systems, despite its importance for long-term success. Developing students

holistically involves not only focusing on academic skills but also on non-academic skills such as

social-emotional development, community building, communication, and collaboration. This

mixed-methods study used an online survey administered through Qualtrics consisting of 24

questions, including Likert scale and open-ended items. The survey was completed by 12

educators from a school that has grades 1 through 4. in Southeast Minnesota. Qualitative …

Art, Ethics, And Identity - The Paper Doll As Spiritual Care, Ellen Keyser, Sarah L. Keyser

Presentations

The effects of expressive art and spiritual care are known to be especially beneficial when placed in conversation with each other or implemented in interdisciplinary settings. Yet despite the therapeutic effects of integrative care being well established, the average pediatric chaplain often remains unempowered to implement these practices or to communicate their value from both a social-emotional or moral-spiritual standpoint. The hope of this workshop is to empower the chaplain to engage with expressive modalities of art as part of a comprehensive spiritual care plan, recognizing both art and play as native languages of childhood. Participants will practice creating a …

Genome-Wide Phenotypic Characterization Of Mycobacteriophage Mercurio, Tyler Downs

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Bacteriophages, or phages, are being piloted as a supplemental or alternative therapeutic to antibiotics against drug-resistant Mycobacterium pathogens, such as M. tuberculosis, which pose a global public health crisis.  Characterizing bacteriophage genomes can provide insights into efficacy in phage therapy before implementation or elucidate new targets to manipulate bacterial growth.  Overexpression of individual phage genes is useful to study a gene product’s function independent of others.  Here, the results of phage Mercurio plasmid library overexpression in plate-based assays are described.  Mercurio infects nonpathogenic Mycobacterium smegmatis and is genetically related to bacteriophages infecting pathogenic Mycobacterium species.  Eleven gene products of …

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection In Postpartum: A Hidden Cause Of Maternal Myocardial Infarction, Riya Chhabra, Brian Renard

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a tear in the coronary artery lining which decreases blood flow to the heart. SCAD is the leading cause of myocardial infarction in young to middle aged women, especially during and after pregnancy. While SCAD is often managed conservatively, patients are prone to complications like cardiomyopathy. This case underscores the importance of considering SCAD as a differential for postpartum women with chest pain. Furthermore, this case highlights the diagnosis and management of an atypical stress-induced cardiomyopathy with global hypokinesis following postpartum SCAD. A 37-year-old female postpartum for five weeks presented to our hospital with …

Anaerobic Co-Digestion Of Goat Manure With Rice Residue To Maximize Biomethane Recovery, Mahmoud Nabil Soliman

All Theses

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a widely adopted waste‑management technology and a key process for renewable energy production in the form of biogas. Manures, such as goat manure (GM), often exhibit low carbon‑to‑nitrogen (C/N) ratios, which may limit biogas recovery. This study evaluated and optimized the anaerobic co‑digestion of GM with rice husk (RH) and rice straw (RS) across varying substrate proportions (0–100% GM). Goat manure was collected from the International Goat Research Center at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), while RH and RS were obtained from Gulf Pacific Co. (Houston, TX), and the inoculum was sourced from the PVAMU wastewater …

The Effect Of Two Desensitizing Agents In Treatment Of Dentin Hypersensitivity In Cervical Lesions (A Randomized Clinical Trial), Hend Sayed Ahmed, Mohamed Fouad Haridy, Hoda Fouda, Sara Katarya, Youssef M. Haridy

Dentistry

No abstract provided.

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Associated Perioptic Neuritis, Neud Kiros, Alina Sinha, Anant Krishnan

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Clinical History A 47-year-old male with history of stage IV gastric cancer on nivolumab presented with blurry vision worse at close distances. Binocular horizontal diplopia was found on exam. Fundus exam demonstrated 4+ disc edema and hemorrhage bilaterally. Recent head MRI was negative for leptomeningeal enhancement. MR venogram and MRI orbits with contrast were ordered as well as lumbar puncture. The patient’s next dose of immunotherapy was held. Opening pressure was normal, and MRV showed no evidence of dural sinus thrombosis. MRI of the orbits was positive for perioptic neuritis bilaterally, and the patient was started on a steroid taper …

An Economic Analysis Of Sustainability Efforts In The Personal Care And Cosmetics Industry, Anna Briscoe

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses

Sustainability has become a topic of interest in the personal care and cosmetic industry due to current climate crises and increased consumer awareness. While many definitions of sustainability exist, this paper focuses on sustainability from economic, environmental, and societal perspectives. In recent years, interest in understanding how sustainability efforts impact consumer’s willingness to pay and a firm’s long term success has grown. This research paper examines current sustainability efforts from top firms in the industry, changes in consumer behavior, and the potential economic long term benefits and drawbacks of these efforts. iv

Influence Of Asd On Morality, Spencer Brown

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses

Autism is known as a developmental disorder that incurs a social skills deficit on those that have it. This social skills deficit has been proposed to affect further aspects of autistic people’s psychology such as empathy and morality. Studies using the moral stages theory of development have found that those with autism are deficient in these proposed social skills. However, further research into how morality and empathy, as well as the results of experiments looking into morality in autistic populations, have brought the accuracy of moral reasoning into doubt. In the present paper, we review the literature on how empathy, …

Between The One And The Many: Considering Community And Individualism - Opening Essay, John Schmalzbauer

eJournal of Public Affairs

This issue had its genesis thirty years ago at a campus lecture, a lecture that helped launch Missouri State University’s public affairs mission. Speaking on the “moral crisis in American public life,” sociologist Robert Bellah criticized the toxic individualism of the global elite, calling for a renewed commitment to the common good. Addressing an audience of 1,700 students, faculty, and local residents, Bellah ignited a community-wide discussion that reverberated across university classrooms, Ozarks congregations, and in the pages of the Springfield News-Leader.

Bellah’s questions remain no less relevant today: How can we balance individualism with our shared commitments? How …

Are We Still Bowling Alone – Part I: Religious Communities, Nancy T. Ammerman

eJournal of Public Affairs

Editor’s note. The following is based on a panel session from the 2024 Public Affairs Conference, presented by Nancy Ammerman, Harry Bruinius, and Kenneth Woodward. The panel was a reflection on what has happened since authors Robert Putnam and Robert Bellah issued warnings on the decline of community in America.

Aggregation And Collation Of Texas Crayfish Museum Specimens To Determine Their Current Conservation Statuses, Adrian Alvarez

Biology Theses

Crayfish account for over half of the macroinvertebrate biomass in many ecosystems and serve as crucial bioindicators because of their behavioral and physiological adaptability to environmental changes. Despite being home to approximately 52 native crayfish species, Texas currently lacks protective regulations. This gap is primarily because of insufficient information regarding their distribution and occurrences within the state, including their statuses as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). This study focuses on compiling and comparing crayfish museum records with current iNaturalist field survey data across Texas to address these knowledge gaps and recommend updates to SGCN statuses. Five species not currently …

Dungeons And Dragons As Game-Based Learning, Moses Allen

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This phenomenological qualitative study explored the use of the Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) Role-Playing Game as a Game-Based Learning (GBL) model, measuring middle school student perceptions of engagement, motivation, and skill development through interactive storytelling. The study used a Practitioner Research theoretical framework and Thematic Analysis to identify emergent themes from the collected data. The study included gameplay of D&D after school with a small group of participants grades 6-8. Results indicated that participants reported consistently high levels of motivation and engagement. Participants perceived that D&D gameplay promoted the development of 21st Century Skills and middle school curricula skills, specifically …

Quantitative Genetics, Genomics, And Phenomics In Maize And Sorghum, Nikee Shrestha

Complex Biosystems Program: Dissertations and Student Research

Generating the best crop varieties and hybrids requires identifying genes associated with the phenotype of interest and screening thousands of varieties across multiple locations. Quantitative genetics, along with comparative genomics, phenomics, and machine learning approaches, can help us identify target genes associated with the phenotype of interest to develop the right genotypes. Satellite platforms offer logistical and technical advantages in scalability and accessibility and could facilitate plot-level predictions, especially with steadily improving spatial resolution, thereby empowering the large-scale screening of thousands of genotypes across diverse locations. In the first chapter, I evaluated over 20,000 plot-level images of over 80 hybrid …