Digital Commons Network^™

“School’S Not For Me. I Don't Belong In School.”: Students With Dis/Abilities’ Perspectives On Special Education During State Intervention, Leila E. Parks

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study presents the lived experiences of 10 racialized teens with dis/abilities who received special education services in the Boston Public Schools during state intervention. As a youth participatory action research collective, the young people in the study’s Youth with Dis/Abilities Research Group explored issues of inclusion and exclusion, ableism, racism, and safety at school. The project was framed by dis/ability critical race studies, incorporating aspects of critical race theory and disability studies in education. Based on stories expressed through free-writes, poetry, drawings, interviews, and group conversations, the racialized teens with dis/abilities shared negative school experiences overall. Though most …

Innovating A Crustacean Embryo Toxicity (Cet) Assay For Screening Environmental Contaminants, Irina A. Polunina-Proulx

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Environmental pollutants can disrupt normal developmental processes, leading to neurobehavioral and developmental abnormalities. Toxicity tests are important for evaluating environmental contaminants; however, standard assays are often time- and cost-intensive and typically require large numbers of vertebrate animals. These limitations highlight the need to reduce reliance on vertebrate testing and to develop New Approach Methodologies that provide comparable results while improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness. This research utilizes a novel screening assay to evaluate developmental toxicity using Hyalella azteca. H. azteca is a freshwater amphipod widely used as a model organism for sediment toxicity in ecotoxicology, yet its embryos have been minimally …

Understanding Factors Influencing Multiple Tobacco Product Use Among Adolescents In Thailand: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach, Chaowalit Srisoem

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Tobacco use among Thai adolescents is shaped by personal, environmental, and product-related factors. However, the pathways linking these influences to actual behavior remain unclear. This study examined how personal, environmental, and product-related factors, along with intentions to use, relate to tobacco use among Thai adolescents. A cross-sectional secondary analysis was conducted using data from the 2022 Thailand Global Youth Tobacco Survey of 6,235 students aged 13–15 years. Survey weights methods were applied to produce nationally representative estimates. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling assessed latent constructs, and multinomial logistic regression examined predictors of single, dual, and multiple product use. …

Dynamics Of Swimming Microorganisms At Structured Liquid Crystal Interfaces, Vajra Sabhapathy Badha

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Active matter systems are self-driven units that consume energy to generate motion and mechanical stresses, producing non-equilibrium states of broad physical significance. Examples include synthetic microswimmers and migrating cells. Motile bacteria are a widely studied biological example because their self-propelled motion, hydrodynamic interactions, and collective organization are strongly coupled to local environmental conditions. Their swimming is sensitive to interfacial viscoelasticity, ordering, confinement, and hydrodynamic boundary effects, making them useful for investigating how interfaces regulate active biological motion. Because bacterial accumulation and attachment at interfaces are central to colonization and biofilm formation, these interactions are relevant to both active matter physics …

Nihilistic Violence Aesthetics In Public Online Communication, Heath Nicholas Landress

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Public online communication has increasingly included violence-related content that is meme-based, ironic, visually stylized, multimodal, and only partially ideological. This comprehensive literature review synthesized research on online extremism, extremist memes, toxic multimodal content, dehumanizing digital communication, nihilistic violent extremism, warning behaviors, platform affordances, and youth-facing online environments. The purpose was to clarify what the literature had established; identify where the scholarship remained fragmented; and map research domains relevant to social, behavioral, public safety, and human services scholarship. The review used a structured, comprehensive literature review strategy supported by integrative synthesis procedures. The final corpus contained 34 scholarly sources, including 32 …

Principals’ Experiences With Implementation Practices For School Board Policies In An Urban School District, Andrea J. Richardson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Effective policy implementation is crucial for improving educational outcomes and ensuring equitable learning environments. While existing literature has shown that policy implementation is influenced by factors such as leadership capacity, stakeholder engagement, communication, resource availability, organization context, and accountability, there is little known about how K-12 urban principals narrate, interpret, and make meaning of their experiences to implementing board-mandated policies. This study addressed this gap by exploring how principals in an urban school district in Ohio navigated the complexities of implementing school board policies amid resource limitations, stakeholder resistance, and accountability pressures. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry study …

Re: 2nd Quarter 2026 – Interim Site-Wide Surface Water Monitoring Data Report Silver Bow Creek Butte Area Npl Site, Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Consent Decree-Civil Action No. Cv 89-039-Bu-She, Josh Bryson

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Draft Final Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Unreclaimed Sites: Ur-35 Construction Completion Report (Ccr), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

The purpose of this Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU) Unreclaimed (UR) Sites Construction Completion Report (CCR) is to describe the tasks completed as described in the Final BPSOU UR Sites: UR-35 Remedial Action Work Plan (RAWP) (referred to herein as RAWP; Atlantic Richfield Company, 2025) (Appendix A). This CCR was prepared to outline Remedial Action (RA) tasks performed at the UR source area, UR-35, within the BPSOU (referred to herein as UR-35 Site or Site) as part of the Further Remedial Elements Scope of Work described in the BPSOU Consent Decree (EPA, 2020). All work was completed according to …

Gamclust: Identification Of Regulated Metabolic Modules In Bulk, Single Cell And Spatial Gene Expression Data, Anastasiia Gainullina, Evgeniia Chikina, Maxim N Artyomov, Alexey Sergushichev

2020-Current year OA Pubs

MOTIVATION: Metabolism operates as a highly interconnected biochemical network, and its regulation emerges from coordinated changes across many reactions and metabolites. The integration of gene expression profiling data with organism-scale metabolic networks has proven to be a valuable tool for understanding cellular metabolic regulation. However, the increasing complexity of profiling technologies and experimental designs requires the development of specialized tools.

RESULTS: Here, we present GAMclust, an R package implementing and extending the previously published GAM-clustering pipeline for identifying transcriptionally regulated metabolic modules in complex gene expression datasets. GAMclust supports bulk, single-cell, and spatial gene expression profiling. It includes built-in KEGG …

Searching The Druggable Genome Using Large Language Models, Lars Schimmelpfennig, Matthew Cannon, Quentin Cody, Joshua Mcmichael, Adam C Coffman, Susanna Kiwala, Kilannin Krysiak, Alex H Wagner, Malachi Griffith, Obi L Griffith

2020-Current year OA Pubs

SUMMARY: The druggable genome encompasses the genes that are known or predicted to interact with drugs. The Drug-Gene Interaction Database (DGIdb) provides an integrated resource for discovering and contextualizing these interactions, supporting a broad range of research and clinical applications. DGIdb is currently accessed through structured web interfaces and API calls, requiring users to translate natural-language questions into database-specific query patterns. To allow for the use of DGIdb through natural language, we developed the DGIdb Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, which allows large language models (LLMs) access to up-to-date information through the DGIdb API. We demonstrate that the MCP server …

A Novel Approach For Evaluating And Comparing Multiple Antipsychotic Polypharmacy In Adults Across Specialist Intellectual Disability Services In England And Wales: A Retrospective Feasibility Cohort Study, Samuel J. Tromans, Helen Neilens, Crispin Musicha, Victoria Allgar, Emily Stanyard, Richard Laugharne, Paula Mcgowan, Angela Hassiotis, Sarah Lennard, Lance V. Watkins, Bhathika Perera, Kiran Purandare, Ashok Roy, Indermeet Sawhney, Sujeet Jaydeokar, Ryan Ashford, Chris Rollinson, Hanna Abraham, Nusra Khodabux, Ogheneochuko Akusu, Samuel Paisley, Georgios Mousailidis, Meera Naran, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

Background:In England and Wales, significant numbers of people with intellectual disability (PwID) are prescribed antipsychotics for a range of licensed and non-licensed indications, particularly behaviours that challenge. There is no system to compare antipsychotic prescribing practices across specialist adult intellectual disability (ID) services.Aim:This study aimed to determine whether converting antipsychotics and their doses to equivalent chlorpromazine units enables comparison of licensed (psychosis, etc.) and non-licensed (behaviours that challenge) prescribing between different services.Method:A feasibility retrospective cohort study using convenience sampling captured anonymized data of PwID on ⩾2 antipsychotics across eight specialist England and Wales adult ID services. The doses prescribed across …

Law Enforcement In Providing Protection For Revenge Porn Victims On Social Media, Augustha Kwanzaa Rich Samuel Simbolon, Muhammad Rivan Subarna

Jurnal Vokasi Indonesia

Revenge porn, which is the distribution of pornographic material without the victim's consent, is a serious and growing problem online. This practice is usually carried out by ex-partners in revenge, by distributing intimate images or videos of the victim to the internet. This research aims to identify the impact of revenge porn on victims, as well as assess the effectiveness of existing legal protection. The method used is a qualitative approach through literature study. The data collected includes revenge porn cases that occurred in Indonesia, as well as a review of regulations governing the protection of privacy and victims' rights. …

Evaluating The Effects Of Micro And Nano Size Of Silica Filler On Asphalt Cement Properties, Hussein Zghair, Hasan Joni, Maan S. Hassan

Engineering and Technology Journal

This research study examines the practicability of using micro and nano size silica to improve the asphalt characteristics. Asphalt cement penetration grade of (60 /70) was prepared using (0%, 2%, 4% and 6%) of silica filler by weight of asphalt and investigated in terms of the softening point, penetration, and penetration index, viscosity, and ductility values. To modify the asphalt binder, the silica powder was mixed by a mechanical blender set at (2000) rpm at a mixing temperature of 140°C. However, the main challenge is an agglomeration of nano-silica powder which can reduce the ductility of nano silica modified binder. …

Spiritual Energy Of Islamic House In Forming Cotemporary House, Zainab Ra’Ouf, Rana Mahdi

Engineering and Technology Journal

The pace of daily life and its requirements are getting higher and are led by technology with its direct effects on the health of the individual. There is no doubt that its benefits are endless but its negative effects on the health of the user have become clear, to reduce the negative energy accompanying it to the lowest level by facing another positive energy that is superior to restore the balance first, and overcome it to be the dominant feature of space, the house is the most important place where individuals spend most of their time, which imposes on the …

Investigation Of Groundwater Flow Direction In Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Francis Ogbozige, Michael Toko

Engineering and Technology Journal

The lack of reliable municipal water supply in the city of Port Harcourt has led to indiscriminate drilling of boreholes by the residents however, the direction of groundwater flow within the entire city has not been established. Hence, the research investigated the flow direction of groundwater in the study area in order to understand the best location for siting septic tanks and dumpsites with respect to the position of the existing or proposed borehole. This was achieved by determining the hydraulic heads (Hh) of twenty boreholes evenly distributed within the city by subtracting the static water level (SWL) from the …

Visual Depression Diagnosis From Face Based On Various Classification Algorithms, Sana Nasser, Ivan Hashim, Wisam Ali

Engineering and Technology Journal

Most psychologists believe that facial behavior through depression differs from facial behavior in the absence of depression, so facial behavior can be utilized as a dependable indicator for spotting depression. Visual depression diagnosis system (VDD) establishes dependents on expressions of the face that are expense-effective and movable. At this work, the VDD system is designed according to the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to extract features of the face. The key concept of the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to explain the whole face behavior utilizing Action Units (AUs), every AU is linked to the motion of unique or maybe …

Design And Implementation Of A Wireless System To Locate A User In Indoor Environments, Amnah Kareem, Wisam Ali, Manal Jasim

Engineering and Technology Journal

The technology of indoor positioning has pulled in the consideration of researchers the expanding capability of smartphones and the advancement of sensor innovation, alongside the increase the time people spend working inside the building or being indoors. Sensor innovation, which is one of the most generally utilized information hotspots for indoor setting, has a favorable position that sensors can receive information from a cell phone without introducing any additional device. The idea of the proposed system is to use the Wi-Fi access points, inside the building, together with a Smartphone Wi-Fi sensor which lets the building administrator locate those carrying …

Application Of Treated Iraqi Rice Husk As Adsorbent For Phosphate Removal From Aqueous Solution, Anaam Sabri, Yaser Hashim

Engineering and Technology Journal

In the present work, agricultural waste, (Iraqi rice husk A’anbar type) was developed with thermal and chemical treatments for using as an adsorbent to remove phosphate anion from aqueous solution and the thermal treatment at 500oC was the best.Batch experiments were conducted to obtain the maximum removal of phosphate via changing the parameters of the process, such as contact time, pH, adsorbent dose, initial solute concentration, and the existence of competitive anions upon the removal of phosphate and was investigated. The adsorbent characterization was performed employing Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscope (SEM), the BET surface …

Evaluation Of Eutrophication Levels In Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf Lake, Iraq (Biological And Chemical Study), Suhair Al-Sharifi, Salih Al-Bakri, Sataa Al-Bayati

Engineering and Technology Journal

Within Al-Najaf lake, that is one of the important shallow lakes in Iraq, the lake facing tremendous pressure due to encroachments, discharge of untreated domestic and industrial waste, drainage water from cultivated orchards, dumping of solid waste and illegal diversion of water and currently it's still suffering from these problems and neglect. The study aimed to evaluate the eutrophication status. Eutrophication is a grave problem in lakes, a knowledge about the eutrophic state help in providing a make efficient realization of the eutrophic problem.This study conducted to assess the Eutrophication level with a scale 0 – 100 depending on the …

The Solubility Of Phosphogypsum And Recovery Of Heavy And Radioactive Elements, Waleed Rashid, Israa Alkadir, Moayyed Jalhom

Engineering and Technology Journal

The essential purpose of this paper is to illustrate and inspect the leaching characteristics of Iraqi Phosphogypsum (PG). The paper presents the results of the dissolution characteristics of heavy and radioactive elements from PG, which is a by-product result from the industry of phosphate fertilizers. Leachability of heavy and radioactive elements in deionized water that has been inspected under various states of leaching, including solid/liquid ratio (10, 20 and 50 /1g/L) and temperatures (25, 45 and 85 °C), with constant other parameters such as string speed (300 rpm) and contact time (60 minutes). For the most analysis elements, the progressive …

The Effects Of Sunlight On Particle Matter & Radiation Pollution In Baghdad Airport Area, Fatima Hameed, Faris Mohammed, Abdul Hameed Al-Obaidy

Engineering and Technology Journal

The gasses emitted from the various activities, in addition to particle matter (PM10) play a major role in air quality deterioration. Particles matter and radiation are two of the most important parameters that exist in airports and were evaluated considering the variations in sunlight energy. The measured values were collected from eleven sites, which were chosen based on their influence by aviation activities. The measurements were compared to the (Iraqi Regulations and U.S EPA) for particle matter. While for radiation, the measurements were compared with the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH), International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), and the …

Numerical And Experimental Modeling Of Indoor Air Quality Inside A Conditioned Space With Mechanical Ventilation And Dx-Air Conditioner, Wisam Mareed, Hasanen Hussen

Engineering and Technology Journal

Elevated CO2 rates in a building affect the health of the occupant. This paper deals with an experimental and numerical analysis conducted in a full-scale test room located in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Technology. The experiments and CFD were conducted for analyzing ventilation performance. It is a study on the effect of the discharge airflow rate of the ceiling type air-conditioner on ventilation performance in the lecture room with the mixing ventilation. Most obtained findings show that database and questionnaires analyzed prefer heights between 0.2 m to 1.2 m in the middle of an occupied …

Removal Of Iron From Produced Water Using Silica Adsorbent Material, Zamen Mekhelf, Akeel Subhi, Ramzy Hamied

Engineering and Technology Journal

The removal of Iron from produced water using adsorbent materials is taking a space of attention from the perspective of researchers. In this work, the characterization of chemically modified silica used as Iron ions adsorbent using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), laser granularity instrument was performed. The point of zero charge (PZC) of modified silica was determined using titration method. Different parameters were used to better approach Iron removal. These parameters are 0.2 and 0.4 mg/l modified silica adsorbent dose, 30-180 min adsorption time and pH values of 4-10. The results showed that modified silica exhibited …

Investigation Of Cost-Influencing Factors Potentially Controllable By Main Contractors In Construction Projects In Iraq, Layth Ali, Raid Abid Ali, Zeyad Khaled

Engineering and Technology Journal

Cost overrun in construction projects is a common phenomenon in Iraq. This might occur due to diversity of factors. This study aims to identify the factors influencing construction projects cost that are potentially controllable by main contractors. A field study through a questionnaire survey was directed to a sample of related Iraqi professional engineers from general contracting companies at both public and private sectors. Their opinions on the impact and frequency of each factor were investigated. The questionnaire offered (59) factors classified in (8) categories namely; legislations, financial and economic, design, contractual, site management, material, labor and equipment. The factors …

Experimental Investigation Of Thermodynamics, Kinetics, And Equilibrium Of Nickel Ion Removal From Wastewater Using Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles As The Adsorbent, Shurooq Remedhan

Engineering and Technology Journal

In the present study commercial zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles in the size of 30 nm were utilized as an adsorbent for the removal of Ni (II) ion from synthetic waste aqueous solution. Adsorption capacity of ZnO for removing Ni (II) ions from aqueous solutions was measured at different pH, adsorbent dose, contact time, temperature and metal ion concentration. Moreover,  adsorption isotherms, kinetics and thermodynamics were studied to understand  the  nature  and  mechanism  of  adsorption. ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by X-Ray diffract analysis(XRD),Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM),energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The maximum amount of Ni …

Flexural And Impact Properties Of Epoxy Composites Reinforced With Peanut Shell Particles, Hwazen Fadhil

Engineering and Technology Journal

Natural materials have been extensively used as reinforcements in polymer matrices instead of non-degradable synthetic reinforcement such as carbon, glass or aramid. The use is because of their low density, good mechanical properties, availability, and biodegradability. Peanut shell is one such natural waste filler used, and it contains cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Natural fiber/particle sources are not only strong and lightweight but are relatively very cheap. This paper offers the comparison of the flexural, and impact energy test properties of the peanut shell reinforced with the epoxy resin matrix. Peanut shells add into the epoxy resin matrix with various weight …

Preparation And Characterization Of Polymer Blend And Nano Composite Materials Based On Pmma Used For Bone Tissue Regeneration, Sally Kadhum Alsaedi, Sihama Salih, Fadhil Hashim

Engineering and Technology Journal

As the elderly population increases, the need for bone loss treatments is increasing. Vital substances used in such treatments are required to continue for a longer period and work more effectively. The particularly important biological material is poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) bone cement, which is widely used in damaged bone replacement surgery. So, this study focused on the role of added some nanoparticles consist of zirconia (ZrO2), and magnesia (MgO) on the binary polymeric blend (Acrylic bone cement: 15% PMMA) for a bone scaffold. Where, ZrO2 and MgO nanoparticle was added with selected weight percentages (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Complexes Of New Derivative Of Cyclopentaphenanthren-3-One With Manganese (Ii), Iron (Ii), Cobalt (Ii), Nickel (Ii), And Copper (Ii) Ions, Liblab Jassim

Engineering and Technology Journal

This work involves the chemical preparation from a series of metal Complexes having the general composition M(L)2(H2O)2, where M = [Mn+2, Fe+2, Co+2, Ni+2 and Cu+2].The ligand used was 9-fluoro-17-(1-hydrazono-2-hydroxyethyl)-11,17-dihydroxy-10,13,16-trimethyl-6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17-dodecahydro-3H-cyclopenta[α]phenanthren-3-one (FHDTCP), who was diagnosed by H-NMR spectra.These complexes have been prepared and characterized by the ligand to metal by molar conductance, spectral (UV-Visible and FT-IR), and atomic absorption studies. The IR spectral measurements forecast interference to oxygen, nitrogen in coordination from the electron pairs to the metal ion in the center. And suggested the complexes geometry be octahedral for all.

Semi-Quantitative Risk Assessment In The Chemical Stores Of The University Of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq, Azhar Haleem

Engineering and Technology Journal

Chemicals are used daily at the university, by its students or staff so it’s necessary to develop a chemical management system to protect their workers and students from accidents caused by exposure to chemicals of various forms, the present study explains the methodology for assessing the health effects and risks of exposure to chemicals in the chemical stores of University of Technology (UOT) by using semi- quantitative risk assessment technique depends on a descriptive analytical approach, by collecting the requested information for seven main stores within the university by questionnaire form included inquiries about personal information about employees, level of …

Characteristics Of Exhaust Emissions For A Diesel Engine Fuelled By Corn Oil Biodiesel And Blended With Diesel Fuel, Abdulrahman Mahmood, Haqi Qatta, Saadi Al-Nuzal, Talib Abed Abed

Engineering and Technology Journal

Environmentally friend biodiesel fuel from corn oil was tested in single-cylinder 4-stroke diesel engine operated. Three blends of fuels were prepared from corn oil and diesel fuel viz. 7, 15, and 20 % (designated as B7, B15, and B20, respectively). Tests were conducted on this engine using these blends at a constant speed (1500 rpm) and varying loads (0 % to 100 %). The emissions of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, unburned hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides (NOX) and smoke opacity were measured. In all engine loads, results showed that the emission of CO, HC, and smoke emissions were reduced, while that of …