Digital Commons Network^™

Advancing Beyond An Entry-Level Job, Paul Hill, Osei Vega-Sandoval

All Current Publications

Entry-level positions are a gateway into the workforce, yet advancing beyond an early-career role is necessary to broaden one’s professional experience and earn a higher salary. Whether following the traditional path of moving up within an organization or developing extensive expertise, there are a variety of career paths and concepts to consider. This fact sheet provides strategies and insights for advancing to higher-level positions within organizations.

Motherhood-Defining Memories And Narrative Identity Awareness In Relation To Psychological Wellbeing And Maternal Functioning Following A Parenting Program, Christin Camia, Antje Von Suchodoletz, Michelle P. Kelly

All Works

Introduction – Drawing on previous research showing that self- and relationship-defining memories relate to psychological and relational functioning, this study began to explore motherhood-defining memories and their relation to psychological wellbeing and maternal functioning within a parenting program context. The study aimed to examine whether participation contributes to the narrative coherence of motherhood-defining memories. Methods – Participants were 155 mothers from diverse cultural backgrounds (M age = 32.85 years, SD age = 5.20) residing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Seventy-five mothers participated in an eight-session parenting program, and 80 mothers served as controls in a comparison group. Motherhood-defining memories …

Deep Sequencing Analysis Of Mitochondrial Dna Heteroplasmy Transmission And The Genetic Bottleneck Effect In Mother-Daughter Pairs, Mayyahi Mohammed T. Jaber, Sarah Talib Al-Mofarji, Zahraa Mustafa Al-Jumaa, Nisred Klichkhanov

Muthanna Medical Journal

The inheritance pattern of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from mother to offspring is well known, but the dynamics of heteroplasmy, the coexistence of more than one type of mtDNA molecule per cell, as well as the influence of the Genetic Bottleneck on the Variant Allele Frequency (VAF), are still under active research investigation. This study was conducted with the objective of detecting and analyzing the inheritance pattern of low levels of heteroplasmy across the Whole Mitochondrial Genome (WMS) within 100 phenotypically normal mother-daughter pairs. Blood DNA samples were used for extracting DNA, followed by Whole Mitochondrial Genome Sequencing with a depth …

Definitive Radiation Therapy For Schneiderian Inverted Papilloma Of The Soft Palate And Uvula., Rahul Sinha, Arianne J Abreu, Christopher E Fundakowski, Robert T Sataloff

Otolaryngology (ENT) Resident Research

Schneiderian inverted papilloma is a benign, locally aggressive tumor that typically arises in the respiratory mucosa of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. These tumors are often asymptomatic but can cause unilateral nasal obstruction, discharge, hyposmia and epistaxis. They warrant attention particularly due to the potential for malignant transformation. They are treated most often with surgical excision. This case report describes a patient with Schneiderian inverted papilloma arising outside its usual location and managed with definitive radiation therapy instead of surgical excision due to concerns for functional impairment. Remission was obtained with radiation therapy, although the patient experienced treatment-related side …

Enhancing Salinity Tolerance In Phyla Nodiflora L. With Potassium Humate: Crosstalk Between Osmolytes, Antioxidants, And Mineral Uptake, Fatemeh Sadeghi, Somayeh Esmaeili, Mehrangiz Chehrazi

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Salinity stress impairs plant growth, nutrient homeostasis, and metabolism, particularly in arid ecosystems. Phyla nodiflora, a ground cover used for erosion control, shows preliminary salinity tolerance, but the mechanistic basis of its long-term adaptation and the potential for enhancement via potassium humate (KH) were unknown. Plant growth, key biochemical attributes, and nutrient uptake were assessed to elucidate how KH modulates physiological performance under increasing salinity. In a 129-day greenhouse experiment, plants were exposed to five salinity levels (0 to 16 dS m⁻¹ NaCl) and three KH concentrations (0, 500, and 1000 mg L⁻¹). Severe salinity (16 dS m⁻¹) without KH …

Genetic Diversity And Population Structure Of Carob Germplasm From Lebanon, Morocco, And Spain Reveal Potential For Innovative Breeding Programs, Mohamad Ali El Chami, Guillermo Palacios-Rodriguez, Rafael Maria Navarro-Cerrillo, Lamis Chalak, Maria Dolores-Rey

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is a drought-tolerant species native to the Mediterranean Basin. It has been cultivated for centuries for its highly nutritious, edible pods. Genetic diversity is one of the key requirements for the effective management and utilization of plant genetic resources. In this study, we evaluated the genetic diversity and population structure of 169 seminatural carob individuals from Lebanon, Spain, and Morocco using nine expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers. A total of eight polymorphic EST-SSR loci produced 43 alleles, with Cesi_187 and Cesi_1187 identified as the most informative markers. Results of AMOVA and SAMOVA …

The Everyday Monument: Architectural And Spatial Transformations Of Rome's Nasoni, 1874–Present, Sandra L. Santos

McNair Summer Research Program

Rome's nasoni are small public drinking fountains that have provided free water throughout the city since 1874. There are approximately 2,500–2,800 nasoni in Rome, actively supplying people with free drinking water. Although they are usually understood as ordinary and mundane hydraulic infrastructure, their persistence across different political periods makes them useful objects for examining the relationship between architecture, public service, and political meaning. This research asks how the forms, materials, and spatial contexts of late-nineteenth-century nasoni differed from fountains constructed or modified during the Fascist era.

Over my three weeks of fieldwork in Rome, I documented seventy-five public drinking fountains …

Promoting Safety And Confidence: Standardizing Intimate Partner Violence Screening And Improving Staff Screening Confidence In A Predominantly Latinx Community Health Center, Jordan Jiang

Master's Projects and Capstones

Objective: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent public health problem that is screened far less consistently than comparably common conditions and disproportionately affects vulnerable groups, including low-income, Spanish-speaking, and undocumented individuals. This quality improvement project was conducted in an outpatient community health center serving a primarily Latinx, Spanish-speaking population in San Francisco, where screening across the Adult Health, Women's Health, and Teen Clinics was inconsistent, with a baseline rate of 4.1% in June 2026. Aim: The project aimed to increase overall IPV screening by 10 percentage points, from 4.1% to 14.1%, by July 31, 2026. Methods: Rogers' Diffusion of …

Urine Good Care: Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection Prevention At The Bedside, Ruby Yost

Master's Projects and Capstones

Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs) have been associated with increased morbidity, mortality, healthcare costs, and length of stay and is one of the most common healthcare-acquired illnesses accounting for up to 40% of hospital-acquired infections (Rubi et al., 2022). Because 65-70% of CAUTIs are preventable, reducing the incidence has become a focus area for infection control and nursing quality management among hospital organizations (Tang et al. 2025). CAUTIs are urinary tract infections that occur in patients with indwelling urinary catheters and are typically associated with bacterial colonization of the urinary tract. The aim of this QI Project is to increase …

Standardizing Intimate Partner Violence Screening Among Latinx Patients In A Community Clinic Setting, Peyton O'Callaghan

Master's Projects and Capstones

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health concern that may go unrecognized when screening practices are inconsistent. Objective: To standardize IPV screening practices and improve staff confidence across the Adult Health, Women’s Health, and Teen/Pediatric clinics of a community health center serving a predominantly Latinx, monolingual Spanish-speaking, and underserved population. Aim: To increase the overall IPV screening rate by 10% during a three-week implementation period. Methods: The project team developed and implemented a standardized four-question printed screening tool, medical assistant scripts in English and Spanish, and a staff educational in-service. These interventions addressed low screening rates, limited staff …

Nourish And Flourish: Building Confidence In Healthy Food Selection Among Older Adults In An Independent Living Facility, Emily Nguyen

Master's Projects and Capstones

The nutrition education program aims to increase confidence in selecting and maintaining healthier food choices and dietary habits for chronic conditions through weekly workshops. This quality improvement project was conducted in an independent senior living facility in Richmond, CA serving the elderly population ages 65 and up. To address the concern of low confidence levels and management of dietary patterns and chronic health conditions pertaining to nutrition, a comprehensive nutrition education program was developed with pre- and post-intervention assessment surveys to compare baseline confidence levels. The weekly workshops for this nutrition education program aims to increase confidence levels of the …

Reducing Variation, Improving Outcomes: Standardizing Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Education In A Clinical Microsystem, Thanh Le

Master's Projects and Capstones

Objective: Variations in referral, scheduling, delivery of educational information, patient materials, and documentation hampered the quality of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) education in the outpatient maternal-fetal medicine clinic. Purpose: The aim of the quality improvement project was to boost adherence to a standardized GDM group education framework from 0 to 50% in the course of 12 weeks and assess attendance at group visits. Methods: The microsystem analysis was conducted based on observations of group visits conducted in Spanish and English, examination of current processes and resources in use, educator pre-survey, SWOT analysis, and cause and effect analysis. The implementation of …

Standardizing Group Visits For Gestational Diabetes Education: A Quality Improvement Initiative In An Outpatient Maternal-Fetal Medicine Clinic, Nha Nguyen

Master's Projects and Capstones

Objective: At an outpatient maternal-fetal medicine clinic in Northern California, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) education is delivered inconsistently across nurse practitioners (NPs) and registered dietitians (RDs), with no standardized curriculum, referral criteria, or educational materials. Aim: By August 12, 2026, this project aimed to develop and implement a standardized GDM group visit framework for NPs, RDs, and scheduling staff in maternal-fetal medicine clinic, increasing compliance with standardized referral, enrollment, and educational processes from a baseline of 0% to 50%. Methods: Using baseline observations, workflow assessment, stakeholder input, and a literature review, the QI team developed standardized bilingual slide …

Digital Markers For Passive Remote Monitoring Of Bipolar Disorder: Systematic Review, Thomas P Kutcher, Isha Chakraborty, Kristin Kostick-Quenet, Akane Sano, Nidal Moukaddam, Jeffrey A Herron, Wayne K Goodman, Sameer A Sheth, Ashutosh Sabharwal, Nicole R Provenza

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) features episodic shifts among mania, hypomania, depression, mixed states, and euthymia. Timely detection of mood transitions is difficult due to infrequent clinical touchpoints. Digital health technologies, including wearables and smartphones, offer a unique opportunity to passively and continuously monitor behavior and physiology that could reflect underlying mood dynamics in real-world settings.

Objective: This study aimed to systematically review passively collected digital markers for BD mood states, characterize devices/modalities and analytic approaches, appraise risk of bias, and identify design gaps and priorities for clinical translation.

Methods: Following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) …

Seeing A Need, Creating A Solution, August 13, 2026, Tisa Mason Ed.D.

Heart of a Tiger Columns

No abstract provided.

Advancing Clinical Practice - Early Predictors Of Post-Stroke Fatigue: Advancing Patient-Centered Care, Sulochana Koirala Paudel, Ritin Santiago Fernandez, Kaye Rolls, Heidi Green

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Post-stroke fatigue (PSF) is one of the most common and debilitating symptoms experienced by stroke survivors (1). It can persist throughout recovery, limiting independence, reducing engagement in rehabilitation, and diminishing their overall quality of life (2). Despite its prevalence and impact on functional recovery, PSF often remains poorly understood (3) and undermanaged in stroke care (1). Identifying predictors of PSF early in the recovery phase provides an opportunity for nurses to translate evidence into practice. Such insights enable proactive and individualised interventions that optimised recovery trajectories and improve patient outcomes.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify demographic and clinical …

Non-Violent Re-Articulation Of Masculinities: Art, Youths, And Peace Preservation In Post-Conflict Ambon Island, Wening Udasmoro, Leo Marai, Russell Soaba, Philip Aratiso, Jemmy Talakua

Kritika Kultura

Art as a mechanism for fostering peace in conflict resolution and peace maintenance can be found in different social experiences. The Ambon conflict that occurred in 1999 following the fall of Indonesia’s New Order government ended in 2002, but the potential for inter-religious and inter-ethnic conflicts is still a concern for many members of the Ambon community in Maluku Province. In an effort to maintain peace, various elements of the Ambon society continuously engage themselves in various activities to preserve peace. One consistent element in these peace preservation efforts is the youth of Ambon, who employ art as a means …

Building Ties, Connecting Islands: Api Kartini's Longing For An Affective Community During The Cold War, Asri Saraswati

Kritika Kultura

This article discusses the inter-class and cross-oceanic ties envisioned by socialist women’s organization Gerakan Wanita Indonesia (Indonesian Women Movement or Gerwani) through an analysis of their magazine, Api Kartini (AK). The magazine published fiction and non-fiction writings that reveal their affective impulse to build connection as they shared their observations of the women’s movement and labor in Indonesia and abroad. The magazine addressed middle-class women and wives, connecting them emotionally with women of the working class and women organizations across the oceans in their rejection to colonialism and feudalism and their fight for equal rights. This article aims to understand …

Neoliberal Postmodernism, The Cultural Logic Of Buji’S Storytime: A Case Study On The Political Economy Of The Commodified Influencer, Ma. Rosa Cer Bragais

Kritika Kultura

With the ubiquity of social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok, influencers or “digital content creators” have taken current Filipino popular culture by storm, spurring an enormous volume of discourse and becoming trendsetters and role models. This paper focuses on the case of professional influencer Buji Babiera, a bicycle advocate turned storyteller who shares random narratives, such as urban legends and slice-of-life anecdotes, on his main platform Storytime on TikTok. I sought to answer how underlying neoliberal political economic structures, as embedded in Storytime’s production processes, relate with the distinctively postmodern character of its content. Guided by Marxist political economy …

Reconfiguring "National Allegory" In A Critique Of The Philippine Neocolonial Experience, Epifanio San Juan Jr.

Kritika Kultura

With appropriate adjustments, Jameson’s theory of national allegory can serve as a serviceable frame to interpret Filipino texts. Allegory as figuration or image-thinking aims to resolve conceptual blockage or theoretical dead-ends. Analyzing an exemplary story by Lualhati Bautista, this essay seeks to demonstrate how the author’s mode of representation captures the effect of combining feudal-archaic and capitalist modes of production in the lives of typical characters. Private thoughts and feelings conflict with public norms in the predicament of two uprooted protagonists caught in the crisis of a disaggregated polity. The Philippine social formation as a dependent entity exemplifies the mix …

Blue Humanities Currents: Ruth Ozeki’S A Tale For The Time Being And Kim Stanley Robinson’S New York 2140, Simon C. Estok

Kritika Kultura

Literary representations of ocean currents are important in a time such as ours when the patterns of the global water cycles are changing. Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being and Kim Stanley Robinson’s New York 2140 each, in different ways, imagine personal impacts of global water patterns. For Ozeki, the interconnections between oceanic and terrestrial processes manifest along the shores of the Pacific Northwest in the wake of the March 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan. For Robinson, the changes in ocean currents are clearly an effect of climate change, and we witness a kind of …

The Effects Of Using Home Language Vs English In Teaching Safety Skills, Emma Ruiz

Thesis Projects

Cultural competence and cultural awareness are terms that have started to become more widely used when discussing how therapists impact their clients. The push for cultural competence and awareness has started to create new questions about how a client’s culture can be intertwined with the services that they are receiving. The purpose of this study was to teach a combination of basic safety skills and identify if language impacted behavior. This study utilized one participant who did not acquire the skill to stop in either language. During the experiment, a third language was added to measure control; however, responding remained …

A Study Of Opinions Of Covell Students About The Adjustment Process To American Culture, Maria Victoria Ramirez

Elbert Covell College

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Volume 14, Number 1., Donna J. Peterson Dr., Scott Cummings, Elizabeth Gregory North

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

No abstract provided.

Adaptive Health Monitoring For Runtime Safety Assurance​ Of Advanced Air Mobility Applications, Michael Budihartono, Francisco Bustamante, Gabriela Gavilanez

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

This work proposes a comprehensive, adaptive framework for abnormal condition detection and flight envelope prediction in complex systems. The approach integrates data reduction techniques, including principal component analysis and lower-dimensional projections, to efficiently distinguish between nominal and abnormal operational states while maintaining computational efficiency through metacognitive interventions. A hybrid detection architecture combines bio-inspired real-value negative selection algorithms with support vector machines, augmented by generative machine learning models to synthesize failure data and support training through digital twin environments. Online fault trend analysis enables continuous monitoring of system degradation, while the system dynamically adapts to operational variations by minimizing offline training …

Impact Of Acute Flight Training Stress On Cardiovascular Health: A Pilot Study, Toni Butler

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Impact of acute flight training stress on cardiovascular health: A pilot study  Toni C. Butler, Carolina R. P. Ferreira, Bryan W. Hinton, Noah J. Robbins, Sophia R. Vaden, Andrew H. Schneider, Scott K. Ferguson, Ph.D.   Cardiovascular conditions are among the most common medical issues in certificated pilots and a major source of certification scrutiny. Student pilots experience unique acute stressors during flight training that may influence both physiological and psychological health. Acute stress is known to affect cardiovascular function, including vascular endothelial health; however, the impact of flight training–related stress on cardiovascular function remains poorly characterized. This pilot study tested …

The Effects Of Hypoxia On Balance Systems, Samuel Drescher Drescher, Heather Bond, Allysa Hayden, Victoria Cornaro, Brandon Ibarra, Noah Clark, Frank Cunningham Iv, Carolina Ferreira, Sierra Martinez, Katie Stubits

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Hypoxia, a condition characterized by insufficient oxygen availability to body tissues, is known to impair physiological and cognitive function, particularly at high altitudes above 15,000 ft. However, the effects of mild hypoxia (10,000–15,000 ft) remain less well understood. This study, conducted by the department of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, investigates the impact of mild hypoxia at 12,000 ft on human balance systems. Specifically, it examines the three primary components of balance: visual, proprioceptive, and vestibular systems. Participants complete nine balance tasks under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Tasks are structured to progressively limit sensory input: …

A Narrative-Restorative Framework For Addressing School Bullying, Tristan Patel, Michelle Myers, Daniel Stewart

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Bullying in schools is often addressed through punitive deterrence practices, solution-focused counseling, or restorative conferencing. These approaches often fail to recognize or account for the power imbalance that ultimately sustains bullying. This article discusses a narrative-restorative intervention to address bullying as a relational and communal issue, rather than relying on isolation or deterrence practices. The limitations of the dominant models discussed highlight the role of power in shaping bullying dynamics and connect legal and ethical responsibilities of narrative-restorative practices. Situated within the framework of California education law and professional ethical standards, at its core, undercover anti-bullying teams aim to redistribute …

Antimicrobial Responses Of Staphylococcus Aureus In Simulated Spaceflight Conditions, Mikayla Dutkiewicz, Yegor Bushnev

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Microbial persistence in confined environments, such as spacecraft, can pose challenges to astronaut health and habitat maintenance. This project investigates Staphylococcus aureus, a Gram-positive bacterium commonly associated with human microbiota and opportunistic infections, in spaceflight-relevant environmental conditions. Further, this project will assess the influence of the antimicrobial/antioxidant compound quercetin to assess its effects on bacterial growth and virulence under standard Earth gravity and simulated International Space Station (ISS) conditions. This approach will assess whether spaceflight-relevant stressors, including microgravity and radiation, alter treatment efficacy by influencing microbial physiology and antimicrobial susceptibility. Data collection and analysis are ongoing, and results are expected …

Artificial Intelligence (Ai) In Mental Health: Perceptions Of Ai Therapists, Ulker Yusupova

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

This study explores how people perceive Artificial Intelligence (AI) therapists compared to human therapists, focusing on differences in empathy, effectiveness, and competence. As AI tools like ChatGPT and mental health chatbots become more commonly used for emotional support, it is important to understand how users evaluate them in comparison to human professionals. To begin addressing this, in the first part of the study, participants reviewed therapist-client conversation transcripts and identified whether they believed the therapist was human or AI-generated, helping us validate the materials for the main study. Notably, initial findings suggest that participants frequently relied more on surface-level language …