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Strength And Non-Steady-State Chloride Migration Of Concrete Incorporating Fly Ash-Based Artificial Aggregate, Ayesha Ferdous Mita, Yao Luan, Tiao Wang, Tetsuya Ishida

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

This study explores the mechanical performance and chloride resistance of concrete incorporating artificial aggregate (AA) synthesized from low-calcium fly ash using an environmentally friendly process. The AA was produced by combining fly ash with a small amount of Portland cement and a low concentration of sodium hydroxide, followed by mild heat curing. The hardened material was crushed and used as coarse aggregate in artificial aggregate concrete (AAC). Concrete mixes were prepared with two water-to-cement (W/C) ratios (0.49 and 0.67), and their performance was compared with that of natural aggregate concrete (NAC). Compressive strength tests at 28 days showed that AAC …

Enhancing The Performance Of Road Repair Materials With Polyacrylic Acid Ester In Sulfate Aluminate Cement, Zheng Wang, Yanfeng Guan, Minghao Mu, Shimao Song, Chen Yan, Zhenwei Dong, Qinfei Li

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

Sulfate aluminate cement (SAC) is an ideal material for emergency road repairs due to its excellent properties, such as rapid setting and early strength development. However, the strength of SAC gradually decreases over time, and its workability during construction is insufficient, leading to poor quality in the repaired pavement. The addition of redispersible polymer powders (RPP) can improve the rheological properties of the cement and reduce its porosity, significantly enhancing the performance of the repair material. This study investigates the effects of adding 0-2% RPP (based on polyacrylic acid ester, VAE) to SAC. The aim is to systematically assess the …

Ripples Of Change: Middle School Students Navigating The Future Of Our Watershed Through Eco-Stem, Elizabeth Andrew Thiel

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Ripples of Change is an eco-STEM unit designed to address Indiana’s environmental education goals by fostering environmental literacy and informed decision-making among middle school students. By engaging students in community-based learning activities that empower students to address watershed issues, this eco-STEM unit promotes culturally sustaining integrated STEM education. Preliminary findings indicate increased student awareness and responsibility for their impact on local ecosystems using evidence-based reasoning, highlighting the potential for Ripples of Change to inspire global citizenship in students and scalable eco-STEM approaches.

Leveraging Algebraic Thinking In Stem Education To Equip The Next Generation Of Problem Solvers, Asenath Odondi, Comfort Temitope Aje

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Algebraic thinking is a critical skill in mathematics education, involving pattern recognition, generalization, symbolic manipulation, and problem-solving. It is essential for success in STEM fields and should be developed throughout education, starting in early grades. This literature review synthesizes research on algebraic thinking, focusing on problem-based learning. The review indicates that incorporating algebraic thinking into problem-based learning with non-routine activities enhances students' understanding and real-world problem-solving in STEM.

Observing Evidence Of Fixation During K-12 Engineering Design Challenges Using Variables Adapted From Post-Secondary Research, Sopheak Seng, William S. Walker Iii

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Design fixation is a phenomenon impacting students when they generate ideas for an engineering challenge and subsequently hesitate to consider alternative ideas throughout the design activity. Research into fixation with post-secondary students has shown that fixation can limit the quantity and the quality of design solutions. This research brief will describe how fixation has been measured at the post-secondary level and suggest the need for complementing quantitative with qualitative analyses.

Impacts Of Informal Stem Summer Camps On Middle School Student Stem Identity, Austin R. Jenkins, Joshua Faith, Steve Heinold

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Informal or out of school STEM spaces have been documented as sites of positive STEM identity development for youth historically marginalized in formal STEM spaces (Çolakoğlu et al., 2023). To increase the number of students who develop positive STEM identities during the critical juncture of middle school, Indiana GEAR UP offered summer camps to rising 7th and 8th grade students at selected middle schools across the state. Longitudinal interviews with students indicate the importance of informal STEM spaces, like summer camps, in fostering positive STEM identity development.

Innovative Stem Learning Through Solar Oven Design: Promoting Creativity And Teamwork In Stem Education, Humphrey Chinenye Ochulor, Abigail Erskine, Comfort Temitope Aje

Indiana STEM Education Conference

STEM education benefits significantly from integrating design-based learning (DBL) which fosters student creativity and teamwork. This research brief examines how solar oven design projects for K-12 students that involve DBL promote students' creative skills and teamwork. A literature review was done to investigate how solar oven design activities impacted student learning. Research has shown that students improve creativity and teamwork when these activities are carried out using DBL strategies.

Correction Of Temperature Effects On The Resistivity Of Ggbs Concrete Under Natural Environmental Exposure, Benny Suryanto, Asdam Tambusay

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

Electrical resistivity is increasingly recognised as a practical indicator of concrete durability, particularly for assessing cover-zone properties and corrosion risk. However, interpretation of in-situ measurements is complicated by the influence of natural temperature fluctuations. This paper presents the application of a recently proposed temperature correction protocol for electrical resistivity measurements in newly batched concrete, enabling accurate evaluation of microstructural development under variable environmental conditions during both curing and post-curing periods. The proposed approach employs activation energy derived from in-situ measurements and implements an Arrhenius-based correction to normalise resistivity to reference temperatures of 10oC and 20oC. Experimental results demonstrate that the …

Feature Extraction Of Steel Corrosion Based On Xct Scanning And Deep Learning Model, Yuxi Zhao, Yuzhou Wang, Xu Miao, Hanjun Wan

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

Accurate quantification and analysis of steel corrosion is crucial for reliability assessment studies of in-service reinforced concrete structures. However, the pixel-level cross-sectional data provided by X-ray computed tomography (XCT) proves difficult to quantify, especially for the amorphous corrosion products filled in mortar, due to the absence of robust feature extraction methods. In this study, multiple deep learning models were trained to automatically identify corrosion products from a large number of XCT images. The database comprised XCT images obtained from a RC component subjected to chloride-rich environment for four years. The results indicate that deep learning models can segment different regions …

Effect Of Ultrafine Mineral Admixtures On Mechanical Properties Of Engineered Cementitious Composites, Lisha Yan, Xiangyu Guo, Weike Jiang, Zhenzhu Xing, Qinfei Li, Pengkun Hou, Chonghui Wang

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

In this study, to address the challenge of balancing the mechanical properties of traditional ECC with sustainability, the effects of substituting part of cement with ultrafine fly ash (UFA) and ultrafine ground granulated blast furnace slag (UGGBS) on the mechanical properties of ECC were investigated, and the differences in the roles of UFA and UGGBS were compared and analysed. The results showed that compared with UFA, UGGBS significantly improved the compressive strength and tensile strain of ECC, with a compressive strength of 92 MPa (73% higher than UFA-ECC), an ultimate tensile strain of 8.87% (4 times higher than UFA-ECC), and …

Multiscale Decoupling Analysis Of Concrete Durability And Interfacial Micromechanics Using Afm-Qnm, Yu Shao, Jie Rong, Yue Liu, Yongzhi Guo, Baolin Guo, Qinfei Li

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

To address the coupled effects of cementitious materials, aggregates, and air content on the salt freeze–thaw resistance of concrete, this study proposes a multiscale decoupling analysis method that integrates macroscopic performance testing with nanoscale mechanical characterization. Concrete specimens were prepared using various binder systems (ordinary Portland cement and slag/fly ash-blended systems), aggregate types (granite and limestone), and target air contents ranging from 3% to 6%. Salt freeze–thaw tests were conducted in a 5% NaCl solution, accompanied by permeability testing, freeze–thaw durability evaluation, and air-void spacing factor measurements. Salt freeze–thaw damage was quantitatively assessed based on mass loss and relative dynamic …

Psychosocial Correlates Of Hiv Prevention, Care, And Well-Being Among Older Women Aging With Hiv, Thi Vu

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Background: Approximately 54% of the nearly 1.1 million people living with diagnosed HIV in the United States are aged 50 and older. From 2015 to 2019, diagnoses among women ages 55 years and older increased by 7% while diagnoses among other age groups decreased. In 2019, women made up 19% of all HIV diagnoses. Despite advances in HIV science and education, there is still a dearth of research focused on the growing population of older women with HIV. Durvasula’s Contextualized Model for HIV/AIDS Care and Prevention for Older Women highlights that older women with HIV face different barriers to care, …

Essays On Microeconomic Theory, Stephan Wolfgang Waizmann

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three papers on microeconomic theory.

The first paper studies repeated zero-sum games with incomplete information. In contrast to the canonical setting of Aumann and Maschler (1995), the paper assumes that the uninformed player is a sequence of short–lived players. When monitoring of past actions is perfect, Aumann and Maschler’s (1995) “Cav u”-result extends. When monitoring is imperfect, the payoff of the informed player can be strictly higher when facing a sequence of short–lived players than in the canonical setting, depending on parameters. The paper provides a partial characterization of equilibrium payoffs when monitoring is imperfect. …

Sports And Rhetorical Marginalization: A Case Study Of Angel Reese & Caitlin Clark, Diamond R. Williams

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis explores the manifestation of racism, sexism, and capitalism in the language and rhetoric of sports media through a case study of WNBA players Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. This study theorizes that sports media has referred to Reese and Clark with damaging language tied to the intersections of their respective identities. This thesis also identifies and analyzes the presence of repeated themes throughout select sports media that mirror relevant theories surrounding stereotypes, biases, and marginalization in sports. Examining and analyzing the subtle nuances at play allows one to understand how language implicitly reinforces harmful narratives and, thus, how …

Exploring The Effects Of Looping On First And Second Grade English Language Learners (Ells) Students' Reading And Science Achievement, Kiera A. Palmer

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study is to compare the reading and science achievement of first grade ELL students who looped with their teacher to second grade with the reading and science achievement of first grade ELL students who had a different teacher in second grade. Looping is an educational practice that allows teachers to stay with their class for two or more years, it was hypothesized that it would have a positive effect on ELL students’ reading and science achievement. Using a comparative methodology, the study tracked the end-of-year scores of the ELL students in their Florida Assessment of Student …

The Deception Of A Metamorphosis, Heidi A. Hernandez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

With the historic fascination of Roman and Greek mythology, it is easy to get caught up in the epic the tales of the ancient era provide. A price must be paid for the powerful figures of these stories to rise to such heights, and the ancient world finds women to be their preferred form of currency.

Behind these deceptive chronicles are the trials of women left behind, abandoned, abused and subjected to cruel sexual abuse and the elements reduced to their physical value serving as nothing more than a pawn. One woman, a nymph, is amidst this trial, Ovid brings …

Analyzing The Rate Of Femicide Of Indigenous Women In Rural Australia, Eliza C. Finnigan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Femicide is an increasingly prevalent issue in Australia, with rates continuing to rise, especially among Indigenous women in rural Australia, who face compounded vulnerabilities. Within literature focusing on femicide, there is a noticeable lack of direct intersection between data on rural area and Indigenous Australians. This study investigates the relationship between rurality, Indigenous status, and femicide rates from 2018 to 2023. Data was compiled from the RED HEART Campaign, focusing on different demographic factors, including Indigenous status, location, victim-offender relationship, and cause of death. Frequencies and rates were calculated using descriptive statistics and data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics …

Post-Incident Debriefings For Pediatric Intensive Care Nurse Burnout A Scoping Review, Sulah Emilie Monize

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Burnout is prevalent among pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) nurses, impacting between 42-77% of them. High emotional burden, physical demand, and cognitive overload contribute to significant PICU nurse burnout prevalence. Burnout is linked to increased job turnover, compromised patient care, and decreased staff mental well-being. Addressing burnout is crucial to ensure patient safety and maintain care quality. Burnout in adult ICU nurses is well documented but less so with PICU nurses, and they face stressors unique to their setting, such as a vulnerable patient population and unique dynamics with families and providers. This scoping review includes 9 articles examining the …

Examining The Association Between Perceived Stigma And Mental Health Help-Seeking Behavior Among Racial/Ethnic Minority Students In Health Professions Education, Camila A. Agurto

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Racial and ethnic minority (REM) students in health professions programs in the U.S. have considerable mental health issues. Still, they are less likely to access mental health services when compared to their White peers. The stigma they face, such as —public stigma, self-stigma, or intersectional stigma, may serve as a barrier to help-seeking. Although there is increasing recognition of the barriers to mental health care experienced by these students, there is no systematic understanding of how perceived stigma associated with mental health issues affects mental health help-seeking by REM students enrolled in health professions education. This systematic literature review aims …

Ad Astra Per Aspera: Legal Revision Of Space Laws And Intellectual Property To Cultivate Global Alliance And Innovation, Jaiden E. Haggiag

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis explores the inadequate nature of the current legal space regime and points out the gaps in outer space laws, including the following: Jurisdictional Challenges, Frameworks of Liability, and IP (Intellectual Property) Enforcement, utilizing laws such as the Outer Space Treaty (OST), the Liability Convention, the Registration Convention, the Moon Agreement, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and TRIPS, along with national laws like the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act and The Inventions in Outer Space Act (35 U.S.C. § 105.). Through analysis of current scholarly proposals and treaty evolution and synthesize to provide policy options, the goal of …

An Analysis Of The Constitutionality Of Florida's 2024 Hb 3: “Online Protections For Minors,” Comparative To Other State Regulations Of The Internet, Evan J. Siegel

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis examines the constitutionality of the Florida House of Representatives’ 2024 priority bill, HB 3: “Online Protections for Minors,” through its ongoing litigation in North Florida. The broad nature of the bill, which is now Florida law, and its burden on accessing constitutionality protected speech and/or expression may not be consistent with the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. How the law defines and shapes what material may be accessible to people on the Internet, or the means they would need to use to create a social media account, are questions many other courts have begun …

Parents’ Perspectives On Emotional Regulation In Their Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Diana Stewart

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The current study’s main research question was whether emotional dysregulation of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects parental stress levels. This project examined various negative emotional reactions, such as anger, sadness, worry, anxiety, and tantrums that were present in children with an ASD diagnosis, ages 4 to 13. The research consisted of five psychological assessments with strong psychometric properties. The whole survey was supposed to be filled out by a parent or a caregiver of a child, since children are considered a vulnerable population when it comes to research. The first assessment was the Childhood Autism Spectrum Test (CAST) …

Neurotensin Regulates Primate Ovulation Via Multiple Neurotensin Receptors, Andrew C. Pearson, Jessica S. Miller, Hannah J. Jensen, Ketan Shrestha, Thomas E. Curry Jr., Diane M. Duffy

Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences Faculty Publications

Neurotensin (NTS), a small neuropeptide, was recently established as a key paracrine mediator of ovulation. NTS mRNA is highly expressed by granulosa cells in response to the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge, and multiple NTS receptors are expressed by cells of the ovulatory follicle. To identify the role of NTS receptors NTSR1 and SORT1 in ovulation in vivo, the dominant follicle of cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) was injected with either vehicle control, the general NTS receptor antagonist SR142948, the NTSR1-selective antagonist SR48692, or the SORT1-selective antagonist AF38469. Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) was then administered to initiate ovulatory events. …

Interaction Of Cardiac Leiomodin With The Native Cardiac Thin Filament, Madison Little, Cristina M. Risi, Tania M. Larrinaga, Mason D. Summers, Tyler Nguyen, Garry E. Smith Jr., Jennifer Atherton, Carol C. Gregorio, Alla S. Kostyukova, Vitold E. Galkin

Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences Faculty Publications

Every heartbeat depends on cyclical contraction-relaxation produced by the interactions between myosin-containing thick and actin-based thin filaments (TFs) arranged into a crystalline-like lattice in the cardiac sarcomere. Therefore, the maintenance of thin filament length is crucial for myocardium function. The thin filament is comprised of an actin backbone, the regulatory troponin complex and tropomyosin that controls interactions between thick and thin filaments. Thin filament length is controlled by the tropomodulin family of proteins; tropomodulin caps pointed ends of thin filaments, and leiomodin (Lmod) promotes elongation of thin filaments by a “leaky-cap” mechanism. The broader distribution of Lmod on the thin …

Protein Marker-Dependent Drug Discovery Targeting Breast Cancer Stem Cells, Ashley V. Huang, Yali Kong, Kan Wang, Milton L. Brown, David Mu

Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences Faculty Publications

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers globally. Unfortunately, many patients with breast cancer develop resistance to chemotherapy and tumor recurrence, which is primarily driven by breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs). BCSCs behave like stem cells and can self-renew and differentiate into mature tumor cells, enabling the cancer to regrow and metastasize. Key markers like CD44 and aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 (ALDH1), along with pathways like Wingless-related integration site (Wnt), Notch, and Hedgehog, are critical to regulating this stem-like behavior of BCSCs and, thus, are being investigated as targets for various new therapies. This review summarizes marker-dependent strategies for targeting …

Codon Composition In Human Oocyters Reveals Age-Associated Defects In Mrna Decay, Pavla Brachova, Lane K. Christenson, Nehemiah S. Alvarez

Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences Faculty Publications

Oocytes from women of advanced reproductive age exhibit diminished developmental potential, but the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely defined. Oocyte maturation depends on translational control of maternal mRNA synthesized during growth. We performed a computational analysis on human oocytes from women < 30 versus ≥40 years and observed that mRNA GC content correlates negatively with half-life in oocytes from young (< 30 yr) but positively with oocytes from aged (>40 yr) women. In young oocytes, longer mRNA half-life is associated with lower protein abundance, whereas in aged oocytes GC content correlates positively with protein abundance. During the GV-to-MII transition, codon composition stratifies stability: codons that support rapid translation (optimal) stabilize mRNA, while slow-translating codons (non-optimal) promote decay. With reproductive aging, GC-containing codons become more optimal and align with increased …

Occupation-Based Activities For Neuroatypical Adults In Inpatient Settings, Kim Miller, Angelina Mills, Latasha Sheets

Nurse Residency Posters

Facilitators: Melissa Harper and Donita Warren

OhioHealth O-Bleness Hospital

Bridgewater Magazine, Volume 35, Number 1, Fall 2025, Bridgewater State University

Bridgewater Magazine

THE EDUCATION ISSUE: Reaching Higher Through degree and non-degree programs, BSU supports learners of all ages and from all backgrounds, like middle-schooler Zhyra Lopes who is creating a clay model of a brain.

INSIDE: Educational Outreach Programs I A More Inclusive Honors Program I New Home for College of Education and Health Sciences I The Quantum Future

Providing Safe Gastric Feedings In Pediatric Patients On High Flow Nasal Cannula Respiratory Support, Olivia Joyce Chan

Yale School of Nursing Digital Theses

Purpose: HFNC is used to manage pediatric respiratory distress, but concerns aboutgastric air insufflation and aspiration risk lead to delayed feedings. There is no standardized practice guiding gastric feedings in children on HFNC. This project developed and implemented a decision tree to guide clinical decision-making for gastric feedings for children on HFNC. Methods: A HFNC feeding safety decision tree was developed following literature review and implemented in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The primary outcome evaluated HFNC flow rates when starting gastric feeds. Secondary outcomes include adverse events (AEs), physiologic distress, and PICU/hospital LOS. Data were analyzed using Chi-Square …

Changing The Paradigm For Newly Graduated Nurses’ Intent To Leave Through An Emeritus Rn Virtual Mentoring Program In An Acute Care Hospital Setting, Lacy Eynon

Yale School of Nursing Digital Theses

The U.S. nursing shortage presents a critical challenge to healthcare organizations, withwide-reaching implications for patient safety and financial sustainability. High nurse turnover contributes to increased staffing costs, estimated at $56,300 average cost per nurse replaced. This shortage directly impacts patient outcomes including increased rates of medical errors, patient mortality and decreased overall quality of care. Supporting early-career nurses through mentorship programs is a promising strategy to improve professional development and retention, thereby addressing clinical and economic consequences workforce shortages. This DNP Project developed and implemented an Emeritus RN Virtual Mentoring Program utilizing experienced emeritus nurses to mentor nurses with less …