Digital Commons Network^™

Predicting Crises On The African Frontier Stock Markets With Investor Sentiment Indicators: A Machine Learning Approach, David Korsah, Lord Mensah

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This study examined the predictive ability of machine learning algorithms in identifying crises within African stock markets. The study employed seven distinct machine-learning models, analyzing historical stock prices from eight stock markets, three major sentiment indicators, and the exchange rates of local currencies against the US dollar, with each data spanning from May 1, 2007, to April 1, 2023. Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) emerged as the most effective algorithm for predicting crises. Historical stock prices and exchange rates were identified as the most critical features for prediction. On the sentiment side, investors’ perceptions of potential volatility on the S&P 500, …

How Can Chinese Culture Go Abroad? Evidence From Successful Establishment Of Chinese Academic Foreign Translation Projects, Tian Lan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Compared to Chinese economy scale, the global understanding and recognition of Chinese culture are quite superficial, it is crucial to promote Chinese culture go abroad through academic exchanges between China and other countries. This study explores and validates the relationship and applicability of Chinese culture “Going Global” based on the translation project of Chinese academic works. Through case analysis and the development of data models, it aims to provide theoretical guidance and practical tools for relevant institutions and individuals.

The study begins with qualitative research on cases, describing and analyzing typical examples to demonstrate how Chinese Academic Translation (CAT) projects …

Cultural Intelligence For Advanced Practice Providers: Moving A Contextually Based Model Forward For Workforce Training, René Padilla

Yale School of Nursing Digital Theses

Cultural Intelligence for Advanced Practice Providers: Moving a Contextually Based Model Forward for Workforce TrainingCultural Intelligence (CQ) among clinicians in primary care for the Hispanic population is inadequate (Da Costa, 2023). Cultural diversity training for patient care has been identified as a need to improve outcomes since the 1960s (Lin et al., 2017). In 2000, the Office of Minority Health (OMH) at the US Department of Health released the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Healthcare and updated those standards in 2013. Mainous et al. (2020) found that only 35% of primary care providers (PCPs) knew of …

Promoting Mental Health Awareness And Reducing Stigma In Spanish-Speaking Communities Through Educational Interventions, Kelly Medina Prado

Yale School of Nursing Digital Theses

Background: Spanish-speaking Latino populations in the U.S. experience significant disparities in mental health access driven by language barriers, low mental health literacy, and cultural stigma. These factors contribute to the underutilization of services, early treatment dropout, and poor outcomes.

Objective: This quality improvement project aimed to develop, implement, and evaluate a culturally and linguistically tailored mental health education intervention designed to increase mental health literacy and reduce stigma among Spanish-speaking Latino adults in a federally qualified health center.

Methods: A total of four group sessions were conducted over an eight-week period. The sessions were delivered in Spanish and included culturally …

Political Communication In A Multicultural Metropolis: Chinese Ethnic Media And The 2023 Toronto Mayoral By-Election, Dongwei Lin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Chinese are the second largest visible minority group in Canada and the most frequently reported ethnic or cultural origin in Toronto. Mandarin and Cantonese are, respectively, the largest and third largest non-official languages in Toronto. However, little research exists on the role of the Chinese ethnic community in Toronto municipal politics, especially the role of Chinese ethnic media in Toronto municipal elections.

The key argument of this thesis is that “Chinese ethnic media represent complementary public sphere(s) for informing and engaging Chinese Canadians in local political participation and discussion.” Through the 2023 Toronto Mayoral By-Election case study, this thesis examines …

Children's Interpretation Of Others' Faces Covered With Medical Masks, Sevval Cinar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

How we recognize and regulate emotions is fundamental to overall health and wellbeing. Emotional recognition and understanding are key to proper communication and emotion regulation. Barriers, such as masks, might have an impact on the way children recognize and interpret others' emotions, and therefore the way they learn, communicate, and regulate their own. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated widespread mask-wearing, raising questions about its impact on children’s emotional development. Using a sample of children with varying levels of exposure to mask wearing adults (N= 13, ages 4 to 6), we investigated how prolonged mask wearing predicts emotion recognition, particularly …

Art/Place Making In A Settler Colonial Context: A Critical Place Inquiry On The Haldimand Tract/Kitchener-Waterloo From A White Settler Perspective, Haley Sheppard

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Although critical place scholars implicate artists in settler colonial processes of placemaking, there is little information on how white settler artists (WSAs) might use their creative practice to support practices of accountability and solidarity with Indigenous resurgence. This research responds to this gap by investigating the creative practices of WSAs located on the Haldimand Tract/in Kitchener-Waterloo (KW), and how they might approach critical, contextual practices in their creative work. A critical place inquiry was combined with ethnographic research principles and a transformative critical research paradigm. Six WSAs participated in mobile interviews, which took place in a location significant to them. …

Multi-Lingual And Cross-Domain Frontiers In Machine-Generated Content Detection, Gurunameh Singh Chhatwal

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs) such as GPT-4 and their multilingual capabilities, has significantly blurred the distinction between human-authored and machine-generated content. This technological evolution introduces critical challenges concerning the detection and attribution of textual authenticity and authorship, exacerbating societal issues like misinformation proliferation and compromising academic and professional integrity. Traditional detection methodologies, predominantly monolingual and heuristic-based, have demonstrated inadequate generalizability and efficacy against the sophisticated, multilingual capabilities of contemporary generative models.

This thesis addresses two major problems arising from these advancements. Firstly, it introduces novel multilingual detection methodologies explicitly designed to differentiate …

Unveiling Trauma And Seeking Justice: Exploring Mass Atrocities Against Tamils Through The Lens Of Religion, Culture, And Global Justice, Arrabe Vigneswaran

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This paper examines the mass atrocities committed against the Tamil population in Sri Lanka, analyzing them through the interconnected lenses of religion, culture, and global justice. It explores how Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalism, codified through legal and constitutional mechanisms such as the Sinhala Only Act and state-sponsored cultural erasure, facilitated the systemic marginalization, displacement, and dehumanization of Tamils. The study investigates the legal, political, and cultural underpinnings of these acts ranging from war crimes and ethnic cleansing to potential genocide while assessing the reluctance of both domestic and international actors to enforce meaningful accountability. Drawing on hybrid court models, transitional justice theories, …

Examining The Impact Of Early Literacy Interventions On Teachers’ And Parents’ Learning And Perceptions Of Early Literacy Development, Abigael Mary Hogarth Todd Miss

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Parents and teachers play a vital role in fostering early literacy development; however, many require additional training to enhance their understanding of alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness. This study examined the effectiveness of two instructional videos—one on phonological awareness and one on evaluating alphabet books—in increasing teachers’ (n = 35) and parents’ (n = 34) perceptions about these domains and the practical application of information covered in the videos. The 69 participants viewed each video, and results indicated a general decrease in confidence following exposure to these videos, likely reflecting an increased awareness of the complexity of the …

Technology-Enhanced Professional Development For Early Literacy: A Comparative Study Of Online Teacher Learning Models In Kenya, Constanza Uribe-Banda

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Growing recognition of early literacy as essential for lifelong learning, along with evidence that teachers’ mastery of foundational literacy instruction influences student outcomes (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017; UNESCO, 2020), has led to increased investment in teacher professional development. Despite these efforts, many educators face significant challenges in accessing high-quality training, particularly in resource-constrained settings where geographical barriers and limited institutional support persist. This is especially true in rural Kenyan communities, where teachers often work in under-resourced schools with unreliable electricity and internet connectivity yet bear responsibility for laying critical literacy foundations. The present study examines the potential to deliver effective …

Negotiated Cultural Identity And Belonging Of Self-Identified Indo-Guyanese Immigrant Women, Neta (Goomatee) Deonarain-Gear

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation examines how young, self-identified Indo-Guyanese women who immigrated to Southwestern Ontario in the 1970s negotiate cultural identity and belonging. Utilizing a bio-ethnographic bricolage narrative methodology, the study explores the impact of postcolonial diaspora and social displacement on these women’s experiences within the "third space" or borderlands. Grounded in relativist ontology and constructivist epistemology, storytelling serves as the primary data collection method through a critical theory lens. Interviews with 12 participants were analyzed thematically and reflexively, revealing how participants construct meaning and navigate cultural identities. The analysis, conducted through feminist, decolonial, and trauma-informed perspectives, offers insights into "psychological homelessness" …

A Pilot Study Examining Children’S Evaluations And Reasoning About Concealment And Instrumental Forms Of Antisocial Lying, Noah Battaglia

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Children as young as 4 years of age judge self-benefitting lies (i.e., antisocial lying) as wrong. Although this has traditionally been interpreted as evidence that young children view honesty as a moral obligation, contemporary moral development theory and research suggests that right/wrong judgments fail to capture important aspects of children’s social cognition. Research from a perspective known as social domain theory (Smetana et al., 2014; Turiel, 1983) has shown that children’s understanding of morality (i.e., norms concerning others’ rights and wellbeing) is distinct from their understanding of other types of socially unacceptable behaviour. While children judge many social events as …

Exploring The Shadows: How Taylor Swift's Music Embodies Dark Sound As A Popular Music Artist, Kristyn E. Cole

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

To challenge the conceptual matter of “dark sound”, this major research paper centers around the popular music artist, Taylor Swift to demonstrate an overarching feminist wisdom in an alternative style of music to identify how Taylor Swift presents and embodies qualities of “dark sound”. Research done by D. Ferrett, Theodor Adorno, Roland Barthes and Paul C. Jasen are used to examine her popular music, and its intersections and influence on our culture and society. Using multimodal critical discourse analysis, this research paper discusses three of Swift’s songs; “willow” (evermore, 2020) for her sound, All Too Well: The Short …

Blessed Be The Holiness Tie That Binds, Don Thorsen

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Hierarchical Bloom Filter Tree (Hbft): Scalable Geospatial Metadata Indexing For Bigdata Systems, Mrudula Patteparapu

Master's Projects

Big Data infrastructure growth has produced overwhelming metadata volumes which create extensive problems for spatial indexing and both system scalability and database queries. Traditional solutions consisting of R-trees and conventional Bloom filters manage to provide either range query support or approximate membership testing, yet they face performance issues when used at large-scale metadata management. This research proposes Hierarchical Bloom Filter Tree (HBFT) as an improved framework that integrates hierarchical spatial partitioning with partitioned, scalable, cuckoo, and striped Bloom filter variants based on existing studies in hierarchical and probabilistic indexing. The complete evaluation process shows that HBFT outperforms PostGIS (an industry-standard …

Medilightrag: A System For Medical Query Response Using Fine-Tuned Llms And Graph Based Retrieval, Rajiv Karthik Reddy Kodimala

Master's Projects

The exponential increase in medical data has created a greater demand for precise and efficient information retrieval systems. Existing Large Language Models (LLMs) face domain-specific difficulties such as sophisticated medical jargon, situational comprehension, and the continual advancement of healthcare knowledge. To tackle these challenges, we present MediLightRAG, an innovative two-stage system which integrates parameter-efficient fine-tuning of Large Language models with LightRAG’s graph-based retrieval. The first stage focuses on enabling accurate resource-efficient model adaptation for the medical domain through QLoRA fine-tuning. In the second stage, LightRAG’s two-tiered retrieval architecture that combines graph-based indexing with dynamic knowledge retrieval is employed to enhance …

Image-To-Text Transcription: Analyzing And Describing Visual Content, Zixiao Fan

Master's Projects

Image captioning, which provides a textual understanding of visual content, is the fundamental support for the advancement of Human-A.I. Interaction technology. In the hope of exploring the application of such technology, this project focuses on two specific goals. One is to directly explore the application of the image informationretrieving abilities, and the other is to dive into the specifics of the pipeline and components of image captioning models. As a result, this project presents a working app that exploits the text retrieval functionalities to enable image storage with functions like tagging and transcription. It also supports search functionality with a …

Extraction Of A Knowledge Graph Of Biomedical Relationships, Brian Tran

Master's Projects

Rapid release in biomedical literature poses a challenge in linking information. This thesis aims to extract data from expanding datasets to identify and form meaningful relationships between biomedical entities. Large language models (LLMs) enable us to learn at a rapid pace. Creation of LLms from scratch are impractical. This thesis aims to collect a small dataset, containing biomedical papers, and use it to train large language models (LLMs) to extract entities from the text and learn the relationships between these entities. The experiment will be divided into two stages and utilize EU-ADR and ChemProt dataset. Starting with named entity recognition …

Equity In Public Budgeting: Community Engagement In Morgan Hill, Ariana Perez

Master's Projects

Through this research, I will examine what citizen participation strategies have been implemented and their role and effectiveness in addressing wealth inequities. My research will explore these topics and examine what programs and policies the City of Morgan Hill can implement to increase residents' sense of belonging and ultimately push for greater social equity. My primary research question is, what are the programs and policies that the City of Morgan Hill can implement to engage immigrant communities, specifically Spanish-speaking residents, and low-income residents in shaping decisions around public investments and funding? This project will serve as a needs assessment to …

What We Owe Each Other: An Examination Of Social Exchange Theory And Public Perception Of Healthy Relationships, Sarah R. Korbich

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

This study uses prior literature on social exchange theory and uses various frameworks to examine the public’s perception and comprehension of SET through examining user-generated content on TikTok. Social exchange theory is based upon the idea that when interacting with other persons, you are exchanging rewards and costs. This study was guided by two questions that explore how social exchange is generalized and understood by the public, and how well the public’s ideas of positively contributing to a healthy relationship aligns with operational measures of SET. This study’s intention is to encourage SET’s usage in application to relational contexts as …

An Exploratory Study Of Ukrainian Refugee Resettlement Patterns And Education Resource Needs In Poland, Marta Gintowt

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine that started in late February 2022 triggered a refugee crisis that reverberated throughout Europe. During the onset of the invasion, an estimated five million Ukrainian refugees, mostly women, children, and the elderly, fled to countries in Europe and beyond. Countries were not prepared for the magnitude of the initial influx of refugees, who are a vulnerable population who require specific immediate and long-term supports. As three years have passed since the start of the war, the needs of refugees have evolved, and resources providing educational support to refugee children have taken on increased importance. …

Fake News Detection In Arabic Media Using Machine Learning And The Afnd Dataset, Hussain Ali Bahri

Theses

The proliferation of fake news in digital media poses a significant challenge to information credibility, particularly in linguistically diverse regions such as the Arab world. This study addresses the critical problem of detecting fake news in Arabic media by leveraging advanced natural language processing (NLP) techniques and the AFND dataset, which contains over 600,000 news articles categorized into "credible," "not credible," and "undecided" classes. The research focuses on developing a robust system using AraBERT, a transformer-based model specifically pre-trained for Arabic text. Key contributions of this work include a comprehensive preprocessing pipeline tailored to Arabic linguistic complexities, incorporating stopword removal, …

Antenatal Interventions To Improve Breastfeeding In High-Risk Pregnancies: An Outpatient Clinic Perspective, Lina Saeday

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

High-risk pregnancies often face unique challenges when it comes to breastfeeding, yet few antenatal interventions specifically target this population. This quality improvement project aimed to improve breastfeeding knowledge, confidence, and attitudes among high-risk pregnant individuals through a brief educational intervention. Ten participants between 33 and 36 weeks gestation with diagnoses including GDM, gestational hypertension, multiple gestations and IVF pregnancies were recruited from an outpatient maternal-fetal medicine clinic. A printed educational brochure and a brief in-person teaching session were provided. Participants completed pre- and post-intervention surveys assessing their knowledge, perceived support, and attitudes toward breastfeeding. Post-intervention survey responses revealed statistically significant …

Identifying Barriers To Breast Cancer Screening In Asian American Women, Emily Dao

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer among Asian American women, yet have lower screening rates than non-Hispanic Americans.

Objective: This project evaluated mammogram rates among Asian American women at a Federally Qualified Health Center, assessed demographic factors affecting screening, and identified perceived barriers through a survey.

Methods: A chart review was conducted to assess rates of mammogram screenings rates, the percent difference between planned and actual screenings, and patient demographics that may affect screening rates. A 13-question quantitative survey was developed and completed by participants to assess common barriers and identify potential strategies to reduce barriers to screening. …

Reducing Perinatal Mood And Anxiety Disorder (Pmad) Amongst Latina Women Through A Nurse-Led Intervention In A Clinic Setting, Daniella Navarrao Naujokt

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the implementation of the Reach Out, Stay Strong, Essentials for mothers of newborns (ROSE) curriculum amongst pregnant Latina’s in their third trimester, and to determine if participation in these classes increases patient awareness and management of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Using a nurse-led prenatal group setting, pregnant Latinas who are 18 years of age or older, are Spanish speakers, and at least 28 weeks gestation in pregnancy were presented with information about the intervention by their provider. Following informed consent, patients were to be asked to participate in …

Improving Dementia Literacy In Direct Care Workers In Independent Senior Communities, Rachael Kauffung, Rosalie Monkono

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

No abstract provided.

Asian American Mental Health Detection, Treatment, And Adherence In Primary Care, Kimberly Ha, Jenny Tran

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Asian Americans are understudied in the field of mental healthcare. Barriers to care include stigma, acculturative stress, and community expectations, coupled with structural limitations such as culturally insensitive care and knowledge gaps, which contribute to decreased rates of mental health access and utilization for this population.

Objective: Identify gaps in the diagnosis, and treatment pathways for Asian Americans receiving mental health services in the primary care setting.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted through a group of community health clinics in Seattle, Washington. Race, preferred language, English-proficiency, age, income, insurance-type, and ethnic subgroups were identified and compared …

End-Of-Life Care Educational Program For Neuro Nurses, Shiyue (Sophie) Wang, Thu Le

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Introduction: High-quality end-of-life (EOL) care necessitates both effective symptom management and therapeutic communication with patients and families. Nurses often report knowledge gaps in symptom management and discomfort when engaging in sensitive conversations during EOL care.

Methods: Neuro-nurses at a tertiary care hospital were invited to participate in an educational intervention focused on EOL symptom management and communication. The training occurred during both day and night clinical shifts. Effectiveness was measured using pre- and postintervention assessments adapted from validated questionnaires. All responses collected anonymously via REDCap.

Results: Post-intervention, 83% of participants showed improved scores in the knowledge assessment, with an average …

Addressing Mental Healthcare Barriers Among Bipoc Perinatal Patients In A Community Health Setting, Aimee Nguyen, Ezinne Ndibeshe, Vedika Iyer

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Objective. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) perinatal patients often face systemic, cultural, and logistical barriers to accessing mental health care during pregnancy and postpartum. These challenges contribute to disparities in outcomes, yet patient perspectives remain underrepresented in community health settings. This quality improvement initiative aimed to identify key barriers, raise awareness about perinatal mental health, and improve access to care at a community health clinic in Shoreline, Washington. A culturally inclusive educational handout was developed to support awareness and connect patients with mental health resources.

Methods. A mixed-methods approach was used to explore barriers both quantitatively and qualitatively. …