Digital Commons Network^™

Developing Reflective Capacity Among In-Service Teachers: Using A Teacher Observation Approach To Continuous Improvement, Holly A. Neill

Doctor of Education (EdD)

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice examined how a structured reflective-practice toolkit influenced a teacher’s demonstrated levels of reflection and perceptions of reflective growth within a Christian school setting. The problem addressed in this study was that teachers at Hope Ridge School engaged inconsistently and often superficially in the reflective elements of the school’s evaluation and coaching system. Although teachers generally valued reflection, many lacked the shared language, clear frameworks, and structured supports needed to engage in meaningful reflective practice.

Grounded in reflective-practice theory using Improvement Science methodology, this study used an iterative professional learning design implemented through multiple Plan-Do-Study-Act …

Eigenvalue Bound Preservation: Numerical Experiments On The 2d Q-Tensor Flow, Marcel C. Deguzman

Knowledge and Creativity Expo

We study the evolution of nematic liquid crystals in two dimensions using the Q-tensor model, a continuum framework that describes the orientational order of rod-like molecules via symmetric, traceless matrices. Focusing on the Landau-de Gennes energy and its associated gradient flow, we consider a reduced two-dimensional formulation in which the Q-tensor is fully described by two scalar functions. This reduction simplifies the system to a nonlinear, coupled PDE for the scalars, while preserving essential physical features. A key question is whether the eigenvalues of the Q-tensor remain within the physically admissible range under this flow. Building on a theoretical result …

Antagonistic Effects Of Glucagon And Insulin On 5-Fluorouracil Efficacy In Colorectal Cancer, Gabriel M. Randolph, Andrea Florian

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Prior research on the combined effects of insulin and glucagon with low-dose chemotherapy in cancer treatment has yielded contradictory conclusions. Insulin potentiation therapy (IPT), a longstanding but understudied approach, is broadly claimed to enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy; however, it has also been characterized as pseudoscience lacking physiological merit. Adding further complexity, glucagon, insulin's antagonist hormone, has been shown to produce anti-cancer effects when combined with chemotherapeutic agents. The present study aims to observe the individual effects of both hormones on colorectal cancer cells in combination with 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), to clarify their respective roles in combination therapy. Through the modulation of both …

Risk Factors And Prevention Of Alzheimer's Disease: How To Beat The Odds, Luke Magro

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Dementia affects over 55 million people worldwide. That number is expected to rise to 150 million patients worldwide, with the overwhelming majority of cases being Alzheimer's disease (AD). There is no cure or medicine that can cure Alzheimer’s disease; we can only try to prevent it. To prevent the rise in cases of Alzheimer's disease, we must learn what causes AD, what we can control, and how we can control it. What is known is that age, genetics, and family history are the main risk factors in 60% of AD cases. The other 40% are lifestyle factors such as diet, …

Ransomware As Organization: A Comparative Analysis Of Corporate And Criminal Structures In Conti, George Urling

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Cybercriminal groups continue to pose major threats to global cybersecurity. One of the most common types of cybercriminal groups are, “Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS)" groups, who create and sell ransomware. While research is conducted into the development of ransomware, there is limited reporting on the organizational structure and habits of RaaS groups. In 2022, prominent RaaS group Conti had their chat logs leaked, with the logs ranging from 2020 to 2022. This study seeks to provide a deeper understanding of RaaS group structures by utilizing the Conti leaked logs as a case study. The study, entitled “Ransomware as Organization: A Comparative Analysis …

Generating A Gfp Reporter Via Crispr To Visualize Ssa4 Export, Aara Khairollahi, Rebecca Adams

SPARK Symposium Presentations

In eukaryotic cells, the transport of mRNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm is a very regulated process controlled by nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). During stress conditions, such as heat shock, most mRNA export is inhibited in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, yet the transcript for SSA4, a gene responsible for refolding denatured essential proteins, is exported. The mechanism behind this selective export remains unknown. To investigate this, we used CRISPR-Cas9 to generate a reporter strain in which the SSA4 open reading frame was replaced or inserted with green fluorescent protein (GFP). This reporter is designed to produce GFP only under conditions that …

Lifestyle Factors' Effect On Political And Religious Behavior, Madison A. Price

SPARK Symposium Presentations

There is a general understanding of an individuals’ political/religious beliefs when you analyze predictors like support of same sex marriage or views on abortion, but there is not a ton of research on how everyday lifestyle factors might affect how someone aligns themselves politically or religiously. Researchers have begun to expand the horizons of political and religious research by investigating how income, health, and politics affect religion (Francis-Tan & Tian, 2022), but there is a need to expand into more specific lifestyle factors. Which brings reason to question a few things: what lifestyle and demographic factors predict how religious someone …

Exploring The Synergistic Effects Of Cisplatin And Curcumin In Osteosarcoma Cells, Ellis Stafford, Alexa Cabral, Andrea Florian Ph.D., Reese Nagy

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a highly aggressive bone cancer characterized by rapid metastasis, which drastically reduces patient survival rates from 70% in localized cases to 30% upon metastasis. Current treatments combining chemotherapy with cisplatin and surgical intervention are often ineffective against metastatic OS and are associated with significant side effects. Cisplatin targets cancer cells by binding to DNA, disrupting transcription and replication, and inducing apoptosis. To address the challenges associated with current treatments, this study investigates the potential of combining cisplatin with curcumin, the bioactive compound derived from turmeric, as a novel therapeutic approach. Curcumin has shown anticancer properties by inducing …

Ecological Renovation Of Belmont Tennis Courts, Abbie E. Hamilton, Smith David, Darlene Panvini

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Although Belmont works hard to establish adequate green spaces on our campus, there is much work to be done if we want our students and the wildlife around us to maximize their ecosystem services. More specifically, Belmont can strive to implement nature-based solutions for its athletes, who are often competing in highly urbanized facilities. For this project, we have decided to redesign Belmont’s Tennis Courts, improving their design by increasing their green infrastructure. Our new design was created from a biophilic perspective and intends to serve all aspects of the triple bottom line. The new tennis courts will include ecologically …

Exploring Mitochondrial Dysfunction In Critical Illness: Seahorse Analysis Of Immune Cell Metabolism In Icu Patients With Sepsis And Surgical Stress, Sophia Klaver

SPARK Symposium Presentations

During severe infection and surgical stress, the body experiences significant metabolic stress in which cells may struggle to produce the energy needed to maintain normal function.To investigate this, mitochondrial metabolism will be analyzed in immune cells obtained from ICU patients. Peripheral blood samples will be collected, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) will be isolated for metabolic analysis. These cells will be evaluated using Seahorse extracellular flux assays, which measure oxygen consumption and cellular metabolic activity in real time. By performing a mitochondrial stress test, multiple parameters of mitochondrial respiration will be assessed to determine how cellular energy production changes …

Chemotherapy Exposure Alters Heart Rate In Daphnia Magna: A Rapid Model For Evaluating Cardiotoxicity, Leland B. Wythoff, Andrea Florian

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Chemotherapy agents such as 5-Fluorouracil and Oxaliplatin are commonly employed in the management of various types of cancer. However, they have been implicated as causative factors of various side effects related to the heart. Drug-induced cardiotoxicity in rapid preclinical models could be employed as an effective tool for the identification of adverse effects. Daphnia magna is a small aquatic organism that is frequently employed in toxicological tests due to its transparent body that allows direct observation of physiological activities such as heart rates.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of various concentrations of 5-Fluorouracil and Oxaliplatin …

A Macrocognitive Design Taxonomy For Simulation-Based Training Systems: Bridging Cognitive Theory And Human-Computer Interaction, Jessica M. Johnson

Virginia Digital Maritime Center (VDMC) Faculty Publications

Simulation-based training systems are increasingly deployed to prepare learners for complex, safety-critical, and dynamic work environments. While advances in computing have enabled immersive and data-rich simulations, many systems remain optimized for procedural accuracy and surface-level task performance rather than the macrocognitive processes that underpin adaptive expertise. Macrocognition encompasses higher-order cognitive processes that are essential for performance transfer beyond controlled training conditions. When these processes are insufficiently supported, training systems risk fostering brittle strategies and negative training effects. This paper introduces a macrocognitive design taxonomy for simulation-based training systems derived from a large-scale meta-analysis examining the transfer of macrocognitive skills from …

Hfpo-Da Aquatic Toxicity And Bioaccumulation, Bailey Dawn Rappold

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been detected globally in environmental media and biota. Legacy compounds PFOA and PFOS have been observed to be toxic and bioaccumulative in low doses and have been removed from production and industrial processes. Replacement PFAS chemicals are less understood and present a gap in current knowledge in their toxicological effects. This research utilized extended chronic toxicity studies to assess the impacts of HFPO-DA, a short chain replacement PFAS, on the standard aquatic toxicology organism Pimephales promelas. Organisms were exposed for 29 to 30 days at environmentally relevant concentrations of the toxicant, 7.8125 ng/L …

Development And Validation Of An Analytical Method For Quantitative Determination Of Small Aldehydes In Plasma, Stephanie T. Clark

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses - Archive

Small aldehydes such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are highly reactive metabolites that play important roles in biological processes related to oxidative stress, metabolism, and DNA damage. Because of their chemical reactivity, volatility, and low endogenous concentrations, accurate measurement of these compounds in biological samples remains analytically challenging. The goal was to develop and evaluate a practical analytical method for detecting small aldehydes in biologically relevant matrices using headspace gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS). The method combined chemical derivatization with O-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine (PFBHA) and headspace sampling to stabilize aldehydes and enable selective detection by mass spectrometry. Method development focused on optimizing derivatization …

Remembering Courtney Cazden, 1925–2025, Kris D. Gutiérrez, Allan Luke, Mary Kalantzis, Bill Cope, Sarah Michaels, James Paul Gee

Education

Here we remember and honor Courtney B. Cazden (1925–2025), whose scholarship, mentorship, and moral clarity profoundly shaped the study of language, literacy, and learning. Drawing on our shared experiences as colleagues, collaborators, students, and friends, we reflect on Courtney's enduring contributions to classroom discourse analysis, bilingual and Indigenous education, sociocultural theories of learning, and the pedagogy of multiliteracies. Across the personal and professional reflections gathered here, we recount how Courtney's work consistently foregrounded classroom discourse as a site of learning, identity formation, and educational justice, while refusing false binaries between theory and practice, immersion and explicit instruction, critique and care. …

Analyzing Barriers And Solutions In Advancing Long-Term English Learners’ Academic Communication, Tania Y. Flores Segundo

Doctor of Education (EdD)

U.S. public schools offer language services to students whose first language is not English to help them reach their full learning potential and ensure equitable educational access for all students. Despite initial support, many students remain labeled as English learners for 7 or more years, creating systemic barriers to academic reclassification. This study used raciolinguistic perspectives to examine how English was seen as a deficit when not yet mastered. The culturally responsive school leadership framework helped to understand what is needed to strengthen learning communities and optimize the academic communication skills of long-term English learners and all English learners. To …

The Deregulation Of Cancer, Daniel G. Aaron

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Fifty years ago, the U.S. embarked on a radical new path. Under pressure from the environmental movement, Congress passed an array of statutes aimed at regulating carcinogens out of our world. This regulatory experiment sprawled from air and water to food and consumer products.

Legal scholars have paid scant attention to this wave of cancer regulation despite its size and importance and the public’s apparent interest in avoiding carcinogens. But there is a growing literature finding flaws with individual regimes within the framework, such as the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Tobacco Control Act. In …

Winter 2026, Office Of University Marketing And Communication

Bryant Magazine (1997-2019)(2024-present)

This issue invites us to reflect on some of the remarkable achievements of the past year and to look ahead with purpose and passion. At the heart of this issue is a theme woven throughout our culture: working together, collaboration, and partnership, best summarized as teamwork.

A Stable Isotope Comparison Of The Biogenic Carbonate Of Mammalian Tooth Enamel From The Modern Ohio River Valley And Fort Ancient Buffalo Sites, Sara Elizabeth Slack

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values change in response to anthropogenic factors (Ghosh & Brand, 2003). Little is known about the effects of anthropogenic climate and land use change on the ecology of the Ohio River Valley. The goal of this research was to quantify the effects of European colonization on the native ecology of the region. The specific questions of this research were: (1) How have mammalian tooth enamel δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C compositions shifted over time within the Ohio River Valley in response to anthropogenic climate change and vegetation? (2) Are there differences …

Ai-Driven Network Orchestration: Adaptive Routing For Federated Learning Over Software-Defined Hybrid Wans, Osama Abu Hamdan

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Modern wide-area networks increasingly adopt hybrid architectures that combine high-capacity wired backbones with flexible wireless links to extend connectivity to remote and underserved locations. However, the bandwidth variability inherent in wireless segments creates routing challenges that traditional protocols, designed for static link capacities, cannot adequately address. Simultaneously, Federated Learning (FL) has emerged as a privacy-preserving distributed machine learning paradigm in which geographically dispersed clients collaboratively train shared models without exchanging raw data. When deployed over wide-area networks, FL training is severely bottlenecked by communication overhead, particularly in cross-silo settings where model payloads reach hundreds of megabytes and synchronous aggregation protocols …

Towards Multimodal Guideline-Aligned Agentic Systems, Wenliang Zhong

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

I present my work on building multimodal guideline-aligned agentic systems designed to enable AI agents to solve complex real-world tasks. My research addresses two critical perspectives: (1) Instruction-Aware Embedding Models for flexible and universal embedding tasks, and (2) Guideline-Driven LLM Agents that leverage domain-specific guidelines to perform expert-level tasks. These components address embedding and generation tasks, respectively, and lay the foundation for a hybrid agent capable of tackling challenging real-world applications.

From the embedding perspective, I first address the instruction-following capabilities of embedding models. While Large Language Models (LLMs) excel at instruction following, they are primarily designed for generation rather …

Microwave Synthesis And Characterization Of Fe2ptge Nanoparticles, Ally T. Fennell, David Carnevale

Chemistry Theses

Magnetic, semiconductor, and spintronic materials are vital to the functionality of devices from household appliances and sensors to medical and computing systems. This study discusses a novel synthesis and characterization of nanoscale Fe₂PtGe nanoparticles. The material was synthesized using microwave irradiation (175oC, 5 minutes) and characterized using XRD, XRF, TEM, and VSM. XRD of the synthesized particles correlates to a cubic crystal structured, indicating a face-centered cubic (fcc) platinum structure with iron and germanium incorporated in a disordered manner. XRF confirms the presence and relative ratios of iron, platinum, and germanium species. TEM imagery shows spherical nanoparticles with an average …

Characterization Of Heusler Alloys: Co2nisn, Ni2cosn, And Conisn At The Nano And Bulk Level, Paige E. Klos, David Carnevale

Chemistry Theses

This project centered around the synthesis and modification of three materials in the Heusler alloy family CoxNiySn. These compounds consist of the two full Heuslers, Co2NiSn (10.7 nm) and Ni2CoSn (17.4), as well as the half-Heusler counterpart, CoNiSn (14.9 nm). This work also studies the growth of the nanoscale Heusler alloys to the bulk material through annealing at 600°C, which lead to increased crystallinity of Ni2CoSn but phase segregation of the Co2NiSn and CoNiSn. The initial nanoparticles were synthesized utilizing a CEM microwave with temperatures of 175/200°C. Samples were analyzed by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) for their crystallinity, which showed a …

Accelerator Based Fusion Reactor With Magnetic Mirror, Keh-Fei Liu

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We consider an implementation of the novel accelerator-based fusion reactor scheme using a setup in which ion and electron beams are injected into the end openings of an axisymmetric magnetic mirror. While the magnetic mirror ensures transverse confinement of the plasma, the injected beams contribute to axial confinement, thereby extending the overall plasma lifetime. The ion beam energy is initially set above the resonance region of the fusion reactions, allowing fusion to occur both via resonance and thermal mechanisms as the beam slows down to the plasma temperature. Beam energy loss (stopping power) contributes to plasma heating, offsetting radiative losses …

Dynamical Phases Of Higher Dimensional Floquet Cfts, Diptarka Das, Sumit R. Das, Arnab Kundu, Krishnendu Sengupta

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

This paper investigates the dynamical phases of Floquet Conformal Field Theories (CFTs) in space-time dimensions greater than two. Building upon our previous work which introduced quaternionic representations for studying Floquet dynamics in higher-dimensional CFTs, we now explore more general square pulse drive protocols that go beyond a single SU(1,1) subgroup. We demonstrate that, for multi-step drive protocols, the system exhibits distinct dynamical phases characterized by the nature of the eigenvalues of the quaternionic matrix representing time evolution in a single cycle, leading to different stroboscopic responses. Our analysis establishes a fundamental geometric interpretation where these dynamical phases directly correspond to …

Emission-Line Diagnostics At Z ≳ 2: A Probe Of The Ionizing Spectrum And Α-Enhancement Beyond Cosmic Noon, Leonardo Clarke, Natalie Lam, Alice E. Shapley, Michael W. Topping, Gabriel B. Brammer, Ryan L. Sanders, Naveen Reddy, Shreya Karthikeyan

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We analyze several key rest-optical emission-line ratios in a sample of 828 galaxies as well as composite spectra from JADES DR3 in the range 1.4 <  z <  7. These emission-line ratios include: [O iii]λ5008/Hβ, [N ii]λ6585/Hα, [S ii]λλ6718, 6733/Hα, [O i]λ6302/Hα, O32, R23, Ne3O2, and RO2Ne3. We find evidence for a harder ionizing spectrum at z ∼ 3.5 compared to z ∼ 2 at fixed gas-phase metallicity, resulting in a pronounced shift in the star-forming galaxy locus on the [N ii]/Hα Baldwin-Phillips-Terlevich (BPT) diagram and the O32 versus R23 diagram. At …

Computational Clinical Judgment: Predicting Risk With Large Language Models, Hannah Laqueur, Ryan W. Copus

Faculty Works

For seventy years, research has shown actuarial methods outperform clinical judgment. Yet actuarial approaches have limitations: they generally rely on structured data; cannot exploit rare case-specific details; have limited accuracy where outcome data are scarce or incomplete; and cannot offer case-level justifications. Large language models (LLMs) offer a different approach. Like actuarial methods, they aggregate information algorithmically, but like clinicians, they bring general knowledge and can provide case-level justifications. We prompted seven LLMs to assess rearrest risk from 113 parole hearing transcripts and compared their predictions to a machine learning model trained on 4,000 cases with 91 administrative variables. GPT-5 …

Part Em: Classical Electrodynamics, Konstantin Likharev

Essential Graduate Physics

Includes: Electric Charge Interaction; Charges and Conductors; Polarization of Dielectrics; DC Currents; Magnetism; Time-Dependent Electromagnetism; Electromagnetic Wave Propagation; Radiation, Scattering, Interference, and Diffraction; Special Relativity; Radiation by Relativistic Charges

Geometric Effects Of Warfighters On Body Armor Fit And Protective Capabilities Against Shock Wave Energy, Melissa Lynn Sutter

Doctoral Dissertations

Body armor is a vital piece of protective equipment for warfighters to defend against threats, necessitating continued development to improve comfort, weight, and protection. However, female warfighters often wear unisex body armor, designed primarily for the male torso. Current research has evaluated the short- and long-term detriments of female warfighters wearing these armors, focusing on comfort and performance. However, these studies do not comprehensively consider how a non-form-fitting armor compromises warfighter safety from battlefield threats. This research examines the geometric effects of female warfighters on armor protection level when defending against shock threats by evaluating the energy distribution on a …

A Comprehensive Statistical And Regional Analysis Of Lng-Powered Marine Vessels On Ghg Mitigation Strategies Considering Existing Bunkering Stations And Gwp Values, Canberk Hazar, Onur Yuksel, Murat Bayraktar

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study aims to quantify and analyse emissions from marine vessels that can operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) but continue to use conventional fuels, largely due to the limited availability of LNG bunkering stations (BSs) over long distances. Four regions have been identified as having high concentrations of LNG-fueled vessels but limited access to operational BSs: the West Coast of the United States of America (USA), South Africa–Good Hope–Madagascar, Northwest Africa, and Brazil. This selection is based on the geographical distribution of these ships and the existing infrastructure. Hourly greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been calculated by considering the …