Digital Commons Network^™

Current Practices In Undergraduate Nursing Honors Research Programs, Deanna L. Reising, Jessie Cheziwa

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Purpose/Background/Significance: Undergraduate nursing honors research programs are a method for increasing the desire for students to pursue graduate education for eventual research careers. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the types and outcomes of undergraduate nursing honors research programs in the U.S.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive design using content analysis for data analysis. Faculty who were involved in undergraduate nursing honors research programs in the U.S. were recruited to complete an interview that elicited responses on the type and structure of the program, barriers to implementation, faculty workload models, and outcomes realized from the program.

Results: …

Final Butte Mine Waste Repository Geotechnical Investigation Work Plan, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Iso-Detr: A Novel Detection Transformer For Industrial Small Object Detection, Faisal Saeed, Anand Paul

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Effectively detecting and assessing real-time structural and ecological parameters in contemporary manufacturing environments poses significant challenges, particularly in identifying minute objects within product images. The swift evolution of the industrial sector underscores the necessity for intelligent manufacturing environments to uphold stringent product quality standards. However, accelerating production processes at high speeds heightens the risk of defective product outcomes. This research addresses the challenges inherent in small object detection within industrial contexts, proposing an innovative detection transformer model tailored to modern manufacturing environments. The proposed model integrates a feature-enhanced multi-head self-attention block (FEMSA), merging cross-channel communication network and multiple multi-head self-attention …

Confidential, Attestable, And Efficient Inter-Cvm Communication With Arm Cca, Sina Abdollahi, Amir Al Sadi, Marios Kogias, Hamed Haddadi, David Kotz

Other Faculty Materials

Confidential Virtual Machines (CVMs) are increasingly adopted to protect sensitive workloads from privileged adversaries such as the hypervisor. While they provide strong isolation guarantees, existing CVM architectures lack first-class mechanisms for inter-CVM data sharing due to their disjoint memory model, making inter-CVM data exchange a performance bottleneck in compartmentalized or collaborative multi-CVM systems. Under this model, a CVM's accessible memory is either shared with the hypervisor or protected from both the hypervisor and all other CVMs. This design simplifies reasoning about memory ownership; however, it fundamentally precludes plaintext data sharing between CVMs because all inter-CVM communication must pass through hypervisor-accessible …

Undergraduate Stem Student Reflections On The Academic Support Ecosystem At A Rural Minority Serving Institution: The Importance Of Relationship, Stephany Runninghawk Johnson, Jessica L. Black, Karolynn Tom

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This paper presents a research project with a group of STEM majoring undergraduates attending a Hispanic Serving Institution participating in the CRESCENT program intended to support undergraduates through their basic math and science courses. The research questions addressed in this paper include: What part of CRESCENT were students utilizing the most and how were they helpful? How did CRESCENT support students through COVID? What can we learn from this data to make future programs more responsive and relevant to STEM majoring students? We found that during COVID students were missing in person contact, had heightened responsibilities and distractions at home, …

The Prospector, December 2, 2025, Utep Student Publications

The Prospector

No abstract provided.

Examining The Relationship Between School Location, Neighborhood Resources And Advancement Courses Offerings, Eudarius Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This study addresses a critical gap in educational equity research by examining how neighborhood-level factors intersect to shape access to rigorous academic programming, a key gateway to postsecondary success. Integrating geospatial visualization and hierarchical linear modeling within a critical geography framework, the study investigates how structural inequalities—rooted in race, poverty, and place—influence advanced course-taking opportunities across the Memphis metropolitan region. Data sources included the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data (CCD) for district-level enrollment and school type, the U.S. Census and American Community Survey (ACS) for demographic and socioeconomic indicators, and the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) …

Introduction: The Time Is Now, Kimberly J. Pfeifer

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

The Rhetorical Discourse Of Uniate Writers’ Polemic Literature Of The End Of The 16th – First Half Of The 17th Century In The Retrospection Of Oratory's History, Ruslan Tkachuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The examination of the poetics inherent in the polemical prose authored by Uniate writers during the late 16th and the first half of the 17th centuries holds substantial significance for comprehending rhetoric as a pivotal element in the stylistic evolution of Ukrainian literature throughout this period. The objective of this article is to explore the interrelationship between the works of Uniate polemicists and the framework of classical rhetoric, particularly by elucidating the functioning of rhetorical figures and argumentation techniques within their texts. To accomplish this aim, a range of literary methodologies were employed. Those methods included historical-cultural, comparative-historical, biographical, structural-analytical, …

Orthodoxy, Culture And Language: Alaska In Russia’S Religious Diplomacy Of The 21st Century, Oleksandr Lukyanenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article is devoted to the analysis of the religious factor of the Russian foreign diplomacy in the light of Vladimir Putin’s high-profile visit to Alaska n August 15, 2025. The paper studies a special place of Alaska in the historical imagination of Russian political and church discourse. The status of this particular territory in Russian state worldview – the former “Russian America” – is indicative: it refers to the idea of an unfinished imperial legacy. The research doesn’t touch a main event that included a meeting with US President Donald Trump but an off-schedule meeting with Archbishop Alexei (Trader) …

Evaluating Kansai Airport's Ppp: Grounded Ambitions, Concession Of Financial, Geotechnical, And Climate Risk, Edmund Cho, Dimitrios V. Siskos

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This study critically examines the Kansai Airports Group’s 44-year Public-Private Partnership (PPP) monopoly-type concession encompassing Kansai International (KIX), Osaka Itami (ITM), and Kobe (UKB) airports. The research uses financial analysis, Monte Carlo simulation, and NPV-at-risk modeling to evaluate how Japan’s fixed-term private monopoly model allocates financial, operational, and environmental risks. In 2015, there were significant developments in the promotion of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Act. It was revised in 2015; as a result, it finds that the underestimated long-term maintenance liabilities, especially Kansai airport (KIX) foundation subsidence, and lacked flexibility to manage exogenous shocks like COVID-19 and Typhoon Jebi. …

Rogue Access Points And Their Impact On Networks, Sami Belmokhtar

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

This paper focuses on rogue access points (rogue APs) and how they can impact the security and stability of a network, and consequently, the safety and privacy of the users. Wireless access points (WAPs) are nodes that allow a user to connect to a local network. This includes devices such as the routers typically used in a home network. This paper examines how an unauthorized WAP may pose a threat to a network in both a public environment and an enterprise environment. Furthermore, it shows how a hacker can mimic a real wireless network and gain access to both user …

On The Periodic Solution For A Class Of Perturbed A Hyper Jerk Memristive System, Niazy Hady Hussein, Hemin Qassim Rahman

Sultan Qaboos University Journal For Science

Nonlinear dynamical systems with hidden attractors represent a recent and highly active area of research. In this work, the following novel class of four dimensional dynamical memristive vector field is considered []. χ=y∂/∂x+z∂/∂y+w∂/∂z-(z+(1+x)y+a1w+a2z2w)∂/∂w. Such a vector field exhibits a line of equilibrium points Ex(x,0,0,0) passing through the origin. In a specific region within the parameter space, this system displays hyper-jerk dynamics, resembling a dynamical system with concealed attractors. The behavior of the proposed vector field is analyzed by identifying periodic solutions. First, an explicit condition is determined to ensure that the origin, which is a non-isolated singular point has a …

Groundwater Exploration Using Electrical Resistivity Method: A Case Study Of Ga-Gata, Ilorin, Nigeria, A. K. Olawuyi, V. O Oluwole

Sultan Qaboos University Journal For Science

Twenty-five Schlumberger Vertical Electrical Soundings and six Horizontal Resistivity Profiling for groundwater exploration at Ga-Gata along Ajase-ipo road, Ilorin in Kwara State, Nigeria were carried out. The aim was to identify the different subsurface geoelectric layers and the aquifer units. Using the usual method of curve matching with the Orellana-Mooney Master curves and 1-D forward modeling with WinResist 1.0TM software, between three to five lithologic units were identified. These include: the topsoil, the lateritic layer, the weathered layer, the fractured layer and the fresh bedrock. The weathered and fractured basement constitutes the main aquifer unit. The depth to the bedrock …

(R2127) On 2-Absorbing Hesitant Primary Fuzzy Ideals Of Rings, B. Anitha, M. Vidhya

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

By presenting 2-absorbing hesitant primary fuzzy ideals, we begin the investigation of a generalisation of hesitant primary fuzzy ideals (HPRFI) in rings in this research. The concepts of a weakly completely 2-absorbing hesitant primary fuzzy ideal (WC2-AHPRFI) and a Weakly completely 2-absorbing hesitant fuzzy ideal (WC2-AHFI) are developed, and their structural features and attributes are examined. We introduce the idea of a 2-absorbing hesitant K-fuzzy ideal (2-AHK-FI), 2-absorbing hesitant K-primary fuzzy ideal (2-AHK-PRFI) and examine a few of its characteristics.

(R2136) Dimensionless Modeling And Analytical Insights Into Botanical Biofiltration Systems For Voc Reduction, N. Jeeva, K. M. Dharmalingam, M. Veeramuni

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This paper investigates the mathematical modeling of volatile organic compound (VOC) removal using a botanical biofiltration system, an effective biological treatment method. It examines mass balance concentrations in the gas and biofilm phases, highlighting their significance in VOC degradation and indoor air quality enhancement. The governing equations of the proposed model are converted into a dimensionless form, resulting in second-order nonlinear differential equations. Derived from mass transfer and reaction kinetics principles, these equations incorporate specific boundary conditions to capture gas-biofilm interactions and VOC removal dynamics in biofiltration. The modified Adomian decomposition method (MADM) is utilized to derive analytical solutions for …

Early Career Setback And Future Achievement In Professional Sports, Suman Kalyan Maity, Yang Wang, Nima Dehmamy, Victoria Medvec, Brian Uzzi, Dashun Wang

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

A central tenet of human performance posits that past success is a key predictor of future outcomes. This principle underpins selection processes in various human endeavors, shaping opportunity, wage, and winner-take-all inequalities. Here we systematically examine the future performance of previous winners and non-winners across two sports contexts using two different empirical strategies. First, we track young athletes participating in world-class track and field competitions and compare the future performance of bronze medalists to those finishing just shy of the podium. Next, we study a novel natural experiment in tennis, where we compare future performances of 'lucky losers'—players who advanced …

Where Do I Go Next With This Writer? Preservice Teachers’ Responses At The Start And End Of A Writing Methods Course, Nicole M. Martin, Lisa K. Hawkins, Diane M. Bottomley, Brendan Shanahan, Jennifer Cooper Mrs.

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This mixed-methods study sought to extend what is known about preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) preparation for teaching writing by examining their responding to individual children’s narrative, informative, and persuasive writing at the start and end of a writing methods course. Participants were 115 elementary PSTs. Their selections of teaching foci and instructional strategies on a beginningand end-of-semester course task were examined. Overall, PSTs showcased differences in their selections at the two time points, displaying a lessened focus on local features (e.g., spelling, punctuation) and reliance on laypeople’s helping practices (e.g., telling, correcting writing) and a greater focus on global features (e.g., …

Teachers’ Perspectives On Text Selection In A Time Of Book Bans And Censorship, Natalie Sue Svrcek, Kathleen Colantonio-Yurko, Henry "Cody" Miller

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The last 4 years of headlines describing the various book bans and curricular gag orders happening in the United States serve as an important context for P–12 teachers’ daily work. This article describes the findings from a qualitative survey that sought to understand what influences P–12 teachers’ text selection for teaching and for inclusion in their classroom library in the aforementioned context. Teachers reported stakeholders who held decision-making power as well as which stakeholders were influential in their text selection. Three overarching themes emerged from teachers’ most influential factors in their text selection: social and communal influences, literary content and …

2025 Fall Commencement Program, The University Of West Alabama

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Generating Predictive Gene Expression Signatures For Alzheimer's Disease Using Postmortem Brain Tissue, Ashley Duche

Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

Background: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and tau protein aggregates. These pathological features develop in specific brain regions, but why some areas are more vulnerable to early AD-related changes remains unclear. To address this, predictive gene expression signatures were developed to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying regional susceptibility to AD pathology.

Methods: This was performed using postmortem brain (PMB) tissue from participants in the Religious Orders Study and Memory and Aging Project (ROSMAP), Mayo Clinic, and Mount Sinai Brain Bank (MSBB) to generate gene expression signatures from six brain …

Perma Well-Being Model And Profiler: Arabic Translation And Validation Among The Saudi Adult Population, Ebtesam Abdullah Alzeiby, Aljawharh Ibrahim Alsukah, Nourah Abdulrhman Algadheeb, Ali Faris Alamri, Monira Abdulrahman Almeqren, Uzma Zaidi

College of Nursing Faculty Publications

Background/Objective: Psychological scales hold significant importance, measuring cultural sensitivity, experiences, values, and emotional expressions while controlling individuals’ biases regarding certain cultures. Arabic is used in a widespread, predominantly Middle Eastern and North African region, but it has diverse expressive variations. Therefore, the value of translating and validating scales lies in their compatibility with cultural norms. This study focuses on measuring the psychometric properties and factorial structure of the widely used PERMA-Profiler to assess the general well-being of the Saudi adult population.
Methods: Using stratified sampling, (N = 2927) Saudi adults were recruited via various electronic and social media.
Results: The …

Gc Minutes 2025-12-01, Northern Illinois University

Graduate Council Archives

No abstract provided.

Large Language Models As Machines Of Beauty: Cognitive Averaging, Latent Space Geometry, And The Entropic Foundations Of Aesthetic Preference, Daniel Plate, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

This study advances the position that large language models (LLMs) and human perceptual systems are governed by a shared computational drive toward prototypicality, entropy reduction, and aesthetic coherence. Drawing on developmental evidence that infants exhibit early preferences for facial symmetry and averageness, the analysis situates aesthetic preference within broader research on processing fluency and predictive coding, emphasizing that biological perception rewards stimuli that reduce uncertainty and support efficient information compression. This foundation is used to examine how LLMs, through cross-entropy optimization, perplexity minimization, and latent space clustering, converge on high-density representational regions that operate as statistical prototypes of linguistic and …

Fisheries Research Report No. 362: Characterising Essential Benthic Habitats And Environmental Drivers Of Fishery Recruitment In The Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery, Scott Evans, Nick Konzewitsch, Rachel Marks, Renae Hovey, Gary A. Kendrick, Lynda M. Bellchambers

Fisheries Research Reports

Fisheries management relies on the development and evolution of effective assessment and monitoring techniques that are applicable in a range of fishery contexts (Fletcher et al., 2016; L. M. Robinson et al., 2021). The assessment of fish habitats and environmental drivers that influence recruitment is central to sustainable fisheries management (de Lestang et al., 2010; Galindo-Cortes et al., 2010; Gao & Wang, 2021). Western Australia conducts robust fishery-specific monitoring and assessment programs to ensure the sustainable use of its aquatic resources (Newman et al., 2023). However, few long-term datasets exist that directly monitor critical fish habitats and environmental conditions that …

(R2131) Analysis Of Map/Ph/1 Retrial Inventory Queueing System With Constant Retrial Rate, Bernoulli Vacation, Breakdown, Delayed Repair, Balking, (S, S) Policy And Emergency Replenishment, G. Ayyappan, M. Thilakavathy

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

A single server retrial queueing-inventory model is investigated in this study. In Bernoulli vacation, after providing service to the customer, the server may opt to avail vacation or start the service to subsequent customer. During the busy period, breakdown and balking may occur. The inventory is replenished to an (s, S) policy and the replenishing time is assumed to adopt an exponential distribution. Furthermore, assume that an emergency replenishment of one item with zero lead time takes place when the on-hand inventory level decreases to zero. We integrate the emergency replenishment into the system to ensure customer satisfaction. For our …

(R2120) Flexible Group Service Map/Ph/1 Queueing Model With Working Vacation And Optional Service, G. Ayyappan, S. Kalaiarasi

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

There are many uses of queues, where services are provided in groups; these types of queues are widely studied in the literature. In this paper we examine a particular queueing model wherein the services are provided in groups and the group size may be less than or equal to the size initially fixed. The arrival follows a Markovian arrival process. The service time of each individual customer follows phase type distribution. The maximum of each customer’s individual service time within a group is defined as the group’s service time. At the service completion moment if there are fewer customers than …

(R2084) Clarification Of Mathematical Criteria For Conservative Forces And Vector Fields With A Point Singularity In Engineering Studies, Nelli Aleksandrova

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

The paper deals with a comprehensive analysis of existing mathematical criteria for conservative vector fields including algebraic and geometrical interpretation of Extended Green’s Theorem. Special attention is devoted to the fields containing a point singularity, which represents the primary challenge both in teaching Calculus and in carrying out scientific research in general in computer engineering. Examples of real-world physical fields such as gravitational, electric and magnetic ones are used to appreciate the proposed clarification while teaching various interchangeable disciplines such as mathematics, physics and engineering. Other examples from scientific research literature are provided as well to support the necessity of …

(R2122) Analysis Of Halo Orbits In The Elliptical R3bp With Mass Variation, Majhar Ali, Abdullah .

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

The elliptic restricted three-body problem investigates the motion behaviour of the variable mass infinitesimal body under the gravitational forces of the radiated oblate primary and dipole secondary. The equations of motion of the infinitesimal body are determined using Jeans law and Meshcherskii space time transformations. Using the Lindstedt-Poincaré method, we perform the solutions of the equations of motion. With the use of these solutions and the equations of motion, we numerically illustrate the time series, phase spaces, projections and the Halo orbits.

(R2134) Continuous Shooting Approach With Improved Shooting Slope For Solving Higher Integer Order Boundary Value Problem, Razaq Adekola Oderinu, Adebowale Niyi Aderibigbe, Saheed Alao, Ahmed Adeyi Yahaya

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This study presents a semi-analytical shooting method for solving nonlinear higher-order boundary value problems by integrating the Adomian Decomposition Method into the shooting technique, enabling series-form solutions. To enhance convergence, new higher-order shooting slopes and their corresponding supplementary equation formulas were introduced. Three numerical examples demonstrated the method’s accuracy: for the first two, absolute errors were computed using available exact solutions, while the third was compared with reference literature due to the absence of an exact solution. The method achieved very small absolute errors in the first two cases, and results from the third closely matched the literature. Tolerance values—defined …