Digital Commons Network^™

From Platelets To Particles: Optimizing Extracellular Vesicle Isolation In A National Blood Centre, Y. Chintala, A. Waters, F. Mcgrath, A. Lorusso, C. Wynne, S. Meaney

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Background and Objectives: Platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (PEVs) are submicron, membrane-bound particles released upon platelet activation, with a recognized role in haemostasis, inflammation and immunoregulation. PEVs remain insufficiently characterized in blood products. This study compared four isolation methods to evaluate their impact on PEV yield, purity and characteristics, aiming to identify a practical approach for transfusion service workflows. Materials and Methods: PEVs were isolated from expired single-donor aphaeresis platelet concentrates (n = 12) using methods based on different isolation principles: ultracentrifugation (UC), size exclusion chromatography (SEC), mixed size/charge separation (hybrid) and an affinity-based spin column method (affinity). Size, number and biochemical …

Volatility In Transition: Fossil Fuel Dependence, Renewable Shifts, And Financial Risk Across Europe’S Eastern Divide, Lucía Morales, Daniel Rajmil, Bernadette Andreosso-O’Callaghan

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Europe’s energy landscape has undergone profound disruptions following the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war, exposing deep structural vulnerabilities in the continent’s persistent reliance on fossil fuels. The crisis intensified political and economic tensions across the longstanding European Eastern divide, as the abrupt suspension of Russian gas disrupted energy security, triggered unprecedented price volatility, and accentuated disparities in the capacity of European Union Member States to pursue their green transitions. This paper investigates the asymmetric dynamics of fossil-fuel dependency and renewable energy expansion across ten Central/East European countries (CEEs, namely Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, …

‘Male Victims Of ‘Honour Crimes’: A Critical Examination Of The Concepts Of ‘Honour’ And The Wider Debates Surrounding ‘So-Called Honour-Based Violence’ And ‘Hate Crime’, Narissa Maclennan-Matthews

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

This thesis critically interrogates the experiences of male victims of ‘so-called honour-based violence and abuse’ (SCHBVA) through an intersectional criminological framework. It draws primarily on Barbara Perry’s theories of ‘Doing Difference’ (2001; 2003) and the ‘in terrorem effects’ of hate crime (Perry & Alvi, 2012), alongside insights from Structural Criminology (Hartjen, 1978; Kramer, 1985) and Humanistic Criminology (Hagan, 1986). Drawing on semi-structured interviews with male survivors and criminal justice professionals, and employing thematic and case study analysis, the study examines how violence is produced and legitimised across intersecting axes of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and religion.Building on Perry’s conceptualisation of ‘Doing …

A Murder Of Sleuths: A Novel And A Critical Exploration Of Cosy Crime And The Digital/Analogue Binary Through Websleuthing, Olivia Templeton

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

My project is comprised of two elements. The first is practice led research taking the form of a novel titled A Murder Of Sleuths. This investigates how the Cosy Crime subgenre might be modified and impacted by the digital nature of the contemporary world. I explore this by taking the key traditional features of the Cosy Crime structure, in particular the manor house setting, the small isolated village, and the amateur sleuth and detective relationship and merging it with the character of Dora Grant, a Websleuth who uses technology and the internet as tools to solve crime. Dora's investment in …

Elevated Temperature Flexure Behavior Of Continuous Carbon Fiber Reinforced Zrb2–Zrsi2 Ultrahigh Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites, Jacob Stacy, Aaron Ginsparg, Jason Lonergan, Jeremy Watts, Gregory Hilmas

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Ultrahigh temperature ceramic matrix composites (UHTCMCs) were fabricated from unidirectional prepreg tapes consisting of a matrix of ZrB₂ with 5, 10, and 15 vol.% ZrSi₂ additions and continuous polyacrylonitrile carbon fibers and were densified at 1600°C in a hot press. The relative matrix densities ranged from 88% to 93% with interlayer spacings of ∼72 µm and fiber volume fractions between 30% and 36%. Phenolic resin additions were utilized to react with ZrSi₂ acting as a transient sintering aid to form ZrC and SiC phases. Elastic moduli of the UHTCMCs decreased with increasing temperature during 4-pt flexure testing. …

Overcoming Resolution Vs. Throughput Trade-Offs In Ceramic Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing Via Viscoelastic Filament Stretching, Abid H. Rafi, David W. Lipke, Jeremy L. Watts, Gregory E. Hilmas, Ming C. Leu

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Fabricating large, monolithic ceramic parts using material-extrusion additive manufacturing remains challenging due to difficulty maintaining uniform moisture content during printing, which can lead to drying-induced defects such as warping and cracking, especially as part size and print time increase. Fabricated parts have trade-offs among print resolution, high throughput, and structural fidelity. Our study has shown that increasing the ratio of nozzle traverse speed vs. material extrusion speed increases filament stretching in viscoelastic ceramic paste, helping to overcome the trade-offs between resolution and throughput. Using aqueous ZrB2–SiC (70/30 vol.%) as a representative ultra-high temperature ceramic paste, rheological characterisation revealed viscoelastic yield-stress …

Code-Switching, Identity-Shifting, And Identity Distress Among Black Undergraduate Women Attending Predominantly White Institutions, Erin Smith

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Code-switching (altering language or speech) and identity-shifting (modifying appearance or behavior) are adaptive strategies often used by individuals from marginalized groups to navigate environments shaped by dominant cultural norms. Although these behaviors are commonly discussed in qualitative literature, relatively few quantitative studies have examined their psychological correlates among Black undergraduate women attending predominantly White institutions (PWIs). These behaviors may function as coping strategies in response to racialized and gendered expectations, yet the psychological implications of these strategies remain understudied. The present study examined the relationships among identity distress, code-switching, identity-shifting, and gendered racial identity centrality within a diverse sample of …

For Whom The Tale’S Told: Multilevel Perspective On Narrative And Identity In Information Ecosystems, Jihye Song

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

In contemporary online information environments, narratives do not merely convey facts. They organize meaning, signal identity, and guide collective sensemaking. During periods of crisis and uncertainty, these processes become especially salient, as individuals and communities turn to social media to interpret unfolding events. At the same time, these environments are shaped by complex sociotechnical dynamics, including platform affordances, algorithmic amplification, elite influence, and grassroots participation. These dynamics form ecosystems in which narratives and identities are constructed, contested, and stabilized. Drawing on theory and empirical analyses of COVID-19 discourse on Twitter, this work develops and applies a multilevel framework to explain …

Building Eden Where We Can, Ireland Thomas

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Building Eden Where We Can is a nonfiction memoir told in vignettes that come together to build a wider story. Through these vignettes, we are shown a narrator who is simultaneously surviving an abusive family, navigating a rare diagnosis, and coming to terms with their queerness. By braiding narratives and maintaining these various threads, this collection examines the intersections of sickness and religion, tradition and freedom, as well as fear and love. The lattermost dichotomy is represented in the narrator’s ultimate choice to leave behind a life of fear in the mother figure’s safe cage. In exchange, they receive a …

Thermomechanical Modeling Of Transpiration Surfaces For Hypersonic Propulsion, Spencer D. Smith

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Hypersonic flight vehicles are a promising form of high speed passenger transport and efficient space access architectures. However, they are fundamentally a thermally limited technology. High heat fluxes exceeding 10 MW/m2 and gas temperatures between 3000-4000K can be found both within the engine, and on the outer surface. Current conventional engineering materials are non-viable at these conditions. In order to make these materials viable, active cooling strategies could be utilized. One particularly promising type is transpiration cooling, where a coolant is diffused through a porous surface. Although researched heavily in the 1960s, adoption is still minimal. Part of the reason …

Chirpi - Implementing And Analyzing The Chirp Communication Algorithm On Esp32 Hardware, Calvin Vanwormer

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This work presents the implementation and experimental evaluation of the CHIRP communication algorithm on resource-constrained ESP32-S3 microcontrollers, bridging the gap between simulation-based validation and real-world deployment. CHIRP is a lightweight, fully decentralized peer-to-peer protocol designed for IoT networks with dynamic node membership, enabling runtime node join and leave operations without centralized coordination or global reconfiguration. The implementation comprises two main components: C-based node firmware running on FreeRTOS [1, 2], which implements the full CHIRP protocol including peer discovery, round-robin pairing, and firefly-inspired phase synchronization, and a Python-based experiment controller that orchestrates network experiments and collects per-node metrics without influencing protocol …

A Sensor Fusion And Optimization Framework For High-Resolution Power Outage Detection And Energy Asset Allocation, Elizabeth Trader

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Existing power outage datasets lack the spatial and temporal resolution required for neighborhood- level risk assessment, and conventional energy system design optimizes for cost without accounting for community-level demand - resulting in inefficient and inequitable asset de- ployment. This dissertation presents IONCORTEX, a framework integrating three technical contributions: a heterogeneous sensor fusion pipeline combining social media signals with municipal infrastructure records for intersection-level outage detection at six-hour tempo- ral resolution, maintaining detection capability during telecommunications disruptions; a techno-economic analysis pipeline evaluating photovoltaic, battery storage, hydrogen, and diesel portfolios using NREL’s System Advisor Model with Monte Carlo uncertainty quan- tification; and …

Threads Of The Past: Exploration Of Banal Medievalisms In Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine, Evan Garrett Wallace

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This dissertation examines how medieval historical narratives circulate within contemporary Western digital discourse surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian political rhetoric has frequently invoked the medieval polity of Kyivan Rus’ to assert civilizational continuity between the medieval past and the modern Russian state. While these claims have been widely discussed in political and media contexts, less attention has been given to how such narratives appear within everyday online discourse. This study investigates how medieval references are mobilized, circulated, and interpreted within social media environments during the early conflict.

The research draws on a dataset of approximately 160,000 tweets collected from …

Sonic Costumes For Immersive Theme Park Storytelling: Developing Interactive Wearables To Enhance Performer, Audience, And Environment Interaction, Rachel Yee

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Costumes enhance the themed experience through visual storytelling while also allowing performers to interact fluidly with a physical space. These garments are typically passive storytellers in theme parks, even if the performers interact directly with guests. Some garments coordinate with and react to elements of the themed environment, predominantly when worn by performers within live shows, parades, or streetmosphere settings. However, this interactivity is often available only at a distance from guests, causing a separation between audience and performer. For instance, lights on parade costumes, such as those throughout Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park, often synchronize only with parade floats and …

Interactions Of Complement With Paramyxovirus Persistently Infected Cells, Nasser N. Yousef

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Persistent RNA virus infections (PI) are often characterized by extended viral shedding and maintained cycles of inflammation. We have an incomplete understanding of interactions between exogenous and cell intrinsic Complement (C') factors and paramyxovirus PI cells. Parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5) acute infected (AI) cells can be recognized and lysed by exogenous C’ factors, but PI cells become resistant to C’-mediated lysis. We hypothesized that the relative sensitivity of AI and PI cells to C’ lysis is correlated with viral glycoprotein expression on the surface of cells. PI cells display lower levels of viral glycoprotein expression compared to AI cells. Pharmacological …

Perceptions Of High School Students’ Sports Participation And Potential Impact On Post-Secondary Involvement, Anthony J. Wishart

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This dissertation examined the shifting culture of youth sports in the United States and its impact on academic motivation among adolescent student athletes. The study utilized Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as a framework. Traditionally, youth sports have helped students with personal growth and academic success. However, the contemporary emphasis on early sport specialization and the decline of opportunities in nonrevenue male sports are part of broader cultural shifts and require deeper exploration.

This study investigated the relationship between sport specialization among high school male junior and senior student athletes and their levels of academic motivation, as well as the consequences of …

Photothermal Excitation And Optical Interferometric Readout Of Mos2 Nanomechanical Resonators, Sadia Afrin

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have emerged as promising candidates for nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) due to their exceptional mechanical, optical, and electrical properties. Among these materials, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has attracted considerable interest for nanomechanical resonator applications because of its low mass density, high mechanical strength, and semiconducting nature. This thesis presents the fabrication, theoretical modeling, and experimental characterization of suspended MoS2 drumhead resonators. The devices were fabricated by mechanically exfoliating MoS2 flakes from bulk MoS2 crystals and transferring selected flakes onto pre-patterned substrates using a dry-transfer process. Mechanical resonance was excited through photothermal actuation using a modulated blue laser, while device …

Cfd Analysis Of A Full Heat Exchanger Between Ammonia And Supercritical Co2 In Aviation Application, Mairah Ahmed

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The aviation industry’s transition toward lower-carbon propulsion systems has accelerated interest in alternative fuels, including ammonia–hydrogen fuel blends. In this work, a supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle is integrated with the exhaust stream of a turbofan engine to recover waste heat and utilize it for ammonia preheating and cracking. The recovered thermal energy raises the ammonia temperature to the level required for catalytic decomposition, enabling onboard hydrogen production. The proposed architecture combines ammonia cracking with a high-bypass, two-shaft turbofan engine representative of the propulsion system employed on the Boeing 737 MAX 8. This approach addresses the challenges associated with onboard hydrogen …

Soil Texture And Organic Matter Influence Hydraulic Performance Of Stormwater Infiltration Systems Across Antecedent Moisture Conditions, Laura E. Andrade Barron

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Stormwater infiltration systems are widely used to improve urban stormwater management by promoting drainage and groundwater recharge while treating nonpoint source pollution such as nutrients in surface runoff. Nutrient removal and hydrologic performance of these systems are closely coupled and both are dependent on characteristics of underlying soils. In this study, laboratory flow-through experiments were conducted using 30 intact cores taken from six soil types with different textures (0.99-16.63% clay content) and organic matter contents (OMC 0.44-93.3%). Measured cumulative fluxes from laboratory experiments were used to calibrate numerical models simulating flow through porous media (HYDRUS-1D). Calibrated models were used to …

Fgf19 As A Colorectal Cancer Serum Biomarker And Fgfr4 As A Mediator Of Anti-Her2 Resistance In Breast Cancer, Jordan Beardsley

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19)-fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) signaling pathway regulates hepatic metabolism, bile acid (BA) synthesis, and hepatocyte proliferation. This signaling axis also is implicated in promoting tumor progression, therapeutic resistance, and metastasis in certain cancers.

In colorectal cancer (CRC) there is a critical need for non-invasive biomarkers for disease detection and monitoring. We identified FGF19 as a candidate CRC serum marker through meta-transcriptomics and found FGF19 to be expressed and secreted by CRC cell lines. Tumor-derived FGF19 was detectable in mouse serum at levels correlating with tumor volume in a subcutaneous xenograft model. RNA sequencing …

Vaccine Hesitancy In Arabic Discourse: A Multi-Method Social Media Study, Nada Dimashkieh Chehab

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Vaccine hesitancy — the state of uncertainty about vaccination — poses global public health challenges, undermining efforts to prevent infectious diseases. It is also a contextual phenomenon, shaped by social and political forces. While survey-based research on vaccine hesitancy is abundant both globally and in the Arab world, humanities-oriented approaches using discourse analysis remain limited especially in Arabic on social media: some have tracked trends on Twitter, but virtually none have done so on Facebook. This dissertation addresses these gaps through a multimethod design combining Textual and Trend Analyses and Critical Discourse Study. It examines vaccine-related trends and discourses among …

Pioglitazone Uncouples Macrophage Inflammatory Signaling From Epithelial Oxidative Stress During Map Infection Mimicking Crohn’S Disease Treatment, Sabera Akter Bushra

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease characterized by intestinal inflammation, epithelial barrier dysfunction, and abnormal immune signaling. CD pathophysiology is increasingly linked to Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) infection, which increases chronic macrophage activation and the production of inflammatory mediators that lead to epithelial damage. Among these mediators, CXCL10, TNF-α, and IL-6 contribute in inflammation, while NOX-1 and SERPINE-1 indicate epithelial oxidative stress and damage. Despite the role of macrophage-epithelial interaction in CD, selective pharmaceutical regulation of this axis remains unclear. Pioglitazone, an FDA-approved PPARγ agonist used for type 2 diabetes, is an appealing repurposing candidate, given …

Non-Gaussian Phenomena In Light Scattering And Applications, Shubham Atul Dawda

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Physical reality is rarely deterministic; which, when probed by electromagnetic fields that also fluctuate, leads to observables that are most efficiently modelled as statistical processes. At equilibrium, this is usually achieved by invoking the Gaussian statistics of underlying physical processes, however, in practice, one often encounters out-of-equilibrium conditions where Gaussian descriptions may not suffice. Such situations are plentiful in nature– from biology to astronomy. This dissertation addresses several non-Gaussian phenomena associated with light scattering, and includes specific models’ derivations, experimental techniques developments, and demonstrations of potential applications. The systematic presentation will consider circumstances that infringe upon specific assumptions of the …

Independent And Interacting Effects Of Co-Presence And Social Media 'Likes' On Online Disinhibition, Margaret M. Doheny

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Social media platforms have fundamentally transformed interpersonal communication by creating environments in which behaviors are publicly reinforced through visible social feedback systems such as “likes.” Although prior research has linked online environments with increased disinhibition and negative behavior, existing literature has primarily focused on anonymity and invisibility as the primary mechanisms underlying these effects. However, the mechanistic role of physical and psychological co-presence in driving online disinhibition has received little empirical investigation. The central aim of the present study was to determine whether reduced social presence and the selective reinforcement of negative content contribute to online disinhibition and anticipatory reward-seeking …

Detecting Error In Ai-Generated Text: The Effects Of Authorship And Word Presentation Speed, Gabriela Flores Cruz

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The increased us of artificial intelligent (AI) chatbots powered by Generative Pre-trained Transformers has raised concerns about users’ ability to detect errors of AI-generated text. This dissertation examined how readers identify inconsistencies in AI-generated expository passages using the inconsistency detection paradigm from comprehension monitoring research. Across two experiments, it investigated whether perceived authorship and word presentation speed influenced inconsistency detection. Experiment 1 used a 3 (author: human, AI, no author) × 2 (inconsistency type: internal, external) between-subjects design. Perceived authorship did not significantly affect hit rates, sensitivity, or response bias. Exploratory analyses indicated that reading comprehension and working memory predicted …

Lost Innocence, Found Martyrdom: Childhood War Exposure, Narratives, And Militancy In Hezbollah, Léa Faure

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

What explains participation in armed insurgent groups? Existing literature has examined psychological, individual, structural, and organizational dynamics of mobilization, but rarely looks at all three in tandem. This can be problematic, since these explanations cannot on their own explain variations in participation. Research on the effects of individual exposure to war-related violence also cannot explain why in conflict-ridden, organizationally dense environments, mobilization is still relatively rare despite widespread violent exposure. This study creates a unified theory of participation around the interaction between childhood exposure to war-related violence and relatable timely group narratives. Focusing on the case of Hezbollah in Lebanon, …

Gaining Voice, Creating Opportunity: An Exploration Of Non-Native English-Speaking Students’ Sources Of Self-Efficacy In U.S. College Public Speaking Classrooms, Desiree M M Flores-Molina

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This qualitative dissertation explores the sources of public speaking self-efficacy among non-native English-speaking international students enrolled in U.S. college public speaking courses. The study applies Bandura's social cognitive theory to examine how students describe the experiences that shape their confidence and perceived ability to succeed, with attention to mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and physiological and affective states. It also considers how classroom practices and instructor support contribute to or constrain students' confidence.

Data were collected through semi-structured student interviews, guided reflection artifacts connected to major speech assignments, and key-informant interviews with public speaking instructors. Thematic analysis was used …

Evaluating Novel Targeted Combination Therapies For Gastrointestinal Cancers, Joseph A. Goode

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers remain among the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with therapeutic resistance continuing to limit the effectiveness of current treatments. Three complementary studies were conducted to identify therapeutic vulnerabilities and evaluate novel combination strategies in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and colorectal cancer (CRC).  First, dual inhibition of fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling was investigated in PDAC models. A combination of targeted drug treatments reduced viability, clonogenic survival, migration, and suppressed signaling pathways involved in translational control. This supported a functional interaction between FGFR4 and PI3K-mTOR co-activation in …

Integrated Optical Probes For Confocal Scanning Imaging And Adjustable Coherent-Gated Dynamic Sensing, Yonglin Huang

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Optics and photonics have been one of the most important sciences and technologies that impact modern human life in a big way. For example, fiber-optics for communications and artificial intelligence. Optical probes are critical components for optical imaging and optical sensing technologies that have been actively researched and developed in the past decades. Advanced fiber-optic sensor probes with smaller size, better performance, lower noise, higher photon efficiency, rapid sensing time, and lower cost are needed in many applications, such as nanoscale material science, chemistry, and biomedical fields, etc.  In this project, new fiber-optic sensor probe technologies and integrated micro-optic devices …

Investigating The Anti-Apoptotic Properties Of The N-Terminus Of The Chlamydia Trachomatis Effector Tarp, Kasey S. Jordan

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

As the most prevalent bacterial STI in the United States and leading cause of infection-related blindness worldwide, the obligate intracellular bacteria, Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct), poses a significant threat to public health. As an obligate intracellular bacteria, invasion of the host cell is a crucial step in Chlamydia’s developmental cycle. To drive invasion, Ct injects prepackaged effectors into the host cell using a T3SS. An early Chlamydial effector, translocated actin recruiting phosphoprotein, or Tarp, interacts with host cell actin to promote invasion, mediated via Tarp’s C-terminal region. Although the function of Tarp’s C-terminus is well defined, the Tarp’s N-terminus …