A Dataset-Centric Analysis Of Evaluation Protocols In Face Morph Attack Detection, Sheerko R. Hmasalah, Abdulbasit K. Al-Talabani, Aras T. Asaad

Polytechnic Journal

Face morph attack detection (MAD) is often evaluated using datasets collected from diverse sources, created for different purposes, and acquired under varying conditions. This heterogeneity raises questions about how evaluation protocols and dataset characteristics influence reported performance. This work adopts a dataset-centric perspective to analyze the effects of evaluation protocol and dataset composition, including visual quality and morph-to-genuine imbalance, on MAD performance. Experiments are conducted on eight datasets and four morphing techniques using a fixed pipeline evaluated across six backbones, including Vision Transformer (ViT) and five CNN architectures, and ten evaluation scenarios covering homogeneous and heterogeneous cross-morph generalization. Performance is …

Influences On Student College-Major Decision And Satisfaction Rate Among Students In The School Of Agriculture, Danielle Shafer

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence students to choose agriculture majors and agriculture careers and measure the level of satisfaction with their major based on these influences. There are many factors that influence students to choose a major in college and college-major satisfaction. These influences and satisfaction with major may have an impact on a student’s decision to choose a college career path. Some of the influences mentioned in studies are family, friends, educators, extension programs, clubs, financial, and recruitment efforts. The degree to which each of these influence students may depend on the …

Parent And Family Engagement In Middle Schools: A Qualitative Exploration Of Parent Perspectives And Student Success In West Tennessee, Angela Y. Searcy

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Parent and family engagement in middle school has been demonstrated to increase students' academic achievement; however, barriers often prevent parental participation. This study focused on parents' and teachers' perceptions of the parents' role in the educational process and sought to answer research questions about parents' perceptions, parents as equal partners in the educational process, and barriers to parental participation. A qualitative research design was used for the study. Teachers and parents from a middle school in West Tennessee participated in interviews to generate data used in this study. Teachers and parents identified common themes affecting the parent-school partnership, including …

Autotheme: A Multi-Agent Framework For Inductive Thematic Analysis With Llms, Abdullah Wahbeh, Omar El-Gayar, Mohammad Al-Ramahi, Tareq Nasralah, Ahmed Elnoshokaty

Research & Publications

Thematic analysis is a qualitative research method used to identify and interpret patterns in textual data. However, it can be time-consuming and challenging to replicate. While recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) and generative AI have enhanced thematic analysis, existing methods often rely on prompt-based interactions and require significant human intervention. This paper introduces an agentic AI framework comprising autonomous, goal-directed agents powered by LLMs to perform inductive thematic analysis with minimal human input. We evaluate the framework using a dataset from a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) mobile app and compare the results with those from Latent Dirichlet Allocation …

Blockchain As A Digital Coordination Infrastructure For Project Management: A Systematic Review And Integrative Framework,, Cherie Noteboom, Sai Neelima Seru, Aravindh Sekar

Research & Publications

Blockchain technology has gained increasing attention as a digital infrastructure capable of improving transparency, trust, and coordination in complex, multi-organizational project environments. However, existing research on blockchain-enabled project management remains fragmented and industry-focused, providing limited guidance for organizational adoption and integration. This study addresses this gap through a systematic literature review of 29 peer-reviewed studies, following PRISMA guidelines, to examine how blockchain capabilities are incorporated into project management practices across industries and maturity stages.

Grounded in Resource-Based View and Coordination Theory, the analysis employs a feature-to-process mapping approach to link six core blockchain capabilities—decentralization, transparency, immutability, smart contracts, traceability, and …

Drivers And Barriers To Artificial Intelligence Adoption In Agriculture: A Socio-Technical Analysis Of Midwestern United States Farmers., Abeer F. Alkhwaldi, Cherie Noteboom, Amir A. Abdulmuhsin

Research & Publications

The agricultural industry is at a critical juncture, experiencing global pressures in the form of climate volatility, a shortage of labor, and an increase in production costs. Although artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential for revolution due to its predictive analytics and self-controlled machinery, it has not achieved widespread and even distribution for use, especially among small-to-medium-sized farms in the Midwestern United States. This study formulates and empirically examines a comprehensive socio-technical model to determine the drivers and barriers to the adoption of AI in this agricultural region. Based on a synthesized framework of the “Unified Theory of Acceptance and …

Polymeric Micelle In Drug Delivery And Nanotechnology: Preparation Methods And Multifunctional Application, Abhishek Sanjay Patil, Savita Ullegaddi, Nagesh C, Suma N

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

Nanomedicine, an emerging discipline, integrates nanotechnology with pharmaceutical and biomedical science to develop new drugs and imaging compounds with improved efficacy and safety profiles. One of the most important aspects of this field is the creation of new nano-drug delivery systems (NDDS), which harness the power of nanomaterials to bypass such conventional limitations as poor solubility and instability. One form of NDDS, micelles, have been identified as a viable option, providing a safe and effective means of encapsulating hydrophobic natural products. Self-assembling amphiphilic block copolymers, micelles form a core-shell structure that shields the encapsulated drug from degradation while allowing controlled …

Microsponge Technology: A Comprehensive Review Of Advanced Drug Delivery - From Formulation Science To Therapeutic Applications, Akash Pawar, Nagesh C, Sunil Attimarad, Suma Naduvinamani, Savita Ullegaddi

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

Microsponge technology has emerged as a promising drug delivery system due to its unique porosity structure, linked pores and large surface area. These features allow effective drug loading, encapsulation, and sustained drug release, making microsponges suitable for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications. Their structural integrity provides controlled release profile and prevents deep penetration, localizing drugs in the epidermis. Its versatility allows incorporation into topical and oral forms, addressing limitations of traditional systems such as unwanted side effects, greasiness, or odor. Multiple fabrication methods including liquid–liquid suspension polymerization and quasi-emulsion techniques produce robust, cost-effective microsponges. Standard evaluation includes particle size, drug loading, …

Some Assembly Required V2, Richmond Center For Visual Arts

Gwen Frostic School of Art Exhibitions

Presented in conjunction with the WMU Special Collections and the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center, where additional works by Chen are on display, this exhibition highlights handmade artist’s books in a variety of formats. The works featured here are permanently housed at the Zhang Legacy Collections Center at Western Michigan University.

Some Assembly Required V1, Richmond Center For Visual Arts

Gwen Frostic School of Art Exhibitions

Presented in conjunction with the WMU Special Collections and the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center, where additional works by Chen are on display, this exhibition highlights handmade artist’s books in a variety of formats. The works featured here are permanently housed at the Zhang Legacy Collections Center at Western Michigan University.

Does Utilization Of Education In The Rural North Carolina Christian Community Reduce Vitamin D Deficiency, Alyssa Dedmon

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is a prevalent and underrecognized health issue, especially office workers who are exposed to less midday sun. Education and awareness may help address this risk.

Purpose: This project aimed to evaluate whether education on light therapy and vitamin D supplementation improves knowledge related to prevention and management of deficiency.

Methods: Participants from a rural North Carolina church community completed a pre-test, viewed an educational video, and completed a post-test to assess changes in knowledge. The intervention addressed risk factors, cultural influences, and treatment options.

Results: Participants demonstrated strong baseline knowledge, with modest improvements post-intervention, particularly in …

Human Trafficking: The Lack Of Education In The Christian Community, Sabrina L. Locklear

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

One of the most serious public health problems in the United States, as well as worldwide, is human trafficking. This criminal activity affects over 25 million adults and children worldwide annually (Olivieri et al., 2024). One of the largest allies against human trafficking is faith-based communities. These organizations have strong relationships with the community and play a major role as key stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking (Hounmenou, 2023). The Christian Community is a service-driven group that helps those who are in destitution. Evangelical Christian Pastors in the United States Midwest acknowledge that their congregations struggle when they try …

The Effectiveness Of Cardiovascular Disease Education In The African American Church With African American Women, Aricka H. Thurman

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Cardiovascular disease in African American women is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and in rural communities due to the lack of awareness and prevention of the disease. Many African American women are the foundations of their homes and community, and any signs of weakness, including sickness, deteriorates which is why many do not seek attention until it is too late. Educating African American women on the importance of preventive and medical care is essential.

Regardless of the associated stigma of the African American woman and their “superpower” and that they can do “all things” …

Use Of Non-Invasive Testing In Primary Care For Earlier Diagnosis Of Liver Fibrosis, Amy L. Cable

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Chronic liver diseases, particularly those driven by metabolic risk factors, are frequently under-recognized in primary care settings until they reach advanced stages. Systematic screening using non-invasive testing is inexpensive and convenient, but baseline calculations remain low. The objective of this quality improvement project was to increase primary care providers' knowledge of early fibrosis identification and intent for utilization of testing. Pre- and post-intervention data were collected over a 16-week period. Post-intervention, providers' knowledge of non-invasive testing was improved by 28% and intention of utilization by 80%.

Closing The Gaps: Improving Opioid Overdose Prevention In African American Communities Through Education And Community Engagement, Tara Clinding

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

African Americans continue to experience high rates of opioid mortality, emphasizing the need for culturally relevant community education and overdose prevention strategies. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) quality improvement project was to implement and evaluate community-based opioid overdose prevention education designed for individuals with substance use disorder, family and friends, and community members. Guided by Betty Neuman’s Model, the education focuses on recognizing opioid overdoses, administering naloxone when indicated, and identifying community treatment and recovery resources. A pre- and post-test design was used to evaluate changes in participants' knowledge and confidence following a structured educational session. …

Every Time The Beat Drops, What Does Your Heart Sing About You? Exploring Black Men’S Cardiac Health, Bianca S. Washington

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

The disparities Black men continue to face in rural areas in relation to higher rates of cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled hypertension, and cardiovascular mortality in comparison with other racial groups in the United States continue to be disproportionate. The disparities are influenced by limited access to healthcare, socioeconomic barriers, and structural racism within the health care system. Addressing these issues requires culturally tailored, evidence-based practice interventions that would help restore trust and hopefully engage patients to follow up with primary care providers and to take prescribed medication as directed for cardiovascular disease management. The purpose of this project was to examine …

Breathing Calm Into Testing: The Impact Of Mindfulness Meditation And Aromatherapy On Stress And Test Anxiety Of Prelicensure Nursing Students, Valerie A. Doig

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Nursing education is inherently rigorous, with students frequently subjected to high-stakes clinical assessments, simulations, and academic evaluations. Stress and test anxiety can impact learning, which can result in students’ inability to progress in nursing programs. This DNP project aimed to evaluate the effects of aromatherapy with lavender essential oil and meditation on the stress and test anxiety scores in associate degree nursing students through assessing the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Westside Test Anxiety Scale (WSTA) scores. Participants engaged in educational and interventional sessions that utilized aromatherapy and meditation. Surveys were deployed to gather baseline PSS and WSTA scores and …

Implementing A Peer Support Team To Address Workplace Violence: Enhancing Healthcare Worker Well-Being And Retention, Christina Liverman

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Workplace violence is a persistent challenge in healthcare and is associated with decreased psychological well-being, increased emotional distress, burnout, and staff turnover among nurses. Healthcare organizations are increasingly seeking evidence-based interventions to support employees following workplace violence incidents. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement and evaluate a peer support program for medical-surgical staff following workplace violence incidents and to examine its effect on perceived psychological well-being.

A nonrandomized pre-test/post-test quality improvement design was implemented on a 38-bed medical-surgical unit in a rural community hospital. Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and certified nursing assistants were invited to …

A Systematic Review On Niosomes: Composition, Preparation, And Applications, Sanket Gawade Mr., Sunil Attimarad, Vishakha Desai Ms.

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

Conventional drug carrier systems are restricted owing to poor bioavailability, weak stability and non-specific localization, which causes systemic toxicities and reduced therapeutic efficacy. Niosomes, one of the nonionic surfactant vesicular systems, have been suggested that value to overcome these constraints. In this review, we give an account of recent progress in niosome research, highlighting their merits, composition, characterization, and applications.

Niosomes offer several advantages including increased drug bioavailability, targeted delivery and reduced toxicity. Bilayered niosomes can entrap both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs, therefore allowing simultaneous delivery of actives components. We provide an overview of various techniques for niosome preparation including …

The Impact Of Sports Betting Legalization On Marital Status, Hosea Gitonga Njogu

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the causal Impact of sports gambling legalization on marital stability in the United States using data from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS-ASEC) and the American Community Survey (ACS) from 2013 to 2024. The analysis leverages variation in the staggered adoption of state-level sports gambling laws and applies two-way fixed effects, event-study, and the Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021) difference-in-differences estimators, controlling for geographic and individual characteristics. Legalization increases divorce rates by 0.42 percentage points in the CPS and 0.51 percentage points in the ACS, corresponding to increases of 2.4% and 2.6%, or approximately …

Managing Multi-Drug Resistance: An Evolutionary Game Theory And Optimal Control Approach, Shukhrat Nasrulloev

Theses and Dissertations

Multi-drug resistance is an evolutionary process in which treatment eliminates sensitive cells, allowing resistant clones to dominate. This thesis investigates this process using a framework integrating population dynamics, evolutionary game theory, and optimal control theory. We develop a two-population logistic growth model describing competition between drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cells under treatment, construct dose-dependent payoff matrices and replicator dynamics to characterize evolutionary competition, and derive a critical drug level D_crit = (r_S - rR)/(dS - d_R) at which resistant cells gain a fitness advantage. An optimal control problem is formulated via Pontryagin's Maximum Principle to identify schedules …

Perceived Barriers To Physical Activity And Campus Recreation Facility Usage In College Students Referred Or Not Referred To An Exercise Is Medicine® On Campus Program, Benjamin M. Colbert

Theses and Dissertations

INTRODUCTION: Approximately 36-50% of college students are inactive and report numerous barriers to being physically active. Physical activity (PA) barriers are any obstacle an individual believes affects their PA participation. Individuals who perceive more barriers are less likely to participate in PA and as such, interventions that target barriers may increase PA participation. Exercise is Medicine^® on Campus (EIM-OC) is one intervention that may improve PA levels on college campuses by reducing barriers. The purpose of this study was to document PA and campus recreation facility barriers in university students and examine the influence of an individualized EIM-OC intervention …

Informing Policies: Examining Socio-Cultural Factors Influencing The Prevalence Of Gender-Based Violence, Patricia M. Ebubechukwu

Theses and Dissertations

Despite growing policy attention and legal reforms, Intimate partner violence (IPV) remains a persistent public health and human rights concern in Nigeria. This study examines the socio-cultural influences on the prevalence of gender-based violence among ever-married women in Nigeria using data from the 2024 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Drawing on a nationally representative sample of 19,863 women aged 15 to 49, the research investigates how geopolitical zone, internalized gender norms, religious affiliation, educational attainment, and household wealth shape women’s experiences of physical, sexual, and emotional IPV. Guided by social norms theory and the ecological model of violence, the …

Fuchs' Problem For Quasi-Cyclic Groups, Dalen F. Elliott

Theses and Dissertations

Fuchs’ problem asks which groups can arise as the group of units of a ring. Although the finite cyclic case has been completely classified, much less is known in the infinite setting. This thesis contributes to this problem by investigating quasi-cyclic. (Pr¨ufer) groups and their finite direct products. We show that for every odd prime p, there is no commutative ring R such that R×∼= Cp∞. This obstruction arises from characteristic restrictions and the algebraic structure of finite fields. More generally, we prove that any group in which every element has order a power of an odd prime p and …

Building Resilience And Academic Belonging Through An Educational Intervention For Latine Families, Britney Ramos

Theses and Dissertations

Latine students continue to experience disparities in college persistence and completion despite the growing rate of enrollment in higher education. Previous research has focused on the importance of family involvement, culturally responsive programming, and the sense of belonging for Latine students. However, continued research is needed to better understand how family-centered programs support both Latine youths’ sense of belonging and their perceived preparedness for college. This study focuses on how participation in the Juntos Para Una Mejor Educación program relates to Latine youths’ sense of belonging and perceived preparedness for college, as well as how family expectations shape these outcomes. …

Thinking Machines: Cybernetics, Artificial Intelligence, And Technological Anxiety In The American Cold War, Erin Mae Wilcox

Theses and Dissertations

Following the Second World War, cybernetics emerged as a cross-disciplinary study in philosophy, neurophysiology, electrical engineering, and mathematics. Cyberneticists proposed the formal study of the man-machine analogy; that is, to equate biological structures to a complex mechanical system. Drawing from this analogy, cyberneticists used programmable digital computers to emulate the functions of the human brain. The study of artificial intelligence emerged within this cybernetic discourse in the early 1950s; yet, by the mid-1960s, the two disciplines suffered a methodological fracture. Drawing from a tradition generated by this fracture, historians have traditionally examined cybernetics and artificial intelligence in isolation from one …

Framing Belonging And Exclusion: A Dialogic Narrative Analysis Of English- And Spanish-Language Immigration Coverage During The Trump 2024 Presidential Election, Evangeline T. Cruz

Theses and Dissertations

I investigated how English- and Spanish-language news outlets narratively constructed Latinx immigrants during the Trump 2024 presidential campaign, a period marked by heightened anti-immigrant rhetoric and political volatility. While past scholarships examined immigration framing through tone, sentiment, or frequency analysis, limited attention has been given to the deeper narrative structures that shape public meaning-making. This study addresses this gap by applying Dialogic Narrative Analysis (DNA) and Critical Thematic Analysis (CTA) to a bilingual dataset of 120 newspaper articles from The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, El Diario, and La Opinión published between November 2024 and February 2025.

Findings reveal …

Data Defines Success: Algorithm For Dataset Quality Assessment In Deep Learning For Malware Detection, Matei Ionescu

Theses and Dissertations

The field of artificial intelligence is based upon the premise of constructing architectures through which to propagate training data. However, the majority of existing research literature is focused on architecture. While necessary, the attention devoted to the architecture should not so precipitously exceed that of the data. It should be noted that this disparity is not without reasonable cause. Data quality is often exceedingly difficult to verify due to particularities of the field or subfield; LLM repositories of text are distinct from image recognition pictures of dog breeds which are distinct from EEG waveforms of human brains which are distinct …

Secret-Keeping Experiences Of Young Adults, Jace C. Griffith

Theses and Dissertations

In 2020, researchers Frijns et al. called for a new wave of secret-keeping research which prioritized the person-centric experience of youth keeping secrets. This study added to that collection by comparing two kinds of secret-keeping which are not compared in existing research: secrets which are related to abuse, and secrets which are not. Researchers in the field of child welfare study only abuse-related secret-keeping, almost always qualitatively. Alternatively, researchers of non-abuse secret-keeping or general secret-keeping collect almost entirely quantitative data, absent of the personal experience of secret-keeping.

Through an online survey, 205 undergraduate students were asked to reflect on an …

From Deference To Dialogue: How International Gtas From High Power Distance Cultures Adapt To U.S. Classroom Dynamics, Deborah Akua Afi Appiah

Theses and Dissertations

International graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) from high power distance cultures play a significant role in undergraduate education at U.S. universities, yet they face challenges that go well beyond language proficiency. Coming from educational backgrounds where teacher authority is unquestioned and hierarchical, these GTAs must navigate American classrooms that operate on fundamentally different assumptions, where authority is earned rather than assumed, informality is the norm, and students expect to question, negotiate, and be personally known by their instructors. The present study examined how eighteen (18) international GTAs from seven (7) high power distance countries perceived and adapted to these differences while …