Digital Commons Network^™

Draft Final Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Unreclaimed Sites: Ur-35 Construction Completion Report (Ccr), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

The purpose of this Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU) Unreclaimed (UR) Sites Construction Completion Report (CCR) is to describe the tasks completed as described in the Final BPSOU UR Sites: UR-35 Remedial Action Work Plan (RAWP) (referred to herein as RAWP; Atlantic Richfield Company, 2025) (Appendix A). This CCR was prepared to outline Remedial Action (RA) tasks performed at the UR source area, UR-35, within the BPSOU (referred to herein as UR-35 Site or Site) as part of the Further Remedial Elements Scope of Work described in the BPSOU Consent Decree (EPA, 2020). All work was completed according to …

Clinic-In-A-Box: A Portable, Software-Defined Cyber Range For Realistic, Scenario-Based Cybersecurity Training, Ethan Chumley, Aaron Nair, Royce Yaezenko, Joshua Payne, Veronika Kyles, Paul Wagner, Robert J. Honomichl, Ryan Straight, Shengjie Xu

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Realistic, hands-on cybersecurity training has traditionally depended on fixed infrastructure such as dedicated lab hardware, cloud subscriptions, or permanent network connectivity, limiting where and how often it can be delivered. This paper presents the design and implementation of a portable, scenario-based cybersecurity training platform housed in a single travel case and built from commodity hardware, type-1 hypervisor virtualization, containerized service orchestration, and software-defined networking. The platform clones, isolates, and resets complete lab environments on demand, allowing the same physical system to support repeated classroom, workshop, or field deployments with minimal manual reconfiguration. Training scenarios are grounded in generated organizational profiles …

The Npso Model Decreased Hospital-Acquired Infections And Sustained The Clinical Outcomes, Hsin-Mei Chen, Shannan Hamlin, Vaibhav Unhelkar, Lydia Kavraki

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

The study revealed that patients with hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) experienced a length of stay (LOS) that increased from 3 days to 30 days (Stewart et al., 2021). Another study shows that a CAUTI case incurs an additional cost of $13,793, while a CLABSI case incurs an additional cost of $48,108 to the care (Forester et al., 2022).

In October 2021, our department received a request to mitigate the surge in CAUTI and CLABSI rates in Q3 2021. We reviewed the literature and designed standardized tools for skill validation. Then, we observed the nursing practice, identified the fallouts, and prepared an …

Spider Biodiversity And Insecticide Sensitivity Across Active And Restored Cranberry Bogs On Nantucket, Tyler J. Kulak

Graduate Masters Theses

Spiders are one of the most diverse groups of organisms on the planet with over 53,000 species described as of 2026. They provide a suite of ecosystem services including their regulation of problematic pests in agricultural systems, appearing in high biomasses across a breadth of ecological niches. While beneficial as pest regulators, they are also susceptible to the same management techniques as pest organisms and are especially vulnerable to chemical control. Cranberry production in Massachusetts likely benefits from spider ecosystem services, but diversity research on spiders in these systems is limited. This study compares the diversity of spider populations from …

Beyond Monolithic Narratives: The Interaction Of Ethnic-Racial Socialization And Resistance In Shaping Mental Health Among Black Immigrants In The U.S., Krystel Francis

Graduate Masters Theses

Black immigrants represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. Black population, yet their unique racialized and cultural experiences remain understudied within psychological research. This thesis examined how ethnic-racial socialization and resistance and empowerment against racism can influence how race-related stress was associated with psychological distress among Black immigrants in the United States. This study tested a moderated moderation model to determine whether ethnic-racial socialization and resistance and empowerment against racism, independently and jointly, buffered the adverse effects of race-related stress on psychological distress. Using data from a larger IRB-approved study on racism and mental health among people of …

Comfort In Cases Of Sickness: Health And Colonialism At The Eastern Pequot Reservation, 1800-1850, Katherine N. Brauckmann

Graduate Masters Theses

Health and sickness were major concerns for the Eastern Pequot community in the first half of the 19th century. At this time, the Eastern Pequot’s collective finances were controlled by a court-appointed overseer who rented reservation land to non-Pequot individuals and used the generated funds to purchase goods and services for those on the reservation. In an 1841 petition to remove an overseer for failing in his duties, issues of health were brought up twice among their grievances: that they received little support “in Sickness or in health” and that “our Land if family rented […] would add much to …

A Variational Algorithm For Preparing Superoptimal Thermal States For Quantum Thermometric Measurement Adaptable To Nisq Hardware, Nicholas Donatelli

Graduate Masters Theses

The conditional thermal state (CTS) is a probe-specific quantum thermal state that is known to outperform the Gibbs state in quantum thermometric measurements at sufficiently low temperatures. This thesis introduces a variational quantum algorithm designed to prepare the CTS on quantum computing hardware which optimizes the angular parameters of the quantum gates that comprise the ansatz circuit and, for the one-qubit case, minimizes relative infidelity of the output state with the known CTS. Using noiseless numerical simulations (SPSA with Qiskit), attempting to prepare the CTS yielded relative infidelities with the known CTS on the order of $10^{-5}$ for most parameter …

Propagating Labor: How The Craft Brewery Movement Attracted And Grew A Workforce To Fuel Its Rise, Timothy J. Vlieger

Graduate Masters Theses

The craft beer movement grew from just a few tiny microbreweries and disparate homebrewing clubs to a nationwide phenomenon accounting for over ten thousand businesses and hundreds of thousands of employees. The arrival of this movement in the 1980s coincided with drastic changes in the economy, which was moving away from the manufacturing base that enabled postwar prosperity and developing a “New Economy” of high-tech and service sector employment. Within this economic transition, the social contract between capital and labor was being rewritten and what constituted a good job was being redefined. Employment in the emerging craft brewing industry represented …

The Furry Community As A Case Study In Identity-Related Conflict, Patrick Hampton

Graduate Masters Theses

The “furry” community has gained notoriety both on the internet and in physical spaces for the dramatic portrayal of animal-based personas referred to as “fursonas.” This group has become the subject of ridicule and moral concern due to the occasionally controversial nature of the content produced by some members of the community. However, there are many different interpretations both within and outside of the community around what the community entails. In this thesis, I examine how the furry community and the identity of its members is shaped by external pressure or social stigmatization? I answer this through the following three …

Toward The Study Of Photon Dynamics In Non-Separable Spacetimes, Kara Nelson

Graduate Masters Theses

Black holes provide a unique laboratory for testing general relativity in the strong-field regime through observations such as black hole images and gravitational wave signals. Comparing theoretical predictions with these observations requires accurate numerical models of photon trajectories. This thesis develops and validates a generalized ray-tracing framework for computing null geodesics in stationary, axisymmetric spacetimes. Unlike many existing ray-tracing methods, the framework does not rely on metric separability or analytic solutions, allowing it to be applied to both separable and non-separable spacetimes. The framework is validated by reproducing known Schwarzschild and Kerr results and is applied to a quasi-Kerr spacetime …

Electrolyte Development And Interfacial Reactions At Multivalent Metal Anode For Next Generation Energy Storage Systems, Leslie Gates

Graduate Masters Theses

The increasing demand for safe, sustainable, and high-performance energy storage systems has driven significant interest in multivalent-ion batteries, including aluminum, magnesium, and zinc-based systems. These technologies have attracted attention due to their high theoretical energy densities, natural abundance, low cost, and environmentally benign nature. However, their development remains hindered by a limited fundamental understanding of electrolyte development and interfacial processes at the electrode–electrolyte interface, where complex electrochemical interactions govern battery performance and stability.

This thesis investigates electrode–electrolyte interactions in both a novel aluminum electrolyte and divalent magnesium and zinc systems. Beginning with the development and characterization of a novel aluminum …

Urinary Collagen As An Indicator Of Prostate Fibrosis In Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction, Claweens Quetant

Graduate Masters Theses

Lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) is a progressive disorder that affects millions of men over the age of 50 years old. LUTD manifests as urgency, nocturia, urinary frequency, weak urinary stream, and incomplete bladder emptying (Egan, 2016). The current treatment for LUTD doesn’t always yield the desired results due to several issues. In this thesis, we aim to address the lack of suitable tools for detecting prostatic collagenization and to assess whether urine could serve as a substrate for detecting pro-fibrotic proteins associated with moderate-to-high AUASI scores. We used whole urine from 2 different cohorts, the Boston and the LURN …

Civilian Sustenance: Parcel Exchange, Household Provisioning, And Soldier Foodways In The American Civil War, Kathleen Migneault

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis examines parcel exchange between Civil War soldiers and the households and communities that continued to sustain them after military service removed them from ordinary domestic provision. Drawing on forty published collections of Civil War correspondence and diaries, it follows references to boxes, parcels, food, clothing, money, medicine, and useful goods across camps, hospitals, prisons, and home front networks. It argues that parcels from home were neither incidental sentimental tokens nor simple supplements to the ration, but a recurring practice of civilian sustenance shaped by affection, scarcity, infrastructure, and loss. The chapters trace the routes through which parcels moved, …

Microrheological Characterization Of Collagen-I Extracellular Matrix Remodeling During Tr146 Tumor Spheroid Invasion And Ppix-Mediated Photodynamic Therapy, Himantha Dilshan Saldonge

Graduate Masters Theses

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) invasion is strongly regulated by interactions between tumor cells and the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). However, localized ECM mechanical changes during tumor invasion and after photodynamic therapy (PDT) remain insufficiently understood. This study mainly investigated: time-dependent viscoelastic remodeling of collagen-I ECM during TR146 tumor cell invasion, visualization of time-dependent TR146 tumor cell invasion and post-PDT response using live/dead fluorescence imaging, and the direct effect of PpIX-mediated PDT on the viscoelastic properties of spheroid-free collagen-I ECM. Three-dimensional TR146 spheroids were generated using a non-adherent agarose-based method, surrounded by a basement-membrane-like Matrigel layer, and embedded in 3.0 …

Symmetry Breaking And Restoration In The Grasshopper Ising Model, Aradh Bisarya

Graduate Masters Theses

Distance-selective interactions in Ising systems give rise to a range of rich and unexpected phenomena. A notable example is the so-called Grasshopper Ising model, a conserved spin Ising model with interactions only between spins at a fixed distance. This model is the discrete version of the following mathematical problem: A grasshopper lands at a random point on a planar lawn of area one. It then makes one jump of fixed distance in a random direction. What lawn shape maximizes the probability that the grasshopper lands on the lawn after the jump? The solution to this problem, corresponding to the ground …

Female Perpetrators In Nazi Germany: The Effects Of Nazi Ideology And Radicalization On Three Female Concentration Camp Perpetrators, Stephanie Afonso

Graduate Masters Theses

The Second World War in Germany saw the largest number of civilian German women participating in brutal violence against Jewish peoples. The combination of sources used aids in presenting a broader image of these women both within the concentration camps and during their trials. This thesis argues the effects of Nazi ideology and radicalization on the three main subjects, Irma Grese, Maria Mandl, and Ilse Koch. Equally as important is how the American public perceived them and their roles during their respective post-war trials--which looked at them through the lens of femininity and sexuality. Within that violence came the transgression …

Symmetric Informationally Complete Positive Operator Valued Measures Minimize P-Norm Difference Between Quantum And Classical Probability Rules, Austin Monaghan

Graduate Masters Theses

Experimental violations of Bell's inequality demonstrate quantum theory's incompatibility with a local hidden-variable formulation. Simply put, either 1) measurements performed at one point in space may instantaneously influence far away systems ("spooky action at a distance") or 2) measurement outcomes are not the result of pre-existing properties. The act of measurement takes part in the very creation of the outcomes. If we reject condition 1 as a valid assumption, how can we interpret the significance of condition 2 i.e. no local parameters?  In QBism, condition 2 arises from something deeper: that the Born rule expresses a nonclassical condition for connecting …

Infrared Detectability Of Whale Species And Behaviors To Enhance Automatic Detection For Real-Time Vessel Strike Avoidance, Laura J. Howes

Graduate Masters Theses

Real-time detection of large whales at sea is critical for mitigating serious injury and mortality from ship strikes and other human activities such as seismic surveys, especially for endangered species such as the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis). Traditional marine mammal observers are limited by environmental conditions and human factors, necessitating a robust, 24-hour solution. This study investigates the efficacy of a novel onboard detection tool infrared (IR) technology to detect whale blows and body parts. While IR is a promising advancement, its performance under varying sea conditions (e.g., fog, humidity) and its ability to …

The Nature Of Things: An Investigation Into A Viking Age Assembly Site, Tyler L. Perkins

Graduate Masters Theses

Icelandic sagas and archaeological research suggest that Viking Age Icelandic assembly sites or things (þing) were generally occupied for brief periods of time during annual gatherings. One of the archaeological manifestations of repeated temporary occupation around assembly sites is small booths. At Hegranesþing in North Iceland, besides multiple booths that cover the site, there is also evidence of long-term occupation and farming. The Skagafjörður Church and Settlement Survey conducted geophysical and coring surveys, excavated three test pits into middens from different periods of occupation, and excavated one test trench into the homefield enclosure (tún) wall. The results suggest Hegranesþing, besides …

Drifts Analysis Of Acetone Oxidation On Ceo2 And Ag/Ceo2, Massimo Ruscitti

Graduate Masters Theses

The catalytic elimination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a critical objective in environmental remediation, as prolonged exposure to these pollutants severely hazards ecological and public health. Acetone is one of the most common industrial and laboratory solvents, making its complete mitigation through heterogeneous catalytic combustion a primary area of focus. This work presents an in-situ investigation into the surface chemistry of acetone adsorption and its subsequent thermocatalytic oxidation on CeO₂ and Ag/CeO₂ nanoparticle catalysts. Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS) was utilized on the catalysts under high vacuum conditions to observe changes in the surface species …

Synthesizing Viscoelasticity: Living Polymers, Micro-Macro Relations, And Paths For Resolution, Adam M. Hasler

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis investigates the relationship between macroscopic rheological signals and underlying microscopic dynamics in complex fluids, specifically focusing on ”living polymers” within the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium salicylate (NaSal) surfactant system. The research addresses the inverse parameterization problem, demonstrating how bulk measurements like zero-shear viscosity can mask fundamentally different physical topologies, such as purely cylindrical, reptating micelles versus highly branched networks. Through the successful synthesis of viscoelastically ”degenerate” samples, the study utilizes an array of characterization techniques including frequency sweeps, Large Amplitude Oscillatory Shear (LAOS) to resolve these unique underlying states. Furthermore, the work explores further avenues of study …

The Sliding Aperture Transform: A Mathematical Method Applied To Radiation-Induced Dlts Capacitance Transients, Md Abu Bakkar Siddique

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis presents the Sliding Aperture Transform (SLAPt), a novel mathematical technique for extracting exponential argument and pre-factor  from experimental data. The method transforms measured waveforms into an inverse-domain representation where exponential decay processes appear as distinct peaks, simplifying data analysis and reducing the effects of baseline offsets and noise. The technique is here applied to time dependent capacitance transients associated with irradiated and non-irradiated silicon pn junction diodes. The technique is further developed and applied to positive argument exponentials using an axillary function. This allows forward bias  current-voltage measurements, and forward pulse-bias current transient measurements to be SLAP analyzed, …

Beyond A Little Italy: Italian Community Formation In Washington, D.C., Kathleen P C Millander

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis examines the development of the Italian immigrant community in Washington, DC, from the early nineteenth century through the beginning of the Second World War. Unlike the dense ethnic enclaves that characterized Italian settlement in many American industrial and port cities, Washington never developed a recognizable Little Italy. Nevertheless, Italians in the nation's capital constructed a cohesive community through social, religious, familial, and economic networks that connected a geographically dispersed population.

Drawing on extensive original archival research, including oral histories, personal memoirs, parish records, newspapers, and manuscript collections, this thesis reconstructs the experiences of Washington's Italian immigrants and their …

Cmsi Translations #35: How To Leverage The "Butterfly Effect" To Cause The Collapse Of "Taiwan Independence" Elements?, Su Ming

CMSI Translations

Intelligent Tools for Designing Operational Concepts: Intelligent Agents Innovating Mechanisms for Victory

If a large model is likened to a machine, interacting via conversation is akin to a worker manually operating that machine. Although machine tools have significantly reduced human workloads, “manual operation” still entails challenges: demanding skill requirements for operators; difficulty in resolving complex, specialized tasks through conversation alone; difficulty in standardizing and reusing repetitive workflows; susceptibility to hallucinations; and the time- and labor-intensive nature of verifying results. To this end, the Department of Theoretical Innovation Research has proposed a technical roadmap for programming large models. The underlying concept …

Uhsp Student Handbook 2026-2027

Handbooks

No abstract provided.

Home-Based Digital Exergame For Children With Developmental Disabilities: Protocol Of A Pilot Study, Jaeeun Kang, Yoomi Shin, Naeun Park, Youngeun Lee, Anna Lee

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Compromised sensory integration, reflecting disruptions in neuroplasticity and commonly observed among children with developmental disabilities (DDs), is associated with difficulties in daily functioning and motor and social skills (Rodríguez-Armendariz et al., 2024). Interventions including sensory integration and exergame approaches have demonstrated benefits for enhancing neuroplasticity and functional outcomes (Cardenas et al., 2022). However, clinic-based sensory integration therapy often limits family involvement. We aim to develop and evaluate a home-based digital exergame for children with DDs and their families.

Purpose: This study describes the procedures for developing and assessing the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the digital exergame.

Methods: This …

Boiling-Induced Changes In The Α -Amylase Inhibitory Activity Of Selected Brassica Vegetables In Sri Lanka: A Comparative Study, D. M. S. S. Dassanayake, B. C. K. Kumari, P. R. H. Perera, G. M. Yasasvi, L. M. Hettihewa, W. M. K. M. Ratnayake

Journal of Innovation in Science, Engineering and Technology

Incorporating vegetables with α -amylase inhibitory properties into the diet is a natural and nutritious way to help regulate blood sugar levels, reduce the risk of complications associated with diabetes mellitus, and promote overall health and well-being. However, during the cooking process, the chemical structure of active compounds, which are responsible for α -amylase inhibition, can change. Hence, this was aimed to evaluate the α -amylase inhibition potential of boiled and non-boiled aqueous extracts (BAE and NBAE respectively) of selected vegetables belonging to the Brassica oleracea L species, which are commonly consumed as in fresh salads as well as in …

Capacity Utilization In Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industry In Sri Lanka: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Systemic Constraints, W. D. Welipitiya, L. M. Hettihewa, S. N. Samage

Journal of Innovation in Science, Engineering and Technology

Background: Domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing is important for medicine security, accessibility and reduction of import dependence in Sri Lanka. However, installed manufacturing capacity may remain underutilized because of interacting regulatory, supply-chain, financial, workforce and market constraints. This study assessed capacity utilization among Category A pharmaceutical manufacturers and explored the systemic factors associated with underutilization.
Methods: A convergent mixed-methods design was used. Quantitative data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed descriptively using SPSS Version 26. Qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaire responses and analysed thematically using QualCoder. Capacity utilization was calculated as actual output divided by …

Schiff Base Synthesis, Characterization And Computational Analysis For Potential Antibacterial Agents, L. N. G. K. Suranjith, M. S. D. Fernando

Journal of Innovation in Science, Engineering and Technology

Schiff bases are an important class of imine compounds known for their structural versatility and biological activities, particularly as potential antimicrobial agents characterized by the azomethine (–C=N–) functional group, are widely recognized for its diverse biological activities. This study focuses on the synthesis and characterization of (E)-N-(3-phenylprop-2-en-1-ylidene)aniline to evaluate its potential as an antibacterial agent. The compound was synthesized via acid-catalyzed condensation of aniline and cinnamaldehyde under reflux for 2 hours in absolute ethanol. After purification through recrystallisation, the structure was confirmed using UV–Visible, FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy. Thermal stability was assessed with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), while …

Iot-Based Smart Leak Localisation And Auto-Shutoff System For Real-Time Water Loss Prevention, W.A.C. Fernando, R.M.H.N. Rajasinghe, S.M.H.M. Koswatta

Journal of Innovation in Science, Engineering and Technology

Water leaks in pipe systems lead to loss of water, damage to infrastructure and increased operating expenses. Traditional leak-detection methods are slow, and they cannot detect leaks in real time. The existing Internet of Things (IoT) solutions are dependent on single-sensor technology, cloud processing and high-cost computational models, unsuitable for home use. In view of this, this study suggests an IoT-based Smart Acoustic Leak Localisation and Auto-Shutoff (SALAS) System for real-time water loss prevention in small-scale pipeline environments. The prime objective is to design and develop an IoT-based water-leakage detection, localisation, and valve-closure system. Development followed a prototype model and …