Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding The Experiences Of Durable Medical Equipment Coordinators Through An Embedded Case Study, Patricia Rodriguez

Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative case study investigated the experiences of service coordinators who support adults age 65 and over who reside independently during the early stages of durable medical equipment (DME) requests. The study explored how coordinators navigated communication pathways, managed administrative responsibilities, and responded to systemic obstructions involving timeliness and quality of care. A two-cycle coding process was used to obtain and analyze semi-structured interviews, field notes, and observational data. Service coordinators experienced significant, simultaneous, and multi-level delays in developing DME referrals due to fragmented communication, ambiguous staff roles, inconsistent workflows, and administrative bottlenecks. Coordinators performed considerable moral and emotional labor …

Shifting The Paradigm Through Practice: A Co-Operative Inquiry Approach To Sustained Commitment In Nature-Based Education, Amanda Mcmickle

Theses & Dissertations

Nature-based learning has demonstrated positive outcomes for young children’s academic, social-emotional, and developmental growth; however, its implementation within school systems remains limited due to a lack of governance or organized oversight. This qualitative study examined how nature-based learning can be implemented with practical fidelity in Texas public schools while remaining aligned with state standards and school district policies. Grounded in Biophilia Theory, Attention Restoration Theory, and Experience Theory, the study explored educators’ perceptions as co-researchers into the practices and decision-making processes as they integrated nature-based learning into daily instruction.

Participants included experienced Texas public school educators teaching prekindergarten and kindergarten. …

Higher Education And Resilience: An Exploration Of Sexual Misconduct Survivors' Lived Experiences And The Impact On Their Educational Journey, Patricia Denise Williams

Theses & Dissertations

HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESILIENCE: AN EXPLORATION OF SEXUAL

MISCONDUCT SURVIVORS’ LIVED EXPERIENCES  AND

THE IMPACT ON THEIR EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY

Patricia Williams, PhD

University of the Incarnate Word, 2026

This study explored the lived experiences and resilience of victims/survivors of sexual misconduct while pursuing education at an Institution of Higher Learning (IHL). Students between the ages of 18 and 24 are more likely to be sexually victimized than be victims of robbery at IHLs (RAINN, n.d.). The impact of sexual misconduct can leave victims/survivors with long-term trauma, causing negative academic outcomes and a host of behavioral and emotional issues (Banyard et …

Automated Testing And Enhancement For Autonomous Driving Systems, Mingfei Cheng

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) rely on Autonomous Driving Systems (ADSs) to perceive their surroundings, predict the behavior of traffic participants, plan driving actions, and control vehicle motion in complex traffic environments. As AVs move toward large-scale real-world deployment, ADSs are expected not only to avoid collisions and traffic-rule violations, but also to make robust decisions, cooperate effectively with other AVs, and maintain high-quality driving behavior. However, the open, dynamic, and uncertain nature of driving environments makes the systematic testing and enhancement of ADSs a challenging problem.

Although scenario-based testing has made substantial progress in discovering safety-critical violations, several important limitations remain. …

Practical On-Device Intelligence For Resource-Constrained Embedded And Wearable Devices, Xiao Ma

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Embedded and wearable devices increasingly rely on deep neural networks to support intelligent sensing applications directly on the device. However, building practical on-device intelligence remains challenging throughout the deployment lifecycle. Before deployment, models must remain accurate despite severe memory, computation, and energy budgets, and a single device often needs to support multiple sensing applications without deploying a separate model for each application. After deployment, the device continues to operate in changing real-world environments, where shifts in data distribution can degrade the model’s performance over time, so the model must be able to adapt to such shifts efficiently.

The first challenge …

Water-Heated Maisotsenko Cycle Humidifiers: A Component-Level Study On Evaporation And Exit Brine Concentration, Omar Abdulfattah Farag Omar A. Farag

Renewable Mechanical Energy

Maisotsenko-cycle (M-cycle) Heat-and-Mass Exchangers (HMXs) are usually assessed as part of complete cooling or desalination systems, which makes the behaviour of the humidifier itself difficult to distinguish. Here, a validated model is used to examine a water-heated M-cycle humidifier as an independent component. Inlet saline-water temperature, ambient temperature, Relative Humidity (RH), and water-to-air Mass-flow Ratio (MR) were varied, and performance was described by Water Evaporation Rate (WER), outlet-air specific humidity, and outlet brine salinity. Water heating and a larger MR produced the strongest increase in moisture addition because they maintained a warmer water film and greater transfer potential. At fixed …

An Evaluation Of Peer Mentoring In A Pre-Veterinary Science Program Within A College Of Forestry And Agriculture, Amy Neal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mentoring is a tool utilized to improve the retention of college students and can serve as an effort to increase their willingness to persist despite challenges. Establishing mentoring relationships amongst first-year students and more-experienced students can create a sense of belonging. Mentorship programs may be developed within a particular major or program. Within this study, an online survey was formed to analyze the perceptions of first-year pre-veterinary students in Fall 2024 and Fall 2025. A peer-mentorship program was implemented amongst pre-veterinary students in Fall 2025. First-year students who completed the survey in Fall 2024 were not mentored. Many of the …

Forest Cover Effects On Canopy Interception Loss, Evapotranspiration, And Soil Infiltration On Stormwater Detention Basins, Alexandria N. C. Perez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Developing cities and increased impervious surfaces has resulted in more surface runoff and severe flooding. Harris County, Texas has experienced major flooding events, such as Hurricane Harvey in 2017 which was estimated to be a 9,000-year flood event. The Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) is dedicated to creating, maintaining, and finding new ways to reduce flooding damage such as the use of detention basins as green infrastructure. These basins are either populated by grass or are planted with various tree species. This study will identify the planted trees’ canopy interception loss, reference evapotranspiration, and enhanced soil infiltration effects within …

Stratigraphic Analysis Of The Buda Limestone With Implications On Hydrocarbon Production Constraints, Madison And Houston County, Texas, Jeffrey C. Bridges

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Fort Trinidad and Alabama Ferry fields located in eastern Madison and southern Houston County, Texas, have produced approximately 100 million barrels of oil equivalent to date, with approximately 65% of this being oil. However, there has been considerable variation in production within this Cretaceous carbonate play of the Fort Trinidad field, despite similar well completions and perforated intervals. The Buda Limestone, a key producing formation in the Cretaceous interval, is described as under-pressurized and often has lost circulation problems during drilling due to sub-pressure vertical fractures. Within the producing interval, the mechanisms for water production versus oil production are …

Examining Pain Catastrophizing, Mental Toughness, Self-Efficacy, And Perceived Pain In The Performance Of Female Athletes During Their Menstrual Cycle, Carissa R. Martinez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pain is a universal unpleasant or negative experience influenced by physiological, psychological, and environmental factors. Disruption in the neural pathways of pain can affect athletic performance and lead to injury risks. Both negative attributes, such as stress, anxiety, and depression, and positive attributes, such as mental toughness and self-efficacy, contribute to pain perception and catastrophic thinking. The menstrual cycle also plays a critical role in pain catastrophizing, as hormonal fluctuations across different phases may hinder pain perception and performance in female athletes. However, research lacks the inclusion of how these factors impact female athletes. Using a non-experimental quantitative analysis, this …

From The Band Hall To The Classroom: A Qualitative Study On Curriculum Design In Successful Texas Bands To Support Student Success, Amy R. Bennett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Texas band programs have captured national attention for student achievement. This qualitative study examined curricular elements shared among perennially successful Texas band programs to explore whether these practices could inform curriculum development in other academic settings to support student success in indicators such as student academic achievement, behavior, and attendance. The data collection phase consisted of semi-structured interviews with fine arts administrators, campus administrators, and band directors associated with school districts of multiple perennially successful band programs. Through thematic analysis, collaboration and observation emerged as themes that influenced curriculum development among the participants; a focus on student experience, written curriculum, …

Professional Learning Communities In Virtual K-12 Schools: Survey Evidence From Texas, Charles L. Tracy Jr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have been viewed as a tool for improving teacher practices and student outcomes in schools for more than thirty years. Much of the existing research on their effectiveness has focused on the traditional school setting. With the explosion of virtual K-12 schools, less is known about how PLCs function in the fully online environment and how teachers perceive their overall effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of teachers working in a full-time virtual school with regard to their participation in Professional Learning Communities. A review of the literature examined the importance …

The Tension Of Retention And Retirement: A Narrative Study Of Full-Time Nursing Faculty Within Five Years Of Retirement At Public, Four-Year Institutions In Texas, Shelley Hunt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This narrative inquiry, qualitative study explored the retirement decision-making process of nursing faculty at public, four-year institutions who were within five years of retirement. Through purposive sampling, 11 participants across eight institutions consented to participate and were interviewed via Zoom. Due to the nursing faculty shortage, the researcher hypothesized that nursing faculty nearing retirement may be retiring not only as a natural progression of their career but also because of factors that lead other early and mid-career faculty members to leave academia. Through thematic analysis, four themes emerged: Finding Meaning and Fulfillment in the Nurse Faculty Role, Institutional Factors Shaping …

Feasibility And Acceptability Of An Occupation‑Based Telehealth Intervention For Cancer Survivors: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial, Bernard A. Muriithi, Milan Bimali, Mario Schootman

Occupational Therapy Faculty Scholarship

Introduction

Cancer survivors frequently experience occupational performance challenges during early survivorship, and telehealth may offer a feasible approach to deliver interventions during this period.

Methods

This pilot randomized controlled trial included 17 adults in the first year following breast or prostate cancer diagnosis, assigned to the ActiveHeal Cancer Program (ACP) or a control group. ACP consisted of six 75‑minute occupation‑focused virtual group sessions and weekly follow‑up telephone calls delivered by occupational therapists over 12 weeks. Control participants attended three brief virtual meetings without therapeutic intervention. Feasibility and acceptability were assessed using validated measures, attendance, and completion rates. The exploratory outcomes …

The Treatment Of Digital Assets In Insolvency, Nydia Remolina Leon, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez, Daniel Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the treatment of digital assets in insolvency. Given that cryptoassets can be the subject of various transactions—including purchase, sale, custody, and lending—understanding their nature and implications in insolvency is relevant for any firm, not just cryptoexchanges. The article begins by offering a general overview of the world of cryptoassets. It then examines the nature of cryptoassets from accounting, financial, and legal perspectives. While much of the literature on insolvency and cryptoassets has primarily focused on the analysis of whether cryptocurrencies constitute property of the estate, this article explores additional issues, such as the …

Macroscopic Classical And Quantum Models Of Inverse Compton Scattering, Emerson Penn Rogers

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Inverse Compton sources — in which a relativistic electron beam scatters a laser pulse to produce tunable, collimated, high-energy radiation—have emerged as among the most promising compact radiation sources, with applications ranging from nuclear photonics to medical and nanoscale imaging and metrology. The most viable current tabletop configuration couples laser-wakefield acceleration with inverse Compton scattering, producing GeV-scale electron beams over millimeter distances. As laser intensities increase and electron energies grow, the interaction enters the radiation reaction regime, where the energy radiated by the electron becomes a significant fraction of its kinetic energy. Predicting the scattered electron energy spectrum — the …

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, And Access Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2026, Joshua Altshuler, April Anderson-Zorn, Elizabeth Babin, Karmine Beecroft, Chad E. Buckley, Leah Gutierrez, Ellie Harman, Laura Killingsworth, Heather Koopmans, Joshua Newport, Ryan Peters, Seth Peterson, Lindsey Skaggs, Caitlin Stewart, Eric Willey, Angela Yon

Reports and White Papers - Milner Library

Report of Milner Library's activities and initiatives related to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access in Fiscal Year 2026. Compiled by the IDEA Committee.

Harnessing Kenyan Aquaculture Through Social Media: Impacts, Challenges And Strategic Directions, Domitila Kyule, Jonathan Munguti, Mavindu Muthoka, Esther Magondu, Menaga Meenakshisundaram, Chrysantus M. Tanga, Kevin Obiero, Cecilia Githukia

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Aquaculture is increasingly important for food, nutrition and livelihoods in Kenya, but the sector still faces persistent constraints in extension delivery, farmer learning, input access, market coordination and information reliability. This review examines how social media and related digital communication tools are shaping aquaculture development in Kenya, with attention to impacts, challenges, governance needs and strategic directions. A systematic literature review of studies and institutional sources published between 2015 and 2025 was conducted. The search identified 388 records, of which 45 sources were included in the final synthesis after screening, eligibility assessment and quality appraisal. Because the evidence was heterogeneous, …

Marital Stability And Intrahousehold Inequality, Tomoki Fujii, Xirong Lin, Jacob Penglase

Research Collection School Of Economics

We study what predicts marital instability using a unique dataset from Japan with detailed measures of spouses’ consumption, savings, labor supply, satisfaction, and marriage-market conditions. We combine descriptive survival and event-study analyses with several econometric and machine-learning approaches, including Cox proportional-hazards models and DynForest, a method designed for survival data with time-varying covariates. Across these approaches, match quality, household resources, time use, stated satisfaction, and marriage-market conditions all contain predictive information. Our main contribution is to show that intrahousehold consumption allocation matters, highlighting information that is missed by standard demographic, time use, and income measures. We relate these findings to …

Laponite Nanosilicate As A Platform For Antigen–Adjuvant Co-Delivery In Vaccination, Haoyu Qi

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Nanosilicates are two-dimensional, charged nanomaterials with tunable surface chemistry that enable electrostatic interactions with proteins and nucleic acids. These properties make Laponite nanosilicate a promising platform for vaccine delivery, where coordinated antigen–adjuvant presentation and lymph node delivery are important for shaping immune responses. This thesis investigated nanosilicates as scaffolds for lysozyme-based antigen delivery and co-delivery with CpG.

The preparation method reduced the apparent size of the NS–Lys–CpG complex at pH 10, although neutralization to pH 7 promoted larger aggregate formation. In vivo IVIS imaging after footpad injection showed persistent Cy7-associated fluorescence at the injection site for up to three weeks …

A Comparison Of Ahdrift And Pitfall Traps For Surveying Small Vertebrates, Gabrielle Risko

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding species occupancy is necessary to inform wildlife management and conservation decisions. To minimize the invasiveness of occupancy studies, some wildlife researchers have deployed game cameras to detect the presence of small vertebrates instead of utilizing stressful traditional live-capture methods. The Adapted Hunt Drift Fence Technique (AHDriFT) is an increasingly popular method for modifying and deploying camera traps to detect small vertebrates; however, no studies have directly compared AHDriFT to traditional pitfall traps operating at the exact same time, even though both are deployed along drift fences to capture small vertebrates. I compared these two methods (pitfall trapping and AHDriFT …

“We Want To Make You A Better Man”: African American Men With Dual Membership In Black Greek Letter Organizations And Prince Hall Masonic Lodges, Lakesha Rae Denton

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the rationale and experiences of Black men who have initial membership within a black Greek letter organization as an undergraduate, who also join Masonic Lodges. The study was guided by one research question: 1) what the rationale is pertaining to Black men, who are initially members of Black Greek letter organizations as an undergraduate, that also join a Masonic lodge, therefore granting them dual membership status. The study was important because the value of BGLO’s has declined due to hazing and lack of leadership and guidance. Black men are not being developed as they should and while …

Reconstruction Of Copepod Populations In Sierra Nevada Lakes Using The Diatom Fragilaria Cyclopum, Rorie Reisner

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Copepods are one of the most abundant types of zooplankton, and their populations are often a vital part of the food chain, but their past populations cannot be estimated from lake sediments because their exoskeleton usually does not fossilize. Gull Lake is a glacial lake located in the subalpine region of the Sierra Nevada, California, which stands out due to the presence of the diatom Fragilaria cyclopum, which is rarer in diatom assemblages. Fragilaria cyclopum exclusively grows on copepods in lakes. Diatoms have an opaline silica skeleton that often fossilizes in lake sediments, so we can use this relationship with …

Reconstructing Stand-Age Structure In A Wet Miombo Woodland Using Dendrochronology, Zambia, Clara Tiyembekeze Zulu

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dendrochronological research in tropical Africa has remained limited, leaving critical gaps in stand-age structure and climate-growth relationships in seasonally dry tropical woodlands. This study reconstructed stand-age structure and assessed climate sensitivity in the wet Miombo woodland of African Explosives Limited (AEL) forest, Copperbelt Province, Zambia. Field sampling was conducted during four African Dendrochronology Fieldschools (2021-2024) using a Modified Variable Area Transect (MVAT) design across nine plots. The series intercorrelation was 0.351; the average mean sensitivity was 0.423. The oldest tree was 170 years old, and more than 70% of the sampled species showed potential for dendrochronology. Markhamia obtusifolia was the …

The Stories Of College Faculty Navigating Student Trauma Disclosures: A Narrative Inquiry, Samantha Daluz

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to understand how faculty who navigate student trauma disclosures construct stories about themselves as educators and how those stories shape their understanding of teaching and learning. Although the literature has increasingly focused on trauma-informed approaches to teaching and learning, little research has explored how faculty navigate student trauma disclosures or how those experiences shape their understanding of teaching and learning. This study sought to better understand those experiences and provide institutional leaders with insight into how faculty experience student trauma disclosures within higher education. Narrative inquiry was employed using Mahayana Buddhism as the …

Trace Element Concentrations In Tissues And Otoliths Of Fishes From Artificial Reefs In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico: The Role Of Size, Age, And Trophic Position, Blaine Savoie

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Nearshore artificial reefs and fishes relying on them to forage and refuge can be susceptible to trace element (TE) pollutants from anthropogenic sources. Although some TE are essential, higher concentrations can cause detrimental effects and concern regarding consumption. This study assesses TE accumulation in nearshore reef fishes in the northern Gulf of Mexico, a region influenced by coastal riverine discharge, where fishing has socioeconomic importance. Five fish species from six eco-reefs were collected and analyzed for TE. An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer was used to analyze the TE concentrations of muscle, liver, and otoliths. TE concentrations of tissues and …

Social Workers’ Lived Experiences Of Trauma-Informed Training, Ashley Ann Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social workers report limited formal training in trauma-informed approaches, and implementation of trauma-informed care varies widely across settings, with inconsistent training uptake and organizational support for sustained practice change. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of social workers in trauma-informed training. The study was guided by trauma-informed care principles and an experiential learning framework. The research question examined how social workers develop trauma-informed competence and how systemic factors influence practice. Data were collected through 11 semi structured interviews with social workers and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three key themes emerged: (a) trauma-informed competence …

A Mindfulness-Based Stop Technique Training To Improve Nurses’ Knowledge And Self-Efficacy In Stress And Burnout Prevention, Rukiat Abolanle Afinni

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nurse burnout and stress are well-documented occupational concerns in outpatient clinical settings, where high patient acuity and chronic staffing shortages leave nurses with little structured support for proactive self-care. To address this gap, a mindfulness-based STOP (stop, take a breath, observe, proceed) training program was developed and evaluated for outpatient nurses. The evidence-based practice question was: Among nurses in an outpatient clinical setting, what is the impact of a mindfulness-based STOP technique training on nurses' knowledge of stress and burnout prevention and self-efficacy in applying the technique? A one-group pretest-posttest design was used with eight participants. A project-developed questionnaire measured …

Exploring The Paradoxical Association Between Chest Ct Pulmonary Involvement And Olfactory Dysfunction In Covid-19 Patients: A Prospective Cross-Sectional Study, Abdolkarim Ghadimi-Moghadam, Saed Askari, Mohammad Amin Ghatee, Alireza Mortazavi, Saeed Javdansirat, Ali Ghadimi Moghadam, Hassan Vafapour, Zaker Salehi, Seyed Mohammad Javad Mortazavi, Lembit Sihver

Informatics and Engineering Systems Faculty Publications

Background and Aims: Olfactory dysfunction (OD) is common in COVID-19, yet its relationship with pulmonary involvement remains inconsistent. We evaluated the association between CT-based lung involvement and OD in laboratory-confirmed COVID-19.

Methods: In a prospective cross-sectional study (Yasuj University of Medical Sciences hospitals; December 26, 2021–May 22, 2022), OD was assessed using the CCCRC protocol and pulmonary involvement was categorized using a CT lung involvement score. Associations were examined using chi-square testing (categorical) and ANOVA where appropriate (α = 0.05).

Results: Among 120 patients (60 male/60 female; mean age 43.17 ± 14.76 years), 71 (59.2%) had hyposmia, and none had …

A Cooking Skills Intervention For Long-Term Weight Loss In Young Adults With Intellectual Disabilities: Rationale And Design For A Randomized Trial., Lauren T. Ptomey, Jessica C. Danon, Delwyn Catley, Richard A. Washburn, Amy Bodde, Francisco J. Diaz, Brian C. Helsel, Anna M. Rice, Joseph R. Sherman, Madison Koester, Walker S. Mckinney Ph.D., Joseph E. Donnelly

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Young adults with intellectual disability (ID) are an underserved population with a high prevalence of obesity, obesity-related health conditions, and reduced ability to complete instrumental and basic activities of daily living (I/ADLs). After leaving the structured environment of public school, many young adults with ID spend more time at home or in day programs, begin living more independently, or enter the workforce. These transitions may increase reliance on fast or processed foods and reduce opportunities for physical activity, contributing to accelerated weight gain. Previous research has demonstrated clinically meaningful short- and long-term weight loss (18-24 months) in adults with mild-to-moderate …