Digital Commons Network^™

Sts 325-001, Hm1: Special Topics In Sts - Medical Sociology: Pathology And Deviance, Gareth Edel

Humanities Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Sts 201-013: Understanding Technological Society, Teresa Keeler

Humanities Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Sts 352-101: Race And Ethnicity, Laura Dickerman

Humanities Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Examining Factors Influencing Ultra- Processed Food Consumption Among Liberty University Students Aged 18 And Older, Ginika Rosemary Muomah

Masters Theses

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are widely consumed among college students and are linked to adverse health outcomes including obesity, poor mental health, and cardiometabolic disease. Despite their rising prevalence, limited research has examined psychosocial and behavioral factors influencing UPF intake within Christian university settings. This study investigated demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial predictors of UPF consumption among Liberty University students, guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM). A cross-sectional survey of students aged 18 and older (N = 337) was conducted. After excluding incomplete or invalid responses, 276 cases remained. The 25-item survey assessed UPF intake, HBM constructs, and demographics. Descriptive statistics …

Yoganglenet: Body Angle-Based Yogic Posture Classification Approach Using Mediapipe From Single-Person Images, Arun Kumar Rajendran, Sibi Chakkaravarthy Sethuraman

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The profound psychological and physical benefits of yoga have attracted global interest. This study explores yoga pose classification using angle values derived from single-person posture images. The dataset is carefully curated and consists exclusively of single-person yoga postures. The proposed method applies feature selection to improve model performance, achieving high accuracy with the random forest (RF) classifier. Using the top four selected features, our approach attains a maximum testing accuracy of 92.63%. A key contribution of this study is its strong focus on model interpretability. To explain model predictions and clarify decision-making, we employ Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations (LIME) and …

Industries, Self-Rated Health, And Status Characteristics: An Exploration Of Health In Industries At The Intersection Of Race/Ethnicity, Gender, And Disability, Emmanuel Legarreta

Dissertations and Theses

While industries, occupations, and health outcomes have been widely studied, research has neglected self-rated health (SRH) and the intersectionality of different status characteristics in various industries. Using an IPUMS version of the Current Population Survey, this study explores the possible relationships between industries and SRH. More specifically, it seeks to find if workers' disability status, racial minority status, or gender moderates (i.e., differentiates) the relationship between their industry and SRH. Findings show that certain industries are significant predictors of SRH, and that women with disabilities working in Mining and Construction, and Business and Repair Service have significantly worse SRH than …

National Rankings Recognize Um As Mississippi’S Leading University, Staff Report

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – The latest U.S. News & World Report "Best Colleges" rankings reaffirm the University of Mississippi as the top public university in the state and among the best in the nation.

Relationship Between Alcohol Use And Obesity In Us Adults Aged 20 To 79, Chinwendu Echefu, Ramona Stone

Public Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Purpose: This is a secondary data analysis carried out to determine the asso- ciation between alcohol use and obesity (BMI) in US adults aged 20 to 79 while adjusting for confounding factors that are known to affect obesity. Methods: The 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was utilized to provide a weighted sample of 16,548 adults between the ages of 20 and 79 with valid information for the BMI and for the average alcohol con- sumed per day over the past 12 months. Multivariable regression was done to determine the association between obesity, measured by the Body Mass …

Toward A Clinically Actionable, Electronic Health Record-Based Machine Learning Model To Forecast 90-Day Change In Hemoglobin A1c In Youth With Type 1 Diabetes: Feasibility And Model Development Study, Erin M. Tallon, David D. Williams, Cintya Schweisberger, Colin Mullaney, Brent Lockee, Diana Ferro, Craig Vandervelden, Mitchell S. Barnes, Angelica Cristello Sarteau, Anna R. Kahkoska, Susana R. Patton, Sanjeev Mehta, Ryan Mcdonough, Marcus Lind, Leonard D'Avolio, Mark A. Clements

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Clinicians currently lack an effective means for identifying youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) who are at risk for experiencing glycemic deterioration between diabetes clinic visits. As a result, their ability to identify youth who may optimally benefit from targeted interventions designed to address rising glycemic levels is limited. Although electronic health records (EHR)-based risk predictions have been used to forecast health outcomes in T1D, no study has investigated the potential for using EHR data to identify youth with T1D who will experience a clinically significant rise in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) ≥0.3% (approximately 3 mmol/mol) between diabetes clinic visits. …

Face Off: Evaluating Virtual Human Expressions And Non-Tracking Control Methods In Vr, J K Sangeeth Chandran, Marisa Llorens Salvador, Cathy Ennis

Conference papers

Social virtual reality (VR) applications have become more ubiquitous in recent years; central to this is the communication pipeline, how users perceive virtual human facial expressions, and how they control them in real time, especially when using VR devices without face-tracking. We investigated both aspects in a set of experiments. Firstly, we compared the perception of virtual human emotions on a traditional 2D screen and in VR. In a second experiment, we used a validated set of stimuli to compare three different control methods for manipulating an avatar’s facial expressions in VR. These control methods utilize non-tracking control techniques, which …

Spectator 2025-09-25, Editors Of The Spectator

The Spectator

No abstract provided.

Postsurgical Pain, Psychosocial Functioning, And Cannabis Use Among Adolescents And Young Adults Undergoing Gender Affirming Surgery, Eleanor Battison, Emily A. Kenyon, Corrin Murphy, Eline Lenne, Danielle N. Moyer, Sarah W. Feldstein Ewing, Anna C. Wilson

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose: Little is known about transgender and gender expansive (TGE) adolescents and young adults (AYAs) pain and psychosocial experiences in the acute postsurgical period following gender-affirming surgery (GAS). This study describes pain symptomatology and psychosocial functioning within 1 month after GAS among TGE AYAs, examines immediate postsurgical associations of cannabis use with pain symptomatology, pain catastrophizing, and psychosocial functioning, and explores pain persistence, cannabis use, and psychosocial functioning in a subgroup of individuals 6 months after surgery.

Methods: AYAs (N = 64) underwent GAS at a large academic medical center in the Pacific Northwest between March 2019 and June …

Integrating Artificial Intelligence & Purpose-Driven Design Within Spiritual, Wellness, Eco-Conscious, & Cultural Brands, Jessica Molina

Masters Theses

This visual thesis explores the practical and ethical applications of artificial intelligence in the work of designers for brands that promote wellness, spirituality, eco-consciousness, and cultural identity. The central challenge in adopting AI will be balancing the capitalization on its benefits with assessing the ethical ramifications of its adoption, while still upholding brand values, the imperative of authenticity, emotional intelligence, and integrity. As the technology and capabilities of AI continue to skyrocket, purpose-driven designers will remain under-resourced and underdeveloped in frameworks for ethical adoption. This work seeks to resolve the existing gap through a literature review, case studies, and a …

The Intersection Of Ethnomusicology And Special Education: An Exploration Of Aba-Infused World Music Play Facilitation In The Social-Emotional Development Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jean-Pierre Ervelt Leroy

Masters Theses

Inspired by experiences across disciplines, this mixed-method study peered into a possible intersection of ethnomusicology and special education. An innovative ABA-infused world music play facilitation program for children was created to examine how culturally diverse musical intervention in combination with Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) principles could enhance the social-emotional development in children diagnosed with ASD. To gain an informed context on worldview and structure, this research was conducted within both sacred and secular communities. To gain a comprehensive understanding of how interdisciplinary intervention can impact the self-expression, self-regulation skills, and cultural awareness of children, both quantitative assessments and qualitative observations …

Leading Learning Health Systems: Strategies Used To Establish And Conduct A Learning Health System, Dawn M. Bravata, Cathy C. Schubert, Amy M. Kilbourne, Scotte R. Hartronft, Ashley L. Schwartzkopf, Jennifer L. Myers, Mindy L. Flanagan, Claire E. Donnelly, Stanley E. Taylor, Mathew J. Reeves, Anthony J. Perkins, Laura E. Myers, Indrakshi Roy, Robert E. Burke, Rachael A. Beard, Marcos Montagnini, Shivani K. Jindal, Greg Arling, Caroline Madrigal, Nicholas A. Rattray

Health Services and Informatics Research

Background

Learning health systems (LHS) improve patient and provider experiences, population health, and health system performance. LHS leaders develop LHS’ social and scientific infrastructures and align the LHS with host organization’s priorities. Although researchers have examined data infrastructure and Learning Community configurations, few studies have evaluated discrete strategies leaders deploy to construct a LHS.

Objectives

We described methods used to establish the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Geriatric LHS (GLHS) supporting older Veterans transitioning from hospital to home and examined strategies GLHS leaders used to conduct LHS activities.

Design

Qualitative methods were employed to review notes from all meetings and …

Electromagnetic Simulations Of Antennas On Gpus For Machine Learning Applications, Murat Temi̇z, Vemund Bakken

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

This study proposes an antenna simulation framework powered by graphics processing units (GPUs) based on an open-source electromagnetic (EM) simulation software (gprMax) for machine learning applications of antenna design and optimization. Furthermore, it compares the simulation results with those obtained through commercial EM software. The proposed software framework for machine learning and surrogate model applications will produce antenna data sets consisting of a large number of antenna simulation results using GPUs. Although machine learning methods can attain the optimum solutions for many problems, they are known to be data-hungry and require a great deal of samples for the training stage …

A Different Form Of Post-Op: Healing Survivors Of Domestic Violence Through Prosecutorial Anatomy, Elizabeth Ellick

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Design And Validation Of The Telemedicine Comfort Tool, Stephanie Amador

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In recent years, telemedicine has become a valuable resource to improve communication between patients and health care providers. There are many benefits to telemedicine, but they are only realized if patients and healthcare providers can establish a comforting and trusting relationship between them. Although Telemedicine has positively impacted health care, it is only successful if patients and health care providers can communicate effectively in the virtual environment. This quantitative study developed and validated the Telemedicine Comfort Tool among members of Veterans on Deck. The Telemedicine Comfort Tool is a survey instrument with the goal of measuring the comfort level of …

Assessing The Impact Of Flight Occupancy And Motivation On General Aviation Pilot Decision-Making In Restricted Visibility, Brad A. Bowser

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Annually, general aviation (GA) continues to experience an elevated number of fatal weather-related accidents. The highest fatality rate occurs during transitions from visual flight rules (VFR) with clear skies to instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and restricted visibility. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in flight occupancy (with family, with another pilot, and solo) and flight motivation (extrinsic, intrinsic, and neither) in the willingness of GA pilots to transition from VFR-to-IMC. The framework for this study includes the prospect theory, which is based on behavioral economics, explaining that choices often result in decisions to avoid losses rather than …

Developing Healthy Relationships: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Of Twice-Exceptional Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Autumn B. Matthews

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of developing healthy friendships for twice-exceptional adults with autism spectrum disorder (2e/ASD) in the southeastern United States. The theory guiding this study was Schlossberg’s transition theory, as it provided a framework for understanding how individuals navigate significant changes in relationships, routines, assumptions, and roles. The central research question guiding this study was: What do 2e/ASD adults in the southeastern United States experience as they develop healthy friendships? The study employed a qualitative design using van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenology to capture the essence of participants’ lived …

The Relationships Among Childhood Abuse, Neglect, Household Dysfunction, And Adult Anxiety: The Moderating Effect Of A Trusted Adult, Jennifer Marie Cobb

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigated the relationships between the three types of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), (abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction) and adult symptoms of anxiety, according to the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale. Beyond examining the bivariate relations of each ACE type with adult anxiety, this study also investigated if having at least one supportive adult in childhood moderated the relationships. The sample consisted of 213 adults recruited online who completed an anonymous survey containing the ACE Questionnaire, the GAD-7, a question regarding the presence of a trusted adult, and demographics. Hierarchical multiple regression tested the relationships of each ACE subtype …

The Relationship Between Nursing Faculty Sense Of Belonging And Faculty Intent To Stay, Heather M. Bowers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative and correlational study was to evaluate the relationship between workplace sense of belonging and intent to stay in the current nursing faculty role among full-time nursing faculty. The shortage of nursing faculty impacts the ability to prepare the next generation of nurses needed to meet worldwide nursing demands. Strategies to effectively recruit and retain nursing faculty are important considering the current shortage and increasing retirements of nursing faculty. While sense of belonging has been studied for student retention and studies are beginning to explore the importance of workplace belonging, the impact of organizational sense …

Understanding Of The Disclosure Of Child Sexual Abuse: A Phenomenological Research Design, Virginie Charles

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand the lived experience of those survivors of CSA through social media platforms. Social media platforms have become one of the best options for survivors to share their stories without revealing their identities. As a result, the researcher invited the users of social media platforms to participate in an interview to share their stories. The theory guided by this study of understanding the lived experience of this individual was the Social Ecological Model (SEM) and psychoeducational intervention through Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). SEM aimed to understand how the child’s environment affects …

From Belief To Action: An Exploratory Study Of Theological Perspectives In Influencing Credibility-Enhancing Displays, John Chambers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this two-phase qualitative research design was to explore the relationship between faith and works, as evidenced by manifest Credibility Enhancing Displays (CREDs), for electronic survey participants in the orthodox Christian community. Exploring the potential links between specific aspects of the theological narratives and the intentions that precede behavior was the central focus of the study. An expert panel was used to develop the Phase One survey. Phase Two retained the same expert panel members but presented them with the Phase One survey analysis to expand the interpretation of the results. At this stage in the research, CREDs …

Non-Opioid Alternatives For Chronic Non-Cancer Pain Management In The Elderly: A Provider’S Perspective, Okey Iloegbunam

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Chronic non-cancer pain is a major public health problem in the United States. The use of opioids for chronic non-cancer pain treatment has a negative impact on the quality of life of the elderly. This study aimed to explore non-opioid alternatives for chronic pain management in the elderly. It aims to explore the perspectives of pain practitioners at My Pain Center in Tucson, Arizona, in choosing non-opioid alternatives for chronic pain treatment. The study aimed to explore the factors that influence pain practitioners’ prescribing habits and how to replace opioids in treating chronic non-cancer pain in the elderly. This study …

Parallel Lives: Revitalization Of An Ancient Method Of Inquiry, Geoffrey Thomas Uhal

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Parallel Lives style examination and biography is one of the oldest forms of historical inquiry, providing a comparison between a foreign subject and a more familiar subject as a frame of reference. This style of examination was popular for dissertations in the 19th century among military historians writing about generals who were stylistically known as “Great Captains” for much of history. While the moral comparisons of such histories in bygone eras possess less utility, multimodal comparisons of lives that readers have more and less contextual background to provide a model to bridge the gap between foreign and familiar subjects. …

What Is The Relationship Between Herzberg’S Motivation And Hygiene Variables And The Job Satisfaction Of Public Administrators?, Robert Curtis Hayes

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

What is the relationship between the variables identified by Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, also known as two-factor theory, and the job satisfaction of public administrators? How can public employers use this theory to advance policies and environments conducive to job satisfaction for their workforces? The problem was a general lack of consensus among the results of scholarly studies investigating the theory. The purpose was to add to the overall body of research toward or against a consensus in a meaningful way. This dissertation employed secondary data to test Herzberg’s theory on bureaucrats. The sample size was limited to the 625,568 workers …

Exploring The Relationship Between Perceived E-Working Experience And Autonomy In It Professionals, Sherry Hunt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As remote work reshapes the professional landscape, understanding how e-working conditions influence the need for autonomy, a core component of motivation and well-being, is increasingly important. This quantitative, correlational study explored the relationship between perceived e-working experience and the psychological need for autonomy among 120 U.S.-based information technology (IT) professionals. Participants completed an online survey comprised of the E-Work Life (EWL) Scale (Charalampous et al., 2023; Grant et al., 2019) and two autonomy subscales from the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration Work Scale (BPNSFWS) (Olafsen et al., 2021). Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT) (Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2017, 2020) …

Are There Acculturative Differences Between Mono & Multiethnic Families, Jose R. Rodriguez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examines the differences in acculturation experiences between multiethnic and monoethnic Latino adolescents. Using a correlational quantitative design with multiple regression analyses, data was collected online from 100 participants (minors and adults) affiliated with the Spanish Eastern District of the Assemblies of God in the U.S. Northeast Corridor. The study found that age significantly predicted ethnic identity exploration, accounting for 21% of the variance: individuals aged 16–17 and 18–21 scored higher than those aged 13–15, while gender, ethnicity, and their interactions were not significant. For identity resolution, age (13–15 group) and gender emerged as significant predictors in a model …

Perceptions Of Faculty Influence On Graduate Student Diversity Attitudes: A Phenomenological Study, Lyn Porter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to understand the lived experiences regarding the perceived influence of faculty interactions in shaping diversity attitudes for graduate students in healthcare-related professions across the United States. The theory guiding this study is Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, which argues that social interactions deeply influence cognitive development (Vygotsky, 1978/1995). These interactions are necessary for the development of new skills and knowledge. Vygotsky also highlighted the role of culture in shaping how individuals think, learn, and interpret the world, suggesting that the cultural context in which faculty and students interact profoundly affects internalized values and attitudes. …