Digital Commons Network^™

Improving Student Success In 2nd Degree Bsn Students, Sharon Radzyminski, Eloisa G. Tamez, Jennifer Brewster, Leslie Kimberling Jones

School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Second Degree Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs are designed to leverage a student’s prior academic achievements and professional experience, integrating them into the curriculum for their nursing degree. This allows students to receive credit for previous core courses and move through the nursing program at an accelerated rate. This, however, brings special challenges for both students and faculty. At our university we noticed the attrition rate of students in the second-degree BSN program was significantly higher than the traditional BSN program. Investigation into this issue revealed students in the Second-Degree Program had significant issues with role conflict, poor …

Modeling The Importance Of Life Exposure Factors On Memory Performance In Diverse Older Adults: A Machine Learning Approach, Evan Fletcher, Marianne Chanti-Ketterl, Emily Hokett, Yi Lor, Umesh Venkatesan, Ruijia Chen, Omonigho M. Bubu, Rachel Whitmer, Paola Gilsanz, Zvinka Z. Zlatar

Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Papers

INTRODUCTION: Many health life exposure factors (LEFs) influence cognitive decline and dementia incidence, but their relative importance to episodic memory (an early indicator of cognitive decline) among diverse older adults is unclear. We used machine learning to rank LEFs for memory performance in a large and diverse US cohort.

METHODS: Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) and Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR), participants underwent neuropsychological testing and answered questionnaires about multiple LEFs. XGBoost and Shapley Additive exPlanation values ranked the importance of factors influencing cross-sectional episodic memory in the full sample and by sex and …

Menopause-Related Changes In Sleep And The Associations With Cardiometabolic Health: A Narrative Review, Joshua R. Sparks, Xuewen Wang Ph.D., Faha

Faculty Publications

This narrative review examines the complex relationship between sleep changes during the menopausal transition and cardiometabolic risks. The most common complaint about sleep is increased awakenings during sleep. Other complaints include having trouble falling asleep, waking up too early, insufficient and non-restorative sleep, and overall poor quality. Sleep determined using objective methods also indicates that greater awakenings after sleep onset are associated with the period of menopausal transition. Polysomnography recordings suggest physiological hyperarousal during sleep. Changes in other sleep metrics, such as sleep latency and sleep duration, are less consistent, and some studies suggest they may not worsen during the …

Commonwealth Times 2025-08-20

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Fatal Facial Necrotizing Fasciitis: A Case Report Highlighting Diagnostic And Therapeutic Challenges, Muhammad Sheraz Hameed, Syed Rafay Hussain Zaidi, Ali Iqbal, Muhammad Ahsan, Austin Mitchell, Azka Asad Mirza, Joshiah Gordon, Rahmat Gul Omarzai

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Facial Necrotizing Fasciitis (FNF) is a rare but aggressive, life-threatening infection involving the face's subcutaneous tissues and underlying musculature. It can rapidly progress to septic shock and multi-organ failure if not promptly recognized and treated. The clinical course, including severe pain, disproportionate tenderness, and systemic signs, is often the most crucial factor in diagnosis. While computed tomography (CT) can aid in identifying early signs such as soft tissue swelling and gas formation, clinical suspicion remains paramount and should not be delayed by reliance on imaging alone. Without early intervention, FNF may lead to devastating outcomes, including disfigurement, blindness, or …

Effects Of Summer School Attendance On The Assessed Reading Proficiency Of Third Grade Students, Lydia Evers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Evidence shows students who are not reading proficiently by the end of third grade are more likely to eventually drop out of high school or be considered illiterate as adults, making it challenging to function adequately in society. The problem addressed through this study was that as many as 60% of U.S. third-grade students scored below proficiency on annual standardized reading assessments. Guided by faucet theory by Alexander et al., the purpose of this causal-comparative quantitative study was to compare reading standardized test scores of third-grade students who participated in a summer school program (SSP) in the summer following second …

August 20, 2025, Faculty, Illinois Wesleyan University

2025-2026

No abstract provided.

Tmco1 As An Endoplasmic Reticulum Calcium Load-Activated Channel: Mechanisms And Disease Implications, Jingbo Wang, Panpan Zhu, Zhuohang Li, Xiaohui Su, Mingzhu Qi, Aimin Zhou, Xiangying Kong

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Calcium ions (Ca2+) play a vital role in many biological processes. Transmembrane and coiled-coil domain 1 (TMCO1) has been characterized as an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) transmembrane protein in recent years. It keeps the cytoplasm and ER's Ca2+ homeostasis stable by acting as a novel calcium channel. Studies from different laboratories have revealed that the mutation or deficiency of TMCO1 is closely correlated with several diseases, including cerebro-facio-thoracic dysplasia (CFTD), glaucoma, premature ovarian failure (POF), osteoporosis, and cancer. Here, we review the characteristics of TMCO1 and its involvement in related diseases, which may provide useful information for developing therapeutic strategies for …

Perceptions Of Racial Inequality And Attitudes Toward The Criminal Justice System: Results From The 2022 General Social Survey, Elizabeth A. Hien

Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics

No abstract provided.

Towards All-Under-Heaven: China’S Geoeconomic Strategy In The Asia-Pacific Region, Alfariza Dika Azzani

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

This research aims to understand China’s geoeconomic strategy in reshaping the alternative international order in the Asia-Pacific region. China’s economic rise increased its geopolitical influence and significance as a global great power. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government, under Xi Jinping, has adopted classical ideas in its foreign policymaking, including tianxia. Tianxia is a classical concept of a hierarchical Sinocentric international order. An empirical study was conducted on several cases of China’s economic policy and analysed with the congruence method to determine the correlation between the tianxia concept and China’s economic policy. Tianxia served as a paradigm and justification for …

Faculty Panel: Ideas For Introducing Your Syllabus, Liz Norell

Events

Spending the first day of class marching through the syllabus doesn’t exactly set the stage for an engaged classroom environment, but the information in the syllabus is important. Given that, what do we do instead? In this panel discussion, we’ll hear from several instructors about how they introduce the syllabus at the start of a new semester. Attendees will leave with multiple examples of how to engage students in a more interactive review of the syllabus that builds community and sets the tone for an engaged classroom environment.

A Closer Look At The Relationship Between Cultural Intelligence And Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, Lesli B. Quiroz

Master's Theses

As organizations—particularly in the United States—become more multicultural due to globalization, they increasingly rely on individuals' ability to succeed in complex, cross?cultural environments. Cultural intelligence (CQ), or the ability to successfully adapt to unfamiliar cultural settings, has been previously related to expatriate cross-cultural adjustment, group effectiveness, and more recently, to organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB), which are voluntary extra-role workplace behaviors that lead to positive employee and organizational outcomes. This study mainly sought to theoretically expand the limited research on the relationship between CQ and OCB with some research questions. In a sample of 93 participants based in California, results found …

The Label Of Low Effort: Exploring Teachers’ Effort-Related Language, Meritocratic Beliefs, And Attribution-Based Responsibility Assignments, Kelly A. Larson

Doctorate in Education

Educators play an integral role in the academic success and future educational trajectory of their students. Yet, in an unjust, hyper-individualistic education system grounded in a meritocratic myth, even the most well-intentioned teachers have a tendency to explain students’ underperformance through a self-protective, deficit-based attribution process that puts the onus of academic achievement almost entirely on students and their families. This recursive cycle is especially damaging for students who do not exhibit effort in normalized, Eurocentric ways. This study examines how teachers’ attributions and responsibility assignments for students’ perceived low-effort behavior are shaped by inequitable meritocratic beliefs and reinforced through …

Parents’ Perceptions Of The Influence Of Interpersonal Trauma On Children’S Academic Achievement In Low Socioeconomic Families During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Brandi Walker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the challenges faced by families from low socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds regarding their children’s academic development. Students during this time experienced disruptions in their academic development, further hindering their educational progress. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore parents’ perceptions of how interpersonal trauma and SES challenges impacted their elementary-age children’s academic achievement during the pandemic. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory served as the theoretical foundation, offering a framework to understand how environmental factors shaped children’s experiences and academic development. Data were gathered through semistructured interviews with eight parents from low-SES backgrounds. Content analysis of …

The Meaning Of Academic Achievement For Fathers Of African American At-Risk Urban Female Youth, Shurise Telesford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Family dynamics, parenting styles, and the impact of parental involvement on children have long been studied, with much of the focus traditionally placed on the mother-child relationship. This study shifted that focus to explore the perceptions of African American fathers of at-risk female youth regarding academic achievement. Using a generic qualitative approach and guided by Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, a theory emphasizing how the marginalized learn through critical awareness and collaboration, I sought to understand how these fathers view their daughters’ educational experiences and barriers to success. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with seven fathers living in urban …

The Impacts Of Urban And Rural Education Inequality On Individual Career Development : The Case Of Guangdong Province, Shuang Chen

Lingnan Theses (Doctoral degree)

The study focused on the disparity in educational opportunities between urban and rural areas. This has been one of the most debated topics in China, especially when related to Guangdong Province. This dissertation explored how disparities in urban-rural educational outcomes influence individual career attainment and income levels and discusses the broader socio-economic implications of such disparities. This study positioned its analysis within the structural-functionalist framework and underlined how inequities in educational resources affect career outcomes. This focuses on a household registration policy called the hukou system, which has played a crucial role in determining education's access to resources and career …

A Comparative Study Of Fgcs And Non-Fgcs In Mainland China : An Analysis Based On The G University, Meihan Tao

Lingnan Theses (Doctoral degree)

While Western scholarship on First-Generation College Students (FGCS) is well-established, research on FGCS in mainland China remains underdeveloped, despite the group’s substantial size and critical role in social mobility. This study examines the disparities between FGCS and Non-First-Generation College Students (Non-FGCS) in cultural capital accumulation, university major selection, academic adaptation, and career planning. Grounded in cultural capital theory and social cognitive career theory (SCCT), the study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative in-depth interviews and quantitative surveys to explore how familial cultural capital influences educational and career trajectories. The research focuses on students from G University in southwest China. Quantitative …

Gendered Challenges In The Chinese Workplace : Examining Maternity Leave And Discrimination Against Working Mothers In Shenzhen, Tianyang Wen

Lingnan Theses (Doctoral degree)

Under the background that labor competition and the society progress become more in-tense, the dilemma of motherhood faced by working women has become increasingly prominent. This dissertation aims to explore gender challenges in the Chinese workplace, in particular the maternity leave system and its impact on discrimination against working mothers. Taking Shenzhen as an example, this study adopts qualitative research methods and systematically examines the challenges faced by working mothers in terms of maternity leave and employment discrimination through in-depth interviews with ten working mothers, seven human resource managers, three corporate employers and three in-depth interviewers. The study found that: …

Pathways To Educational Equality : Insights From China’S Higher Education Stratification And Social Stratification, Qingbin Xu

Lingnan Theses (Doctoral degree)

It is essential to examine the equity of the newly established higher education system and elucidate the reasons and consequences of stratification within the context of China’ higher education and social hierarchy, because in the wake of massification and expansion, China’s higher education system has been seeing alterations in stratification patterns. Through the Status Attainment Model and the Wisconsin Model, this study employs a mixed-method approach that integrates quantitative and qualitative techniques to assess higher education and social inequality in mainland China. The findings indicate that the conventional status attainment model, when subjected to structural equation modelling analysis, reveals that …

Generative Ai In The Classroom: Best Practices, A Cetll Guide, The Center For Excellence In Teaching, Learning, & Leadership, S E. Hackney, Brandon K. Jeffries Mr., Emily Drabinski, Joshua Rogers, Holly Weisberg, Yael Neumann, Ashlyn Cavitt, Claudia Brumbaugh, Lindsey Albracht, Robin Naughton, Annalee Roustio, Amy Wan, Soniya Munshi, Jean Kelly

Open Educational Resources

In 2024-2025, in collaboration with Amy Wan, Professor of English and Special Assistant to the Provost for Writing, CETLL hosted a Generative AI in the Classroom Faculty Fellowship, through which an interdisciplinary cohort of thirteen faculty members were supported to critically engage the different concerns and opportunities that generative AI presents for our work as educators.

From our discussions with the Faculty Fellows and other resources, we have developed Generative AI in the Classroom: Best Practices, a CETLL Guide. This guide includes step-by-step guidance about how to engage with questions of generative AI in your classrooms, sample syllabus statements, …

Antidepressant Medication Nonadherence In Adult Patients With A Major Depressive Disorder, Sandrine Djou Kaze

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The chosen approach for the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was a clinical practice guideline (CPG) on interventions to improve antidepressant medication adherence in adults diagnosed with depression in an outpatient setting. The consequences of medication nonadherence in patients with depression are devastating for individuals and the healthcare system. Therefore, addressing it within nursing practice is essential to improve treatment efficacy and patient outcomes. The practice question related to the DNP project was to determine whether the CPG could improve antidepressant medication compliance in adults diagnosed with a depressive disorder in an outpatient setting. I aimed to develop a …

Deep Phenotyping Of Obesity: Electronic Health Record-Based Temporal Modeling Study, Xiaoyang Ruan, Shuyu Lu, Liwei Wang, Andrew Wen, Sameer Murali, Hongfang Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Obesity affects approximately 40% of adults and 15%-20% of children and adolescents in the United States, and poses significant economic and psychosocial burdens. Currently, patient responses to any single antiobesity medication (AOM) vary significantly, making obesity deep phenotyping and associated precision medicine important targets of investigation.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the potential of electronic health records (EHR) as a primary data source for obesity deep phenotyping. We conducted an in-depth analysis of the data elements and quality available from obesity patients prior to pharmacotherapy and applied a multimodal longitudinal deep autoencoder to investigate the feasibility, data requirements, …

Precarious Privilege: Exploring The Intersection Of White Teacher Habitus And Social Justice In International Schools, Kevin L. Workman

Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the underresearched phenomenon of White teacher allyship within an emergent diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) movement in international schools. Gaining momentum in 2020 as a digital, postcolonial counterstory, the movement exposed structural inequities and racism across the international school ecosystem. Applying an antiracist reading of Bourdieu’s (1977) theory of practice, the study analyzes how White teachers (n = 8) from diverse international contexts understand, experience, and assess their participation in DEIJ activities. Thematic analysis of interview data corroborated the digital voices, explicitly identifying White supremacy as a key force shaping the field’s doxa. The study …

Archival Articulations Of Belonging: Resistance, Reimagination, And Resilience In School And In Incarceration, Caroline Hastings

Dissertations

Belonging is a universal desire, providing purpose and comfort, that supports our ability to survive and triumph through difficulty. A lack of belonging can impact one’s likelihood of becoming incarcerated. In turn, incarceration stigmatizes individuals and disrupts connections with family, friends, and community members. This study of individual’s experiences of belonging analyzed reflective written accounts created during incarceration. This phenomenological qualitative examination of belonging for formerly and currently incarcerated individuals, disproportionately people of color and individuals with disabilities, sought to deepen our understanding of belonging as a force in their lives. In the United States, high rates of incarceration impact …

From Surviving To Thriving: Black Women College Athletes Excelling Beyond Academic Benchmarks At Historically White Institutions, Tracey L. Hathaway

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Black Women college athletes (BWCAs) at historically White institutions (HWIs) navigate a complex intersection of racialized and gendered experiences that shape their academic, athletic, and social lives. This qualitative study explored how BWCAs defined success, navigated systemic challenges, and leveraged holistic support to thrive. Using critical race feminism (CRF) as the guiding theoretical framework, this study centered the voices of five high-achieving BWCAs through semi-structured interviews and reflective thematic analysis.

Participants described the complex realities of balancing academic rigor, athletic participation, and social expectations while facing intersectional invisibility and contending with their status as “outsider within” in both academic and …

Exploring Institutional Types: Lessons Beyond The Classroom To Broaden The Experiences And Career Paths Of Hesa Professionals, Steven Tolman, Daniel Calhoun, Nikheal Patel

Leadership, Technology & Human Development: Faculty Publications

This study explores the career decision-making processes of Higher Education/Student Affairs (HE/SA) graduate students by examining the influence of institutional exposure on job preferences. Through qualitative analysis, the research reveals that HE/SA graduate students, when exposed to unfamiliar types of institutions, may expand their job search parameters and develop new career interests. The study underscores the significance of introducing students to diverse institutional environments as a pedagogical strategy, highlighting its potential to enrich the professional preparation of future student affairs educators. Implications for enhancing career development practices within HE/SA programs are discussed.

Use Of Cigarettes, Cannabis, And Alcohol Among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, And Pacific Islander Adults: Community-Based National Survey Analysis, Vuong Van Do, Van My Ta Park, Nhung Nguyen, Pamela May Ling, Marian Tzuang, Bora Nam, Marcelle M. Dougan, Oanh L. Meyer, Janice Y. Tsoh

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background: Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) populations have diverse cultural, immigra-tion, and sociodemographic characteristics. Aggregated data could mask substantial differences in substance use between cultural subgroups in this population. Yet, studies examining substance use among the AANHPI population are limited. Objective: This study aimed to describe cigarette, cannabis, and alcohol use among AANHPI adults by cultural subgroup and sex. Methods: We analyzed data from 3411 AANHPI respondents of a multilingual national survey “COMPASS” during December 2021-May 2022. Primary outcomes were self-report current (every day or some days) use of cigarettes, cannabis, and alcohol. Cultural subgroups included Asian …

Examining Multi-Level Support-Related Factors Influencing School-Based Mental Health Services Across Various Types Of U.S. Public High Schools, Wendy L. Wilson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Youth mental health is a global and national public health issue, with notable disparities in access to school-based mental health services (SBMHS; Kieling et al., 2024). This highlights the urgent need to identify supportive factors that can enhance service availability within educational settings. This cross-sectional, exploratory-descriptive study aimed to identify multi-level support-related factors (SRFs) at the student, school, and community levels that best predict SBMHS availability across different types of U.S. public high schools. The researcher conducted a secondary data analysis of a sample of 855 respondents who completed the 2017-18 School Survey on Crime and Safety. Various univariate, bivariate, …

Multi-Ancestral Genome-Wide Association Study Of Clinically Defined Nicotine Dependence Reveals Strong Genetic Correlations With Other Substance Use Disorders And Health-Related Traits, Emma C Johnson, Jared V Balbona, Alexander S Hatoum, David A A Baranger, Louis Fox, Paul W Jeffries, Laura J Bierut, Andrew C Heath, Pamela A Madden, Elliot C Nelson, Arpana Agrawal, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Genetic research on nicotine dependence has utilized multiple assessments that are in weak agreement.

METHODS: We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of nicotine dependence defined using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-NicDep) in 61,861 individuals (47,884 of European ancestry [EUR], 10,231 of African ancestry, and 3,746 of East Asian ancestry) and compared the results to other nicotine-related phenotypes.

RESULTS: We replicated the well-known association at the

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that combining the wide availability of diagnostic EHR data with nuanced criterion-level analyses of DSM tobacco use disorder may produce new insights into the genetics …

Development Of Learning Tools For Manual Transmission Repair Competency Based On 4c Skills For Vocational High School Students, Reza Simatupang, Haris Abizar, Ikhsanudin Ikhsanudin

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

This research attempts to test the feasibility of 4C-based manual transmission repair competency learning devices and determine the improvement of student learning outcomes with the developed learning devices. This kind of study employs a Research and Development strategy. This development research is designed by following the 4D development steps. The results of the development research showed a learning device product for manual transmission repair competency with a score of 96.75%. Based on the results of the analysis, it is known that there is a significant increase in student learning outcomes in the aspects of knowledge, skills, and attitudes of practice …