Digital Commons Network^™

Malnutrition And Frailty Risk Among Community Dwelling Older Adults In Northeast Tennessee, Shreeyesha Pradhan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Frailty and malnutrition are prevalent conditions among community-dwelling older adults, affecting approximately 10% and 25% of this population, respectively. Despite overlapping symptoms such as functional decline, their relationship remains underexplored in community dwelling older adults. This cross-sectional feasibility study examined the association between frailty and nutritional status among 47 older adults in the East Tennessee Tri-Cities area using the Fried’s Frailty Phenotype (FFP) and the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Long Form (MNA-LF®). Results indicated 13% were pre-frail, 24% were frail, 21% were at risk for malnutrition, and 2% were malnourished. Regression analyses revealed that self-perceived nutritional status (37.6%), daily meal frequency (29.0%), …

Addressing Substance Use Disorder In Rural Appalachia: Improving Access And Treatment Outcomes For Justice-Involved Individuals, Jessica Muldowney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Opioid use disorder (OUD) represents a critical public health crisis disproportionately affecting justice-involved (JI) populations, with approximately 65% of incarcerated individuals having substance use disorders (James & Beatty, 2006). Rural Appalachian communities face compounded challenges due to limited healthcare access, provider shortages, and cultural stigma surrounding addiction treatment. Despite evidence demonstrating that medication-assisted treatment (MAT) reduces recidivism and overdose deaths, only 20% of correctional facilities offer these services (Klein & Seppala, 2019).

Objective: This mixed-methods study evaluated organizational readiness and infrastructure capacity for implementing evidence-based OUD interventions, specifically MAT programs across three rural counties in northwestern North Carolina.

Methods: …

Feasibility Of Assessing Dietary Patterns And Anxiety In College Students: A Pilot Study Using Nutrition Questionnaires, Gad-7, And Asq, Kylie Ford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety is highly prevalent among college students representing a significant public health concern. Research indicates that dietary patterns may influence mental health outcomes; however, the practicality of collecting comprehensive dietary and psychological data in college populations remains unclear. This pilot study assessed the feasibility of evaluating dietary patterns and anxiety using self-report instruments. Participants completed the Nutrition and Eating Habit questionnaire, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and the Anxiety Sensitivity Questionnaire (ASQ). Although twenty-one students were recruited, survey completion rates were low, with only seven participants completing the nutrition questionnaire necessary to calculate the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII). Descriptive analyses …

Ethical Engagement In Global Missions: A Qualitative Inquiry Into Planner Motivations And Host Experiences, Harrison J. Ihrig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Short-term mission (STM) trips are limited duration service experiences, commonly organized by faith-based organizations (FBO), in which volunteers travel domestically or international to provide ministry, community outreach, and/or health-related services. In recent decades, the number of these trips organized by organizations in the United States has increased exponentially, but the phenomenon is difficult to accurately measure due to its decentralized nature and the lack of standardized terminology. Despite their prominence, limited research has been conducted to examine planning, implementation, and evaluation processes of international STMs organized by FBO, particularly through a public health lens. The purpose of this study was …

Extreme Precipitation Events And Population Exposure: Site Recommendations For The Future Tennessee Mesonet, Victoria G. Redlund

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines frequency of and population exposure to extreme rainfall events in Tennessee to guide the placement of future mesonet weather stations. Using 1991-2021 daily nClimGrid precipitation records, extreme events were defined as events of rainfall ≥50 mm. These events were collated on an annual scale and normalized alongside square-root-scaled population densities derived from Landscan to develop extreme rainfall vulnerability maps. Results highlight where extreme rainfall is most frequent relative to population densities in each county. The findings were compared with models of mesonet suitability and feasibility to determine how meteorological needs correlate with siting needs such as land …

The Influence Of Intervention Strategies On Students With Disabilities Who Exhibit Challenging Behaviors In Rural Public Schools: Teacher Perceptions, Ben B. Robertson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological qualitative study addressed rural teachers' perceptions of the influence of intervention strategies on students with disabilities who exhibit challenging behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ perceptions of the effect of intervention strategies on academic achievement, student behavior outcomes, and teacher self-efficacy through the lens of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory. This theory is a complex, dynamic interaction among people, their behaviors, and their environments. Data collection included 14 individual interviews, conducted on Zoom with educators from one school district in Southern Virginia, including seven general education teachers and seven special education teachers. Data analysis strategies …

Media Portrayal Of High-Profile Female Victims Of Sexual Harassment, Chinenye Nwaneri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This rhetorical study investigated how the Nigerian media portray high-profile female victims of sexual harassment. The research was undertaken in response to concerns that media narratives often reinforce gender stereotypes and influence public perceptions of victims. Focusing on the sexual harassment allegations made by senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against Senate president Godswill Akpabio, the study analyzed newspaper coverage from Daily Trust and Vanguard between February and December 2025. Using Critical Discourse Analysis within the framework of Feminist Media Theory, the research examined how language and framing shaped the representation of the female accuser. The findings reveal that media coverage constructed the …

Perceptions Of Rural School Resource Officers On Training, Roles, And Interactions With Students In Special Populations, Mary Jane M. Allen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative inductive study was conducted with rural school districts located in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee. School Resource Officers' (SROs) and K–12 school administrators’ perceptions of their roles were assessed. Perceptions of school policing from both samples were assessed regarding SRO training, roles, and expectations for working with school law enforcement officials. This also included respondents' views on how students with disabilities are treated. The research conducted in rural Middle Tennessee counties examined SROs’ and K–12 administrators’ perceptions through data collected from in-depth open-ended interviews and a pre-written analysis. The proliferation of police officers assigned to schools beginning …

Undergraduate Design Spine For Biological Systems Engineering And Agricultural Engineering, David Mabie, Derek M. Heeren, Deepak R. Keshwani, Heidi A. Diefes-Dux, Nicole M. Iverson, Rachel Padrnos, Greg Bashford, Taryn King, Jenna Hefley, Curtis L. Tomasevicz

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

Engineering education is undergoing a shift toward preparing graduates with demonstrated capabilities that integrate technical knowledge, durable skills, and the ability to adapt in a rapidly evolving professional landscape. This paper describes a comprehensive redesign of the undergraduate curriculum in Biological Systems Engineering (BSEN) and Agricultural Engineering (AGEN) at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The redesign is grounded in a “Design Spine” framework, which distributes and scaffolds design experiences across all four years of the program to support progressive development of problem solving, systems thinking, communication, and professional skills. The curriculum is organized around clearly defined capabilities and threads that connect …

Structured Representation Learning For Generalizable Deepfake Video Detection, Maowen Tang

All Theses

Deepfake video detection has become an important problem in multimedia forensics as modern generative models produce increasingly realistic facial manipulations. Although many existing detectors achieve strong performance on the datasets on which they are trained, their performance often degrades substantially on unseen manipulation methods and evaluation conditions. A major reason for this limitation is the premature collapse of spatial structure: many vision transformer based detectors aggregate patch tokens into a single global representation, thereby suppressing the localized and temporally uneven forensic cues that characterize manipulated video.

This thesis presents the Spatio-Temporal Slot Aggregation Network (ST-SAN), a video-level deepfake detection framework …

Bitcoin Options Risk-Reversal Predictability, Meng Hwee Neo

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation examines whether Bitcoin options risk-reversal (RR) spreads predict future Bitcoin returns, using daily Deribit data from April 2021 to December 2025 (1,723 observations).

In the primary 25-delta, 90-day specification, the RR coefficient is significant at the 1% level in a thirteen-variable baseline regression with Newey–West standard errors. Robustness tests across all available delta–tenor specifications show statistically significant RR coefficients in the majority of configurations, concentrating in the 30–180-day maturity band.

The butterfly spread (BF) also predicts returns. Both remain significant after controls are added: the RR t-statistic increases from 1.91 (univariate) to 3.73 (full baseline), and the BF …

Research On The Spatial Diffusion Process And Influencing Factors Of Traditional Chinese Medicine Brands: Evidence From Beijing Tong Ren Tang, Yuehua Shen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Against the backdrop of the dual drivers of the revitalization and development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the rising demand for health-related consumption, the nationwide expansion of TCM chain brands has become a prominent issue of shared concern for both industry and policy circles. However, existing research largely treats cities as mutually independent units and overlooks the spatial externalities arising from geographic proximity. It also implicitly assumes that the driving factors remain stable over a brand's expansion life cycle. This makes it difficult to capture the dynamic evolution of the logic governing store expansion across different stages. Accordingly, this …

Technological Strategy Paths, Dynamic Capability And Innovation Performance In Complex Product Industries: A Mechanism Study Based On China’S New Energy Vehicle Industry, Fan Zhang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In recent years, the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry has developed rapidly, moving from electrification toward an intelligent phase characterized by software-defined vehicles. NEV firms pursue product and technological innovation through diverse strategic paths, including internal research and development, collaborative development, and platform-based development, yet their innovation performance varies. Most extant research focuses on the industry level, offering limited insight into how, at the firm level, different technological paths shape the innovation outcomes through firms’ dynamic capabilities. It still remains unclear whether and how these relationships among paths, capabilities, and innovation outcomes differ across technological domains.

This study adopts a …

The Seller Valuation Of Family Firm Exits: Socioemotional Wealth And Ceo Equity Ownership, Masahiro Nishii

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This study examines seller valuation in family-firm exit using the initial asking price from private M&A sales. In the sale of a family firm, it is known that seller valuation may go beyond financial value alone because owners often hold strong emotional attachments to the firm. However, it remains unclear whose judgment brings that non financial value into seller valuation and why this varies across types of family CEOs.

Drawing on socioemotional wealth theory, the study develops the mechanism at the CEO level. I argue that the anticipated SEW loss translates into seller valuation through the CEO’s judgment. When the …

From Catching Up To Surpassing—A Multi-Case Study Of Chinese Latecomer Technology Firms, Baohua Chen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In recent years, a number of Chinese latecomer technology firms have grown rapidly and, in some cases, have even moved into leading positions in global competition. As global competition is being reshaped, technologies are evolving more rapidly, and traditional catch-up paths are becoming less viable, how these Chinese latecomer technology firms catch up with leading incumbents has become an important issue in strategic management research. Drawing on the theoretical lens of asymmetrical competition, resource orchestration, and dynamic capabilities, this study adopts an Eisenhardt-style multiple-case design to conduct a longitudinal comparative analysis of six firms—Insta360, Dreame, DJI, Unitree, Transsion, and Royole—and …

Uncertainty, Information, And Major Choice: Evidence From Chinese Gaokao, Sikun Dou

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

An unresolved background risk makes people more averse to other, independent  risks—most of all when a high-stakes, irreversible choice must be made under that risk. College major choice is such a setting. In China, students are admitted directly into a major they cannot easily change, and in the early 2000s they had to commit before learning their exam scores, bearing a field’s academic risk on top of an unresolved admission risk. Because STEM fields carry more academic risk and women are on average more risk-averse, this burden falls hardest on women’s entry into STEM. Exploiting a reform that moved application …

Metabolic And Replicative Constraints On Pathogen Virulence: Isoleucine Catabolism In Shigella And Comparative Tanapoxvirus Replication In Cell Cultures, Benecia Angelica

Masters Theses

Pathogens survive by balancing metabolic demands with environmental challenges that shape their virulence and adaptability. Shigella flexneri, a highly infectious human pathogen responsible for severe diarrheal disease worldwide, utilizes branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) metabolism to withstand stress conditions encountered within the host environment. In this study, we explored the Shigella isoleucine catabolism pathway by knocking out four genes in the S. flexneri isoleucine catabolic pathway (ilvE, fadA, fadD, and acnB) and examining their metabolism and virulence. We found that the ilvE and acnB mutants displayed reduced metabolic activity and smaller plaque size, while the fadD mutant showed decreased invasion. In …

What Better Means: A Full-Length Album By Fake Baseball, Maggie Heeren

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Effects Of Multi-Functional Stations, Direct, And Motivational Messaging On Paper Cup Recycling, Madisyn Wynter Slater

Masters Theses

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), within Michigan alone, the municipal solid waste that has been collected in landfills contains approximately 31.5 million dollars in mixed paper and 18.8 million dollars in plastics (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], 2016). One important aspect of recycling awareness is the impact that recycling has on the world. Whereas products like paper and plastic are accepted in recycling programs, any lined paper products (e.g., soda cups and to-go hot cups) are typically not accepted and therefore go to a landfill. Recent technology that can separate the lining from the paper, however, enables paper-lined …

Coloniality In Blue, Aaron Rosa

Masters Theses

This research explores Puerto Rican identity through a diasporic lens. I investigate thematic underpinnings of colonialism and sovereignty in Puerto Rico, focusing on the intersectionality of colonial history, gender, memory, objectification, identity fragmentation, cultural resilience, narrative reclamation, and the color blue through autobiographical anecdotes. The recounting of these stories is interpreted through a variety of materials linked to my relationship with their colonial histories.

Through these relationships, I have created sculptures that reflect the materials to which these bonds are linked. Through the reflection of 451 years of colonial rule, my goal is to interweave the symbology of these materials …

Increasing Accuracy Of Mapping Local Climatic Zones Using Building Height And Spectral Unmixing, Ian Douglas Stauffer

Masters Theses

Local climatic zone (LCZ) classifications are traditionally done using reflectance, population data, and often climatic data. The goal of this research is to utilize Google’s new “Open Buildings Temporal v1” building data set as well as “spectral unmixing”. With the objective of testing, assessing, and implementing this data set into the workflow of LCZ mapping. After testing the quality of the data against a validated LiDAR data set from the same year as a given “Open Buildings Temporal v1” band, I implemented it into the Random Forest machine learning process. Secondly, I justified the use of spectral unmixing as a …

Scholarship As A Means For Musical Performance: An Exploration Of Johannes Brahms Violin Sonata In G Major, Op. 78, Josh Zallar

Masters Theses

Developing a quality musical performance is a complicated and time-consuming endeavor. Endless hours are spent learning a musical instrument, developing technique, and growing into a mature sound. Learning the notes, rhythms, dynamics, and basic musical markings of a score compound this task, not to mention the preparation for performing by managing nerves, among other areas of concern. Amidst the undoubtedly enormous amount of work, however, often focus gets lost. Musicians forget that, despite the inherent fact that our inner voice is heard when we perform, that it is ultimately the composer whose voice and musical meaning must be conveyed in …

Haunted By A Cheap Ghost: Objects As Identity, Caitlin Zachow

Masters Theses

I am haunted by a cheap ghost, surrounded by inherited memories that are not my own, preserved in heirlooms that leave little room for me to create souvenirs of my own experience. In response, my practice centers on the personal significance of collections as outward expressions of identity, personality, and lived experience. Rooted in themes of Midwestern Americana, this exhibition presents narrative tableaus and curated collections that examine how personal identity is constructed through objects of memory, and display.

Informed by research into the history of kitsch, Sigmund Freud’s concept of the uncanny, and the “outmoded,” my work considers how …

Darjeeling 1967, Bibhav Basnet '26

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Bibhav Basnet is a senior from Nepal and is majoring in Mathematics. He regrets this decision greatly and is skeptical if he will ever graduate from college. He is a member of DePauw's Ethics Bowl team, and of Delta Upsilon fraternity.

Consensus Guidelines On Inferior Petrosal Sinus Sampling: A Guideline From The Society Of Vascular And Interventional Neurology Guidelines And Practice Standards Committee, Farhan Siddiq, Hunter Brooks, Esra Demirtas, Ibrahim Ahmad Bhatti, Sami Al Kasab, Adam De Havenon, Robin Novakovic, Ossama Y. Mansour, Cynthia L. Kenmuir, Ameer E. Hassan

School of Medicine Publications

Background: Bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling (BIPSS) is the gold-standard test to distinguish Cushing disease (CD) from ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion when biochemistry confirms ACTH-dependent Cushing syndrome and pituitary magnetic resonance imaging is equivocal. However, practice varies widely between centers, leading to false negatives, misinterpretation, sampling errors, and avoidable risk. Neurointerventionalists performing BIPSS have lacked dedicated, procedure-focused guidance.

Methods: Using the Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurology Guidelines and Practice Standards framework, a multidisciplinary panel (endocrinology, interventional neuroradiology, and endovascular neurosurgery) performed a systematic review through August 2025 and developed recommendations graded by class of recommendation and level of …

Children’S Resilience After A Wildfire: Clinical Themes Of An Art Therapy-Based Curriculum, Rebecca Cuellar, Colter Engber, Gina Robinson, Chloe Seeger, Jenna Siteman, Charliemagne Tapia, Ethel Zafranco

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The present study explored the efficacy of an art therapy-based resilience curriculum for elementary school students in educational settings, whose communities have been impacted by the 2025 Eaton Canyon Wildfires. This art therapy-based curriculum aims to promote post-disaster recovery for early elementary students affected by wildfire-related stress by using a particular focus on traits of resilience. To measure the efficacy of this study, a mixed methods research approach was conducted to evaluate the curriculum’s impact in building resilience. The study uses early elementary student surveys using a Pre/post Emoji Survey, a modified Emoji Current Mood and Experience Scale (ECMES), teacher …

Quantifying Discard Mortality Of Undersized And Ovigerous Crabs In The Gulf Of Mexico Blue Crab Fishery, Micayla Cochran

Master's Theses

Blue crabs support a valuable commercial fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. Most states require the release of undersized and ovigerous blue crabs, yet mortality of these discarded crabs is an understudied component of total mortality. The first objective of this project was to quantify discard mortality of non-target crabs using bycatch surveys across the Lake Pontchartrain–Mississippi Sound coastal system. Ovigerous crabs were most common at high salinities and temperatures, whereas undersized crab presence was inversely correlated with soak time, temperature, and the number of crabs per trap, and also varied among geographic locations. A reflex action mortality prediction assessment …

Evaluating Modern Neural Network Architectures For Suicide Prediction, Kyle Brown

Master's Theses

Suicide remains a leading cause of death among adolescents despite more access to healthcare information than ever before. Medical professionals struggle to make accurate diagnoses and catch warning signs with the overwhelming amount of data available. Machine learning algorithms, including neural networks, have previously been employed for this task, yet it remains an understudied domain.

This research aims to evaluate the capabilities of Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) and a selection of its successors, ResNet and MLP with a category embedding layer, at the task of predicting suicidal ideation among high-school students. This research finds ResNet to be the most capable at …

Discerning Patterns Of Floral Sugar-Feeding: Dynamics Of The Mosquito Culex Antillummagnorum In Puerto Rico, Ella J. Branham

Master's Theses

Mosquitoes rely on sugar feeding for survival, primarily from flowering plants, yet mosquito–plant interactions remain understudied. I examined plant-feeding associations of the mosquito Culex antillummagnorum in the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico, which may clarify patterns of habitat use, disease dynamics, and broader species interactions. First, plant DNA was extracted from field-collected Cx. antillummagnorum to identify potential nectar sources. DNA barcoding produced positive matches to the flowering plant genera Billia, Aesculus, Cladium, Fimbristylis, Xyris, Cakile, and Habenaria. Habenaria was the most compelling result because it belongs to the same subtribe of orchids …

Redeveloping Mississippi: A Case Study On Brownfields In Central & Southern Mississippi, Sahrah R. Yeroozedek

Master's Theses

Brownfields, or properties that are or possibly are contaminated with dangerous materials, represent a common obstacle for communities in Mississippi. The real or potential presence of contaminants at these sites often deters investors due to costly cleanup requirements (EPA, n.d. -b). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its Brownfield Revitalization Program, implemented guidelines for covering the costs and labor associated with the remediation of these properties. The EPA is not, however, responsible for redevelopment that supports long-term environmental and economic sustainability. Although the EPA maintains inventories of all Brownfields, there is also no comprehensive database of Brownfields and their current …