Digital Commons Network^™

Effect Of Vocational Training Programs On The Mental Health Of Indian Women Living In Contexts Of Urban Poverty (Or Urban Slums), Sriramya Potluri

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Women living in contexts of urban poverty (IWLCUP) experience disproportionately high rates of psychological distress, yet their mental health needs remain largely underrecognized. Beyond individualized explanations, broader ecological perspectives situate these women’s distress within previously underemphasized macrolevel forces and acknowledge the role of inequity and related structural disparities (e.g., economic, sociocultural, political etc.) in their oppression and disempowerment, thereby contributing to increased psychological vulnerability. Such frameworks call for intervention efforts that reduce individual psychological risk by addressing structural determinants proximally and distally impacting the lives of IWLCUP. Specifically, targeting poverty and economic insecurity might drive positive downstream effects that ultimately …

Cultural Responsiveness: Examining Assessments Of Therapists For Ethical And Clinical Outcomes (Create Clout), Tsotso T. Ablorh

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The Multicultural Counseling Competencies (MCC) and Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC) are well-researched and supported counseling practices for decreasing microaggressions in therapy and consequent attrition, lack of satisfaction, and maltreatment (Ratts et al., 2016; Sue et al., 1982). However, scholars critique existing methods for measuring therapists’ cultural responsiveness for being disconnected from therapeutic process and outcomes (Hays, 2020; Wilcox et al., 2020). This study examined which MSJCC measures associated with variables clinically and ethically relevant to better treatment outcomes and lower microaggressive, neglectful, and stereotypical treatment for hypothetical Black, female clients by White therapists. 62 White psychologists in …

The Role Of Critical Professional Development In Transforming The Teaching And Learning Practices Of White Faculty: Elevating Racial Consciousness To Center Equity, Kaitlyn E. Siner-Cappas

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of white faculty participants in a critical professional development (CPD) program that seeks to enhance racial consciousness at a public research university. The goal of the study was to understand any perceived changes in faculty positionality and teaching and learning practices following their participation in the program, as well as identify the extent to which the program supported participants in a journey towards enhanced racial consciousness.

Four themes characterized the experiences of faculty participants in this CPD program: 1) experiencing the benefits of a learning community, 2) gaining confidence in …

Traversing The Broken Staircase: The Experiences Of Academic Neglect For Black & Brown First-Generation College Students, Kashmeel D. Mckoena

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Although Black and Brown students are diversifying college campuses and opening doors for their families as new cohorts of first-generation collegians, they often find themselves silently dealing with the aftermath of academic neglect from U.S. secondary education. This phenomenon can be understood from extant literature as absence of reliable guidance, mentorship, resources, and support that help students persist and succeed in their academic goals. Existing explanations of grit and resilience (Duckworth et al., 2007) not only erase the existence and impact of academic neglect, but also mask the creative solutions and compensatory strategies that Black and Brown first-generation college students …

A Statistical Mechanics Approach To Reinforcement Learning, Jacob Adamczyk

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Reinforcement learning (RL), the study of optimal decision-making over long timescales in stochastic systems, has recently seen remarkable advances due in large part to the efforts of the deep learning community. RL has witnessed great success in solving problems in video games, robotics, biological control, and language modeling. However, a unified statistical mechanics framework to understand and develop the corresponding algorithms is lacking. To address this issue, we begin by showing that the reinforcement learning problem can be formulated and solved using the tools of statistical mechanics. Drawing on physical principles of free energy minimization and invariance, we address important …

A Discursive Analysis Of Lesbian And Queer Experiences Of Unwanted Consensual Sex, Sarah E. Swanson

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This study drew on a critical discursive psychology (CDP) analytical approach to examine how lesbian and queer participants made sense of unwanted consensual sex (UCS).  The data analysis traced how UCS was constructed on three discursive levels: the construction of UCS across narratives, the interpretive repertoires mobilized (including sexual scripts), and the broader sociocultural discourses that shaped what elements of their experiences were intelligible. Therefore, I sought to understand both how participants drew on familiar heteronormative and queer ways of talking about sex and how various discursive resources shaped how they could construct themselves and others. Data for this research …

Genomic Based Environmental Health Assessment: Vieques, Puerto Rico, Valeria Hernandez Talavera

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

From 1941 to 2003, the United States Navy and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) used Vieques, Puerto Rico, for military training, which led to long-term pollution from metals, organic chemicals, explosives, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). While earlier research found these contaminants in the environment and in living organisms, their combined effects on local ecosystems remain poorly understood.

This dissertation used a Genomic-Based Environmental Health Assessment (GEHA) framework to study the ecological risks from past military pollution in Vieques. The approach combined sediment toxicity tests, chemical analysis, gene expression studies, microbial community analysis, and community-based research. The four main …

Identifying Discrete Reappraisals And Examining The Properties Of Cognitive Reappraisal That Predict Emotional Outcomes, Jenny L. Wu

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Cognitive reappraisal is widely regarded as an adaptive emotion regulation strategy and a central strategy to promote cognitive change in psychological treatments. However, findings regarding its effectiveness have been inconsistent, potentially due to the tendency to conceptualize reappraisal as a uniform process. The present study sought to adopt a more fine-grained, process-oriented approach by examining variability in how reappraisal is implemented. Specifically, this study investigated (1) the overall effectiveness of cognitive reappraisal, (2) whether the perceived believability of reappraisals predicts emotional outcomes, and (3) whether different types of reappraisals are associated with differences in emotional outcomes. Participants completed a modified …

The Impact Of Childhood Adversity On Students In Urban Public Elementary Schools: Recognizing, Responding, And Implementing Interventions To Support Struggling Students Through In-Depth Conversations With School Leaders, Stephen Shaw-Lyon

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

THE IMPACT OF CHILDHOOD ADVERSITY ON STUDENTS IN URBAN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS: RECOGNIZING, RESPONDING, AND IMPLEMENTING INTERVENTIONS TO SUPPORT STRUGGLING STUDENTS THROUGH IN-DEPTH CONVERSATIONS WITH SCHOOL LEADERS

August 2026

Stephen P. Shaw-Lyon, A.A., Massasoit Community College

B.A., Arizona State University

M.Ed., Fitchburg State University

C.A.G.S., Bridgewater State University

Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Boston

Directed by Assistant Professor Bodunrin Banwo

This dissertation explores how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect students in urban public elementary schools in Massachusetts. While the original ACE Study reshaped understanding of adult health outcomes, less research examines how trauma influences children’s academic, behavioral, and social experiences in …

Understanding Factors Influencing Multiple Tobacco Product Use Among Adolescents In Thailand: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach, Chaowalit Srisoem

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Tobacco use among Thai adolescents is shaped by personal, environmental, and product-related factors. However, the pathways linking these influences to actual behavior remain unclear. This study examined how personal, environmental, and product-related factors, along with intentions to use, relate to tobacco use among Thai adolescents. A cross-sectional secondary analysis was conducted using data from the 2022 Thailand Global Youth Tobacco Survey of 6,235 students aged 13–15 years. Survey weights methods were applied to produce nationally representative estimates. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling assessed latent constructs, and multinomial logistic regression examined predictors of single, dual, and multiple product use. …

Multicomponent Reaction-Initiated Synthesis Of Polyheterocyclic Compounds, Ashutosh Nath

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Efficient synthesis of novel heterocycles with biological interest remains a challenge in modern organic chemistry. This dissertation presents the development of efficient synthetic strategies that combine multicomponent reactions (MCRs) with sequential reactions for rapid access a diverse array of polyheterocyclic compounds. The projects are: 1) Groebke-Blackburn-Bienaymé (GBB) reaction followed by N-acylation and Friedel-Crafts (FC) cyclization for the construction of imidazopyridine- and indole-fused azepinones involving an unusual ring-expansion process. 2) Modified GBB condensation products for intramolecular Diels-Alder (IMDA) cycloaddition and dehydrative re-aromatization to access imidazopyridine-fused isoquinolinones. 3) Integration of the Ugi-three component reaction (Ugi-3CR) and Pictet-Spengler (PS) reaction followed by …

Level Of Discrimination Experienced By Gender In Athletic Trainers And Professional Athletic Training Students, Emily Ghaussy, Seungyeon Kim, Jennifer Xu, Emily Madrak

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

Context: Although women make up the majority of the athletic training field, gender-based discrimination continues to exist in the profession. Previous research exists; however, more current research on gender discrimination in the workplace is limited. This cross-sectional study examined level of perceived gender-based discrimination experienced by credentialed women athletic trainers and athletic training students in comparison to men athletic trainers and athletic training students. Four hundred forty-six cisgender men and women athletic trainers and athletic training students participated in our study. The median age was 28 years among cisgender women and 35 years among cisgender men.

Methods: Participants completed a …

Towards The Development Of Targeted And Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Methods For The Investigation Of Biological Systems, William Gazlay

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Mass spectrometry has become an essential analytical platform for the characterization of complex biological systems, enabling detailed investigation of molecular structure, post-translational modifications, and protein expression. This dissertation applies modern mass spectrometry methodologies to three analytical challenges spanning lipidomics and proteomics.

The first study examined the influence of complexing agents on the sensitivity of collision-induced dissociation (CID) spectra to fatty acid position in synthetic XYZ-type triglycerides. Comparison of ammonium, lithium, and sodium adducts demonstrated that alkali metal adducts provide substantially improved positional sensitivity and greater consistency across triglyceride systems. These findings support the use of lithium and sodium adducts for …

Visual Depression Diagnosis From Face Based On Various Classification Algorithms, Sana Nasser, Ivan Hashim, Wisam Ali

Engineering and Technology Journal

Most psychologists believe that facial behavior through depression differs from facial behavior in the absence of depression, so facial behavior can be utilized as a dependable indicator for spotting depression. Visual depression diagnosis system (VDD) establishes dependents on expressions of the face that are expense-effective and movable. At this work, the VDD system is designed according to the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to extract features of the face. The key concept of the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to explain the whole face behavior utilizing Action Units (AUs), every AU is linked to the motion of unique or maybe …

Segmentation Approach For A Noisy Iris Images Based On Hybrid Techniques, Hala Abdelwahed, Ashwaq Hashim, Ahmed Hasan

Engineering and Technology Journal

Iris recognition indicates the procedure of recognizing humans based on their both left and right iris patterns. Nowadays there is rapid progress in realizing an old dream of developing a user-friendly recognition system. Most of the new projects became a nightmare of security of the system. The prosperity of iris recognition aside from its attractive physical characteristics is led to developing an efficient feature extractor to attain the required objective of recognition. Fingerprint, facial, and iris biometric techniques are developed widely for identifying processing most boarded management points, access control, and military checkpoints. Hybridization between Daugman’s Integro Differential Operator (IDO) …

Evaluation Of Eutrophication Levels In Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf Lake, Iraq (Biological And Chemical Study), Suhair Al-Sharifi, Salih Al-Bakri, Sataa Al-Bayati

Engineering and Technology Journal

Within Al-Najaf lake, that is one of the important shallow lakes in Iraq, the lake facing tremendous pressure due to encroachments, discharge of untreated domestic and industrial waste, drainage water from cultivated orchards, dumping of solid waste and illegal diversion of water and currently it's still suffering from these problems and neglect. The study aimed to evaluate the eutrophication status. Eutrophication is a grave problem in lakes, a knowledge about the eutrophic state help in providing a make efficient realization of the eutrophic problem.This study conducted to assess the Eutrophication level with a scale 0 – 100 depending on the …

Adsorption Desulfurization Of Actual Heavy Crude Oil Using Activated Carbon, Yusra Abd Al-Khodor, Talib Albayati

Engineering and Technology Journal

The strict new regulations to reduce the sulfur content of fuel require new economical and efficient ways to remove the sulfur from the organic sulfur components. In the current work, sulfur was removed from the actual crude oil containing 2.5 wt.% from southern Iraq, specifically the Halfaya Oil Field was studied using adsorption desulfurization with activated carbon (AC). The effects of different operating conditions, including the dose of AC (0.2-1.0 gm), time (15–120 min) and temperature (30–50°C) were investigated. The best operating conditions were obtained as 0.8 gm AC, 90 minutes and 50℃, respectively. Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models …

The Effects Of Sunlight On Particle Matter & Radiation Pollution In Baghdad Airport Area, Fatima Hameed, Faris Mohammed, Abdul Hameed Al-Obaidy

Engineering and Technology Journal

The gasses emitted from the various activities, in addition to particle matter (PM10) play a major role in air quality deterioration. Particles matter and radiation are two of the most important parameters that exist in airports and were evaluated considering the variations in sunlight energy. The measured values were collected from eleven sites, which were chosen based on their influence by aviation activities. The measurements were compared to the (Iraqi Regulations and U.S EPA) for particle matter. While for radiation, the measurements were compared with the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH), International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), and the …

Study Of The Influence Of Different Variables On Clathrate Practical Applications In Phenol Removal, Riyadh Al- Mukhtar, Shurooq Remedhan, Marwa Hussin

Engineering and Technology Journal

In this work, effluent wastewater treated by using cyclopentane-water Clathrate system to treat water contaminates with phenols at concentrations (300, 250, 200, 150, 100 and 50) ppm in order to investigate the capability of process performance. Clathrate or hydrate are strong crystal structures including water (host particles) and little particles (guest particles). The experiments were conducted at different cyclopentane-water volume ratios (1: 2 and 1: 4). The work was done in a 250 ml glass cell with an electric mixer at a constant speed of 280 cycles per minute. Phenol was highest removal percent at 300ppm at 1: 4volume ratio …

Removal Of Iron From Produced Water Using Silica Adsorbent Material, Zamen Mekhelf, Akeel Subhi, Ramzy Hamied

Engineering and Technology Journal

The removal of Iron from produced water using adsorbent materials is taking a space of attention from the perspective of researchers. In this work, the characterization of chemically modified silica used as Iron ions adsorbent using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), laser granularity instrument was performed. The point of zero charge (PZC) of modified silica was determined using titration method. Different parameters were used to better approach Iron removal. These parameters are 0.2 and 0.4 mg/l modified silica adsorbent dose, 30-180 min adsorption time and pH values of 4-10. The results showed that modified silica exhibited …

Influence Of Nanocermic On Some Properties Of Polyetheretherketone Based Biocomposites, Alaa Mohammed, Jawad Oleiwi, Emad Al-Hassani

Engineering and Technology Journal

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) materials belong to a group of high-performance thermoplastic polymers thermoplastic that has been proposed as a substitute for metals in biomaterials. In this research, in order to improve the performances of PEEK, nano titanium dioxide (n-TiO2) and nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HAp) were incorporated into PEEK loading up to (1.5 wt%) to fabricate PEEK composites by using a method of melt-blending and hot compressing. Properties, such as compression, density, the morphology of fracture, and element analysis were examined for preparing samples. The results showed that the compression and density properties improved with increased weight fraction for two types of reinforcement, but …

Hollow Fiber Ultrafiltration Membrane For Methyl Green Dye Removal, Saja Alardhi, Jamal Alrubaye, Talib Albayati

Engineering and Technology Journal

In this study, the behavior of a Polyvinyl chloride (18 wt % PVC) hollow fiber ultrafiltration (UF) membrane for methyl green (MG) dye removal from aqueous solution was estimated by studying the influence of varying the operation conditions (the concentration of the dye and volumetric flow rate) to determine their impact on the separation processes (permeate flux and rejection coefficient) at constant pressure and temperature. The PVC membrane was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, tests of the UF were carried out with pure water and MG aqueous solutions as feed. Outcomes explained a notable influence of feed concentration and …

Experimental Investigation Of Thermodynamics, Kinetics, And Equilibrium Of Nickel Ion Removal From Wastewater Using Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles As The Adsorbent, Shurooq Remedhan

Engineering and Technology Journal

In the present study commercial zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles in the size of 30 nm were utilized as an adsorbent for the removal of Ni (II) ion from synthetic waste aqueous solution. Adsorption capacity of ZnO for removing Ni (II) ions from aqueous solutions was measured at different pH, adsorbent dose, contact time, temperature and metal ion concentration. Moreover,  adsorption isotherms, kinetics and thermodynamics were studied to understand  the  nature  and  mechanism  of  adsorption. ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by X-Ray diffract analysis(XRD),Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM),energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The maximum amount of Ni …

Fabrication Of Ni-Zro2 Nanocomposite Coating By Electroless Deposition Technique, Hiba Algailani, Adel Mahmoud, Hanna Al-Kaisy

Engineering and Technology Journal

This work aims preparation of Ni-based nanocomposite coating by electroless deposition method onto stainless steel (316L) substrate, the present work will compare the effects of incorporation of ZrO2 nanoparticles at different percentages (1.25 wt %, 2.25 wt %, and 4.25 wt %) Ni-based electroless deposition coating of the bath nanocomposite on the phase structure, microhardness, and corrosion resistance is studied. Where the structure and chemical composition of nanocomposite coatings were studied by using (X-ray), (SEM) and (EDS). of Ni - ZrO2 nanocomposite coating exhibits much-increased microhardness and remarkably improved corrosion resistance

Optimizing Of Coating Layers Parameters Of (Nano Hydroxyapatite/Tio2 Nps) On Nitinol Smas By Electrophoretic Deposition, Riyam Rawdan, Makarim Abdulkareem, Ali Mustafa

Engineering and Technology Journal

This study aims to obtain the optimal variable for depositing (HA, TiO2 and Composite) Nanomaterial on NiTi SMAs. Taguchi approach (with L9 array) was used to obtain the optimal conditions for coating produced by Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) techniques. The deposition process was done in different conditions (voltage, time, concentration and degree of grinding). Voltages were used (20, 40 and 60) volts, the time is (2, 4 and 6) min, the degree of the surface roughness (180, 500 and 1200) μm while the concentration of HA and TiO2 are (2, 4, and 6) g/L for each one. Chitosan (biopolymer) was used …

Preparation And Characterization Of Polymer Blend And Nano Composite Materials Based On Pmma Used For Bone Tissue Regeneration, Sally Kadhum Alsaedi, Sihama Salih, Fadhil Hashim

Engineering and Technology Journal

As the elderly population increases, the need for bone loss treatments is increasing. Vital substances used in such treatments are required to continue for a longer period and work more effectively. The particularly important biological material is poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) bone cement, which is widely used in damaged bone replacement surgery. So, this study focused on the role of added some nanoparticles consist of zirconia (ZrO2), and magnesia (MgO) on the binary polymeric blend (Acrylic bone cement: 15% PMMA) for a bone scaffold. Where, ZrO2 and MgO nanoparticle was added with selected weight percentages (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Complexes Of New Derivative Of Cyclopentaphenanthren-3-One With Manganese (Ii), Iron (Ii), Cobalt (Ii), Nickel (Ii), And Copper (Ii) Ions, Liblab Jassim

Engineering and Technology Journal

This work involves the chemical preparation from a series of metal Complexes having the general composition M(L)2(H2O)2, where M = [Mn+2, Fe+2, Co+2, Ni+2 and Cu+2].The ligand used was 9-fluoro-17-(1-hydrazono-2-hydroxyethyl)-11,17-dihydroxy-10,13,16-trimethyl-6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17-dodecahydro-3H-cyclopenta[α]phenanthren-3-one (FHDTCP), who was diagnosed by H-NMR spectra.These complexes have been prepared and characterized by the ligand to metal by molar conductance, spectral (UV-Visible and FT-IR), and atomic absorption studies. The IR spectral measurements forecast interference to oxygen, nitrogen in coordination from the electron pairs to the metal ion in the center. And suggested the complexes geometry be octahedral for all.

Semi-Quantitative Risk Assessment In The Chemical Stores Of The University Of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq, Azhar Haleem

Engineering and Technology Journal

Chemicals are used daily at the university, by its students or staff so it’s necessary to develop a chemical management system to protect their workers and students from accidents caused by exposure to chemicals of various forms, the present study explains the methodology for assessing the health effects and risks of exposure to chemicals in the chemical stores of University of Technology (UOT) by using semi- quantitative risk assessment technique depends on a descriptive analytical approach, by collecting the requested information for seven main stores within the university by questionnaire form included inquiries about personal information about employees, level of …

Analysis And Design Of 460 Ghz Microwave Gyrotron Oscillator, Luma Abbas, Nedal Hussain

Engineering and Technology Journal

This paper is concerned with the analysis and design of a gyrotron oscillator with 460 GHz that can excite both modes (TE231) the fundamental (230GHz) and (TE061, TE261) second harmonic (near 460GHz). The oscillator is operated with 12KV beam voltage and 100mA beam current, and a computer program was developed to study the cavity in this oscillator and the wave-particle interaction inside it using the forward finite difference technique as a numerical method. The input data of the program are electron energy, velocity ratio, normalized cavity length, the normalized value of the external magnetic field, the mode number (m,n,l), and …

Word Retrieval Based On Freak Descriptor To Identify The Image Of The English Letter That Corresponds To The First Letter Of The Word, Ekhlas Naser

Engineering and Technology Journal

For the reason of colossal technological developments, the requirement of image information methods became a significant issue. The aim of this research was to retrieve the word based on Fast Retina Key-points (FREAK) descriptor .The suggested system consists of four stages. In the first stage, the images of English letters are loaded. Points are detected via SUSAN in the second stage. FREAK used in the third stage and then a database was created containing 26 English letters. The image to be tested was entered and the points are extracted in the fourth stage and then Manhattan distance was used to …