Digital Commons Network^™

Ten Years Forward: An Evaluation Of California’S Active Transportation Program, Bruce Appleyard, Mario Carbajal, Madison Swayne, Nell Ahangarfabrik, Megan Honey

Mineta Transportation Institute

California’s Active Transportation Program (ATP) is a competitive, grant-based program that serves as a major funding stream for active transportation infrastructure in California. The program has six goals based on increasing nonmotorized transportation, safety, equity, sustainability, and health. Evaluation of the ATP’s administrative and scoring processes is crucial to ensure goals are met as equitably and efficiently as possible. Additionally, establishing a methodology for evaluating the safety impacts of active transportation projects is critically important. Through a series of interviews and an extensive review of the documents and rubrics of the program, this report discusses how the Active Transportation Program …

Is Parking Cash-Out Worth It? Comparing Cost-Effectiveness And Climate And Equity Benefits In The Bay Area And South Coast Air Quality Management Districts, Fynnwin Prager, Tianjun Lu, Ashley Membere, Parveen Chhetri

Mineta Transportation Institute

This research explores the potential impacts of California parking cash-out policy changes on the Bay Area and LA County. Parking cash-out—a California law since 1992—requires that certain qualifying employers who subsidize employee parking offer employees the option to give up their parking space and receive cash instead. Studies show parking cash-out substantially reduces VMT and emissions, yet enforcement remains voluntary. Current policy covers few firms (<1%) and employees (around 11%) in the study regions. Policy reform to include companies with 20+ employees could increase this to 18%. Our experimental-design survey (n=963) explores behavioral changes in response to multiple policy variables and finds that 76.9% of employees would accept cash-out if offered, and that participants who had to pay the market rate for parking and were full-time commuters were more likely to switch to using public transportation at lower cash minimums. VMT related to employees covered by parking cash-out are substantial (5.6 million in the Bay Area; 5.7 million in LA County), and account for a combined 6,593 daily tons of GHG. As even limited adoption could have significant environmental benefits, parking cash-out would be a more cost-effective approach to reducing VMT than traditional TDM programs such as trip-reduction programs, workplace parking taxation, or transit subsidies and road diets, though further evidence on the direct influence of parking cash-out on commuter behavior is needed.

Advancing Prediction And Decision Analytics Techniques To Improve Treatment Of Tuberculosis, Maryam Kheirandish Borujeni

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global health challenge, significantly impacting morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Despite advancements in diagnosis and treatment, TB continues to pose substantial challenges, particularly in low-resource settings. This dissertation aims to develop a robust treatment monitoring framework for TB patients to ensure personalized and effective treatment using demographic and clinical information. The current standard TB treatment framework, recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), involves monitoring patients through laboratory tests such as smear and culture sputum tests at specific time points during treatment. These tests, however, are not fast and accurate enough to determine the severity of …

Winter Texans: A Study Of Community And Belonging In An Overlooked Border Identity In The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Belinda D. Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study centers around a population of retired Anglos who migrate to South Texas border towns in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (locally known as The Valley) from October through March each year. Many travel in recreational vehicles (RVs) and hail from the United States and Canada to set up home in one of The Valley’s RV parks. They are called Winter Texans by themselves and locals. Scholarly research focused on Winter Texans explores how they are motivated to move because of lower costs of living (Murray 2020), how they travel for medical reasons, and their use of Mexican health …

Evaluating Margin Protection (Mp) Crop Insurance As A Risk Management Tool For Rice Producers In Arkansas, Kaleem Azmat Chattha

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Agricultural producers bear many risks, including production risks stemming from uncertainty in weather and pest pressure and price risks arising from market volatility. Federal Crop Insurance has become one of the most popular tools to manage these risks. While yield and revenue crop insurance tend to be the most popular production and price risk management tools provided by the government, participation in Margin Protection insurance lags far behind despite providing production, crop price, and input price risk protection. This study aims to uncover whether Margin Protection crop insurance is an effective risk management tool by estimating the optimal coverage level …

Utilizing Teaching Strategies To Create Productive Coaches: Teaching Competencies For Student-Athlete Development, Marina D. Niehoff

Leadership Education Capstones

This mixed-methods study explores the connection between teaching and coaching, focusing on how teaching competencies can be applied to coaching to develop student-athletes. The research addresses three key questions: which pedagogical strategies can be transferred from teaching to coaching, how the dual role of teacher-coach affects relationships with students and players, and how leadership techniques are utilized in both contexts. The theoretical framework is based on the intersection of educational pedagogy and athletic coaching. Data were collected through online surveys and individual interviews. The study used an online survey in addition to in-person interviews to collect data from teacher-coaches (people …

A Peek Behind The Scenes At The Making Of Three Decades Of Supreme Court Copyright Decisions, Jonathan Band

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Cutting Propagation Of 'Coy' Alder-Leaf Mountain Mahogany, Asmita Paudel, Youping Sun, Atanda Samuel Oladejo

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

‘Coy’ alder-leaf mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus) is a new cultivar developed from a species native to the western United States with potential for use in xeriscaping, rock gardens, and water-efficient landscaping. However, efficient propagation methods are not well developed for it. In this study, cutting propagation of ‘Coy’ alder-leaf mountain mahogany was investigated over 3 years to evaluate the effects of wounding method, rooting hormone, type of cuttings collected, and time for cutting collection on rooting. In May, Jul, and Sep 2020, 2021, and 2022, nondormant hardwood subterminal cuttings and/or semihardwood terminal cuttings were collected for wounding studies. …

Equal Protection Of Life, Liberty, And Labor: Habeas Corpus & The 14th Amendment, 1901–1904, Madison Mendiola

Digital Legal Research Lab

Presents and synthesizes three cases demonstrating the use of habeas corpus in the contect of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution between 1901 and 1904.

Research poster titled Equal Protection of Life, Liberty, and Labor Habeas Corpus & the 14th Amendment, 1901–1904, presented via the Digital Legal Research Lab NSF REU Site, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, August 2024.

Advisors: Katrina Jagodinsky and William Thomas

Review Of Transition Programs For Autistic Students From Pre-K To Elementary School And Elementary School To Middle School In A Midwest Suburban School District, John J. Harrington Iii

Dissertations

This study is in place to identify what needs to be outlined within an IEP transition plan, so that students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can experience success during their educational careers. The study will review results based on teacher-provided surveys to identify how high-quality transition plans impact the student’s educational success when transitioning from early childhood education to elementary and elementary to middle school. The transition process plan is designed to provide the needed student information from one educational entity to another. The goal is to reduce the amount of time to get the student what the student needs …

Disrupting The Disconnect And Delving Deeper: A Study Exploring The Dimensions Of Black Male Educators, Terri Elaine Cole Brown

Dissertations

Nationwide, the role and impact of Black male educators and administrators in schools is a critical area of study. This research focuses on a predominantly Black, Catholic high school in the Midwest, where Black male educators and administrators comprise 40% of the staff, providing a unique setting for exploration. While numerous studies have examined Black male educators' experiences, motivations, and perspectives, this research seeks to understand the dynamics within a school where they are significantly represented. This study provided a comprehensive understanding of their influence through surveys, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups with Black male teachers, administrators, alumni, and parents. …

Legend Trips And Vernacular Film Theory: Spooky Encounters In Tiktok Mediated Legend Trips, Drew Holley

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

In this thesis I looked at how legend tripping is mediated through the affordances of new social technologies and apps, specifically TikTok. Short video formats allowed for folk cinematography to spread legend narratives and at the same time create more visual online landscapes for people to interact with. I defined folk cinematography as the way in which people make videos based on a vernacular level. This has been based on people having more access to video making tools and learning from informal patterns such as trends on sites like TikTok. Because of this, I explored how audiences participate in a …

The Role Of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Gene Ablation In Preserving Ejection Fraction During Chronic Volume Overload-Induced Heart Failure., Oluwaseun Ebenezer Akinterinwa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Heart failure is a prevalent cause of hospitalization globally, especially among older adults. The ejection fraction is a critical parameter in assessing and managing heart failure patients. As we age, the cardiovascular system undergoes changes that increase the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. One of the most significant structural features that occur with age is reduced or impaired contractility of the left ventricular wall of the heart. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play a crucial role in tissue remodeling, and their latency is linked with nitric oxide (NO). In the context of heart failure and constant stress, tissue remodeling leads to …

Cultural Humility As A Mechanism For Building Working Alliance With International Counseling Supervisees, Alexandra Ioakeimidou

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The counseling field constitutes a choice of study for many international students pursuing graduate studies in the United States. A critical training aspect of the counseling field is clinical supervision. It is documented in the literature that international counseling supervisees encounter many challenges in the context of supervision. The field of mental health and, in particular, the counseling field often emphasize the concept of cultural competence as a critical component in providing effective cross-cultural supervision. However, scholars have pointed out some negative aspects of cultural competence. The present study stipulated that the emphasis of supervisors on cultural competence could be …

Safety And Feasibility Of Third-Party Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes For High-Risk Patients With Covid-19, Dolores Grosso, John L. Wagner, Allyson O'Connor, Kaitlyn Keck, Yanping Huang, Zi-Xuan Wang, Hilary Mehler, Benjamin Leiby, Phyllis Flomenberg, Usama Gergis, Neda Nikbakht, Michael Morris, Julie Karp, Alexis R. Peedin, Neal Flomenberg

COVID-19 Papers, Posters, and Presentations

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) destroy virally infected cells and are critical for the elimination of viral infections such as those caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Delayed and dysfunctional adaptive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 are associated with poor outcomes. Treatment with allogeneic SARS-CoV-2-specific CTLs may enhance cellular immunity in high-risk patients providing a safe, direct mechanism of treatment. Thirty high-risk ambulatory patients with COVID-19 were enrolled in a phase 1 trial assessing the safety of third party, SARS-CoV-2-specific CTLs. Twelve interventional patients, 6 of whom were immunocompromised, matched the HLA-A∗02:01 restriction of the CTLs and received …

Land-Use Change As A Major Driver For Mid-20th-Century Flood Intensity Reduction In The Southeastern Us, Zhixiong Shen, Nicholas Conway, Shaowu Bao, Samuel Muñoz, Andreas Lang

Marine Science

Land-use changes affect hydrologic processes, but their impact on flooding remains obscure amid increasingly heavy precipitation. Instrumental records are short relative to land-use change history and inadequate for flood attribution studies. Here we integrate a high-resolution paleodischarge record spanning the past ∼200 years from the largest basin in the Southeastern United States with instrumental data and hydrological modeling. We find that the 100 yr flood magnitude for large regional rivers exhibits 50%–75% reductions in the mid-20th century. We attribute at least 50% of the reductions to a regional shift from widespread agricultural land to conservation and reforestation and the rest …

2024 Annual Report Of The Nominating Committee, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

University Nominating Committee report including committee memberships, produced by the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

Theoretical Justifications For Trade Secrets Protection Of Routine Business Information, Timothy Murphy

Articles

For over a century trade secret law has protected internal business information from misappropriation by departing employees. Over this time, courts developed various limiting doctrines to minimize the impact of this broad protection on employee mobility in particular cases. However, the workplace has changed significantly over this time and these changes raise substantial questions as to whether there is any valid theoretical justification for continuing to protect routine business information under trade secret law. In an environment where the vast majority of trade secrets claims are against former employees, the lack of sound justification for protecting routine business information, the …

Securing An Organization’S Dependency On Information Technology: A Narrative Study Exploring Cybersecurity Experts’ Experiences With The Impact Of Information Security Management Principles On The Success Of Security Operations Centers, Raymond Obeng Edd

All Student Scholarship

This qualitative research project explored how the secure dependency of information technology impacts the success of organizations. The research project operated within the intersection of the theoretical concepts of information security management principles, protection motivation, and security of critical information security systems within an organization (Muniz, 2021; Rogers, 1975; Spaniel, 2023). The project relied on the narratives of the personal stories of three cybersecurity experts who shed light on the most effective ways that security operations centers team members could equip their organizations to safeguard their dependency on information technology. Specifically, it explored those experts’ experiences with the impact of …

Safeguarding Women's Health: Trends, Inequities, And Opportunities In Pakistan's Abortion And Post-Abortion Care Services, Ali M. Mir, Zeba Sathar, Iqbal Shah, Rehan M. Niazi, Tahira Parveen, Susheela Singh

Safe Abortion and Postabortion Care

This report presents the findings of a comprehensive study on abortion and post-abortion care in Pakistan, conducted in 2023 by the Population Council in partnership with the Guttmacher Institute. The study addresses a critical need for updated information on women's reproductive health in Pakistan, a country facing significant challenges including a high population growth rate (2.55% per annum), low contraceptive use (34% for any method, 23.4% for modern methods), and a high unmet need for family planning (17.3%). The study is the third of its kind since 2002, building on previous research conducted in 2002 and 2012. It comes at …

How Comics Impact The Process Of Instructional Design, Aaron M. White

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite growing evidence and professional consensus of the educational benefits of comics, the medium has not received much explicit attention within instructional design literature. This very lack of attention leaves instructional designers (IDs) and subject matter experts (SMEs) without the necessary means to integrate comics into higher education curriculum. Drawn from theoretical and empirical evidence found in Mayer’s Multimedia Learning (2021) and Cohn’s The Visual Language of Comics (2014), this dissertation explored how incorporating comics as anchor text into three different courses (face-to-face, hybrid, and online) at three different higher education institutions in the Midwest impacted the dynamics of the …

Dancing With Identity: How Women In It Navigate Leadership Construction, Amy Barry

Instructional Leadership Abstracts

Women are underrepresented in the information technology sector and experience pervasive gender bias in the typically male-dominated organizations. Barry explores how women navigate and shape their leadership identities within such an environment.

Chemokines In The Tumor Microenvironment: Implications For Lung Cancer And Immunotherapy., Haebeen Jung, Silke Paust

Faculty Research 2024

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a complex interconnected network of immune cells, fibroblasts, blood vessels, and extracellular matrix surrounding the tumor. Because of its immunosuppressive nature, the TME can pose a challenge for cancer immunotherapies targeting solid tumors. Chemokines have emerged as a crucial element in enhancing the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy, playing a direct role in immune cell signaling within the TME and facilitating immune cell migration towards cancer cells. However, chemokine ligands and their receptors exhibit context-dependent diversity, necessitating evaluation of their tumor-promoting or inhibitory effects based on tumor type and immune cell characteristics. This review explores the …

Understanding And Improving Law Enforcement Investigations Of Human Trafficking: Focus On Labor Trafficking, Daniela Peterka-Benton, Alison Boak, Christabelle Robinson, Madison Kranis

Articles, Presentations, and Reports

The National Expert Roundtable on Labor Trafficking brought together survivors, prosecutors, law enforcement agents, advocates, and service providers to address systemic gaps in labor trafficking investigations. The discussion revealed that labor trafficking cases remain under-recognized and inadequately prosecuted compared to sex trafficking. Key recommendations include: developing multi-disciplinary task forces, improving screening tools and victim interviews, integrating survivor-led peer support, and strengthening partnerships between police and service providers. The report emphasizes victim-centered, culturally competent methodologies and enhanced training to ensure survivors’ well-being alongside justice.

New Dentist News (August 2024), Ada Committee On The New Dentist

New Dentist News

New Dentist News offers timely information on scientific, social, educational, political and economic developments affecting new dentists. This collection is historical and items may not reflect current standards. For up-to-date information contact the ADA. The New Dentist News was alternately titled ADA Lifeline, 1997-June 2001.

Zebra Limestone From The Gypsum Valley Salt Diapir, Colorado, Rebecca Navarrette

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Zebra rocks displaying alternating light and dark-colored millimeter to centimeter thick bands of crystals have been found at the Gypsum Valley salt diapir, Colorado in the Paradox Basin where they are associated with gypsic diapiric caprock. Elucidating their origin may provide crucial information about intermittent fluid flow at the margin of salt diapirs and about Zebra rock formation, which often is associated with carbonate-hosted lead-zinc mineralization (Mississippi Valley Type, MVT) and hydrothermal dolomite -hosted hydrocarbon reservoirs.

The Gypsum Valley Zebra rocks consist of calcite, i.e., it is a Zebra limestone. It shows a finely crystalline light banding and coarsely crystalline …

Investigation Of Seasonal Trends And Source Apportionment Of Particulate Matter (Pm2.5) In El Paso-Juarez Airshed, Fatema Tuz Zohora

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Using the data from Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for the El Paso city throughout the years from 2021 to 2024 Particulate Matter (PM2.5) was measured to examine the seasonal distribution and sources. This study aims to understand the seasonal variability of PM2.5 concentrations, identify the significant impact of wildfire events on this and source apportionment.The analysis begins with a comprehensive examination of PM2.5 data from TCEQ highlighting the seasonal pattern, it was found that fine particulate matter was more prevalent in winter and tends to be down in spring, and in summer it is relatively lower, subsequently in …

Rural Education Revitalized: Investigating And Resolving Specific Challenges In Rural Schools, Alexis Jane Barker

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis paper investigates the multifaceted challenges and the potential solutions to the issues afflicting rural education. Despite being often marginalized in educational policy discussions, rural schools confront a plethora of unique issues that significantly impact the educational experiences of students and the overall well-being of their communities. This paper explores the elusive concept of “rurality”, emphasizing that rural communities are diverse and dynamic, shaped by different historical, cultural, and socioeconomic factors.

The review of the literature includes a historical analysis tracing the evolution of rural education, highlighting key turning points, legislation, and social forces that have contributed to rural …

The Role Of Elevation In The Migration, Physiology, And Genomic Diversification Of Birds, Jessie L. Williamson

Biology ETDs

Elevational gradients cause profound eco-climatic variation across short distances. Partial pressure of oxygen (PO₂) is a severe challenge that organisms face at high elevations; due partly to specialization on PO₂, most Neotropical bird species have narrow elevational ranges. However, a small fraction are elevational generalists that span sea level to high elevations, and a subset undertake extreme migratory journeys from low to high elevations biannually. My dissertation combines diverse approaches across levels of biological organization to understand how elevation impacts the ecology, evolution, physiology, and migration of montane birds. I examined ‘extreme’ elevational …

A Broadband, Dual Polarized Antenna For The Radio Neutrino Observatory In Greenland, Danny Maas

Master's Theses

The Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G) is a multidisciplinary, multinational collaboration which uses antennas to detect neutrino interactions with arctic ice sheets. Neutrinos are formed from nuclear reactions; predominant sources include nuclear reactors, stars, supernovae, and the big bang. They rarely interact with normal matter and thus travel from origin to destination relatively unimpeded, with applications including tracking nuclear weapons tests and supernovae. Measurements of galactic neutrino flux can provide information about how the universe developed and its current evolution. Neutrino interactions produce signals from 100 to 1000MHz. Current RNO-G antennas operate over only a portion of this band; …