Digital Commons Network^™

The Blue Division In The Soviet Union: Cultural Exchange Through The Lens Of Art, Abigail Beus

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the cultural encounters and artistic interactions between Spanish Blue Division volunteers and the Soviet Union during World War II. While scholarship has long focused on the grand-scale looting conducted by the Nazis, Spain’s role—particularly that of the Blue Division—in wartime art theft and cultural exchange has been significantly underexplored. Sent by Franco’s fascist regime to support Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union, the Blue Division served not only as military auxiliaries but also as cultural intermediaries. Drawing on memoirs, letters, and the Blue Division’s own newspaper Hoja de Campaña, this study analyzes how Spanish soldiers encountered, …

Sg-Met: Past To Present Day Evolution, Aiden Echols, Bs, Madison Via, Bs, Audrey L. Zapletal, Otd, Ms, Otr/L, Cla, Chse, Karla A. Bell, Pt, Dpt, Phd, Fnap

Thomas Jefferson University Faculty Days

Background

LGBTQ+ communities experience health care and health disparities; some reasons include:

• barriers in care,
• negative attitudes,
• lack of awareness by healthcare providers.

Studies have found healthcare professionals are not adequately trained in LGBTQ+ care

Educators benefit from professional development related to LGBTQ+ inclusivity in higher education.

Direct Upcycling Of Degraded Ncm Via Low-Temperature Surface Engineering For High Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries, Yu Wang, Chris Yuan

Faculty Scholarship

Upcycling degraded low-Ni cathode materials into Ni-rich alternatives offers significant economic and environmental benefits for lithium-ion battery production. However, the stability and safety of the upcycled materials remain challenging due to their aggressive composition. This study reports an innovative two-step upcycling method that integrates a coating process with a low-temperature annealing process, thereby successfully upcycling degraded NCM622 with a LiAlO2 coating layer. Through comprehensive characterization, the recovery of crystal structure and uniform LiAlO2 coating on the particle surface are confirmed by XRD and XPS results. As a result of structural recovery and surface engineering, upcycled NCM622 demonstrates an initial capacity …

Dairy And Food Science Student Newsletter, June 4, 2025, Department Of Dairy And Food Science

Dairy and Food Science Student Newsletter

No abstract provided.

K-Mshc: Unmasking Minimally Sufficient Head Circuits In Large Language Models With Experiments On Syntactic Classification Tasks, Pratim Chowdhary, Peter Chin, Deepernab Chakrabarty

Computer Science Senior Theses

Understanding which neural components drive specific capabilities in mid-sized language models ($\leq$10B parameters) remains a key challenge. We introduce the $(\bm{K}, \epsilon)$-Minimum Sufficient Head Circuit ($K$-MSHC), a methodology to identify minimal sets of attention heads crucial for classification tasks as well as Search-K-MSHC, an efficient algorithm for discovering these circuits. Applying our Search-K-MSHC algorithm to Gemma-9B, we analyze three syntactic task families: grammar acceptability, arithmetic verification, and arithmetic word problems. Our findings reveal distinct task-specific head circuits, with grammar tasks predominantly utilizing early layers, word problems showing pronounced activity in both shallow and deep regions, and arithmetic verification demonstrating a …

Character Relationship Prediction In Movies: Toward Emotionally-Aware Automatic Audio Descriptions, Seung Hyun Hahm

Computer Science Senior Theses

Automatic audio description (AD) systems support visually impaired audiences by narrating visual content, but they often fail to capture the interpersonal dynamics that underpin narrative understanding. In this work, we introduce a novel framework for character relationship prediction as a means of enriching audio descriptions with socially grounded context. Our contributions are threefold: (1) we propose the Character Relationship Module (CRM), which extends identity-aware video captioning with directed sentiment inference between character pairs; (2) we develop a scalable weak supervision pipeline that uses large language models to generate 669,520 relationship annotations across 202 films; and (3) we construct a complementary …

Bayesian Segmentation–Driven Informative Path Planning For Uav-Based Water Orthomosaic Generation, Phuc Dai Tran

Computer Science Senior Theses

This paper presents a comprehensive implementation

study of an informative path planning (IPP) algorithm

for autonomous water body detection and mapping using

unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). We propose a hybrid IPP

framework that seamlessly integrates Bayesian probabilistic

classification and real-time uncertainty quantification to achieve

superior flight efficiency and mapping accuracy compared

to conventional systematic coverage methods. Our approach

employs the state-of-the-art SegFormer deep learning segmentation

model in conjunction with log-odds-based orthomosaic

generation to produce high-fidelity water body maps under

diverse environmental conditions. Through random sampling of

the FloodNet dataset, we demonstrate that our IPP algorithm

maintains flight distance while achieving …

Advances In Molecular Imaging Of Vegfrs: Innovations In Imaging And Therapeutics, Hanieh Karimi, Sarah Lee, Wenqi Xu, Sigrid A. Langhans, David K. Johnson, Erik Stauff, Heidi H. Kecskemethy, Lauren W. Averill, Xuyi Yue

Department of Radiology Faculty Papers

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFRs) are key regulators of angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, and vascular permeability, playing essential roles in both physiological and pathological processes. The VEGFR family, including VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2, and VEGFR-3, interacts with structurally related VEGF ligands (VEGFA, VEGFB, VEGFC, VEGFD, and placental growth factor [PlGF]), activating downstream signaling pathways that mediate critical cellular processes, including proliferation, migration, and survival. Dysregulation of VEGFR signaling has been implicated in numerous diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular conditions, and inflammatory disorders. Targeting VEGFRs with radiopharmaceuticals, such as radiolabeled peptides, antibodies, and specific tracers like 64Cu-bevacizumab and 89Zr-ramucirumab, has emerged as a powerful …

A First Look Into Parental Strategies, And Challenges Around Children’S Device Usage In Urban Nepal, Rizu Paudel, Prakriti Dumaru, Ankit Shrestha, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Student Research

There have been substantial changes in the landscape of technology use by children in Global South during COVID-19, when the shift to online learning platforms necessitated parents to avail personal devices (e.g., smartphones, computers) for their children to fulfill their educational needs. However, the use of devices by children are not limited to serving educational purpose only. Our study positions itself in a critical post-pandemic period in Nepal, characterized by the increase in device use by children, while a little study to date, investigated parental mediation in this developing country. To this end, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 parents, …

Unveiling Success: A Qualitative Exploration Of Job Offer Attainment Among International Female Master's Graduates In Technology, Anna Bahvala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explores the job search experiences of international female graduates from a Master of Science in Business Analytics and Information Systems (MS BAIS) program in the United States. I focus on the job search and preparation strategies that differentiate graduates, earning $100,000 and above from their peers. Using an Appreciative Inquiry framework and attribution theory as a foundation, the research examines the intersection of gender, mindset, risk-taking, negotiation skills, and self-efficacy in job attainment outcomes. Nine participants were interviewed, with data analyzed using Saldaña’s coding techniques to identify common themes and behaviors. Findings indicate that high earners demonstrated …

Importance Of Outbreak Response Research In Bridging Knowledge Gaps On Emerging Infectious Diseases, Robert F Breiman, David Wang, Michael Diamond, Adrianus C M Boon, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

An important outcome of the devastating 2014 West African Ebola virus disease outbreak and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has been the growing promotion of conducting research during outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) as a valuable and acceptable process of acquiring knowledge to enhance our ability to better prevent and control these diseases in the future. Recognising the unique opportunity during outbreaks to leverage increases in cases over a short time interval and in a circumscribed area, we articulate a systematic process of conducting EID outbreak response research, highlighting knowledge gaps that should be prioritised, and measures that can be …

Motionteller: Multi-Modal Integration Of Wearable Time-Series With Llms For Health And Behavioral Understanding, Aiwei Zhang, Arvind Pillai, Andrew Campbell, Nicholas C. Jacobson

Computer Science Senior Theses

As wearable sensing becomes increasingly pervasive, a key challenge remains: how can we generate natural language summaries from raw physiological signals such as actigraphy - minute-level movement data collected via accelerometers? In this work, we introduce MotionTeller, a generative framework that natively integrates minute-level wearable activity data with large language models (LLMs). MotionTeller combines a pretrained actigraphy encoder with a lightweight projection module that maps behavioral embeddings into the token space of a frozen decoder-only LLM, enabling free-text, autoregressive generation of daily behavioral summaries.

We construct a novel dataset of 54,383 ⟨actigraphy, text⟩ pairs derived from real-world NHANES recordings, and …

An Approach To Stylometry Using Causal Language Models, Harrison F. Stropkay

Computer Science Senior Theses

We present a novel stylometric approach using large language models. By training separate models on individual authors' works, we find that each model achieves lower cross-entropy loss when predicting text from its training author compared to other authors' texts. Moreover, for any given text, the model trained on its true author’s corpus yields the lowest loss. We suggest that, in this way, a model trained on one author's works embodies the unique writing style of that author. We demonstrate our approach on works by eight known authors. This approach also confirms that R. P. Thompson wrote the well-studied 15th book …

Mulberry Leaf Disease Detection By Cnn-Vit With Xai Integration, Mohammad Asif Hasan, Fariha Haque, Hasan Sarker, Rafae Abdullah, Tonmoy Roy, Nishat Taaha, Yeasin Arafat, Abdul Karim Patwary, Mominul Ahsan, Julfikar Haider

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Mulberry leaf disease detection is vital for maintaining the health and productivity of mulberry crops. In this paper, a novel approach was proposed by integrating explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) techniques with a convolutional neural network (CNN) and vision transformer (ViT) for effective mulberry leaf disease classification with three disease classes. Initially, in this proposed CNN-ViT model, features are extracted using a customized CNN architecture, and then the extracted features are fed into ViT for leaf disease classification in a more streamlined approach. The CNN-ViT model achieved promising results with a projection dimension of 64, utilizing 8 heads and 8 transformer …

Study Of Capital And Operation Costs For Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plants, Habiba Mahdy Mohamed

Theses and Dissertations

Desalination is a progressively common solution to supply freshwater in numerous parts of the globe where this resource falls short. Among all desalination techniques, seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) is the most globally prevalent technology. Evaluating a desalination technology's cost-effectiveness is essential to ensure a well-designed plant can be implemented successfully and within an acceptable budget. In the Egyptian context, where water scarcity heightens the urgency of effective resource allocation, economic indicators such as capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX) are pivotal in shaping policy and planning decisions. Adopting this integrated financial perspective ensures that desalination projects are not only …

Sunrise At The Salton Sea: Environmental Justice, Land Use Change, And Hydrosocial Dynamics Of Solar Energy Transitions In The Imperial Valley, California, Dustin Mulvaney, James J.A. Blair, Alida Cantor

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

California's Imperial Valley, with lithium-rich geothermal brines, extensive flat agricultural fields with abundant desert sunshine, and access to transmission lines, is a leading case to explore interconnected themes around just energy transitions. Despite being the poorest county in California and one of the smallest, Imperial already provides 15% of the state’s solar electricity, and the region as a whole represents on the order of 25% of the state’s electric power capacity. This paper brings to light frictions over solar energy development that have emerged over the history of solar power development in the southern Salton Sea region. It describes the …

Oxygen Saturation Targeting In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Faeq Almudares, Bheru Gandhi, Jonathan Davies, Xanthi Couroucli, Natalie Villafranco, Nidhy Paulose Varghese, Milenka Cuevas Guaman, Charleta Guillory, Binoy Shivanna

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Oxygen (O2) is vital for cellular development, function, proliferation, and repair, underscoring its critical role in organogenesis. Both hypoxia (reduced tissue O2) and hyperoxia (excess tissue O2), when prolonged, can trigger inflammation and oxidative stress, contributing to acute and long-term cardiopulmonary and neurodevelopmental morbidity. In sick neonates, immature defense mechanisms and coexisting morbidities demand nuanced and sometimes opposing strategies for O2 saturation targets and therapeutic titration. Most current neonatal O2 targeting guidelines are based on animal models or small clinical studies, resulting in recommendations with limited evidence. This narrative review aims to provide an updated overview of the physiological roles …

2025-06-04 How Farm-To-Food Access Is Making Our Food System More Equitable, Leila Bunker

The Spectator Online

No abstract provided.

From Context To Connection: Client Letters In Stem Integration Curricula, Christine Mcdonnell, Imani N. Adams, Morgan Hynes, Selcen Guzey, Mary K. Pillotte, Greg J. Strimel, Kristina M. Tank, Tamara J. Moore

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Real-world contexts play a crucial role in engaging students and promoting disciplinary synergy in integrated STEM education. One underexplored pedagogical tool for supporting such integration is the “client letter”—a narrative device used to frame engineering design challenges around authentic, real-world problems. This study investigates the role of client letters in synergizing knowledge within immersive engineering design-based STEM integration curricula. We conducted a qualitative document analysis of 107 client letters embedded in 18 freely available K-12 STEM integration curricular units. Using a theoretical framework that aligns immersive education principles with the STEM Integration Framework, we analyzed how these letters support curricular …

Assessing Awareness And Use Of Library Services Within Chinese Partner Academic Programs: A Case Study Developing And Analyzing Bilingual Surveys, Maryalice Wade, Claire Nickerson, Heather P. Vandyne, Cyndi Landis

Library Faculty Publications

A library at a regional comprehensive university created a Global Access Committee to provide support for students and faculty at two international partner campuses in China. In 2022, the committee sent out a survey to these students to assess their awareness, usage, and satisfaction with library resources and services. Students reported high awareness, usage, and satisfaction with online library resources, instructional materials such as guides and tutorials, and the library’s Ask A Librarian service. However, there was a discrepancy between students’ self-reported usage and usage statistics collected by the library. The responses may have been influenced by cultural differences and …

2025-06-04 Saying A Beloved Goodbye To Graduating Spectator Editors, Leila Bunker

The Spectator Online

No abstract provided.

The Startup Ecosystem In Southern Nevada: Growth, Energy, And Emerging Entrepreneurship In 2025, Len Jessup, Sean Curry

Policy Briefs and Reports

The startup ecosystem in Southern Nevada has undergone significant transformation during the past decade, evolving from a fragmented and nascent environment into a dynamic and increasingly coordinated landscape. This study examines the growth of the Southern Nevada startup ecosystem, analyzing key components such as funding sources, incubators, accelerators, and public-private collaborations. Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative data, including investment trends, economic impact reports, and interviews with over 100 stakeholders, this policy brief provides a comprehensive assessment of the strengths and gaps within the ecosystem. Key findings indicate that while the region has made substantial progress, particularly in fostering early-stage investments …

177lu-Labeled Antibody-Drug Conjugate: A Dual-Mechanistic Treatment Modality In Solid Tumors, Aiko Yamaguchi, Chisato M Yamazaki, Yasuaki Anami, Summer Y Y Ha, Wei Xiong, Robert T Ta, Ningyan Zhang, H Charles Manning, Zhiqiang An, Kyoji Tsuchikama

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

To explore the potential of site-selectively radiolabeled antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) against solid tumors, we constructed and evaluated radiolabeled ADCs equipped with lutetium-177 (177Lu) and a membrane-permeable antimitotic agent. Site-selective 177Lu-labeled ADCs [anti-trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (TROP2) 177Lu-DTPA ADCs or anti-HER2 177Lu-DO3A ADCs], a 177Lu-labeled homogeneous radioimmunoconjugate (homogeneous RIC), and 177Lu-labeled conventional RIC (heterogeneous RIC) were constructed. We confirmed that 177Lu-labeled ADCs and the homogeneous RIC were obtained with high homogeneity and defined chelator/payload-to-antibody ratios. Next, we performed biodistribution studies and treatment efficacy studies in xenograft mouse models bearing orthotopic breast tumors. Compared with the heterogeneous RIC, the 177Lu-DTPA TROP2 ADC …

Development Of Aldot's Worker Safety Assessment, Risk Identification, And Control Program, Lana Marji

All ETDs from UAB

This research examines the safety challenges faced by Transportation Maintenance Technicians (TMTs) at the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT). By ana-lyzing extensive injury data from 2009 to 2024, along with insights from surveys and interactions with ALDOT personnel, this effort highlights significant trends and relation-ships among injury characteristics such as nature, cause, source, and affected body parts. The findings reveal considerable costs and productivity losses associated with common injury types that warrant the need for targeted interventions. By reviewing successful safety programs across various state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), the study identifies opportunities to enhance safety within ALDOT. This effort …

An Exploration Of The Lived Experiences Of Black Female Kinship Caregivers In Parenting Youth Aged 13-18, Tyla Wilder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative phenomenological study explored how the intersection of identities related to race and gender shapes the lived experiences of Black female kinship caregivers raising youth aged 13–18. Drawing on Intersectionality Theory, the study sought to understand the caregiving challenges, emotional resilience, and systemic barriers encountered by this underrepresented population. Nine participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling and engaged in in-depth semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis revealed that cultural norms and racialized gender expectations often compelled Black females to assume caregiving roles without institutional recognition or support. Participants described emotional isolation, financial instability, and limited access to legal and …

Pagbuk-Ad Buda Pagsup-Ay Sa Dibuho Ni Maruja Panti, Allan Popa

Katipunan

Bagamat madalas dalawin ng bagyo ang Catanduanes at mahirap ng buhay ng mga parahag-ot o abakalero, pinipili ng karamihan sa mga lokal na artista sa isla na magpinta ng mga payapang eksena alinsunod sa industriya ng turismo. Sa pamamagitan ng pagsusuri sa Embracing Chaos (2021), inilalarawan ni Popa kung paanong bukod-tangi rito ang sining ni Maruja Panti sa sabay na pagyakap sa pagkawasak at pagsisimulang-muli ng buhay mula sa kaguluhan, gamit ang kombinasyon ng abstrakto at piguratibong estilo. Bukod sa nakatutulong ang paggamit ng abakang papel bilang kambas sa pagsulong ng industriya ng abaka sa isla, pinapansin din dito ni …

Intersectionality And Experiences With Mental Health Care: Transgender And Gender Diverse Autistic Adults, Megan Callahan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Current prevalence rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in transgender and gender diverse (TGD) populations range between 4 and 13% (Thrower et al., 2020). Studies into autistic TGD individuals’ experiences with healthcare have primarily collected qualitative data, identifying themes including barriers to healthcare, invalidation of both autistic and TGD identities, difficulty finding competent providers, limited support and resources, and refusal of care (Cooper et al., 2022; Maroney & Horne, 2022; Hall et al., 2020). N = 3094 self-identified TGD adults completed the 2017 TransLifeline Mental Health Survey, a collaborative effort between the National LGBTQ Task Force and the TransLifeline, which …

Eph Receptors Activate Myeloid Checkpoint Receptor Lilrb5 To Support Tumor Development, Yubo He, Chengcheng Zhang, Lingxiao Tan, Mi Deng, Xiaoye Liu, Ryan Huang, Xing Yang, Jingjing Xie, Qi Lou, Meng Fang, Caroline Smith, Samuel John, Wei Xiong, Xin Li, Cheryl Lewis, Jade Homsi, Ankit Gupta, Ningyan Zhang, Zhiqiang An, Cheng Cheng Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Immunosuppressive myeloid cells are critical obstacles to T cell-centered immune checkpoint blockade therapies, which have been successful in treating a fraction of patients with cancer. How tumor cells interact with myeloid cells to regulate immune responses and tumor development is unclear. In this study, we report that certain membrane tyrosine kinase Eph receptors, including EphA7 and EphB1, specifically bind the immune inhibitory receptors leukocyte Ig-like receptor family B 5 (LILRB5) and LILRB2. These Eph receptors induce LILRB5-mediated signaling activation, and LILRB5 also activates Eph receptor signaling. Activation of LILRB5 promoted immunosuppressive marker expression and inhibited activating marker expression on myeloid …

Re: Approval Letter With Comment For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) 2025 Revised Draft Final Unreclaimed Sites: Ur-03 Site Remedial Action Work Plan (Rawp) (Dated June 2, 2025), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Draft Final 2025 Residential Metals Abatement Program (Rmap) Rock Creek Cattle Company Borrow Submittal #1 (Dated May 23, 2025), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.