Digital Commons Network^™

Adapting To The Digital Age: Information Management Strategies For Improving Customer Perceptions Of Digital Banking In Ghana, Crystal Frema Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mobile money services are crucial in the financial landscape of Ghana’s economy. Despite Ghana's successful Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) project, significant disparities exist in digital banking service utilization. Using Design Science Research, this study examines customer hesitancy in digital banking adoption. The TIDE framework was developed by analyzing the information management practices and artifacts of MTN Mobile Money, Banks and reviewing the literature. It comprises three key pillars: Security Management, Customer Education, and Experience Enhancement. This framework aims to instill digital trust, improve service adoption and utilization, and promote financial inclusion and digital literacy. Expert reviews acknowledged its potential to …

Resilient Land Development Strategies For Hurricane-Prone Communities In Grand Bahama, Garrett Lieberg

Landscape Architecture Theses

This thesis explores resilient, off-grid land development strategies for hurricane-prone communities on Grand Bahama Island, with a focus on post-disaster housing, integrated stormwater management, and mangrove restoration. Designed in response to systemic failures during Hurricane Dorian, this project proposes a decentralized community model supported by modular container homes, solar power, and rainwater harvesting systems. Emphasis is placed on using nature-based solutions—especially the protective role of mangroves—to reduce flood risk and enhance long-term resilience. The site design integrates stormwater retention landscapes with ecological buffers, providing both environmental protection and community benefit. Drawing from interviews, local site conditions, and precedent studies, the …

Ecosymphony: The Human-Nature Dialogue: Restoring The Ohio River Through Landscape Architecture In Louisville, Kentucky, Jayden Nadgwick

Landscape Architecture Theses

Riparian areas are delicate ecological zones that support a wide range of ecosystems, that work together to create rich and healthy habitats. Today, these zones are under threat due to pollutants, flooding, and industrial development along riverbanks. The Ohio River, ranked as one of the most endangered rivers in the United States, is a clear example of how these threats impact the health of the rivers. These threats have led to significant habitat loss and declining health of ecosystems, impacting not only the natural environment but also the well-being of surrounding communities.

Based in Louisville, Kentucky, along the Ohio River. …

Enhancing Influence Estimation In Gradient Boosted Decision Trees Through Hierarchical Analysis, Anurag Choubey

Theses

This report presents a novel influence function for gradient-boosted decision trees (GBDTs), a widely-used class of predictive models. Influence estimation aims to quantify how individual training samples affect a model’s predictions, offering valuable insights for model debugging, data quality analysis, and in- terpretability. Existing influence functions for GBDTs—such as LeafInfluence, LeafInfluenceSP, and BoostIn—have shown varying degrees of success, with BoostIn currently recognized as the state-of-the-art in terms of estimation quality and computational efficiency. In this work, we propose BoostInLCA, a new influence function that extends BoostIn by incorporating information from non-leaf nodes via the Lowest Common Ancestor (LCA) path, thereby …

Beyond The Green: Creating Positive Outcomes From Unfortunate Scenarios, Caden Allen

Landscape Architecture Theses

This thesis explores sustainable design strategies for golf courses, focusing on reducing environmental impacts through landscape management. Using case studies from Rivermont Golf Club and Memorial Park Golf Course, the research looks into the successful approaches in organic soil management, water conservation, and habitat creation. The findings highlight the importance of reducing the total amount of maintained turf areas, creating water reuse systems, and enhancing biodiversity through native plantings. These findings are then applied to the redesign of Ray Richards Golf Course, where a combination of native grasses, retention basins, and improved site features demonstrates the potential for sustainable golf …

Driven By Instinct: Mitigating Animal Vehicle Strikes On Highway 191 In Montana Through The Use Of Landscape Architecture, Zachary J. Blum

Landscape Architecture Theses

Animal vehicle strikes on highways pose a significant threat to wildlife and human safety, resulting in the degradation of ecological corridors, injuries, death, and economic loss. This thesis explores the use of landscape architecture, in mitigating animal vehicle Through literature review, wildlife migration and movement patterns, I ultimately developed a wildlife corridor design scenario to mitigate the conflict between humans and wildlife on, U.S. 191 in Montana and reduce the quantity of animal related strikes on this highway corridor from Bozeman to Big Sky.

A Resilient Future For Lanikai Beach On The Island Of Oahu And The Importance Of Environmental Restoration And Public Recreation, Ethan Comeau

Landscape Architecture Theses

Lanikai Beach, Hawaii, a vibrant corridor that seamlessly guides visitors to the shore, enhancing both aesthetics and functionality. The project includes improved street parking to reduce congestion while integrating sustainable stormwater management systems that filter runoff before it reaches the ocean. To combat coastal erosion, I reinforced the seawall and introduced a thoughtfully engineered wave break, incorporating grafted coral reefs to restore marine ecosystems. This innovative approach not only protects the shoreline but also fosters biodiversity, ensuring long-term resilience against rising tides. By blending ecological restoration with urban design, the project harmonizes human access with environmental preservation, creating a lasting …

Lines In The Dirt: A Landscape Of Baseball And Belonging, Julia S. Riola

Landscape Architecture Theses

This thesis reimagines an underutilized, commercially zoned site in Blaine, Minnesota. Once a drained wetland, the site is positioned between expanding suburbs and smaller surrounding communities. The project proposes a multifunctional public landscape rooted in baseball, ecology, and community connection. A community baseball field serves as the anchor, surrounded by prairie meadows, forest trails, ponds, and gathering spaces that aim to restore ecological systems and social engagement. The design explores how landscape architecture can transform overlooked suburban areas into places of belonging, where community, movement, and nature come together. Through layered programming and sensitivity to context, the project offers a …

Flat Pack Futures: Designing Affordable Rental Homes For Disassembly And Reuse In Minnesota, Shaptarshi Das Gupta

Architecture Theses

This research aims to investigate how flat-pack component-based prefabrication and circular design can be leveraged to address the housing affordability crisis in cold-climate urban environments. Based in the context of the redevelopment of Minneapolis's Upper Harbor Terminal, this thesis offers a novel paradigm of affordable, resilient, and regenerative housing model. The project responds to a severe shortage of affordable rental units in Minnesota, where nearly half of all renters are cost-burdened and traditional construction methods are inefficient, wasteful, and environmentally unsustainable. With a flat-pack construction strategy, the proposed system enables off-site manufacture, rapid on-site assembly, and future disassembly with zero …

Designing Vertical Layered Infrastructure: An Approach To Enhancing The Efficiency Of Mobility Within The Urban Environment Of Chicago, Emeka Eneanya

Architecture Theses

This thesis explores the development of a vertical layered infrastructure that reimagines urban mobility by creating a comprehensive transit system where different transportation modes coexist without interference. The research addresses critical design challenges by integrating automobile, transit, and pedestrian sectors within a unified vertical framework. The study investigates safety assessments, human-centric design principles, and multi-layered urban engineering. Through research into biophilic design, carbon capture technologies, walkability strategies, flood mitigation, and structural engineering, the thesis develops a nuanced approach to urban transportation. Using computational simulations focused on Chicago's urban landscape, the research evaluates multiple design configurations to determine the most effective …

Unalome: Cultural And Environmental Approaches To Transforming Vietnam's Ktt Apartments Into Flourishing Communities, Tam Junior Le

Architecture Theses

This research aims to redefine the design of spaces to maximize functionality within condensed environments. In the highly dense urban context of Hanoi, Vietnam, affordable housing remains out of reach for many, particularly college students and blue-collar workers. The limited options available to these groups often fail to meet basic standards of sustainability, health, and well-being. By investigating Vietnam's housing challenges, historical trends, and strategies that promote positive impacts on human well-being, this study seeks to develop solutions that address the needs of underserved populations. The ultimate goal is to transform Vietnam's urban areas into equitable hubs of housing and …

Multisensory Design: Fostering Calm Environments Through Architecture, Carson David Mennen

Architecture Theses

This thesis explores the role of multisensory design in addressing sensory overstimulation within the built environment. Modern architecture’s focus on visual appeal often results in spaces that are uninviting, overwhelming, and disconnected from human sensory needs. By investigating elements such as the senses, materiality, lighting, spatial arrangement, and acoustics, among other factors, this research aims to demonstrate how these factors can work cohesively to create calming, human-centered spaces that reduce stress and promote well-being. Using literature from key theorists such as Juhani Pallasmaa and studies conducted on user responses to various architectural materials, the research identifies design strategies that evoke …

Hemp Horizons: A Design Investigation Of Hempcrete Blocks, Assemblies, And Their Properties In Contemporary Sustainable Architecture, Haytham Aziz

Architecture Theses

This thesis investigates the potential of hempcrete blocks and their assemblies as viable materials in contemporary sustainable architecture. With industrial hemp's recent legalization in the United States, hempcrete has emerged as a promising alternative due to its low environmental impact, carbon sequestration capabilities, and thermal and acoustic performance. The research explores various block designs and construction assemblies, analyzing their applicability in contemporary sustainable design. Through a combination of qualitative design experimentation and quantitative data analysis, the study identifies optimal configurations for effective application in building systems. The selected designs are implemented through design alternative of the East Boulder Community Center, …

Adaptive Reuse At 223 Main: Revitalizing Relics Of Our Industrial Past, Koy Olson

Architecture Theses

This thesis attempts to define success in adaptive reuse architecture. The research investigates existing theories on adaptive reuse. Following the investigation, continued research led to the synthesis of key aspects from each unique theory and implements the aspects into a standardized feasibility evaluation tool. The thesis design project, Adaptive Reuse at 223 Main Ave., serves a dual purpose. First, as a pilot test for the assessment tool. Second, as a holistic design solution that embodies the primary aspects of each adaptive reuse approach theory. The final results share the collection of design deliverables along with the conclusive feasibility assessment score. …

Building Hope: The Impact Of Culturally Sensitive Modular Architecture On Child Refugees' Education, Chloe Larae Bourdeau

Architecture Theses

This project explores the crossroads between education, architecture, and the growing refugee population. While modular architecture cannot be the sole solution to the issues regarding a lack of formal education for refugee children, architecture, specifically culturally sensitive modular architecture, can help how refugees access education. This research focuses on how design can improve the educational journey of refugee children under the age of 18 in Za’atari. Can culturally sensitive modular architecture positively impact the education of refugee children under the age of 18? The research focuses on both the global refugee statistics surrounding formal education and refugees that are specifically …

From Institution To Inspiration: A Student-Centered Vision For Horace High, Mason Stanius

Architecture Theses

This thesis proposes a High-School design that is centered around biophilic design, optimized daylight strategies, and attention to special arrangements in classrooms. To which, is all intended to revolve round, and support the direct user, the student. Careful attention to school layout and design allows students to thrive in educational environments, by addressing the root cause of distractions, resentment of school, and academic performance outside of curriculum changes. Intimate classrooms where students can focus in a dynamic environment, supplied by plentiful natural light, and subtlety cloaked in biophilic and biomimic design throughout the campus. Through these biophilic forms, thoughtful organization, …

Integrating Community Engagement In Sustainable And Affordable Architecture: A Strategy For Holistic Design Education And Practice, Maeve Snapko

Architecture Theses

This thesis project is an exploration into how the role of community involvement, specifically local officials and leaders, helps in determining affordable and sustainable design through a holistic design approach. Although the field of architecture promotes holistic design as a strategy, there still remains a gap between the research from a design perspective and the community perspective. The central research of this thesis investigates how communities influence design decisions that balance affordability and sustainability. Overall, this thesis research aims to provide diverse, contextually related solutions that analyze the social and economic effectiveness of sustainable and affordable architecture.

Algae-Powered Facades: Harnessing Biofuel For Sustainable Architecture, Ethan Ahlstrand Weber

Architecture Theses

This thesis explores the integration of biophilic systems into a sustainable office building in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The project demonstrates how these systems can generate renewable energy, sequester carbon, and enhance environmental performance. Calculations revealed that the algae façade, producing 80 grams of biomass per square meter daily, offsets approximately 20% of the building’s annual energy consumption through biofuel conversion. The green roof not only contributes to carbon sequestration but also harvests rainwater to support algae cultivation. Using Excel for initial energy calculations and the Revit BIM model for advanced analysis, this research provides a replicable framework for integrating energy …

Flood Resilient Architecture: Planning For Global Warming Flooding In The San Francisco Bay, Darek Steffan

Architecture Theses

The global warming crisis is threatening global cities, with rising waters. Rising water can threaten people’s lives and property. Without direct action and forward thinking in the architecture profession the built environment will be in danger. Floating and amphibious architecture options should be explored as a new way for low-income residents. This proposal will explore options in San Francisco, California, an area that has experienced flooding, and will face rising waters if the climate crisis is not solved. Modularity for easy construction and low costs will be explored.

Finding Civitas Dei Sine Terra, Alex Stalboerger

Architecture Theses

An exploration of humanity’s future away from Earth and among the stars. This thesis tackles some of the fundamental drivers of human civilization and what it means to create significant, sacred, space for humans to truly dwell. Utilizing language as a vehicle, this thesis delves into the realms of fiction where the future is discovered and invented simultaneously. This work heavily focuses on the use of architectural metaphors, through a phenomenological lens, utopian frameworks, discussions on dystopia, and is built on the shoulders of John Hejduk, Octavio Paz, and Martin Heidegger.

Architecture Of The Restorative Fragment: The Value Of Art As A Cultural Communicator In Detroit, Korri Ryan Dragt

Architecture Theses

Art and architecture have always been deeply intertwined with the human condition. These areas of humanity give context to our lives and the experiences we share, providing a deeper understanding of ourselves, our communities, and the world we exist in. This traditional value of these artforms has gradually been lost, resulting in a disconnect between cultural contexts and our social spaces. Influenced by the philosophical framework of the restorative fragment, this thesis studies the reintegration of art and architecture as communicators of stories and reimagines the ways in which we interact with the arts in our urban environments. The architecture …

The Living Library Of Dune, Josey W. Wilson

Architecture Theses

This thesis investigates how language – as a natural, poetic force – can serve as a generative tool in architectural design. It argues that architecture must reclaim its mythopoetic roots, and that through the reintegration of narrative and literary language, built space can once again become a vessel for memory, cultural identity, and transformation.

As both a method and muse, Frank Herbert’s Dune becomes the central literary source for my resulting architectural design. This subjective translation takes form in The Living Library of Dune, a project located in Tacoma, Washington.

The final design of this thesis does not simply present …

The Effects Of Retrieval Practice On Knowledge Acquisition And Durable Learning In Undergraduate Nursing Students, Jessica Everritt Gay

Dissertations

Recent reports of unpreparedness and failure to rescue incidents among new graduate nurses are concerning for nurse educators and health care. New graduates must retrieve and apply learned knowledge to make sound clinical decisions, emphasizing the need for durable learning and knowledge acquisition. Durable learning, which involves understanding and recalling learned information days, weeks, or months later is crucial for clinical judgment. Nurse educators should facilitate durable learning through effective, evidence-based learning techniques such as retrieval practice (RP), which has shown promise in health professions education but is underutilized in nursing education.

This study explored the impact of RP on …

Is There A Relationship Between Motivation And Nursing Student Engagement? A Quantitative, Cross-Sectional, Correlational Study, Angela Coes

Dissertations

Nursing education is concerned with helping to alleviate the nursing shortage in the United States; this can be done by graduating safe competent novice nurses. Motivation and engagement levels in nursing students have been tied to better academic outcomes including graduation rates, transition to practice, and first time National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses pass rates. There was a gap in prelicensure nursing education research in the United States concerning the relationship among motivation, engagement, and possible influential variables.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between motivation and academic engagement among prelicensure nursing students in …

Learning The Musical Elements From An Early Age Through The Use Of Traditional Folk And Popular Tunes In The Mother Tongue And A Compendium Of Music Resources In Spanish For General Music Classes, Román Orlando Carranza Zapata

Dissertations

This document intends to fulfill three primary purposes. One is to explore the principal characteristics of early music education methods regarding teaching and learning music from an early age through the mother tongue, also known as their native language. These methods may suggest other strategies such as: playing and singing children's games, singing traditional folk tunes, improvisation, dancing, or playing instruments for the general music classroom. The second purpose is to provide music educators with a compilation of various music resources written in Spanish, such as pedagogical books, workbooks, and online interactive musical platforms that can be used in the …

El Salvador’S Cultural Memory And María De Baratta’S Piano Music: Kushkatan, Nahualismo, And The Representation Of Indigeneity, Alejandro Jose Arroyo Alberto

Dissertations

Following independence from the Viceroyalty of New Spain between 1821 and 1823, the United Provinces of Central America entered a period of cultural redefinition, as emerging national frameworks sought to integrate diverse ethnic and historical legacies. After a century, in early twentieth-century El Salvador, a revival of Kushkatan—a pre-Hispanic Indigenous territory within present-day El Salvador—gained symbolic traction among intellectual elites during a politically volatile era marked by social upheaval and cultural realignment. Within this historical context, Cuzcatlán Típico (1951) by María de Baratta, published by the Ministry of Culture, stands as the first ethnomusicological study dedicated to Indigenous music in …

Therapeutic Applications Of A Novel Humanized Monoclonal Antibody Targeting Chemokine Receptor Ccr9 In Pancreatic Cancer, Hannah G. Mcdonald, Anna M. Reagan, Charles J. Bailey, Mei Gao, Muqiang Gao, Angelica L. Solomon, Michael J. Cavnar, Prakash Pandalai, Mautin Barry-Hundeyin, Megan Harper, Justin A. Rueckert, Ángela Turrero, Araceli Tobio, Anxo Vidal, Daniel Roca-Lema, Elia Álvarez-Coiradas, Pablo Garrido, Laureano Simón, Joseph Kim

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

The relative failure of immune checkpoint inhibitors in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) despite having a dense, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment highlights the need to target alternate/escape pathways. We have previously examined C–C chemokine receptor type 9 (CCR9) as a candidate immune checkpoint and developed a targeted, humanized monoclonal antibody (SRB2). Cytotoxicity of SRB2 was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. CCR9 expression on PDAC cells/tissues, immune components of patient-derived organoids (PDOs), and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity were examined. In PANC-1 and MIA PaCa-2 cell lines, we demonstrated highest CCR9 expression; however, no direct cytotoxic effect was observed with SRB2 treatment. In PANC-1 …

An Agrin-Yap/Taz Rigidity Sensing Module Drives Egfr-Addicted Lung Tumorigenesis., Reza Bayat Mokhtari, Divyaleka Sampath, Paige Eversole, Melissa Ong Yu Lin, Dmitriy A. Bosykh, Gandhi T. K. Boopathy, Aravind Sivakumar, Cheng-Chun Wang, Ramesh Kumar, Joe Yeong Poh Sheng, Ellen Karasik, Barbara A. Foster, Han Yu, Xiang Ling, Wenjie Wu, Fengzhi Li, Zoë Weaver Ohler, Christine Fillmore Brainson, David W. Goodrich, Wanjin Hong, Sayan Chakraborty

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Despite epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a pivotal oncogene for several cancers, including lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), how it senses extracellular matrix (ECM) rigidity remain elusive in the context of the increasing role of tissue rigidity on various hallmarks of cancer development. Here it is shown that EGFR dictates tumorigenic agrin expression in lung cancer cell lines, genetically engineered EGFR-driven mouse models, and human specimens. Agrin expression confers substrate stiffness-dependent oncogenic attributes to EGFR-reliant cancer cells. Mechanistically, agrin mechanoactivates EGFR through epidermal growth factor (EGF)-dependent and independent modes, thereby sensitizing its activity toward localized cancer cell-ECM adherence and bulk rigidity …

Consideration Of A Vehicle Miles Traveled Tax In Michigan, Lindsay D. Reed

Master of Public Administration Capstone Papers

Gasoline tax revenue is becoming increasingly insufficient to fund road repairs and maintenance nationwide due to the increased fuel efficiency of gasoline-powered vehicles, increased sales of electric and hybrid alternatives, and overall construction cost inflation. Michigan’s solution to this problem, until now, has been to continually increase existing fuel taxes, which does little to address the aforementioned issues. Alternative policy options to supplement and eventually replace these traditional taxes include bridge and highway tolls, higher licensing and registration fees, and the Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). Several states in various stages of VMT tax implementation are examined through the lens of …

Salinity In Calcarosols Occurs Through The Presence Of Sodium, Chloride, Bicarbonate And Sulfate Ions, Is Caused By Sodicity, And Leads To Decreased Osmotic Potential, Edward G. Barrett-Lennard, Geoffrey C. Anderson, Rushna Munir, David J. M. Hall, Glen Riethmuller, Wayne Parker

Natural Resources Research Articles

Context

Salinity occurs in sodic soils in Australia, but its effect in Western Australia is poorly understood.

Aims

We determined the cause of salinity, the ions responsible, and their potential significance as constraints to crop growth on sodic soils at Merredin and Moorine Rock.

Methods

Soil was collected from 76 profiles to depths of 1.0–1.4 m (388 samples). Samples were analysed for EC1:5, pH, texture, and exchangeable and soluble ions.

Results

Exchangeable cations were best calculated as the difference between total cations (determined from BaCl2/NH4Cl extracts) and soluble ions (determined from water-soluble extracts). Profiles showed increasing sodicity, alkalinity and salinity …