Digital Commons Network^™

A Cultural Landscape Analysis Of Early Twentieth Century Plantation Based Golf Courses In The Charleston Metropolitan Area, Thomas A. Darrah

All Theses

When Belvidere Golf Links was established along the banks of the Cooper River in 1901, golf began to blossom in the Charleston Metropolitan area. The early-twentieth century was an era of growth for golf in the region, which took advantage of former plantation landscapes for the further expansion of leisure activities. This thesis examines how these once agrarian landscapes were transformed into some of Charleston’s finest golf courses. To establish the history of what was lost and altered on each landscape, archival research was done to unearth historic, photographs, maps, and plats. Together these sources were organized to document and …

Biology, Ecology And Control Of Eye Gnats In An Open Pine Ecosystem, Leela Hospach

All Theses

Eye gnats of the genus Liohippelates are bothersome flies of the family Chloropidae. They breed in moist, disturbed, sandy soils that contain organic matter, and have been implicated as vectors of conjunctivitis, bovine mastitis, and yaws. We conducted research into some basic biological and ecological characteristics. Using wild-caught gnats in a temperature-controlled incubator, we found that their activity peaks between 27°C and 41°C. Trapping at different heights above the forest floor in an open-pine savannah, we captured most gnats at 7.5 m off the ground. This may have to do with the attractiveness of the rotten egg lures we used, …

Comparative Biomechanics: Blattodea Antennal Morphology And Physiology, Lucas W. Marsh

All Theses

Equipped with muscle-free antennae, many insects can twist and bend their antennae on demand. We hypothesized that hemolymph circulating through the antennae provides pressure that facilitates twisting and bending and provides a feedback control channel for tactile sensing in insects. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a thorough morphological and physiological analysis of antennae in three Clades of Blattodea. We studied morphology by evaluating the distinguishable features of the body and antenna, as well as the internal structure of the antennal lumen. Then, in a series of experiments on live cockroaches, we measured blood pressure along the antenna. This was …

Depicting Cultural Nuance Through Level Design, Sydney A V Fleming

All Theses

As the audience for gaming grows and expands, gamers consistently crave new stories that are interesting and that immerse them. The ability of gamers to relate to the characters is solely dependent on conscious choices made by developers. For the story to be enjoyable and immersive, It helps to understand the character’s motivation. Why would they act this way? Would they make this choice? Understanding a character culturally is a step in the right direction to gaining this needed understanding. Conveying culture respectfully in games is always a challenge. The goal of this project is to use the Unreal Engine …

Anxiety And Intuitive Eating: Examining Dispositional Mindfulness As A Protective Factor, Jordan Signorelli

All Theses

Intuitive eating (IE) is an anti-diet approach focused on listening to internal hunger and fullness cues and is associated with reduced disordered eating patterns and improved dietary intake. However, anxiety negatively impacts IE. Dispositional mindfulness (DM) – one’s innate, present-centered, nonjudgmental awareness of thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations – is associated with lower anxiety and greater IE. Yet, whether DM mitigates the negative impact of anxiety on IE remains underexplored. Grounded in the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Framework, this study aimed to: 1) examine the relationship between anxiety and IE, 2) examine the relationship between DM and IE, 3) examine whether …

Developing Aero-Floating Treatment Wetland (Aeroftw) Scaffolds: A Non-Plastic Alternative To Conventional Plastic-Based Ftws, Ada C. Montoya Gomez

All Theses

This research was conducted to explore the possibility of constructing floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) without using plastic materials. FTWs are floating platforms that hold plants on the water’s surface, letting roots dangle within the water column, to help remove contaminants from contaminated water, especially in stormwater ponds. Many conventional FTWs are made with plastic components, such as mats and plastic cup containers, which can release microplastics into the environment over time. The goal of this project was to design and test a new type of FTW that does not depend on plastics to support FTW flotation. The study took place …

Energetic Eutectics: An Experimental And Computational Investigation On Explosive Deep Eutectic Solvents, Connor J. Parker

All Theses

This study reports on the incorporation an extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) machine learning strategy tailored to identifying potential high-energy, insensitive explosive deep eutectic solvents. 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (FOX-7) was investigated as the explosive of interest in our eutectic modeling. The resulting predictions highlighted a wide range of binary compositions demonstrating significant depression from the FOX-7 melting temperature with >70% probabilities of formation. Subsequent computational investigation into select mixtures provided underlying stabilization energies and optimized mixture geometries, which were then assessed experimentally with near simulant compounds oxalyldihydrazide and 1-methyl-3- nitroguanidine replacing FOX-7.

Experimental results with these chosen simulants did not demonstrate classical eutectic …

Targeted Epigenome Sequencing Of Eosinophils Reveals Cpg Sites And Regulatory Variants Associated With Asthma., Rébecca Dionne-Gagné, Anne-Marie Madore, Anne-Marie Boucher-Lafleur, Tomi Pastinen, Catherine Laprise

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Eosinophils are pro-inflammatory cells that play a central role in asthmatic inflammation. However, few studies have examined their methylation profiles in asthma, all relying on microarray-based approaches. Here, an epigenome-wide association study in 183 purified eosinophil samples from the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean asthma family cohort was performed using a custom sequencing panel targeting 4,609,564 CpGs in immune regulatory regions. Two CpG sites in MAEA and SLC9A2 genes, known to be involved in immune function, were significantly associated with asthma, while five additional sites showed suggestive associations. Integration with genotype data (7,829,429 variants) and expression counts (17,513 genes) identified significant quantitative trait loci-mediated …

American Epilepsy Society Clinical Practice Guideline: Infantile Epilepsy., Daniel Freedman, Ifeoluwa Babatunde, Rebecca L. Morgan, Renad Abu-Sawwa, Dara Albert, Mandana Behbahani, Kevin Chapman, Erin Day Fecske, William Davis Gaillard, Monika Jones, Mary Anne Meskis, Leah Schust Myers, Kim Nye, Chima Oluigbo, Heidi H. Pfeifer, Reneé A. Shellhaas, Lindsey Thompson, Howard L. Weiner, Courtney J. Wusthoff, Elissa Yozawitz

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

This practice guideline from the American Epilepsy Society provides evidence-based recommendations for pharmacological, dietary, and surgical therapies for epilepsy for infants and children from 1 month of age to < 36 months. The multidisciplinary panel updated an existing systematic review, which was funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and conducted by ECRI (formerly the Emergency Care Research Institute) on behalf of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The updated review used the same search strategy, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Education methodology, and added studies from August 2021 through September 2025 that were not in the original systematic review. As with the previous review, West syndrome and infantile spasms were excluded from this guideline, as existing treatment guidance is already available for infantile epileptic spasms. While many of the recommendations are conditional due to low certainty of evidence, the panel made two strong recommendations: (1) hemispherectomy/hemispherotomy surgery is recommended for infants and children < 36 months of age with drug resistant epilepsy secondary to select underlying lesional pathologies, including but not limited to hemimegaloencephaly, Rasmussen's encephalitis, Sturge-Weber syndrome, perinatal stroke, and hemispheric cortical dysplasia; and (2) intralobar, multilobar, or focal resections or posterior disconnections for drug-resistant focal or lesional epilepsy in this same age range. A treatment algorithm was developed based on evidence and expert opinion as part of the guideline to help place pharmacological, dietary, and surgical recommendations in a clinical context. The limited number of studies and low certainty of evidence in this population underscores the need for higher-quality data and etiology-specific treatments. More research is needed to evaluate effective therapies for infants with epilepsy, as well as the impact these therapies have on long-term developmental and mortality outcomes.

Promises, Pitfalls, And Paths Forward For The Pediatric Research Equity Act., Alexa L. Pagano, Danielle J. Green, Jennifer Goldman, Anjali Deshmukh

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

IMPORTANCE: Since its enactment in 2003, the Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA) has significantly increased the number of pediatric drug studies performed and expanded pediatric drug labeling. Despite these advancements, many drugs used in children still lack pediatric-specific US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling, even when pediatric studies are required by law. Recent legislative changes strengthened the FDA's enforcement authority over PREA. As these changes are implemented, persistent gaps in pediatric drug development warrant examination. Addressing these gaps may help ensure that children are systematically included in clinical research and that medications used in children are supported by rigorous …

Non-Terrestrial Colonial Security And Critical Contingency Operations, Augustine Gabriel Wesley Batten

Theses and Dissertations

Since the turn of the century, the dependence of state functionality and capability on cyber infrastructure has grown exponentially, resulting in an equally expanding list of means to exploit this dependency. Cyberattacks have demonstrated the ability to target the space industry and critical infrastructure beyond our atmosphere. The potential damage this growing threat can bring is what this research aims to prepare for and mitigate. The purpose of this research is to determine cyber-attack indicators and develop responses designed to mitigate the effects of worst-case scenarios. It is important to understand that this study included a theoretical scenario to address …

Studying The Hidden Heat: A Theoretical Approach To Better Understanding The Thermal Conditions Of The Yellowstone Volcano In Wyoming, Usa, Daniel Burke Brunson

Theses and Dissertations

Using the spatiotemporal record of the 2.1–0 Ma ignimbrite flare-up of the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field (YPVF) as a proxy for batholith formation at depth, this dissertation develops and applies the Finite Difference Heat Flow Simulation (FDHFS) program to model crustal thermal evolution beneath the supervolcano. FDHFS, a modular C++ numerical simulator, solves the transient heat equation incorporating variable thermal conductivity, radiogenic heat production, and directional advection in three-dimensional Cartesian grids. Validation against analytical benchmarks and seafloor-spreading analogs confirms its fidelity for combined conduction-advection processes in heterogeneous crustal settings.

High-resolution volume–time analysis of major ignimbrite pulses (Huckleberry Ridge, Mesa Falls, …

Bridging Culture And Education To Enhance Cherokee Student Health And Wellness, Lindsey Hammer

Theses and Dissertations

Indigenous populations face ongoing health disparities, often worsened by a lack of culturally relevant and Indigenous-led programs and interventions. This dissertation in practice was inspired by the need for community-driven, culturally grounded approaches that address these disparities for Cherokee Nation in Northeastern Oklahoma. Each of the three products are inspired by and aligned with the principles of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), the Cherokee value of gadugi, and the concept of relationality, offering a holistic approach to community health and well-being. Not every product represents a fully implemented CBPR process but rather a CBPR-informed approach. Future stages will emphasize more meaningful …

Critical Minerals Recovery From Oil And Gas Fields Produced Water In The Bakken Formation, North Dakota, Md Jakaria

Theses and Dissertations

The growing demand for critical minerals essential to clean energy technologies presents an opportunity to transform oilfield produced water (PW) – traditionally treated as waste – into a valuable resource. This dissertation investigates the recovery potential of lithium, salts, and other critical elements from produced water in the Bakken Formation, North Dakota, and evaluates the economic feasibility of integrating such recovery processes into existing petroleum operations. Comprehensive geochemical analyses were conducted on samples collected throughout the Bakken, revealing total dissolved solids (TDS) ranging from 46,815 to 327,714 ppm and lithium concentrations exceeding 200 ppm in several wells, indicating economically recoverable …

A Privacy-Preserving, Ai-Driven Framework For Bathroom Activity Monitoring And Health Recommendation In Elderly Care, Collins Poku Obeng

Theses and Dissertations

The rapid aging of the global population necessitates scalable, non-invasive solutions, for monitoring Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) to detect early signs of health decline. This thesis presents a novel, end-to-end framework for monitoring bathroom activities—specifically bathing, toileting, and oral hygiene—using wearable sensors, machine learning and Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI). The research addresses three critical gaps: the lack of granular activity recognition in privacy-sensitive spaces, the need for personalized health insights without manual logging, and the cybersecurity risks inherent in deploying AI in healthcare. First, algorithms utilizing wearable humidity and accelerometer sensor data were developed to classify hygiene behaviors with …

Student Affairs Staff Retention In Illinois Community Colleges: A Descriptive Case Study, Autumn Scott

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study explored the experiences of student affairs professionals at community colleges to gain insight into the problem of staff retention, especially as it exists at community colleges, a sector that is under-researched in the literature on student affairs staff turnover. As open access institutions, community colleges must engage diverse student populations in a dynamic environment. Retaining quality student affairs staff is an important strategy to support student success and meet community college missions. As part of a bounded case study approach, two Illinois community colleges served as research sites. Data collection consisted of participant interviews, participant demographic …

Domain-Specific Concussion Knowledge And Reporting In United States Major League Rugby Players, Julie Stamm, Katherine Hunzinger, Owen Sheehy, Christine Baugh

Department of Exercise Science Faculty Papers

Previous research indicates high concussion knowledge is not associated with better concussion reporting, with research examining the relationship between reporting and global concussion knowledge. Concussion knowledge has not yet been investigated in United States Major League Rugby (MLR) players. This study evaluated domain-specific concussion knowledge, concussion history, and reporting behaviors among active MLR players. In a cross-sectional design, 207 MLR athletes (age 26.6 ± 3.4 years) completed a survey assessing concussion history, knowledge, and nondisclosure reasons. While in the MLR, 24% reported an undisclosed concussion, with nondisclosure reasons related to a lack of concussion knowledge, a desire to continue playing, …

Evaluating Bawaslu’S Sigaplapor For Electoral Justice In Indonesia’S 2024 Election, Nur Hidayat, Muhtar Muhtar

Jurnal Wacana Politik

This article assesses the effectiveness of the Election Violation Handling and Reporting Information System (SiGapLapor) operated by Indonesia’s Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) as a case of digitalising electoral oversight. Using a qualitative-exploratory case study, the research draws on document analysis (regulations, internal reports, and SiGapLapor web statistics) and semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with election supervisors and ICT managers. Findings indicate that SiGapLapor works reasonably well as an administrative registry and an internal reporting tool, but remains weak as a participatory public complaints mechanism and as an instrument of electoral justice. Key constraints include a non-user-centred interface, predominantly manual …

Position: The Pre/Post-Training Boundary Should Govern Ip In Industry–Academia Ml Collaborations, Dirk Bergemann, Soheil Ghili, Nitzan Mekel-Bobrov

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Industry–academia ML collaborations routinely fail to launch—not for scientific reasons, but because academics must publish while companies must protect models trained on proprietary data, and no standard contract framework resolves this tension. Because contracts are negotiated by legal departments alone, many apparent legal disputes are incentive misalignment problems that only scientists at the table can correctly diagnose. We propose PBOS (Protect-the-Business / Open-Source-the-Science), a community-adoptable contract template anchored to a single technically-grounded boundary: pre-training artifacts (architectures, training code, benchmarks, untrained weights) are open science; post-training artifacts (weights trained on proprietary data) are business IP. This boundary is technically meaningful, legally …

Board Of Trustees Meeting Minutes 2026-05-01, Bowling Green State University

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

The official meeting minutes of Bowling Green State University's Board of Trustees.

Enhancing Ransomware Resilience And Cybersecurity Preparedness In The U.S. Army, Katalina Marie Archiable

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Initial Optical Design And Analysis Of A Multipass Absorption Cell To Measure The Effects Of Collision-Induced Absorption Of Oxygen On High-Power Laser Propagation, Samuel Gannon Arnold

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

A Methodology For Space-Based Lightning Risk Assessment, Drew Early

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Viability Of Cryptocurrency As A Payment Method: A Consumer Perspective, Aadavan Dharumaiyan

Dissertations

The problem addressed in this study was the limited mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies for daily retail transactions despite continued technological advancement and increasing institutional interest. The purpose of this qualitative study, grounded in Husserlian descriptive phenomenology, was to explore the perceptual and behavioral factors influencing this adoption gap. Participants were recruited using snowball sampling, resulting in eight participants divided into two cohorts: active cryptocurrency payment users (Cohort 1, n = 2) and cryptocurrency holders who did not use cryptocurrencies for payments (Cohort 2, n = 6). Data were analyzed using the Moustakas phenomenological approach to identify patterns in participant experiences. …

Unpacking American Reception Of Glocalized Non-English Content In The Netflix Era, Sur Govindarajan

Dissertations

The swift growth of streaming services has revolutionized the worldwide distribution of media, making it possible for non-English and non-English-adjacent content to reach American consumers on a never-before-seen scale, which is sometimes perceived as an indication of increasing cultural tolerance. However, while a lot is known about what audiences see, far less is known about how they really understand and assess these stories. There is a fundamental vacuum in our understanding of audience reception as a lived, meaning-making process because previous research has mostly focused on consumption patterns. In order to close that gap, this study examines how American audiences …

From Policy To Practice: Examining The Influence Of Family Engagement In Administrative Evalustions On School Partnerships, Leadership Perceptions, And Family Engagement Planning In Title I Schools., Shauana L. Harris

Dissertations

This study examined the impact of a policy requiring family and community engagement metrics to be included in administrator evaluations as a strategy to improve engagement practices and student outcomes. The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which the policy influenced administrator practices related to partnering with families on academic performance, family engagement planning, and administrators’ perceptions of changes in family engagement practices. This study used a mixed-methods research design. Data were collected through surveys of Title I school administrators in the state under study and through an analysis of School Improvement Plans and Parent and …

Combined Middle Meningeal Artery Embolisation And Subdural Evacuation Port System Drainage For Chronic Subdural Haematoma: A Systematic Review, Single-Arm Meta-Analysis, Meta-Regression, And Cost-Benefit Analysis, Shiva A. Nischal, Santosh Guru, Shaan Patel, Ashviniy Thamilmaran, Mary Murphy

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Chronic subdural haematoma (cSDH) is an increasingly prevalent condition in older, anticoagulated, and medically frail patients, in whom recurrence and perioperative risk remain substantial despite standard surgical evacuation. Growing recognition of cSDH as an angiogenic, inflammatory disorder has prompted interest in minimally invasive strategies that combine mechanical decompression with targeted modulation of the underlying vascular pathology. This study aimed to evaluate the safety, effectiveness, and health-economic profile of combined middle meningeal artery embolisation and subdural evacuation port system (MMAE-SEPS) drainage for cSDH, compared with conventional burr-hole evacuation.

METHODS: MEDLINE, Embase, and CENTRAL were searched from inception to 24th August …

Calendar Anomalies And The Adaptive Market Hypothesis: New Evidence From A Historical Financial Dataset, Júlio Lobão, Ana C. Costa

American Business Review

This paper investigates the evolving behavior of calendar anomalies (monthly effects) within the Portuguese stock market over a period spanning approximately 120 years. By employing a combination of sub-sample and rolling window analyses, we demonstrate that the performance of these anomalies fluctuated adaptively over time. Additionally, we apply the "Superior Predictive Ability" test to assess whether these anomalies present exploitable profit opportunities, factoring in data-snooping effects. The results for the full sample indicate significantly higher returns in January and lower returns in June and July, while the positive September effect appears to be historically concentrated in earlier decades of the …

The Association Between Csr Disclosure-Action Portrayal Gap And Employee Work-Related Attitudes, April Moses, Amy Tung, Kevin Baird

American Business Review

This paper provides an empirical insight into organizational impression management practices by examining the CSR disclosure-action portrayal gap, specifically the discrepancy between CSR disclosures and CSR actions, from an employee’s perspective. The paper examines the association between this gap and employee work-related attitudes (job satisfaction, employee organizational commitment, and the propensity to remain) using survey data collected from 186 lower-level managers across various industries in the U.S. The hypotheses were examined using structural equation modelling (SEM) with maximum likelihood estimate using AMOS Graphics version 25 software. It was found that many employees perceived that the CSR disclosures of their organization …

The Nexus Between Energy Efficiency And Cost Of Debt: Evidence From The Indian High And Low Energy Efficient Firms, Pranith Kumar Roy

American Business Review

Globally, businesses are implementing energy-efficient strategies that align with market sustainability to enhance their performance. While the environmental and operational benefits of energy efficiency are well understood, its financial implications, particularly in debt financing, remain less clear. To achieve the objective, we examine the relationship between energy efficiency and the cost of debt in the context of emerging economies, with a focus on India, and explore the nature of this relationship. We utilize an unbalanced panel dataset comprising 4,856 Indian firms listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange between 2011 and 2022. We estimate firm-year fixed effects, a Tobit regression, and …