Digital Commons Network^™

Laser Microprocessing Of Metallic And Composite Materials: Nanosecond Pulsed Laser Surface Melting, Laser Shock Peening, And Femtosecond Laser Machining, Qiuchi Zhu

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation comprises three parts addressing laser microprocessing of metallic and composite materials through nanosecond pulsed laser surface melting, laser shock peening, and femtosecond laser machining. The first part discusses nanosecond pulsed laser surface melting for corrosion mitigation in stainless steel. Commercial 304 stainless steel (SS) was first used to establish a processing window for stable shallow remelting and rapid resolidification. The approach was then extended to 304L/308L SS welded joints relevant to nuclear dry storage canisters. The results show that nanosecond laser surface melting refines the near-surface microstructures in the heat-affected zone and improved pitting corrosion resistance. Electrochemical and …

Integrated Approaches For Valorization Of Chicken Feather Waste: From Extraction To Application Of Keratin-Based Bioproducts, Muhammad Ehtasham Akram

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation explores the optimization of chicken feathers keratin hydrolysate (CFKH) production using alkaline hydrolysis (AH) and sub-critical water hydrolysis (SCWH), focusing on acquiring high keratin yield in the hydrolysate. Then, CFKH along with other locally sourced materials, was used to develop bioplastics with regenerative agriculture properties (BioWRAP), with the ultimate objective of applying it as a soil mulch to suppress weeds in agricultural crops. This work also addresses challenges in process design and industrial scale-up of BioWRAP. Chapter 1 is a literature review that introduces terms like biobased, biodegradable, and bioplastics, materials and methods used to make bioplastics, and …

The Low-Temperature Heat Capacity And Thermodynamic Functions Of Mg3n2, Ca3n2, And Sr3n2, Natalie Parkinson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Alkaline earth nitrides are highly hygroscopic materials used in metal refinement and various synthetic processes. In this work, the low-temperature heat capacities of Mg₃N₂, Ca₃N₂, and Sr₃N₂ were measured for the first time. The Ca₃N₂ sample contained impurities, necessitating corrections to the heat capacity data. The absolute entropies of Mg₃N₂, Ca₃N₂, and Sr₃N₂ at 298.15 K were determined to be 75.1, 114.9, and 188.5 J∙K⁻¹∙mol⁻¹, respectively. Gibbs energies of formation were …

Ai-Driven Detection Of Failure Modes In Thermoplastic Composites Using Acoustic Emission Techniques, M. M. Shahzamanian, Li Ai, Paul Ziehl

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Composite materials in aircraft structures can suffer impact damage that leaves barely visible yet structurally significant defects, which degrade mechanical performance, especially under compressive loads. Existing methods for identifying failure modes in compression after impact (CAI) tests using acoustic emission (AE) data are limited in accuracy and scope. This study introduces an approach combining AE sensing with a heterogeneous ensemble convolutional neural network (CNN) to detect and classify failure mechanisms in impacted composite specimens. The novelty of this work lies in employing Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) wavelet images, produced through continuous wavelet transform (CWT) of AE signals, as inputs …

Shu World Review- April 27th 2026, Diplolab, Seton Hall University

SHU World Review

No abstract provided.

Response Of Reticulocyte And Red Blood Cell Indices To Single-Dose Intravenous Iron In Pregnant Women With Moderate Iron Deficiency Anemia: Secondary Analysis Of The Rapidiron Trial, Manjunath S. Somannavar, Sudhir Mehta, Dharmesh Kumar Sharma, Seema Mehta, Yogeshkumar S, Umesh Charantimath, Benjamin E. Leiby, Michael K. Georgieff, Zubair H. Aghai, Ashalata Mallapur, Umesh Ramadurg, Radha Sangavi, Praveen Patil, J. P. Akshaykirthan, Rupsa C. Boelig, Mrutyunjaya B. Bellad, Richard J. Derman

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy is a significant health concern. Reticulocyte hemoglobin equivalent (Ret-He) and immature reticulocyte fraction (IRF) are emerging as early markers, yet their response to different iron therapies in pregnancy is underexplored.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether intravenous single-dose iron administration produces a more favorable effect on reticulocyte indices than oral iron therapy in anemic pregnant women.

METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of the RAPIDIRON Trial, a multicenter, three-arm randomized controlled trial comparing ferric carboxymaltose (FCM), ferric derisomaltose (FDM) and standard oral ferrous sulfate. Reticulocyte hemoglobin equivalent (Ret-He), Immature Reticulocyte Fraction (IRF) and other red blood …

Evaluating Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Safety Before Upper Endoscopy: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Zohaib Ahmed, Amna Iqbal, Sami Ghazaleh, Abdallah Kobeissy, Ali Nawras, Yaseen Alastal, Hani Saad, Sarmed Mansur, Idrees Mohiuddin, Umair Iqbal, Dushyant Singh Dahiya, Syeda Faiza Arif, Connor Campbell, Wade Lee-Smith, Mohammad Asif, Faisal Kamal, Aamir Saeed, Omar Horani

Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) has remarkably increased in the past few years as they have demonstrated significant reduction in A1c and major cardiovascular outcomes and have led to weight loss with low risk of hypoglycemia. GLP-1 RA use has raised concerns about potential associations with increased gastric retention and adverse outcomes in upper endoscopy procedures.

METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive search across multiple databases to identify comparative studies evaluating the impact of GLP-1 RA exposure versus non-exposure on upper endoscopy outcomes. Studies comparing GLP-1 RAs to other medications were excluded. The primary outcome was …

Developing A Framework To Improve Phishing Response After Detection, Kevin Umba

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Phishing belongs to the most prevalent attack vectors in the cybersecurity industry. Academia, industry, and government resources offer a wealth of information on the subject. However, insights on phishing techniques and remediations are scattered across those sources. Most governmental and academic literature focuses on user awareness, policy guidelines, or phishing training. This leaves the security practitioners underserved. Furthermore, actionable information for security operations is often unstructured or vendor-specific. The goal of the thesis is to provide a preliminary framework to guide security professionals through indicators of compromise and remediation, using a vendor-neutral approach.

Fast Hyperspectral And Super-Resolved Mapping Of Lipid Membrane Polarity With Single-Molecule Sensitivity, Elric Dion Pott, Meek Yang, James Ethan Batey, Jole Embree, Bin Dong

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cell membranes display nanoscale heterogeneity in lipid composition and organization that regulates vital biological processes yet remain challenging to resolve with conventional imaging. We introduce spectral phasor single-molecule localization microscopy (SP-SMLM), a hyperspectral and super-resolution method that combines wavefront-like optical filtering with single-molecule imaging for simultaneous spatial and spectral analysis. A lab-built three-channel imager with sine/cosine filters encodes emission spectra of single molecules into the phasor space, enabling high-throughput, high-SNR mapping of membrane polarity at sub-50 nm spatial and 15 s temporal resolutions. Through simulation, we validate that the phasor angle correlates with the spectral mean for single dye molecules. …

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Zooming Into Nature With Digital Microscopes, Rita Hagevik, Kaitlin Campbell, Kathy Cabe Trundle, Lawrence Krissek

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides information about using digital microscopes in the garden. It discusses how they work, choosing the right digital microscope, uses in the garden, and activities. It is part of the Creating Sustainable School and Home Gardens resource sheet series from Utah State University Extension and Smart Foodscapes.

How Survivors Of Exploitation Who Use Drugs Navigate Systems Of Care: An Analysis Of Survivor Insights Using The Intersectional Risk Environment, Theresa Anasti, Hilary Thibodeau, Nathaniel A Dell, Kathleen Preble, Lauren Grimes, Lindsay B Gezinski

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Drug-related risks such as adverse health outcomes, overdose, and violent victimization vary across populations due to the marginalization of identities, structural inequities, and differing environments. Discrimination and criminalization exacerbate drug-related risks specifically for survivors of sexual exploitation who use drugs. This study aims to understand how survivors who are not currently utilizing intensive treatment services perceive their risk environment, including available resources, and identify possible mechanisms to address health equity. Emphasizing the role of harm reduction and the expertise of lived experience, this paper encourages innovative approaches to supporting survivors.

METHODS: A research team conducted seventeen semi-structured interviews with …

Chimes: April 27, 2026, Calvin University

Chimes

Former CPI student exonerated, to attend Knollcrest campus in the fall by Ashley Hamons

Behind the budget cuts made for Dialogue and Chimes by Maya Oeverman

World Languages at Calvin: A look at the last 30 years by Mkenna Wilkinson & Ian Tjoelker

Faculty Senate approves changes to hiring, confessional standards, alignment with Synod by Ashley Hamons & Ian Tjoelker

Calvin cuts acrobatics & tumbling program by Alex DeYoung

Calvin department of visual and performing arts hosts annual Spring Arts Festival by Ava Roush

Building The Bridge: Infusing Collaboration Into Frontline Oncology Practice, Tara Ridgeway

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Significance/Background: Outpatient oncology infusion areas are high-volume, high-acuity environments where nurses must rapidly adapt to evolving therapies. Yet, nurse-centered education often lags behind, contributing to frustration, workflow inefficiencies, and safety concerns. A newly created NPD specialist role—dedicated to infusion/procedural areas—offered an opportunity to close persistent gaps.

Environmental scanning revealed inconsistent, pharmacy-driven education lacking nursing-specific content (e.g., hypersensitivity risk, treatment parameters, symptom management). Nurses described feeling overlooked and unprepared.

Interdisciplinary collaboration was viewed as ineffective, and last-minute education failed to support safe administration of high-risk therapies.

Purpose: To advocate for nursing representation in decision-making, establish interdisciplinary partnerships, and deliver timely, relevant …

New Beginnings: A Well-Being Program For The New Graduate Nurse, Adriana Rumoro

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Graduate nurses are valuable to an organization because they bring a fresh outlook, enthusiasm, and dedication to providing excellent patient care. It marks a new beginning in their professional development. However, along with these new beginnings, they also face feelings of inadequacy, uncertainty, and workload pressure during the transition from student nurse to registered professional nurse (Asseiri et al., 2025). Transitioning into the workplace presents a variety of stressors for new graduate nurses, who experience both psychological well-being and distress during their first year of practice (Jarde, et al., 2021). Starting a new career can be the best of times, …

Your Workforce Sustainability Kit: Is Debriefing The Underutilized Tool For Safety And Well-Being?, Maggie Runyon, Tara Ryan Kosmas

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Purpose: To pilot a professional development offering providing a comprehensive debriefing model inclusive of quality, safety, and clinician well-being concerns. This is responsive to main gaps identified in recent systematic reviews exploring the evidence for debriefing to support emotional well-being of clinicians.

Theoretical Framework: Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior guides this professional development and evaluation by examining behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs.

Project: This program evaluation explored baseline gaps identified by 17 nurses who attended a comprehensive debriefing workshop in Maryland. Data was collected before the workshop to assess baseline exposure to debriefing behaviors and practice norms. The …

Empowering Nurse Educators Through Cognitive Rehearsal, Mary Kathryn Sanders, Teresa B. Bailey

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Creating and sustaining healthy work environments in nursing education requires educators to be proficient in evaluation, feedback, and communication. Traditional preparation programs lack structured training in these areas⁶. Gaps in giving and receiving constructive feedback span health professions education, and early career nurse attrition is frequently linked to perceived bullying, inadequate preparation, and poor clinical support^1,4. These challenges affect psychological safety and professional development for students and new graduates.

Cognitive rehearsal has shown promise in preparing nurses to respond to incivility and enhancing self-efficacy^2,3. While used in faculty development, its integration into formal …

Reducing College Dropout Rates Of People With Autism In Hillsborough County, Florida, Jennifer Warren

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement

Significant barriers exist for neurodivergent individuals when they try to access higher education and these barriers continue to disrupt their ability to persist and obtain a college degree or secondary professional education. By implementing targeted academic supports and increasing authentic inclusive education practices on campuses and in online education spaces, barriers can be reduced or eliminated. With clear actionable steps and intentional buy in from institutions, barriers present for teens and young adults with autism are removed and higher education.

Significant Findings

College students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are a growing population in higher education, but they …

Modified Anodic Stripping Voltammetry For In Situ Analysis Of Liquid Metal Composition In Molten Salt Electrorefining Systems, James H. Manner

Reviews, Analyses, and Instructional Studies in Electrochemistry (RAISE)

The development of in-situ analytical techniques for high-temperature molten salt systems is critical for advancing electrorefining in nuclear fuel recycling and metallurgical purification. This study proposes Modified Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (MASV), using a “dip-and-strip” approach where a tungsten electrode captures molten Sn–Ni alloy before stripping in LiCl–KCl–CaCl₂ at 415 °C. OCP results showed rapid loss of the metal layer due to poor wetting, and stripping peaks gave compositions inconsistent with the alloy, likely reflecting Sn/Sn²⁺ and Sn²⁺/Sn⁴⁺ redox processes. These results highlight interfacial limitations and the need for improved electrode materials and surface modification.

Handgrip Strength, Handgrip Endurance And Bmi: A Comprehensive Approach To Health Assessment Among The General Population Of Madikeri, Dr Asha S. Das, Dr Ravikiran Kisan, Dr Suhas Y. Shirur, Dr Narasimha Rai K, Dr Sanjay Bhagoji

Digital Journal of Clinical Medicine

Introduction: Being physically fit is essential for lowering the risk of illness and enhancing longevity. While Body Mass Index (BMI) is frequently used to evaluate body composition, Hand Grip Strength (HGS) and Hand Grip Endurance (HGE) are important indicators of general well-being. Goal: To assess BMI, HGS, and HGE and ascertain how they correlate in a selected group of subjects. Methods: Fifty participants between the ages of 20 and 40 years participated in a comparative cross-sectional study at the Department of Physiology, Kodagu Institute of Medical Sciences, Madikeri. Participants were divided into three BMI groups after anthropometric measurements were taken. …

Analysis Of Raindrop Breakup Over The Bankhead National Forest Arm Site, Nimbus Menk

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Neurodiverse Secondary School Educators Transitioning To Online Teaching During Covid-19 Pandemic, Leane Pupo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic affected individuals, families, communities, and a variety of workplaces across the world. Many studies have addressed the impact of the emergency transition from on-ground to online on educators, students, and their families. However, while there is emerging literature on the impact of COVID-19 on neurodiverse individuals and on neurodiverse individuals in the workplace, there is little or no research on neurodiverse teachers. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of neurodiverse educators who transitioned from on-ground to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bandura’s social cognitive theory of self-efficacy and Garmezy’s theory of resilience …

The Oppression Of Transgender People Across The World, Dheeraj Swaminathan

Student Scholarship

Spring 2026 SOCI 232: Social Policy and Global Issues course.

This paper will analyze:

1. How do cultural belief systems and biases such as religion affect transgender people and a country’s perception of transgender people?
2. What historical and political context affects the oppression of transgender people as well as the betterment of transgender rights?

Supporting Those Who Serve: The Impact Of Peer Support On Law Enforcement Suicide, Emily N. Warren

Honors College Theses

Individuals working in law enforcement face daily stressors that far exceed those experienced by the general population. This elevated exposure to stress has been associated with increased rates of mental health disorders and suicide among law enforcement officers. In response, peer support programs have gained recent attention, with new state and federal legislation promoting peer support as a strategy to address the mental health crisis within law enforcement. This paper examines the impact of statewide peer support programs on law enforcement suicide rates through statistical analysis. A difference-in-differences analysis is used to compare state-level law enforcement suicide rates before and …

Expanding The Pantheon Of “Place-Myth”: Media-Induced Travel In College Students Who Study Abroad, Isabella M. Shevetz

Honors College Theses

Media-induced tourism refers to any travel that is in some part motivated by the consumption of mass media related to that location. Media-induced tourism and mass-tourism have led to nation branding and destination marketing across the globe, two industry phenomena that have worked to skyrocket tourism in places where it was not previously a large driver of the local economy. The expansion of mass media availability and the birth of social media mean the media roles of producer and audience member have blurred. Ordinary people now have the influential power of large media corporations. In destination marketing, the user-generated content …

Design For Future Discourse: Creating The Speculative Design-Inspired Exhibition Modulation: Rewiring The Self, Ryan Bridgforth

Honors College Theses

Humans have long combined speculation and design. Early examples like General Motors’ Futurama at the 1939 World’s Fair introduced Americans to the idea of expressways and invited them to imagine possible futures. While intriguing, this mix of design and future thinking stood to benefit corporations overall, which is where speculative design comes in. Pioneered by design duo Dunne & Raby, speculative design uses design not as a way to engineer solutions to difficult problems, but “as means to explore the cultural and technological potentials of design, effectively blurring material and conceptual boundaries” (Mitrović et al. 2021, 175). Designing objects or …

Slow Librarianship For Healthier Libraries And Library Workers, Meredith Farkas

Bryant Jackson Lectureship

We live in an individualistic achievement society that encourages people to chase external validation by putting the focus on innovation and competition over collaboration and collective care. Many of these dynamics are at play in the library and information science profession, leading to toxic cultures of scarcity, low morale, burnout, and disproportionate harm to BIPOC library workers and patrons. We have the power to imagine new futures that will equip us to better serve our patrons and support our collective well-being. Slow librarianship focuses on relationship-building, values-driven work, quality over quantity, solidarity, antiracism, and reflective practice.

Farkas is a faculty …

Distributed Authorship In Technologically Mediated Creativity, Patrick Carroll Dr

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

This paper examines the complex nature of authorship as it is reshaped within technologically mediated creativity. Drawing on theoretical perspectives on authorship, agency, and technological mediation, it argues against binary notions of artistic originality and instead frames the author as a “node” within a vast network of technological and cultural influences. Through two practice-based case studies—generative musical systems developed in Bitwig Studio’s The Grid, and the coding of an album-art generator in collaboration with OpenAI’s Codex—the paper explores how different forms of uncertainty emerge when creative decision-making is partially delegated to systems that behave unpredictably or autonomously. In these contexts, …

A Corporation For Artists, Or An Artist’S Corporation?: An Analysis Of Colorado Bill 26-133, Andrea Yang

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal (AELJ) Blog

Trade and art have been interlinked since the beginnings of artistic creation. Throughout history, one of the core tensions in the world of creativity has been between the creation of artistic work and economics of survival. With the advent of the internet and social media, democratization in access to the arts has demolished many of the classic gatekeepers that have historically prevented artists from creating and sharing their work. However, artists, musicians, and writers still face significant barriers in obtaining and retaining capital to support their livelihoods, frequently turning to alternate professions to sustain their work.

Evaluation Of Sirna-Mediated Knockdown Of Heat Shock Protein 16.2 In Adult Acropora Cervicornis, Edward P. Gniffke, Benjamin D. Young, Keir J. Macartney, Michael S. Studivan, Ian C. Enochs, Erin E. Easton

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Acropora cervicornis is a critically endangered Caribbean coral species facing a precipitous decline due to disease and thermal bleaching. To combat the loss of ecologically important reef-building corals, novel molecular approaches can be used to understand mechanisms of resilience and ultimately provide a means to modulate coral performance. In this study, we tested a recently developed method for gene knockdown in adult corals that utilizes short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and the RNA interference pathway. The Heat Shock Protein 16.2 (HSP16.2) gene in fragments of adult A. cervicornis was targeted for knockdown using a single siRNA construct. RT-qPCR analysis of HSP16.2 …

Ndls Communicator: Week Of 04.27.26, Notre Dame Law School

NDLS Communicator

The Latest News

• 3L Nikki Rafferty has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Thomas L. Shaffer Public Interest Fellowship
• 3L Erin Hiestand has been named one of the American Constitution Society’s 2026 Next Generation Leaders
• Notre Dame Law School’s Barristers Mock Trial Team (the Law School’s Trial Advocacy Team) won the regional championship and advanced to nationals at the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Student Trial Advocacy Competition.
• The Notre Dame Exoneration Justice Clinic (EJC) will welcome three law students from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) to its summer internship program.

Student News

• Roselis Díaz De …