Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Anxiety And Noticing Within Virtual Reality Nursing Simulation, Janet M. Reed

Sigma Foundation for Nursing Research Grant Reports

The overall objective of this pilot study was to explore how anxiety affects students’ noticing of key information within a virtual reality nursing simulation. The aims of this study were to 1) distinguish simulation anxiety into facilitating and debilitating components by using the Alpert and Haber (1960) Achievement Anxiety Test (AAT) for novel use in VR simulation for undergraduate nursing students; 2) Describe the relationship between debilitating and facilitating anxiety and noticing in VR simulation; and 3) Describe the psychometric properties for the AAT when used to describe anxiety in nursing simulation.

The Challenges Of International Maritime Treaty Enforcement: Examining Outcomes Of The South Sea And Red Sea Dispute, Sofia Roshan Hope Gellada

Senior Theses

The challenges of enforcing international treaty obligations are explored through the lens of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and its newly introduced addendum, the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement. Through a detailed analysis of two case studies—the South China Sea Dispute and the Red Sea Dispute—this paper highlights the significant obstacles to treaty enforcement, particularly in contexts of power imbalances. Both disputes, arbitrated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, reveal a troubling pattern of non-compliance by stronger states, such as China and Eritrea, despite legally binding rulings. These findings underscore the limitations of …

The Feasibility Of Transaldolase Inhibitors As Anti-Cancer Therapeutics, Daniel Scot Baer

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Metabolism was a major focus of cancer research 100 years ago, but its prevalence declined in the latter part of the twentieth century. In the last several decades, however, it has become clear that cancer cells frequently modify their metabolic programs to enable both their survival and rapid proliferation. Transaldolase (TA), an enzyme within the pentose phosphate pathway, contributes to these outcomes when its activity is increased, yet for a variety of reasons inhibition of the enzyme has remained comparatively understudied. Since TA flux enables nucleotide production and high levels of NADPH synthesis, aberrant, cancer-causing signaling pathways often increase expression …

Framing Of Immigration In The News And Its Effects On Social Media Discourse On The Southcoast Of Massachusetts, Mariel Surprenant

Political Science Undergraduate Theses

Why do immigrant communities often express anti-immigrant sentiment? This study will focus on examining what political discourse about immigration dominates the news ecosystem of the Southcoast of Massachusetts, and what effect that discourse has. Immigration in the U.S. has become an increasingly politicized issue, dominating political discourse, motivating voter behavior, and shaping regional political identities. This study will use content analysis of Southcoast newspapers to examine how the local news frames immigration and discourse analysis to examine the opinions of everyday citizens revealed as by their social media comments on posts about immigration by the same local news sources. The …

The Dismissive Avoidant Attachment Style: Its' Detrimental Effects On Romantic Relationships, Ella Schlinger

Psychology Student Publications

This essay explores how the dismissive avoidant attachment style --rooted in emotional neglect during childhood--negatively impacts romantic relationships. It explains how initial excitement often fades as emotional intimacy becomes threatening, leading to poor communication, unproductive arguments, and eventual relationship breakdown. Ultimately, the paper concludes that without professional intervention, this attachment style can prevent the formation of healthy, lasting romantic bonds.

Ratio Quantification Of Geranium And Rose Essential Oil Mixtures Via Leep Learning Analysis Of Complex Raman Spectra, Jia Wei Tang, Yong Xuan Hong, Jie Chen, Yun Yun Xie, Zhang Wen Ma, Qing Hua Liu, Liang Wang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Due to their high economic value, essential oils (EOs) are increasingly subject to adulteration, posing significant challenges for quality assessment and control. Owing to its excellent molecular specificity, Raman spectroscopy has been widely employed for the analysis and evaluation of EO products. In this study, we collected a total of 2700 Raman spectra comprising rose essential oil (REO, n = 900), geranium essential oil (GEO, n = 900), and their mixtures (n = 900). We first constructed a conventional convolutional neural network to distinguish spectra corresponding to varying EO mixing ratios. Interpretability analysis revealed that spectral peaks at 800, 1000, …

Ecolinguistic Analysis Of Princess Mononoke: Boosting Environmental Literacy, Aditya Alam Soeta Bangsa, George M. Jacobs, Ingrid A. Gavilán Tatin

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

The Anthropocene is a term some scientists use for the current geological age, during which human activities profoundly and often negatively impact Earth’s systems, including environmental change. Despite widespread recognition of this global crisis, a gap persists between awareness and meaningful action, underscoring a critical deficit in environmental literacy. This study aims to address this gap by conducting an ecolinguistic analysis of Hayao Miyazaki’s (1997) film, Princess Mononoke. Stibbe’s (2020) Stories We Live By, particularly the story of ideology, was used to analyze the film and its five principal human characters, examining their attitudes and behavior, and connecting …

Discursive And Ideological Issues Foregrounding The Attitudinal Conceptualization Of Yahoo Yahoo (Internet Fraud) In Selected Nigerian Comedy Skits, Temitope Michael Ajayi, Aishat Lare Husseini

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

Cybercrime, Yahoo Yahoo in the Nigerian context, has emerged as one of the major issues the global space is currently facing, and as such has received scholarly attention, mostly from the sociological, anthropological, and legal perspectives, but very scant attention from linguistics. From alinguistic perspective, this study thus investigates the discursive-ideological issues foregrounding Nigerians’ attitudinal orientation towards Yahoo Yahoo (Internet Fraud) as portrayed in selected Nigerian comedy skits. Data comprised four purposively selected comedy skits by Lasisi Elenu and Prince Tgb downloaded from their social media pages (YouTube and TikTok). With analytical insight from van Dijk’s socio-cognitive model of ideology, …

Evaluation Of The Efficiency Of Directly Printed Shape Memory Vs Thermoformed Shape Memory Orthodontic Aligners, Ahmad Mohammad Elshennawy, Noha Ibrahim Abdelrahman, Islam Tarek Hassan

Dentistry

Aim: The aim of this randomized clinical trial is to evaluate the efficiency of directly 3D printed shape memory aligners (TC-85 DAC resin, Graphy Inc, South Korea) vs thermoformed shape memory aligners (Clear X, K line Europe GmbH headquarters).

Methodology: 20 adult patients were included in this study complaining from 2-8 mm crowding in lower anterior region, 10 of them were treated using directly 3d printed clear aligners (4 males, 6 females), and the other 10 were treated using thermoformed shape memory aligners (5 males, 5 females). With mean age 24 years. Digital superimposition was performed using Geomagic control …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

No abstract provided.

Endocrine Disruptors, Insulin Resistance, And Diabetes, Meri̇ç Coşkun, Ethem Turgay Ceri̇t, Tuğba Barlas, Alev Eroğlu Altinova

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are compounds that interfere with hormone synthesis, secretion, metabolism, or excretion. Evidence indicates that increased exposure to EDCs is associated with insulin resistance and, most notably, type 2 diabetes worldwide. This suggests a diabetogenic effect that is independent of obesity, underscoring the complex mechanisms and broad impact of EDCs on metabolic health. Key pathways include hormone mimicry and antagonism, altered hormone metabolism, inflammatory responses, and mitochondrial dysfunction. This review summarises the mechanisms through which EDCs contribute to these conditions and evaluates the epidemiological and experimental evidence supporting these associations.

Endocrine Disruptors, Obesity, And Metabolic Syndrome, Tuğba Barlas, Alev Eroğlu Altinova, Meriç Coşkun, Ethem Turgay Ceri̇t

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

The global prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) is rising worldwide, and increasing evidence suggests that chemical exposures—particularly endocrine disruptors (EDs)—represent a significant contributing factor. EDs can act as obesogens, increasing the risk of weight gain and related metabolic conditions, including type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. They may also alter the basal metabolic rate, gut microbiota composition, and hormonal regulation of appetite and satiety. EDs are reported to exert their effects mainly through the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma pathway, which is primarily expressed in adipose tissue and is a key regulator of adipogenesis. Common consumer products …

Endocrine Disruptors And Pregnancy, Betül Yi̇ği̇t Yalçin, Gamze Bi̇li̇k Oyman, Ayşe Kubat Üzüm

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Sensitivity to endocrine disruptors is higher in early life. In pregnant women, endocrine disruptor chemicals can be passed to the baby through the placenta or through breast milk during lactation, leading to long-term and permanent adverse effects. These endocrine disruptors may cause adverse effects in women such as infertility, implantation defects, premature birth, spontaneous abortions, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes. Exposure to endocrine disruptors in the intrauterine period may result in adverse effects on the reproductive system, metabolic changes, low birth weight, retardation in mental and physical development and also may be associated with congenital malformations. It is of great importance …

The Effects Of Endocrine Disruptors On The Female Reproductive System, Riza Gökhan Baykal, Reyhan Ersoy

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are a diverse, comprehensive group of mostly synthetic chemicals that disrupt many physiological functions in humans and animals. EDCs are particularly disruptive to the female reproductive system. Reproductive function in women is a dynamic process regulated by the hypothalamic–pituitary–ovarian axis. EDCs show their effects on the reproductive system through estrogenic, antiestrogenic, androgenic, and antiandrogenic effects or by directly affecting gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion. Disruption in the menstrual cycle, decrease in fertility, infertility, increased risk of miscarriage, polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, early or delayed puberty, and hormone-sensitive cancers can be listed as the main negative effects of endocrine disruptors …

Effects Of Endocrine Disruptors On The Neurological System, Kadi̇rcan Karatoprak, Soner Cander

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Background/aim: There is increasing interest in endocrine disrupting chemicals because of the potential effects on neurological health. These chemicals are widely found in various consumer products and industrial processes, and can lead to serious disorders of the endocrine system by disrupting hormone synthesis, expression, and function. The aim of this review was to examine epidemiological and experimental findings by investigating the link between exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals and adverse neurological outcomes.

Materials and methods: In the preparation of this review, a PubMed literature search was conducted using the words “endocrine disruptors,” “neuroendocrine effects,” “neurobehavioral effects,” and “neurodevelopmental effects” and …

Endocrine Disruptors And Children's Health, Ersen Karakiliç, Durmuş Doğan, Emre Sedar Saygili

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are environmental contaminants that disrupt hormonal regulation by mimicking, inhibiting, or modifying endocrine signaling pathways. EDCs are commonly present in plastics, pesticides, industrial byproducts, and personal care products and pose substantial health risks, particularly to vulnerable groups such as infants and children. Early-life exposure is especially concerning due to the developing detoxification systems, the immaturity of the blood–brain barrier, and the ongoing organ differentiation, making these periods highly susceptible to EDCs’ harmful effects. Moreover, exposure during critical developmental periods, such as sex differentiation and neurodevelopment, can lead to significant long-term developmental impairments that persist into later life.Perinatal …

A Review Of Global Tidal Stream Energy Resources, Daniel S. Coles, Thomas A.A. Adcock, Andrew Cornett, Kevin Haas, Chul H. Jo, Hongwei Liu, Jon Miles, Patxi Garcia Novo, Jérôme Thiébot

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

This review identifies 426 candidate sites with potentially suitable characteristics for tidal stream energy development, across 19 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australasia. The most common site assessment quantifies the theoretical resource, which is the maximum amount of total energy that can be extracted. The aggregated theoretical resource estimate, of 1000 TWh/year, from 262 sites (62% of those identified), across 6 countries, is equivalent to 115 GW of continuous annual power. A more informative, albeit less common assessment, considers technical, environmental and economic constraints on energy extraction. New data from UK assessments is presented that indicates relationships between …

The Perception Of Therapists About Compassion Fatigue And Burnout After Working With Victims Of Domestic Violence, Bernadine Edwards

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative study involved gaining a better understanding of the perceptions of therapists who work with domestic violence victims, and how the therapists’ work may contribute to the development of compassion fatigue and burnout in the treating therapists. The goal was to gather firsthand data regarding the lived experiences of therapists. This study involved conducting semi-structured interviews with six counselors, listening to lived experiences, reading transcriptions, taking and reading notes in a journal during and after interviews, and analyzing data. The social ecological theory guided the study. The research identified 11 key themes highlighting the significant stress associated with this …

The Relationship Between K-12 Public School Funding, Per Pupil Expenditures, And Student Achievement, Regina R. Frazier-Bagley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Public school district leaders are challenged with funding K-12 education that creates the desired student academic performance. Grounded in student-based budgeting theory, this quantitative ex post facto study aimed to investigate the relationship between K–12 public school funding, per-pupil expenditures, student achievement, and graduation rates in Georgia. The study included secondary data from 51 North Georgia public school districts for the 2018–2019 school year. Multiple regression analysis was completed to examine the relationship between the independent variables—state funding, per-pupil expenditures, and academic achievement in math, science, and language arts—and the dependent variable: graduation rates. The results of the analysis were …

Reducing The Use Of Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents In Hemodialysis Patients, Myriamme Neree

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This Doctor of Nursing Practice project was a quality improvement (QI) initiative. Nephrologists were inconsistent in ordering iron studies and sometimes delayed the initiation of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) on admission to the inpatient site. These delays often led to suboptimal outcomes. The practice-focused question guiding the project asked whether a nurse-driven iron protocol would improve adherence to anemia management guidelines. The project’s purpose was to evaluate the impact of the evidence-based nurse-driven protocol. I used descriptive and inferential statistics for data analysis. Findings demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the timely completion of iron studies and in intravenous (IV) iron …

Secondary Education Teachers’ Perspectives On School-Based Mental Health Resources, Madison Rose Litterell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Approximately one in six youth ages 6 to 17 years old in the United States have a mental health disorder, such as depression and anxiety. Out of the 119,000 youth in Michigan in that age group, roughly 57.8% are not receiving proper mental health support services. Students are at school for a large majority of their day, so it is important that they have access to school-based services. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand the perceptions of secondary education teachers in Wayne County, Michigan, on school-based mental health support services. Using the community level and the …

Effective Strategies To Reduce Burnout For Employees With High Workload Demands, Michelle Healy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective strategies to reduce burnout for employees can decrease productivity and quality of work, and can increase turnover. Event industry leaders who struggle to reduce burnout of employees with high workload demands are at risk of employee turnover. Grounded in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, the purpose of this qualitative, pragmatic inquiry research project was to explore effective strategies to reduce burnout for employees with high workload demands. The participants were eight event industry leaders who had effectively implemented strategies to reduce burnout. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and a review of public websites and documents. Using thematic analysis, …

Microbial Communities Of Selected Regions Of The Deep Springs Lake Aquifer System, Rania Zaki, Emma Bourne, Andrew Storino, Jay Nadeau

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Deep Springs Lake is a small, isolated, highly alkaline soda lake in Inyo County of Eastern California, USA. It is a seasonally filled salt lake or playa, and is part of a closed aquifer system. Such closed systems are globally rare, occurring only in arid zones where annual evaporation is greater than annual rainfall. Deep Springs Lake’s hydrology and geology have been well studied, and it is home to a unique toad species, but its microbiome remains unexplored. Here we perform 16S, 18S, and ITS amplicon sequencing of the lake water, dried salt crust at the edges the lake, and …

Can Deep Reinforcement Learning Help Robots Avoid Unexpected Obstacles?, Rachel Lewis

Computer Science

As the utilization of deep reinforcement learning (DRL) for mobile robotics increases, it is vital to ensure that agents can navigate safely in their environments. As these robots are often costly and fragile, a key part of this task is examining path planning and collision avoidance. This project focuses on the behavior of several DRL agents such as Soft-Actor Critic (SAC) and Proximal Policy Optimizer (PPO) in dynamic environments, particularly with intermittent obstacles—those that may not always pose a threat to the agent. This project does not include training with agent sensors to detect moving hazards. Rather, this work was …

Postoperative Anaemia: The Unseen Challenge In Cardiac Surgery, Matthew A. Warner, Jacob Raphael

Department of Anesthesiology Faculty Papers

Postoperative anaemia is an overlooked complication of cardiac surgery that is associated with adverse clinical outcomes. Although small clinical trials suggest that postoperative treatment with i.v. iron improves haemoglobin recovery and reduces transfusion utilisation, appropriately powered randomised controlled trials are necessary to definitively evaluate the efficacy of treatment on clinical outcomes of importance to patients, clinicians, and healthcare systems. A comprehensive approach to perioperative anaemia management demands a renewed focus on both prevention and treatment to improve patient outcomes.

Beliefs And Practices Of Filipino Bilingual Senior High School Students On Language Learner Autonomy, Japhet E. Manzano, Zachi Einna R. Orquijo, Giovanni C. Duran

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

The concept of learner autonomy (LA) has been investigated mostly from the perspective of language teachers, whereas students’ views regarding this notion have received less attention in recent decades. In line with this, the present study aimed to examine the beliefs and practices of Filipino bilingual senior high school students enrolled in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HumSS) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strands. A total of 148 students from two Philippine public schools in Metro Manila participated in an adapted survey questionnaire containing Likert-scale items on beliefs, desirability, and feasibility of LA, along with an open-ended question …

Discourse, Power, And Pedagogy In Ai And Human-Designed Efl Lesson Plans: A Clil And Systemic Functional Linguistic Perspective, Christian D. Libunao, Vincent A. Morales

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

The integration of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) into English language teaching (ELT) raises important questions about how AI-generated lesson plans shape pedagogy, interaction, and ideology compared to human-designed materials. This study examines how ChatGPT-generated lesson plans converge with or diverge from those published by the British Council, with particular attention to teacher and learner roles, classroom power dynamics, and pedagogical scaffolding. A triadic framework combining systemic functional linguistics (SFL), critical discourse analysis (CDA), and content and language integrated learning (CLIL) was applied to three British Council lesson plans and three thematically matched ChatGPT outputs. Findings reveal that both sets of …

Beyond The Standard: A Sociolectal And Probabilistic Turn In Philippine English Phonology, Teri An Joy G. Magpale

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

This article advocates for probabilistic approaches as a key framework for understanding Philippine English (PhE) phonology, arguing that they reveal socially conditioned variation that traditional descriptive models overlook. Tracing five decades of research, it critiques early standardization efforts and studies centered on scripted speech and elite norms, and highlights the sociolectal turn initiated by Tayao (2004). The discussion foregrounds recent methods that combine instrumental phonetics with constraint-based frameworks, including Optimality Theory (OT) and Maximum Entropy grammar (MaxEnt), to model gradient variation across acrolectal, mesolectal, and basilectal speakers. By synthesizing findings on segmental features, phonotactic patterns, and speech rhythm, the article …

Evaluating The Feasibility Of Digital Twin Adoption For Mep Systems, Tejas Adana

Theses

MEP systems dominate building operational costs, yet facility teams continue battling reactive maintenance cycles that result in unexpected equipment failures, emergency callouts, and continuous energy inefficiencies. Digital twin technology presents a practical solution by creating live virtual replicas that shift operations from firefighting breakdowns to anticipating issues before they escalate. However, adoption remains limited due to fragmented implementation guidance, short-term validation studies, and minimal research addressing emerging market contexts. This research employs a grounded approach combining systematic literature analysis, candid discussions with MEP engineers and facility managers across UAE commercial properties, and practical prioritization frameworks assessing real-world impact against implementation …

100 Years: The Uniform System Of Accounts For The Lodging Industry (Usali) 12th Revised Edition, Agnes Defranco, Raymond S. Schmidgall

Journal of Hospitality Financial Management

No abstract provided.