Digital Commons Network^™

Using Color And Fluorescent Spectrometry As A New Rapid Cleaning Verification Method In Poultry Processing Plants, Clark Griscom

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The poultry industry is expected to be growing at 3% in the total global market with the U.S. being the largest producer of poultry meat. Poultry processing plants are expected to produce 140 birds per minute with the potential of up to 175 birds per minute to meet the market demand. With the growing market and need for faster production, maintaining food safety needs to be a priority to ensure the safety of consumers. Over 9.9 million foodborne illness cases are reported each year in the United States. A change in food safety is needed, and one area lacking is …

When The Grid Goes Dark: A Digital Forensics Study Of Industrial Control System Cyberattacks, Katie Kettler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and Operational Technology (OT) maintain the grid, ensure water safety, and keep transportation running. Because they influence nearly every aspect of daily life, these systems have become prime targets for cyberattacks. The need for this research arises from the fact that when ICS and OT systems are compromised, the consequences go beyond data loss, and they can directly disrupt communities and endanger public safety. This thesis introduces digital forensics fundamentals and explains how investigations in ICS environments differ from those in traditional IT environments. This work then examines major attacks, including Stuxnet, the Ukrainian Grid Attacks …

Neurology Residency Training In Pakistan: Current Status And Future, Bashir Soomro

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

No abstract provided.

Phosphorylation At S1288 Of Leukemia Associated Rhogef (Larg/Arhgef12) Induces Plasma Membrane Localization And Promotes Binding And Activation Of Rhoa, Won Seok Yang, Neda Z. Ghanem, Steven D. Scahill, Maisel J. Caliva, Hannah Röttig, Annika Fitz, Michelle L. Matter, Joe W. Ramos

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

Leukemia-associated RhoGEF (LARG) is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) known for its specificity toward Ras homolog family member A (RhoA). LARG plays a crucial regulatory role in various cellular processes such as migration, proliferation, invasion, and metastasis by facilitating the exchange of GDP to GTP on RhoA. Phosphorylation of LARG at S1288 by ribosomal S6 kinase 2 (RSK2) promotes RhoA activation. However, the precise mechanism remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate the essential role and mechanism by which S1288 phosphorylation facilitates LARG-mediated invasiveness in response to epidermal growth factor (EGF). Upon EGF stimulation, RSK2 phosphorylates LARG at S1288, thereby promoting …

Un-Imagining The Anglo Southwest And The Impossibility Of Trans-Scription, Lynnette M. Maphies

Art & Art History ETDs

This thesis is an interrogation of the Anglo Southwest as a problematic and persistent regional and national construct. I propose that the Anglo Southwest emerged at a pivotal moment in the late nineteenth century during which Americanist approaches to geography, anthropology, and the arts, were being shaped to define the region and determine the production and distribution of knowledge. This resulted in an Anglo view of the Southwest as uninhabited, silent, and imaginary, which omitted the actuality of silencing Native voices, cultural appropriation, and the taking of resources and land. Army surgeon and amateur ethnographer Washington Matthews (1843–1905) serves as …

Experimental Determination Of Tnt Equivalence Values For Binary Energetic Materials, Gracie May M. James, Rachel L. Bauer, Emily M. Johnson, Catherine E. Johnson

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

TNT equivalency quantifies the impact of energetic materials relative to TNT, aiding in safety guidelines and performance evaluations. Despite widespread use in industry, military, and research, many binary energetics lack published TNT equivalence values. This study experimentally determines TNT equivalency values for Helix, Texpak, Rimfire, Tannerite, and Kinepak using three tests: (1) plate dent, (2) reaction velocity and (3) air blast. Each test evaluates distinct aspects of energetic performance, addressing both close-in destructive power and downstream effects. Helix produced TNT equivalence values from 0.64 to 1.10, comparable to TNT, while Kinepak had lower values (0.18 to 0.58) indicating limited brisance, …

Unlocking The Potential Of Copper Sulfide Tailings As A Secondary Source For Tellurium And Precious Metals: A Comprehensive Characterization Study, Fardis Nakhaei, Lana Alagha, Gary Wyss

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study investigated historical copper sulfide tailings as an unconventional source of tellurium (Te), gold (Au), and silver (Ag). Advanced analytical studies were conducted to determine the geochemical and mineralogical properties of the tailing samples. The results showed that tetradymite (Bi2Te2S) was the predominant Te-bearing mineral, while hessite (Ag2Te) was a minor Te carrier, both notably occurring within fine-grained (< 8 μm) inclusions in pyrite. Gold was present as native Au, electrum (Au-Ag), and within complex silver tellurides hosted primarily in chalcopyrite and pyrite. Froth flotation studies showed that the 180 to 38 μm size range was the optimum feed size that yielded recoveries of 59 %, 37 %, and 27 % for Te, Au, and Ag, respectively. These findings suggested that froth flotation is a feasible method for concentrating Te-Au-Ag-bearing phases. Given the strong association between Te, Au, Ag, and Cu, the co-extraction of these metals should significantly enhance the economic viability of tailings' processing.

Age, Growth, Diet And Reproduction Of African Pompano (Alectis Ciliaris), Clinton J. Moran, Jonathan Tucker, Callie H. Crawford

Biology

Understanding the life history traits of ecologically and economically important fish species is critical for effective management. This study provides the first detailed analysis of age, growth, diet and reproductive characteristics of African pompano (Alectis ciliaris) from the southeastern United States, expanding upon prior work from the Western Arabian Gulf. A total of 54 specimens were collected off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina when they were available during the 2024 fishing season (May–October). Age was determined via otolith sectioning, and growth was modelled using the von Bertalanffy growth function (L∞ = 96.61 cm, K = 0.689, t0 = …

Fisheries Research Report No. 363 : South-West Freshwater Angling: Estimates Of Participation, Effort And Catch For 2024/25, Claire B. Smallwood, Karina L. Ryan, Eva Lai

Fisheries Research Reports

South-West Freshwater Angling (SWFA) in Western Australia is a licensed fishery primarily targeting the Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) and Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), which are stocked in selected dams and rivers, as well as the introduced Redfin Perch (Perca fluviatilis) and the native Freshwater Cobbler (Tandanus bostocki). Since 2000/01, annual phone-recall surveys have been undertaken using the SWFA licence database as the sampling frame. This monitoring provides information to understand the fishery and support future management decisions. For the first time, data are reported by basin for different waterbody types (public dams, rivers) as well as for specific key fishing …

June 30, 2023: Resurrections And Bad Omens Of A Nadir Court, Zamir Ben-Dan

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

June 29, 2023 was monumental for racial justice advocates and scholars; the U.S. Supreme Court issued a major decision that eviscerated affirmative action while declaring itself a vanguard of racial equality. The Court’s race-related juridical activities on the following day, June 30th, received far less attention. On June 30, 2023, the Court denied certiorari in five cases directly implicating race. Those denials of certiorari generated five opinions, two concurring in the denial and three dissenting from denial. These five opinions should have created as much buzz as the Court’s affirmative action decision the day prior; examined together, they tell a …

Barriers To Mental Health Access Among Immigrant Populations In The U.S., Cecilia Menzinger

Capstones

No abstract provided.

Mental Health In Adult Oncology Patients, Jenna Pope

Capstones

Adults with cancer suffer from mental challenges that frequently go under diagnosed and under treated (Fernando et al., 2023). This can lead to lower quality of life, resulting in reduced adherence to treatment, more frequent hospital stays, increased healthcare costs, and increased mortality rates (Matthews et al., 2025). There are currently no policies on mental health screening for adult oncology patients at every outpatient appointment. By consistently utilizing standardized screening tools such as the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 during all oncology appointments, this can close the gap in policy to address mental health needs of these individuals. It is vital to …

Suicide Among Youth And Young Adults In Canada: Bereaved Parents’ Perspectives On The Systems Of Care, Toula Kourgiantakis, Deborah Cooper, David Cooper, Shelley Craig, Eunjung Lee, Jori Jones, Carrie K.Y. Lau, Romy Naïma Tousignant, Jonathan B. Singer, Marjorie Johnstone, Juveria Zaheer

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Background: Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth and young adults aged 15–24 in Canada. Emergency departments often serve as the first point of contact for identifying suicide risk, particularly for youth and young adults, partly due to the inaccessibility and unavailability of community mental health services. Almost half of the youth who die by suicide visit an emergency department in the year preceding their death, and up to 90% have untreated mental health and substance use concerns. Studies have found that parents describe youth mental health services as harmful, fragmented, inaccessible, and inadequate in meeting their …

Assessing The Impact Of Gis Data Inaccuracies On Urban Infrastructure, Majid Aldashti

Theses

Urban infrastructure delivery is a complex process influenced by project type, spatial distribution, stakeholder coordination, and data quality. This thesis examines the application of Microsoft Power BI, a no-code visual analytics tool, as a means to analyze performance patterns in urban projects and inform decision-making in smart city governance. The study uses a structured secondary dataset simulating over 600 infrastructure projects across various departments and neighborhoods. By transforming raw data into an interactive dashboard, the research explores relationships between delay rates, customer satisfaction, budget compliance, and technology adoption. The analysis revealed that project categories such as metal furniture and police …

Three Forks, Virginia Van Enckevort

Theses

Three Forks is a thesis drama series about a 19th-century woman sent West to live with her estranged family in Muscogee, a lawless town where justice bends to power and survival means learning the game — or being buried by it. As we follow our lead, Eleanor Davis, out West and eventually her settlement into town, we gain a look into her new world, one where tribal council contend with encroaching U.S. jurisdiction and where settlers, freedmen, and railroad men jostle for influence in a town on the brink of statehood. The many fabled stories and myths about the West …

Symbiotic Furniture Design: A Single Chair Integrating Epiphytes With Taiwanese Window Grille Structures, Kuan-Wen Lin

Theses

Plants have been integrated into residential and interior environments for centuries, yet research on the psychological effects and interactive potential of plants in furniture design is still relatively limited. Traditional planting methods, such as individual potted plants or large green walls, often require additional floor or wall space, which is not ideal for environments with limited living space. Therefore, this study investigates how plants can be integrated into furniture design to enhance the effect of interior greenery and user engagement, and to redefine the relationship between furniture and the natural environment. This research explores a furniture design that incorporates epiphytic …

Physics Meets Data: Merging Physics-Based Methods With Deep Learning To Model Complex Systems, Maryam Toloubidokhti

Theses

Accurate modeling of complex systems is crucial in domains such as healthcare, where personalized diagnosis and treatment planning are essential. Traditional physics-based models provide structured, theoretically grounded insights but are often computationally intensive and constrained by simplified assumptions that limit adaptability to patient-specific conditions. In contrast, data-driven models are computationally efficient and capable of capturing complex patterns, yet they often lack interpretability and fail to incorporate essential physical principles, reducing robustness and generalization. This disconnect between mechanistic understanding and computational practicality presents significant challenges in critical applications such as healthcare, where both physical accuracy and real-time performance are vital. To …

Investigating The Effect Of Build Direction On Mechanical Properties In Pellet-Based 3d Printing, Yahya Mohammed

Theses

This study investigates the influence of build orientation on the mechanical performance of Polylactic Acid (PLA) components fabricated using Fused Granular Fabrication (FGF), a pellet-based additive manufacturing method, and benchmarks these results against Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). Although orientation-dependent mechanical behavior has been widely studied in filament-based extrusion, there remains a critical gap in understanding how these effects appeared in pellet-based fabrication. To address this gap, PLA tensile and compression specimens were fabricated using both FGF and FDM under identical geometries, processing parameters, and preparation procedures, ensuring that any differences in performance arise solely from the manufacturing method and build …

The Klik Chair - Designed To Move, Built To Last, Neeraj Sugumaran Menon

Theses

For the modern individual who moves housing frequently, buying furniture has become an increasingly tedious and frustrating process. Traditional furniture often presents challenges due to its bulk, weight, and complex assembly requirements, making it difficult to transport and reassemble when moving to a new living space. As a result, the true value of a piece of furniture is no longer determined solely by its price tag or aesthetic appeal but by its ability to adapt to a nomadic lifestyle. Additionally, furniture that holds long-term sentimental or functional value has become even more significant in an era where disposability is routine. …

A Word From The Writing Team (December 2025), Pam Walter, Mfa, Laura Deloretta, Phd

A Word From the Writing Team (Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Southern / Appalachian Migrants And Urban Development Politics In Uptown Chicago, 1950-1972, Charles Wayne Dowdy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates how ideas of interregional migration were used in service of urban renewal agendas in Uptown Chicago from 1950 to 1972. It argues that The South and Appalachia as regional ideas were impactful in postwar midwestern urban development politics, even as regional identity was less powerful as an adhering force for actual migrants in comparison with factors of race and class. Chapter 1 examines the development and use of the urban enclave model of interregional migration by the Uptown Chicago Commission in the late 1950s. It argues that anxieties around suburbanization and urban decline fueled the production of …

Knowing One's Place At The Table: Taste As A Means Of Othering In The American Colonies, 1700-1775, Nicholas Harp

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

This thesis began as an inquiry into a simple question. How did people in the American colonies talk about the food that they ate? This question led to a fascinating look into the social dynamics of the people living in eighteenth century America. Their own personal writings demonstrate how they understood their place in society through the food that they ate. Moreover, they often wrote about the way that other people ate in ways that alienated or discriminated against different ethnic groups. A look into the secondary historiography revealed that other historians had noticed this trend. However, very few addressed …

Racial And Ethnic Differences In The Associations Between Alcohol Use Disorder, Aggression, And Suicidality Among Adolescents With Ptsd, Gabrielle Armstrong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) is well documented and associated with elevated risk of aggression and suicidality among certain populations. However, no research to date has examined these associations among adolescents. Using data from the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A), the present study examined whether the presence of AUD was associated with greater outward aggression, suicidal ideation, and attempts, and whether these associations differed across race/ethnicity, in a weighted sample of 737,996 adolescents with PTSD (10.3% Hispanic, 16.4% Black, 73.3% White). AUD presence was significantly associated with higher odds of breaking items, attacking …

A Road Less Traveled: Exploring The Motivators Influencing College Enrollment Decisions Among Youth Who Have Experienced Foster Care, John William Blue

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Youth who have experienced the foster care system are an underserved student population in higher education. While higher education is an important pathway to upward mobility and civic participation, foster youth consistently face systemic barriers such as unstable placements, limited financial resources, and a lack of consistent adult guidance, resulting in significantly lower rates of college enrollment and degree attainment compared to their peers (Courtney & Okpych, 2020; Salazar, 2013). This three-manuscript dissertation investigates the challenges that youth who have experienced foster care face and the factors that influence them to pursue enrollment in four-year universities in Illinois, while also …

Design And Prototyping Of An Acoustic Positioning System For Gps-Denied Environment, Harley Hogan Garrett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Finding the placement of sensors is known as sensor localization, and is a necessary task to ensure that a network is capable of array processing operations, such as direction of arrival measurements. This thesis proposes a method to perform sensor localization for a wireless sensor network using acoustics. Each sensor is equipped with a microphone, speaker, and processor. Using these, the proposed system is able to find the distance between each sensor and later the geometry of the network. A series of optimizations help reduce error and improve the final accuracy of the system to within 6.5 cm. The proposed …

Out-Of-Pocket Costs, Treatment Pattern, And Disparities In Outcomes Among Adults With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Shishir Maharjan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to: 1) determine out-of-pocket cost trend and the impact of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provisions on the out-of-pocket costs among Medicare-enrolled chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients; 2) evaluate treatment patterns and comparative effectiveness of therapeutics classes for CLL treatment in adults; and 3) assess racial disparities and time to treatment initiation in survival outcomes among Medicare-enrolled beneficiaries with CLL.

In objective 1, a cohort study using SEER-Medicare linked data from 2006 to 2020 identified 13,356 eligible beneficiaries with incident CLL. Among them, 3,158 (23.7%) were projected to benefit from the IRA’s $2000 annual out-of-pocket …

Llu Dentistry 2025 Winter Edition, Loma Linda University School Of Dentistry

Articulator (Dentistry)

In this issue:

4 | Dean's Message
5 | Transforming the Future of Dental Education: The Strategic Vision and Growth Plan
8 | Honoring a Legacy of Excellence: Celebrating Leif K. Bakland, DDS
12 | Transitions
14 | Welcome New Faculty
16 | Celebrating Excellence in Dentistry: 2025 ICD USA Section Annual Meeting & Convocation
18 | LLUSD faculty publish study on Dental Unit Waterline treatment in the Journal of the American Dental Association
21 | Celebrating 15 Years of PNAM Treatment at LLUSD
23 | A Journey of Healing: Shirely's Transformation
24 | Exploring Future Careers in STEM: The …

Forage Preference In Two Geographically Co-Occurring Fungus Gardening Ants: A Dietary Dna Approach, Matthew Richards-Perhatch V, Elizabeth Boshers, Matthew Greenwold, Jon N. Seal

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Traditional methods of forage identification are impractical with non-leafcutting fungus gardening ants, making diet-related ecological and life history questions difficult to study. To address this limitation, we utilized dietary DNA metabarcoding on excavated ant fungus gardens to generate forage diversity metrics for the two co-occurring species Trachymyrmex septentrionalis and Mycetomoellerius turrifex. Ten fungus garden samples from each species were collected from a 60x70 m plot in East Texas. Each of the colonies we sampled was paired with a colony from the other species within 3 m of it. Plant forage diversity was assessed with chloroplast trnL primers, and insect frass …

Flood-Level Estimation Using Aerial Imagery, Yisen Zhang

Electrical & Computer Engineering Projects for D. Eng. Degree

Reliable flood-level estimation using aerial UAV (Unmanned aerial vehicle) imagery is essential for effective post-disaster assessment and rapid emergency response. This study utilizes a UAV-based dataset, referred to as the UVA dataset, which integrates multiple public datasets and manually labeled UAV images, together with a multi-stage vehicle-centric framework for flood-depth estimation. The UVA dataset integrates images from multiple public sources, including Unmanned Drone Water Assessment (UDWA), Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Detection and Tracking (UAVDT), Car Parking Lot (CARPK), and additional UAV-view images collected from the internet, followed by manual annotation for water depth, viewing angle, and altitude labels. In the proposed …

An Analysis Of Portuguese Colonial Representations Of Sinhalese Women, Chandra R. De Silva, Ramani Hettiarchchi

History Faculty Publications

The history of Sri Lanka until recently has been written mostly as the history of men in the country. This has been particularly true of the early modern period, for which existing records are mostly those of visiting colonizers who were mostly men, writing about their dealings with those in power or with those from whom they could gain profit. This article is an attempt to collect and analyze the admittedly limited data on how the Portuguese who gained political authority over parts of the coastal areas saw local women. It is limited to the women of the majority community …