Digital Commons Network^™

Improving Student Outcomes With Project-Based Learning, Tyler Archer

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This capstone project analyzes the impact of Project-Based Learning (PBL) on student outcomes at Indianola High School, specifically focusing on student engagement, self-efficacy, and academic achievement in a U.S. History classroom. Recent declines in student performance, specifically in math and reading, indicate that changes are needed. This study examines the potential of PBL to increase content mastery, critical thinking, and historical inquiry skills among high school students. Through a comprehensive literature review and an action plan created for the specific needs of Indianola High School, this research identifies key benefits and challenges associated with PBL. The research suggests that PBL …

Building School Culture Improves Students’ Mental Health, Katie Henrichs

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Students are experiencing a rise in mental health challenges, which can have a negative impact on academic performance, lead to an increase in undesirable behaviors, and result in attendance issues. Research shows that creating a positive school community can contribute to the well-being of students. A school improvement plan has been developed to foster a sense of community at Loess Hills. Both students and staff will be involved in surveys, focus groups, and the inclusion of a social-emotional curriculum. Promoting a positive culture where students can thrive can be achieved by raising awareness and providing support for young people dealing …

Enhancing Child Development Using Play In The K-5 Curriculum, Carlee Jensen

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This paper explores the integration of play-based practices in K-5 education to enhance holistic child development and address gaps in student achievement. It underscores the cognitive, social-emotional, and physical benefits of play, proposing it as a strategy to improve academic outcomes at Jefferson Elementary School, which faces proficiency rates below state averages. Utilizing data from the Iowa Report Card and FAST assessments, the study emphasizes targeted literacy and mathematics interventions, reintroducing the DIBELS assessment, and adopting a new curriculum aligned with state standards. It advocates for professional development to equip educators with effective strategies for incorporating play into their teaching. …

Using Visual Supports To Assist In The Ecse Classroom To Gain Independence, Shannon Stolen

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This school improvement plan aims to increase the overall use of visuals in the Early Childhood Special Education Classroom at Spirit Lake Elementary. Targeted areas of improvement include: using a visual schedule, using cue cards, and using the core board independently. By implementing interventions with the adults in the classroom, the plan is set to increase overall independence while using these different materials. Data will be collected daily to document how the young students are responding and using the various visual cue cards. The implementation of this plan in crucial in working with young students with special needs at Spirit …

Cellulosic Rich Biomass Production With Optimized Process Parameters By Using Glycerol Pretreatment For Biofuels Applications, Muhammad Sulaiman, Hamayoun Mahmood, Haris M. Khan, Tanveer Iqbal, Nehar U. Khan, Muhammad M. Abbas, Mohammad Nur-E-Alam, Manzoore E. M. Soudagar

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In this work, we conduct acidified aqueous glycerol pre-treatment (AAG) on rice husks (RH) and utilize the response surface methodology (RSM) to assess the impact of pre-treatment parameters. The primary objective of this research is to optimize the parameters to maximize the cellulose content within RH. The parameters under consideration encompassed temperature (ranging from 80 to 110 °C), retention time (spanning 15 to 45 min), and biomass loading (varying from 5 to 10 wt. %). To achieve this optimization, we perform the Box-Behnken Design (BBD) within the framework of RSM. Additionally, we scrutinize the interactive effects of these parameters on …

Relationship Commitment Regulation: Influencing A Partner's Commitment To Achieve One's Commitment Goals, Laura V. Machia, Kenneth Tan, Christopher R. Agnew

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We introduce a model of relationship commitment regulation, which describes how romantic partners might use empirically-validated antecedents of commitment level strategically to influence a partner's commitment toward their relationship based on certain commitment goals they have for the relationship. People are generally aware of and relatively accurate with respect to knowing their partner's level of commitment and also have preferences regarding their desired level. We summarize key antecedents of commitment level (i.e., satisfaction level, alternative quality, investment size, future plans, and subjective norms) and then describe how each can be manipulated via relationship maintenance activities to move a partner's commitment …

Single-Valued Neutrosophic Mcdm Approaches Integrated With Merec And Ram For The Selection Of Uavs In Forest Fire Detection And Management, Mai Mohamed, Amira Salam, Jun Ye, Rui Yong

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

In recent times, the world has experienced a rise in the frequency of forest fires. These fires cause severe economic damage and pose a significant threat to human lives. Therefore, it is essential to search for solutions that can help combat fires and detect them early. Once a fire reaches a certain level, it becomes challenging to control it. Various systems have been proposed to collect data and detect forest fires, such as satellites and other traditional methods. However, these solutions have been ineffective in terms of cost, coverage of large areas, accuracy, and the safety of human lives. To …

Exploring The Application Of Digital Twin Technology In The Energy Sector Using Merec And Mairca Methods, Asmaa Elsayed, Bilal Arain, Karam M. Sallam

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

Smart city sustainability initiatives prioritize creating environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable urban environments. Digital Twin (DT) technology creates precise digital replicas of physical assets, systems, or processes. These digital twins play a crucial role in advancing the goals of smart city sustainability. This paper explores the development and application of DT technology for integrated regional energy systems in smart cities, emphasizing its potential to optimize energy consumption, reduce costs, and enhance overall system performance. The CloudIEPS platform, an energy internet planning platform based on digital twin technology, is a great example of how digital twin technology can be applied in …

Report On Findings From Household Needs Study, Paulin T. Straughan, Mathew Mathews

ROSA Research Briefs

The Household Needs Study (HNS) aimed to capture public perspectives on essential items and activities that are deemed necessary for a normal life in Singapore and to understand the extent to which Singaporeans are able to access these items and activities. To do so, the study adopted the Living Standards Approach (Saunders, Naidoo & Wong, 2022), which purports that individuals experience relative deprivation and/or social exclusion if they do not have access to items and activities that are deemed to be essential by society. In this study, a survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of around 4,000 respondents …

Research Challenges In Combating Terrorist Use Of Explosives In The United States 2024, Austin C. Doctor, Samuel T. Hunter, Gina Scott Ligon, Gary Wes Carter, Dan Polanski, Jimmie Oxley

Reports, Projects, and Research

As expressed in the original 2008 report, Research Challenges in Combating Terrorist Use of Explosives in the United States, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are generally easy to develop, difficult to combat, and cause disproportionate physical and psychological harm to the citizenry. Research, development, test, and evaluation options to assist domestic counter-IED efforts are plentiful, easily overwhelming the ability of government and industry to fund. This updated report outlines 10 challenge areas where concentrated research can be most beneficial when combating IED use in the homeland and is a summation of interagency efforts to analyze operational capabilities and gaps, as well …

Screening For Insider Threats In Us Law Enforcement: A National Sample Of Department Policies And Practices State Of Practice Guide, Erin M. Kearns, Sadaf Hashimi, Jessica Huff, Justin Nix, Natalie Cotton

Reports, Projects, and Research

For decades, violent extremist groups in the U.S. have encouraged their members to infiltrate law enforcement agencies. While there are anecdotal examples of insider threats in law enforcement, we do not have a systematic understanding of whether these are isolated incidents or indicative of a more pervasive issue. To address this gap, the current project took a multi-method approach to examining department-level policies and procedures around screening and hiring.

The State of Practice Report is the major deliverable from this grant focused on multi-pronged formative research on insider threats in U.S. law enforcement. Broadly, we were interested in the extent …

Bracketed Assessments In Behavioral Gerontology: Evaluating Preference With Present And Absent Stimuli, Flavia Eduarda Del Castillo Troche

Theses and Dissertations

The present study evaluated the use of bracketed assessments to assess the activity preference of three individuals with dementia. The study proposed an alternative method to traditional stimulus preference assessments, to bridge the gap in behavior analytical literature within behavioral gerontology. Thus, bracketed assessments were conducted using two presentation methods, verbal plus visual presentation and verbal-only presentation. Results suggested that while participants showed consistency within low preferred activity selection in the bracketed assessment, variability was observed among participants’ preferences for high and moderate preferred activities. Both presentation methods yield similar selection results for one participant, however, the other two participants …

Cultural Selection Of Ethical Self-Control Toward Sustainability, Michael Jonathan Passage

Theses and Dissertations

This study consisted of three experiments to improve our understanding of the conditions that foster cooperation related to sustainability. In Experiment 1, participants completed a demographic questionnaire and an environmental and social discounting task. Results (a) support the utility of the environmental discounting task; (b) suggest responding to the discounting task is dissimilar; and (c) show that responding to hypothetical consequences on the social discounting task correlates to actual responding. Experiment 2 evaluated whether interlocking behavioral contingencies (by microculture members) associated with sustainable and non-sustainable aggregate products (Condition A & B) could be selected by cultural consequences (i.e., 20¢ toward …

Preferential Crystallization Of (±)-Pinenyllithium·Tmeda, Alexander N. Erickson, Curtis Haltiwanger, Masoumeh Rahim, Charles M. Garner

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

(±)-Pinenyllithium·TMEDA or (tetra­methyl­ethylenedi­amine-κ²N,N′)(η³-6,6-di­methyl-2-methylenebi­cyclo­[3.1.1]hept­yl)lithium, [Li(C₁₀H₁₅)(C₆H₁₆N₂)], is readily pre­pared from β-pinene, butyl­lithium and TMEDA, and the racemic material pre­fer­entially crystallizes even from 96:4 (92% ee) mixtures of (−)- and (+)-β-pinene, respectively. The structure is monomeric, with the geminal-dimethyl bridge of the bicyclic structure shielding one face of the allyl system, restricting the lithium to the opposite face and preventing the Li–all­yl–Li aggregation observed with some other allyl­lithium systems. The symmetry of the allyl system, bond lengths, bond angles and out-of-plane deviations …

Negotiating Police Reform, Cynthia Alkon

Faculty Scholarship

In the summer of 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, the national conversation around police reform intensified and was part of a conversation with students at Texas A&M University School of Law. Students wanted more discussion and teaching about police, police misconduct, police reform, and defunding the police. Following those discussions, I created a simulation on local level police reform that, as of this writing, I have used twice in my negotiation class. Simulations are helpful teaching tools in a variety of settings, including law schools. Simulations can be particularly useful to help students discuss difficult topics in different …

Implementation Of A Mobile-Based Mindfulness Intervention To Lower Perceived Stress Levels In Undergraduate Nursing Students, Wendy S. Carley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project analyzed the effect of the daily use of a mindfulness-based mobile application on associate degree nursing undergraduate prelicensure students’ perceived stress levels. Nursing students experience elevated stress levels that may be reduced through mindfulness behaviors. Undergraduate, prelicensure nursing students participated in establishing the impact of mindfulness on perceived stress levels in a quantitative pre/postintervention study. The evidenced-based studies chosen for this review consisted of randomized controlled trials, pilot studies, pre/posttest designs, systematic reviews, and quantitative and qualitative studies. The investigator collected presearch data using a pre/posttest design to evaluate the effectiveness of a stress management program in reducing …

Cultural Tightness-Looseness And Optimal Distinctiveness: Examining The Influence Of Culture On The Need To Belong And The Need To Be Different, Hairong Jiang

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the influence of cultural tightness-looseness on optimal distinctiveness motives and group identification, examining the moderating roles of self-construal, global orientation, and tightness/looseness match. Participants (N=465) from the United States and China were randomly assigned to tight or loose conditions and numerically majority or minority group conditions. Experimental manipulation of tightness-looseness did not significantly affect optimal distinctiveness needs. Cultural match, operationalized as alignment of tightness/looseness between participants' own culture and experimental condition, significantly moderated the relationship between culture conditions and need to belong. Individuals with high cultural match showed higher need to belong in tight conditions, while those …

Neurodivergent Employees: The Impact Of The Disclosure Decision And Subsequent Workplace Accommodations, Tamara Farquhar

Theses and Dissertations

A great deal of organizational investments have gone towards diversifying the labor force as of late. However, the same cannot be said for efforts made towards making newly acquired talent feel included. Neurodivergent individuals in particular have not been sufficiently welcomed in organizations, partially explaining their reluctance to disclose their identity along with feeling excluded. Despite researchers framing the characteristics displayed by neurodiverse talent as natural variations found at the tail ends of the bell curve, many people are incapable of viewing them as such. Discrimination and stereotyping have thus resulted, further dampening neurodivergent employees’ work experiences. These two factors …

Progressive Thrombocytopenia, Splenomegaly, And Abnormal Tone In An Infant With Growth Faltering, Gal Barak, Gail Demmler-Harrison, Linda Rossetti, Venée N Tubman, Ameya S Walimbe, Rathi Asaithambi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

A 4-month-old full-term female presented with growth faltering associated with progressive feeding difficulty, rash, abdominal distension, and developmental delays. She was found to have disconjugate gaze, abnormal visual tracking, mixed tone, bruising, and splenomegaly on examination. Initial workup was notable for thrombocytopenia and positive cytomegalovirus (CMV) immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M antibodies. She initially presented to the infectious diseases CMV clinic, where she was noted to have severe malnutrition, prompting referral to the emergency department for hospital admission to optimize nutrition with nasogastric tube feeding and facilitate additional evaluation. An active CMV infection with viruria and viremia was confirmed, but …

Consensus Guidelines For The Monitoring And Management Of Metachromatic Leukodystrophy In The United States, Laura A Adang, Joshua L Bonkowsky, Jaap Jan Boelens, Eric Mallack, Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas, John A Bernat, Annette Bley, Barbara Burton, Alejandra Darling, Florian Eichler, Erik Eklund, Lisa Emrick, Maria Escolar, Ali Fatemi, Jamie L Fraser, Amy Gaviglio, Stephanie Keller, Marc C Patterson, Paul Orchard, Jennifer Orthmann-Murphy, Jonathan D Santoro, Ludger Schöls, Caroline Sevin, Isha N Srivastava, Deepa Rajan, Jennifer P Rubin, Keith Van Haren, Melissa Wasserstein, Ayelet Zerem, Francesca Fumagalli, Lucia Laugwitz, Adeline Vanderver

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is a fatal, progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by biallelic pathogenic mutations in the ARSA (Arylsulfatase A) gene. With the advent of presymptomatic diagnosis and the availability of therapies with a narrow window for intervention, it is critical to define a standardized approach to diagnosis, presymptomatic monitoring, and clinical care. To meet the needs of the MLD community, a panel of MLD experts was established to develop disease-specific guidelines based on healthcare resources in the United States. This group developed a consensus opinion for best-practice recommendations, as follows: (i) Diagnosis should include both genetic and biochemical testing; (ii) …

Translanguaging As Pedagogy And Culturally Relevant Science Instruction: Teaching In A Bilingual Science Classroom, Angelita J. Salinas

Theses and Dissertations

The continuous underrepresentation of the Latinx population in STEM fields and careers requires urgent attention. This study addresses this issue by designing and implementing a science curriculum based on culturally relevant and translanguaging pedagogies. Focusing on chemical and physical reactions, the curriculum was implemented in two 8th-grade science classes. Using an ethnographic case study methodology, this research employed classroom observations, field notes, student work analysis, and reflective interviews to gather data. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify key patterns and themes. The analysis revealed how instructional strategies were designed to ensure the relevance of instruction to students' cultural and community …

Enhancement Of Polytetrafluoroethylene-Polyvinyl Alcohol Nanofibers Triboelectric Effect With Carboxylic Functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Coating, Fernando Viesca

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, we fabricated a TENG using Forcespinning® (FS) Polytetrafluoroethylene microfibers (FS-PTFE-MFs) and Electrospun (ES) Polyvinyl alcohol nanofibers (ES-PVA-NFs). The FS-PTFE-MFs were physically linked with functionalized carboxylic multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-COOH) employing water dispersions. MWCNTs-COOH were dispersed using three different surfactants: Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS), Sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS), and Triton X-100 (TX-100). Coated FS-PTFE-MFs were then characterized using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) attachment and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). While no significant difference in performance was observed with different surfactants, electrical results of the TENG recorded a notable enhancement of …

Generating Bessel Beams With An Elastomeric Replica Of A Weevil Carapace, Paz Victoria T. Ramos, Michie Vianca D. De Vera, Raphael Guerrero

Physics Faculty Publications

We generate a zero-order Bessel beam with a laser beam focused onto an elastomeric replica of a weevil carapace scale. Carapace surface structures are imprinted on an elastomeric cast via soft lithography. The output Bessel beam exhibits the expected properties of non-diffraction over a propagation range of 30 cm. The width of the central spot at a propagation distance of 25 cm is 296:8 μm, corresponding to a replicated weevil scale with a diameter of 64.3 μm acting as an annular slit. Self-healing of the beam after encountering a wire obstruction is also observed.

Open-Label, Dose-Escalation Fight-101 Study Of Pemigatinib Combined With Targeted Therapy, Chemotherapy, Or Immunotherapy In Patients With Advanced Malignancies, Mansoor Saleh, Minal Barve, Vivek Subbiah, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Daniel Morgensztern, Niharika Mettu, Sameek Roychowdhury, Iben Spanggaard, Maria Luisa Veronese, Chenwei Tian

Haematology and Oncology, East Africa

Background Pemigatinib is an oral, potent, selective fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) 1-3 inhibitor. FIGHT-101, a three-part, open-label, first-in-human, phase I/II study (NCT02393248), evaluated pemigatinib in patients with advanced solid tumors. In parts 1 and 2, pemigatinib monotherapy had a manageable safety profile and antitumor activity in FGFR-altered tumors. Part 3 (pemigatinib combination therapies) results are presented here.

Patients and methods Patients received 9, 13.5, or 20 mg oral once-daily pemigatinib on continuous or intermittent schedules with gemcitabine and cisplatin (pemi/gem/cis), docetaxel (pemi/doc), trastuzumab (pemi/tras), pembrolizumab (pemi/pembro), or retifanlimab (pemi/reti) irrespective of whether the tumor was confirmed as FGFR altered. …

Digital Threads: Crafting Sustainable Fashion With 3d Printing & Virtual Garments, Aayushree Lama, Lori Wahl

Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research

The fashion industry annually disposes of 92 million tons of textiles in landfills and is ranked third in the world for emissions. The industry has a projected increase of 50% in global emissions by 2030. Sustainable practices must be explored and implemented to reduce waste and use resources more responsibly. Over-production has resulted in unwanted products that are disposed of before being worn. 3D printing offers a way of producing fantastical digital designs using new approaches to construction as well as the ability to print on demand. This research developed a sustainable method of producing wearable attachments using a combination …

Representations Of Violence Against Native American Women, Christine York

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

It is the aim of this study to provide detailed attention to the representation of violence against Native American women throughout American films and literature. Native American women have been persecuted against since the times of colonization; however, there has been a recent uptake in this crime. This crime has been seen throughout many forms of art, but has not often been a focal point to these artforms. In order to argue that the violence these women experience needs to be central to the texts they are seen in, a comparison between three different texts is imperative. These texts are …

New Insights On Hybridization In Potamogeton Floridanus (The Florida Pondweed), Kaitlyn R. Sampson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Freshwater ecosystems are some of the most important and highest threatened habitats in the world, and aquatic plants play an important, but often-overlooked, role in maintaining them. Potamogeton is a diverse and ecologically important aquatic plant genus well known for taxonomic difficulty and rampant hybridization. lbis study aimed to 1) test the hypothesis that Potamogeton jloridanus (Florida pondweed) is a hybrid between P. oakesianus and P. pulcher, and 2) to investigate correlations in ecological conditions for the focal species. This study revealed the discovery of a new population of P. jloridanus in Big Coldwater Creek in Santa Rosa Co., FL, …

Genetic Correlations Between Liver Fat Content, Metabolic Health, And Adiposity Distribution In The Fels Longitudinal Study, Ariana L Garza, Miryoung Lee, John Blangero, Cici X Bauer, Stefan A Czerwinski, Audrey C Choh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and aims: Hepatic steatosis is known to be heritable, but its genetic basis is mostly uncharacterized. Steatosis is associated with metabolic and adiposity features; recent studies hypothesize that shared genetic effects between these traits could account for some of the unexplained heritability. This study aimed to quantify these genetic associations in a family-based sample of non-Hispanic white adults.

Methods and results: 704 participants (18-95 years, 55.8% female) from the Fels Longitudinal Study with an MRI assessment of liver fat were included. Quantitative genetic analyses estimated the age- and sex-adjusted heritability of individual traits and the genetic correlations within trait …

Association Between Participation And Satisfaction With Life Over Time In Older Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury: A Tbi Model Systems Study, Zinat Taiwo, Angelle M Sander, Shannon B Juengst, Xiangyi Liu, Luis Leon Novelo, Flora M Hammond, Therese M O'Neil-Pirozzi, Paul B Perrin, Nicholas Gut

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To examine the association between participation and satisfaction with life at 1, 2, 5, and 10 years after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in older adults.

Setting: Community.

Participants: Participants ( N = 2362) who sustained complicated mild to severe TBI, requiring inpatient rehabilitation, at age 60 years or older and had follow-up data on participation and satisfaction with life for at least 1 follow-up time point across 1, 2, 5, and 10 years. Age at each time period was categorized as 60 to 64 years, 65 to 75 years, and 75 years or older.

Design: Secondary data analysis of …

Sex Differences In Spontaneous Respiratory Recovery In Chronic Hemisection, Taylor C. Holmes, Nicole M. Popp, Carley F. Hintz, Isabell Dobrzycki, Carolyn J. Schmitz, Kaylyn A. Schwichtenberg, Elisa J. Gonzalez-Rothi, Christopher W. Sundberg, Kristi A. Streeter

Physical Therapy Faculty Research and Publications

Respiratory deficits after C2 hemisection (C2Hx) have been well documented through single-sex investigations. Although ovarian sex hormones enable enhanced respiratory recovery observed in females 2 wk post-C2Hx, it remains unknown if sex impacts spontaneous respiratory recovery at chronic time points. We conducted a longitudinal study to provide a comprehensive sex-based characterization of respiratory neuromuscular recovery for 8 wk after C2Hx. We recorded ventilation and chronic diaphragm electromyography (EMG) output in awake, behaving animals, phrenic motor output in anesthetized animals, and performed diaphragm muscle histology in chronically injured male and female rodents. Our results show that females expressed a greater recovery …