Digital Commons Network^™

From Visual Events To Vibrotactile Feedback: A Semantic Vae Pipeline For Temporal Haptic Generation, Jiayi Liu

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Vibrotactile feedback can communicate system state, interaction progress, and event salience through short physical sensations. For temporal visual events, however, effective feedback must align with both what an event means and how it unfolds over time, including rhythm, duration, intensity, and repetition. This thesis examines this problem through UI flows, a controlled and common HCI setting. The proposed semantic VAE pipeline represents each visual transition as semantic haptic events, described by behavior class, communicative role, style, strength, timing, and duration. These events guide a curated behavior atlas and a convolutional variational autoencoder. The atlas identifies interpretable regions of the learned …

Look, I Finished My Pem Sticker Chart!, Kimberly L. Fugok Do, Sarah Fish Do, Kira Galeano, Kyle S Wilson Md, Dawn M. Yenser, Bryan G. Kane Md

Department of Emergency Medicine

No abstract provided.

First-Year Seminar’S Influence On Thriving In First-Year Students, Chelsea Miller

Dissertations

First-year students struggle with attrition. Prevention of attrition has various interventions on such first-year seminars. Typically, these interventions use academic outcomes to measure effectiveness. Prior research supports that students enrolled in first-year seminar benefit academically from the intervention. However, these outcomes do not fully capture all the possible benefits of this intervention. This leaves room for research on other possible outcomes. Thriving as a construct incorporates both academic and social elements. Thriving is a possible outcome that could capture the benefits of first-year seminars. This study examined how much of the variance in thriving was explained by participation in first-year …

Nomophobia In Early Adolescence: An Exploration Of Prevalence, Academic Performance, And School Policy In United States Middle School Students, Christopher Otero

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine nomophobia among middle school students, investigating its relationships with grade level, smartphone OS, school smartphone policy, and academic performance. Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory, the research utilized a sample of 85 U.S. middle school students to address three research questions:

Q1 What relationships exists between middle school students’ grade levels, smartphone operating systems, school smartphone policy, GPA, and nomophobia levels?

Q2 To what extent do middle school student’s grade level, smartphone operating system, and school smartphone policy predict nomophobia?

Q3 Is nomophobia a significant predictor of GPA in middle school students?

Findings …

Wrestling With Morality: A Study On Moral Identity And Social Behavior In Individual Sports, Julia Isabella Ybarra

Dissertations

The development of moral reasoning and social behavior in adolescents and young adults is critical to healthy functioning. Sport participation is frequently assumed to promote positive developmental outcomes; however, the moral implications of participation in combative sports such as wrestling remain debated. Wrestling differs from many team and individual sports due to its physically dominant and one-on-one competitive structure, raising questions regarding how involvement may relate to moral identity, moral disengagement, and social behavior. The purpose of this exploratory quantitative study was to examine associations among moral identity, moral disengagement, and prosocial and antisocial behavior in adolescent and young adult …

Applying The Job–Demands-Resources Model To Uncover Influences On Continuity Outcomes For Caregivers Of Individuals With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Nancy J. Potter

Dissertations

Home-based, shared living caregivers provide a vital safety net for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived job demands and job resources that influence continuity-related outcomes among caregivers supporting individuals with IDD within a shared living service model.

Three research questions guided this study:

Q1 How are job demands and caregiver outcomes related?

Q2 Do resources moderate the relationship between caregiver outcomes and job demands?

Q3 Does the moderating effect of resources on the relationship between job demands and caregiver outcomes differ by caregiver relationship type?

The study methodology examined …

Certified Orientation And Mobility Specialists’ Experiences Working With Students Who Have Cerebral Visual Impairment, Elise Nobuko Darrow

Dissertations

Certified orientation and mobility specialists (COMS) provide instruction to students who are blind or visually impaired on how to navigate safely and efficiently. Visual impairments can stem from eye-related conditions or neurological issues, such as cerebral visual impairment (CVI), which affects visual processing. Cerebral visual impairment is currently the leading cause of visual impairment in children in the United States and is often accompanied by comorbidities such as cerebral palsy, which is associated with additional disabilities. Orientation and mobility (O&M) instruction focuses on teaching safe and efficient travel skills and began as a rehabilitation service for blinded war veterans who …

The Paradox Of Twice-Exceptional Teacher Experience: A Narrative And Visual Inquiry, Michael Danielle Bell

Dissertations

Twice-exceptional (2e) individuals, those with high cognitive ability and concurrent disabilities, have been the primary focus in K-12 research, yet they largely disappeared from research as adults. This narrative inquiry examined the lived experiences of three 2e educators navigating the public school system. Grounded in the Neurodiversity Paradigm and the Social Model of Disability, the study utilized semi-structured interviews and photo elicitation to externalize the sensory and cognitive realities of 2e educators through an affirmative, strengths-based lens. Narrative analysis revealed a central synthesis of the paradox of 2e educator experiences that highlighted participants’ neurodivergent traits as simultaneously their greatest professional …

Exploration Of The Intent To Remain In The Nursing Profession: Reasons New Nurse Graduates Remain At The Bedside, Amy Simons

Dissertations

Newly graduated nurses (NNGs) have been essential to sustaining the nursing workforce, yet up to 35.0% have left their initial positions within 2 years of licensure, contributing to persistent workforce instability (Kovner et al., 2016; Shatto & Lutz, 2017; Yu & Kang, 2016). Although factors influencing early turnover have been widely studied (Blegen et al., 2017; Fox & Abrahamsen, 2009; Kovner et al., 2016; Shatto & Lutz, 2017; Skillman & Toms, 2022; Wei et al., 2018; Yarbrough et al., 2017), less has been known about the determinants of NNGs’ intent to remain in the nursing profession. Guided by Herzberg’s Two-Factor …

Reconsidering The Undergraduate Viola Canon: A Skill Based Framework For Repertoire Expansion, Daniella Isabel Angulo Martinez

Dissertations

This research analyses the limitations of the standard undergraduate viola repertoire and proposes a structured, skill-based framework for its expansion. Within collegiate viola programs in the United States, training frequently focuses on a limited group of orchestra-accompanied works, particularly those by Telemann, Stamitz, Bruch, and Walton. While these works have a great pedagogical value, their dominance has contributed to a restricted repertoire that can limit students’ technical development, musical style knowledge, and artistic growth.

Based on the pedagogical standards of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), this research identifies five core performance domains - technique, rhythm, intonation, tone projection, and …

A Phenomenological Examination Of Value Recognition And Development In Mental Health Counselors-In-Training, Luke Erskine Steinman

Dissertations

The importance of values in therapy is well recognized and documented in the field of mental health counseling, despite this, the implementation of value-based instruction into formal training is often unclear and inconsistent. As such, the purpose of this study was to investigate how CITs recognized their personal and professional values; the impact those values have on their work and personal lives; how their values developed throughout the course of their training; and what factors influenced that development. This was done with the hopes of better understanding how these areas shape their professional practice. Research questions examined how CITs recognize …

Social Correlates Of Trauma And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: The Importance Of Context, Lukoye Atwoli, Linnet Ongeri

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Understanding trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) requires a contextual perspective that considers historical legacies, social environments, and cultural realities. This paper draws on empirical evidence from Kenya and Uganda to demonstrate the limitations of applying trauma frameworks developed in high-income countries to African contexts. Findings from the Orphaned and Separated Children’s Assessment Related to Their Health and Well-Being (OSCAR) study challenge assumptions about care environments. The study reveals higher PTSD rates among orphans in family-based settings compared to institutional care, and highlights the protective roles of religion and social support. The Neuropsychiatric Genetics of African Populations-Psychosis (NeuroGAP-Psychosis) study provides …

Part Of The Family, Brian Garbrecht

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Part of the Family examines television as both a domestic object and a cultural force. TV was not simply something my family watched, but something we lived with. Through CRT televisions, VHS recordings, family photographs, altered TV Guides, fictional broadcasts, and immersive living-room installations, the project explores how television shaped memory, kinship, attention, and belonging in the American home. Drawing from my family’s archive of Chicago-area broadcasts recorded between the 1990s and early 2000s, the work treats VHS as a hybrid form of home movie, preserving the flow of commercials, news, station IDs, sitcoms, movies, and accidental overlaps that structured …

Real-Time Adaptable Residential Kitchen: A Plug-In Standard, Rachel Fuelberth

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

This thesis looks at how a real-time adaptable standard could be put in place within the modern kitchen to allow for equitable use of the space by numerous members of the household and their differing physical characteristics. The residential kitchen is a fundamentally exclusionary architectural construction designed around able-bodied, average-height adults. This excludes children, the elderly, anyone outside of the average height, and people with mobility differences. The kitchen has never been a place of equity. It has been designed to be used by an average-height female, and it does not account for the discomfort of those outside this norm. …

Design And Development Of A Passive Dust Protection System For Lunar Docking Operations, Simon Thengvall

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Lunar docking systems face a unique set of environmental conditions that can create significant challenges for mechanical design. Among these, the abrasive nature of lunar regolith can impair the kinematic function of traditional terrestrial mechanisms as well as contaminate critical spacecraft components such as environmental seals, causing them to fail. For crew-rated docking systems, failure of these systems not only threatens mission success, but also crew safety, so dust protection is crucial for docking components. To address the concerns of regolith intrusion, the Simple External Attachment for Lunar Openings (SEALO) is developed as a key architecture for mechanism evaluation when …

Decomposition Study Using Pigs In Southeastern Nebraska During The Fall And Winter Seasons, Ryan Bodine

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

When an individual is found deceased, one of the tools used in the identification process is estimating the post-mortem interval (PMI). This estimate is used to determine how long an individual has been deceased once their remains are found. To estimate an accurate PMI, knowing how decomposition is affected by external factors is key. The transition period from fall to winter in southeastern Nebraska consists of fluctuating temperatures as the seasons transfer from fall to winter. This thesis investigates how decomposition is affected during this transition period while also looking at two different environments that are common in Nebraska, prairies …

Exploring The Biocultural Profile Of The Undocumented Populations Of The Sonoran Corridor: A Skeletal Assessment Of The Prevention Through Deterrence Strategy, Mary A. Vaughn

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

Over the last thirty years the mortality rate of the undocumented population at the US-Mexico border has risen, requiring methods distinguishing US-born individuals from immigrants to improve the likelihood of identification and repatriation through foreign consulates. Forensic anthropologists with the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (PCOME) have advocated for the use of the biocultural profile, combining the biological profile with factors including oral health, osteological stress, and personal effects. The biocultural profile serves two purposes, functioning both as a tool for identification and with which to document structural inequality within communities of origin.

This study examines changes in …

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: Food Access, Housing, Religious Community, And Health Care Access Reflection, Celene Philip, Michaela Kizy, Haley Montgomery, Akash Dantuluri, Josh Hailo, Abdel Kareem Hilo, Shadi Charara, Sarah Schenck

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: Social Determinants Of Health: Food, Transportation, Healthcare Facilities And More, Eboni Sawyer, Jesse Hawkins, Sephora Dafinescu, Andrew Robinson, Dev Patel, Sara Mccurry, Lauren Collins, Brandon Rogers

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: Employment, Education, Fitness, Healthy Food, Pharmacies, And Reflection, Annika Tekumulla, Vamsi Gollapalli, Sebastian Reczek, Alston Prabhu, Matthew Haerens, Ashna Mehra, Susan Dong, Madison Martin

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: Observation And Reflection Of Food Availability, Housing, Public Spaces, Recreation, And Healthcare In The Community, Celestino Mangulabnan, Melanie Kajy, Gabriel Hay, George Naguib, Arya Mohanty, Schednah Laraque, Charles Dickson

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: Education, Access To Healthy Foods, Neighborhood & Physical Environment, Economic Stability, Taylor Brown, Tanya Bhardwaj, Sara Komaiha, Duncan Mcleod, Jonah Harman, Jai Kukreja, Dominic Marsalese, Elizabeth O'Brien

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: Neighborhood & Built Environment, Social & Community Context, Health Care Access & Quality, Courtney Alexander, Sarah Okeke, Bashar Jawich, Joshua Weiss, Shoshana Leflein, Mitchell Finesilver, Liz Ana Palacios

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: Sdoh Needs: Food And Community Spaces Reflection, Mohamed Attie, Katie Gahn, Maggie Lomasney, Emerson Woodbury, Muhammad Hatim, Justinas Sapiega, Isaac Agranoff, Braysila Ford

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: A Reflection On The Limited Resources Available For A Healthy Lifestyle, Jana Hatahet, Steven Jones, Laila Shatela, Pegi Laci, Anushka Dalvi, Michael Becker, Albert Oh, Anthony Marquez

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: Social Determinants In Action: A Field Reflection On Community Health, Jamaica Jordan, Razanne Zaghloul, Raj Khuperkar, Lissette Valdez, Nathan Morren, Cole Duvall, Alexis King

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: Education, Environmental Conditions, And Food Insecurities Reflection, Skylar Hall, Badruddin Mahamed, Jenna Andersen, Evan Robyns, Andrew Singh, Julia Correll, Yousef El-Magharbel, Tiffany Adam

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: Neighborhood And Built Environment: Facilitating Safety, Community, And Preventative Health, Zachary Hart, Batoul Dabajeh, Maaz Munawar, Josie Mclearen, Theodore Belecciu, Laura Zvinys, Tarek Harhash, Emily Critchfield

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: Neighborhood, Environment, And Reflection, Olma Tadesse, Kush Amin, Devon Roe, Anjie Dinakin, Matt Minasian, Arisha Arain, Dave Sreedhar, Ashley Yuran

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: 48219 Beyond The Zip Code, Justin Darragh, Adhithi Keerthana Athikumar, Muaaz Akhtar, Dania Zeidan, Nathaniel Edwards, Trina Alimi, Jonah Brand, Beatrice White

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.