Digital Commons Network^™

Meeting Students’ Basic Needs Through A Free Nutritious Meal Program At School, Wiedya Listrina, Nora Saiva Jannana, Sedya Santosa, Tarwiyati Tarwiyati, Aning Puspita Ningrum

Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran

Background: The effectiveness of school-based nutrition intervention programs in improving students’ readiness to learn continues to yield mixed results, particularly when implemented in educational settings with heterogeneous social characteristics. Objective: This study aims to analyze the fulfillment of students’ basic needs through the Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG) and its implications for learning readiness and the learning climate at MTs Hidayatullah, Temanggung Regency, Central Java. Method: This study employs a qualitative approach with a case study design. Participants included eight students, four teachers who also served as homeroom teachers, the school principal, and the program coordinator, all selected through purposive …

What Remains, Hailie Adamczak

Honors Theses

What Remains is a balletic contemporary dance work that explores the emotional complexity of growing older, leaving home, and returning to places that no longer feel the same. Rooted in personal experience, the piece examines the tension between memory and identity, questioning whether home is a physical place or a feeling that slowly changes over time. Through movement, music, lighting, and costume design, the work reflects the bittersweet realization that certain people, places, and experiences continue to shape us long after we leave them behind.

The choreography follows a central soloist navigating themes of belonging, conformity, grief, and self-discovery. Structured …

It's Not Nde Without U And X: Preparing For Change With Inclusive Research, Sanjeet Mann, Heather L. Cribbs

Library Faculty Publications & Presentations

The upcoming Next Discovery Experience (NDE) introduces major changes to how users search, interpret information, and navigate Primo. Preparing for NDE is an opportunity to center the diverse students and faculty who rely on discovery systems every day, ensuring that their lived experiences, accessibility needs, and research practices guide interface design, configuration, and communication. This session presents a consortial approach to NDE readiness that positions students and community members as partners in the development process. We describe strategies for creating ethical and rigorous UX research workflows that include IRB approval, purposeful recruitment, accessible study design, and clear documentation on the …

Bcon-2 Mission Operations And Testing, Kenny Blanton

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

The BCON-2 mission is a collaboration between Valparaiso University and NearSpace education to design and develop a 0.5U ThinSat. The mission serves as a research platform for autonomous bulk data downlinking in low earth orbit (LEO). In collaboration with the University of Luxembourg, BCON-2 is hosting the Space Systems Engineering (SpaSys) group’s Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) for its first on-orbit demonstration. The ADCS system has X, Y, and Z magnetorquer coils embedded in PCB boards.

Pre-flight activities emphasized subsystem integration and software validation via an emulator. A vital part of the readiness process involved extensive testing with the …

Perceptions Of Northwest Indiana’S Community Supports And Resources For Caregivers Of Children With Disabilities, Veronica Lin, Julianna Colon

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Background: Caregivers of children with disabilities in Northwest Indiana (NWI) face limited services and often receive unclear, overwhelming information, leaving them unsure how to access support.

Methods: This qualitative study conducted semi-structured interviews with six caregivers across Porter, Lake, and La Porte counties. Participants completed a single 30-40 minute interview about their experiences with community resources and ideal support. Transcribed interviews were thematically analyzed.

Results: All six caregivers used at least one form of community support. Common resources included Facebook support groups (n=6), outpatient therapies (n=5), and First Steps (n=4). Five key themes emerged: (1) importance of early intervention and …

Phoenix: Gpu-Accelerated Polarized Radiative Transfer For Curved Spacetime, Christopher Noga

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), in its famous 2019 image, proved that directly imaging a supermassive black hole at the event horizon scale is possible. Understanding these observations requires effort on multiple fronts, including comparing them against synthetic images generated by post-processing general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) simulations, which describe how magnetized plasma behaves in the strong-field limit, such as near a black hole. Bridging the gap between these simulations and observations involves general relativistic ray-tracing (GRRT), which tracks how light rays propagate through curved spacetime, producing synthetic images that can be directly compared to EHT data. The quantitative techniques that …

Mechanistic Insights Into Enterolactone-Mediated Glut4-Dependent Glucose Uptake, Merritt Smith

Senior Honors Theses

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States, with approximately 25% of healthcare expenditures directed toward its management and associated metabolic complications. In response to the urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies, recent research has focused on bioactive compounds derived from dietary sources. In light of that, we identified the plant lignan matairesinol (MA) and its gut-derived metabolite, enterolactone (ENL), as agents capable of enhancing glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 differentiated adipocytes. These results suggest that enterolactone may represent a promising dietary supplement for improving glycemic control in patients with …

Transparency And Personalized Feedback Curb Ai Misuse In Asynchronous Online Biology, Elana A. Paladino

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

The rapid expansion of generative AI (Gen-AI) has reshaped teaching and assessment in online, asynchronous introductory biology courses, creating new challenges for academic integrity and meaningful learning. This poster examines practical strategies to promote ethical AI use while maintaining student engagement. Transparency of instructions and timely, personalized feedback were found to curb AI misuse in online discussion posts. Structured use of AI tutors encouraged responsible engagement with Gen-AI, and surveillance methods for summative exams had mixed effects.

Culturally Responsive Tent: An Architectural Journey, Marcos Amado Petroli, Elmira Ebadi

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Culturally responsive teaching in architecture encourages students to connect design thinking with identity, culture, and lived experience. This studio assignment introduced the tent as an archetypal architectural form and weaving as a generative tectonic strategy, allowing students to explore how lightweight structures can respond to social needs, cultural narratives, and material expression.

Psychedelic Research In The Modern Day: Good Or Bad?, Shane Miller

Mechanical Engineering Student Research

This work is about the usage/safety of psychedelic substances, and I explain whether they are good or bad in terms of other drugs, such as alcohol.

Implementation Of Kansei Engineering Method In Designing Spreadable Cheese Packaging, Novi Purnama Sari, Mega Analisa, Suci Puji Lestari, Khofifah Nur Amalia

Makara Journal of Technology

Some spreadable cheese packaging uses flexible plastic without additional features and easily damaged boxes. This packaging causes several problems, such as difficulty in re-storage, loss of product information due to damaged box packaging, wasteful use of packaging materials, and making the product less hygienic. The purpose of this study is to develop packaging that focuses on consumer emotions. The packaging was developed using the Kansei Engineering method, supported by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as a determinant of the design concept, and Quantification Theory Type 1 (QTT1) to identify design elements. This study produced 46 packaging samples and 40 Kansei words. …

Redefining Certainty: Non-Euclidean Geometry And Theology Transformation Throughout The Intellectual Unrest Of The Early 1800s, Luke Bensinger

Honors Theses

To bridge the gap between mathematics and theology, it is necessary to explore their intersection and challenge the notion that these fields are incompatible. This study focuses on the 19th century, a period when non-Euclidean geometries emerged and disrupted mathematical certainty, while Protestant theologians such as Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell grappled with Calvinism and shifting theological perspectives. By analyzing mathematicians studying geometry, such as Gauss, Lobachevsky, and Riemann, this research examines how both disciplines balance change with enduring truths.

Analysis Of The Flavonoid Composition Of Honey Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography, Bryce Phillips

Honors Theses

Honey is a naturally occurring substance that has a complex composition including compounds such as flavonoids, that contribute to potential health benefits. Quantitative analysis of flavonoids in honey can be challenging due to their similar structural characteristics, matrix effects, and chromatographic peak separation issues. This study aimed to establish calibration curves for five flavonoids–kaempferol, luteolin, chrysin, myricetin, and quercetin– to estimate their concentrations in five honey samples from varying geographic origins. Liquid-liquid extraction was used to isolate the flavonoids from honey. High Performance Liquid Chromatography was utilized to establish calibration curves and analyze honey samples. The calibration curves assembled demonstrated …

Greeting Death “Sitting Up:” How Children’S Literature Provides Modern Death Education, Reilly Kendrick

Honors Theses

Western culture places a lot of importance on legacy and friendship as important lessons to learn from death. However, children do not have as much experience with death due to changing cultural customs, and our society lacks a formal death education system that can promote these values and teach children how to respond to death in their lives. Literature, though, can fill this gap in children’s knowledge by teaching the basic physical components of death and philosophical understandings of death. These ideas are learned through vicarious reading, in which children experience the character’s emotions and reactions as they read. The …

Platforms Of Exemption (For New Relations) Within Suburbia And Other Consolidating Hegemonies, Ayden Pritchard

Honors Theses

Theory is a mode of action that opens up revisionary spaces in the world. By voicing complexity and ambivalence in a situation, disembodied patterns are put in contact with compliant, unclaimed material, and they gain a foothold within the established structures of the present. This paper seeks to sketch the lines of influence that govern association and perception in suburbia, and to speculate the kinds of spaces where new relations between people who are normally segregated can occur. The information presented here hopes to join the reservoir of patterns that structure your everyday theoretical (revisionary) activity, to make changes possible …

Sacred Steps: Walking, Religion, And The Path To Peace, Francesca Benna

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Walking is one of the simplest and most primordial human acts, yet it carries profound meanings that transcend cultures, religious traditions, and paths of individual and collective transformation. Walking is not merely a means of movement but a practice that fosters reconnection with oneself, the environment, and the community. Bruce Chatwin, in The Songlines (1987), highlights how nomadism is an inherent human condition, suggesting that movement is essential not only for physical survival but also for mental and spiritual well-being. In an era marked by environmental crises, conflicts, and increasing technological alienation, rediscovering the value of walking responds to a …

Killing Bali (Part I) A Journey From God’S Paradise To Human Inferno, Pierre Fournié, Dr Pierre Fournié

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Tourism is growing and growing fast. Before the pandemic, in 2018, the number of arrivals worldwide reached 1.4 billion arrivals from less than 600 million, twenty years earlier. In many countries, especially in developing ones, tourism is perceived as a unique opportunity, a model of territorial development, possibly a national strategy. In Indonesia, after being elected in 2014, former President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasised the importance of tourism, considered as a strategic sector. It had to become the largest exchange currency contributor to Indonesia’s revenue thus bypassing rubber, coal, oil and gas (Fournié & Dou, 2018).

In the collective awareness …

What Makes Leaders In Human Services Effective? A Pilot Study Linking Systems Thinking, Perspective-Taking, And Leadership Success, Ryan Witterschein

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Leadership effectiveness is a persistent challenge in human services nonprofits, where organizations serving individuals with disabilities and complex needs have grown dramatically but lack validated tools for assessing the cognitive competencies that distinguish effective leaders. This quantitative pilot study introduces the ABA Leadership Assessment Tool version 2.0 (ABLA 2.0), a 48-item instrument integrating transformational and transactional leadership frameworks with three constructs from Relational Frame Theory—perspective-taking, temporal reasoning, and systems thinking. Eight Board Certified Behavior Analysts in organizational leadership roles completed the assessment, yielding 100% completion and strong preliminary reliability across all subscales (α = .71–.94). Leaders who demonstrated stronger cognitive …

Rethinking Ngo Sustainability: A Framework For Developing Support Structures Beyond Traditional Donations And Grants, Angie Holzer, Jackson Cooper

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This thought paper examines the growing instability of traditional funding streams in the global nonprofit sector and argues for a fundamental shift in how sustainability is conceptualized. Moving beyond a narrow focus on financial capital, the paper introduces a practical framework of five interconnected resource types—financial, material, human, knowledge, and network resources—supported by a sixth foundational element, relational capital, or trust. Drawing on examples and applied models, the authors demonstrate how nonprofits can strengthen resilience and long-term impact by intentionally leveraging diverse and often underutilized forms of support. The paper also highlights the evolving role of board members, emphasizing the …

Enhancing Family-Centered Practice In Gobabygo, Peyton Throw

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Abstract

The GoBabyGo program provides modified ride-on vehicles to children with mobility impairments to promote early mobility, environmental exploration, and participation. Early powered mobility has been shown to support cognitive, social, and motor development in young children with disabilities (Huang & Galloway, 2012; Logan et al., 2016). Despite these benefits, the literature identifies challenges including inconsistent caregiver training, variability in program implementation, and limited standardized guidelines, which may affect long-term device use and participation outcomes (Logan et al., 2020; Hospodar et al., 2023). At Valparaiso University, an interdisciplinary team of occupational therapy, engineering, and health professions students collaborates to design …

Gamification Of Physical Therapy To Promote Adherence, Katie Bennett

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Rehabilitation and physical therapy are essential components of recovery, yet patient adherence is often limited by low motivation and the repetitive nature of prescribed exercises. Similar challenges are observed in general fitness, where individuals are more likely to engage in physical activity when it is paired with goal-setting, feedback, and enjoyable experiences. Prior work, such as gamified fitness systems (e.g., Wii Fit), has demonstrated the potential of utilizing games to increase user engagement and consistency. In this work, the application of gamification principles to rehabilitation is examined by designing an interactive game that utilizes a balance board as an input …

Engagement Within The Classroom, Jasmine T. Poindexter

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Jasmine Poindexter

Professor Bartels

ED490/590 Action Research in Education

27 March 2026

Proposal for Conference

For my project, my main concern was making sure students feel considered and welcomed within all their classroom settings! The main question that would be asked is connected to incorporating aspects of verbal praise, tangible rewards/incentives, and consistent feedback to encourage desired behavior, we will discover methods of positive reinforcement in a learning environment for the engagement and growth of all students (academically/emotionally/socially). This connects to the classroom behavior that is monitored and compared alongside data. My first theme will talk about how desired behavior …

Staff Perceptions’ Of Social Isolation And Loneliness In Older Adults Transitioning To Assisted Living Facilities, Ellie Schuck, Becca Haller, Riley Gaskill, Eugene Airhiagbonkpa, Ariel Farrar, Brianna Taylor, Giselle Nava Contreras, Carmen Marie Ruiz

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Background: As loneliness negatively impacts older adults who move into assisted living, staff need to detect and manage loneliness with tailored interventions (Horgan et al., 2024; Sun et al., 2021). Healthcare professionals view loneliness as individualized experiences triggered by different coping mechanisms, negatively affecting older adults' health (Dobarrio-San et al.). Few articles were found that considered the staff’s viewpoint on loneliness during the transition period. The purpose of this study is to interview staff to gain their perspective on the challenges residents face during their move into an assisted living facility.

Methods: This study uses a qualitative approach to interview …

Masks, Moves, And Manipulations: Gendered Gameplay In Survivor, Dakota Asbell

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Reality competition shows like Survivor provide a rich context for examining the strategic performance of gender in socially mediated environments. This study investigates how gendered strategies of play, classified as masculine, feminine, blended, or gender-neutral, affect contestant success and audience perception across four seasons of Survivor. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from quantitative metrics, qualitative coding, and audience popularity rankings. Results reveal a consistent pattern; all four Sole Survivor winners employed blended strategies, which also garnered high audience approval. Feminine strategies were associated with runner-up placements and moderate popularity, while masculine strategies often led to earlier elimination and …

Explaining The Binary Planetary Nebulae Alignment In The Galactic Bulge With The Galactic Gravitational Potential, Hunter Wood

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Planetary nebulae are one of the last stages of stellar evolution for low-mass stars, which have a mass of less than about eight times the mass of the Sun. As the star ejects its outer layers, the high-temperature central star can ionize the gaseous ejected layers and make them glow. Also detected in a portion of planetary nebulae are binary central stars where another object is in orbit with the central star of the planetary nebula. Within the Galactic bulge, a statistically significant alignment between the orbital/nebular axis and the Galactic disk has been observed for the binary population of …

Spectral Signatures Of Silicate Clusters In Planetary Nebulae, Joel Osterhus, Abby Proskurniak, Samantha Krusza, Victoria Kelly, Zeke Montemayor, Jonathan Bauzon

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Knowing the molecular composition and abundance of dust surrounding planetary nebulae (PNe) would provide a better understanding of their formation and evolution. It has been recently discovered that PNe can contain both carbon-based (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and oxygen-based dust (silicates), whereas they were previously thought to contain primarily one or the other. The goal of this research is to use computational methods to compare the infrared (IR) spectra of various silicates to the observed spectra of oxygen-rich PNe to determine their specific molecular origins. We have focused our efforts on small (SiO₂)_n clusters (n=1-12). We have calculated …

Climate Change-Related Effects On Carbon Emissions And Net Ammonification Across Lowland To Upland Soils From A High-Latitude Coastal Ecosystem, Jenna M. Ross, Karen H. Beard, Katharine C. Kelsey, Matteo Petit Bon, A. Joshua Leffler

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Warming, sea-level rise, and changing herbivory patterns are affecting ecosystem processes in northern coastal soils, including carbon and nitrogen cycling, although their combined effects are poorly understood. We studied the impact of these changes in a full-factorial microcosm experiment using four distinct soil types from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of western Alaska. Soil was collected from three coastal wetlands, which differ in flooding frequency and use by migratory geese, and one rarely-flooded upland tundra used by geese in late summer. Microcosms containing these soils were incubated for 16 weeks at 10°C or 18°C, with or without three short-term floods, and with …

Vo: The Vaccine Ontology, Jie Zheng, Asiyah Yu Lin, Anthony Huffman, Anna Maria Masci, Rebecca Racz, Guanming Wu, Kallan Roan, Edison Ong, Sirarat Sarntivijai, Joy Hu, Eliyas Asfaw, Hayleigh Kahn, Xingxian Li, Xumeng Zhang, Joshua Monickaraj, Nilufer Kosar, Jianfu Li, Warren Manuel, Rashmie Abeysinghe, Hasin Rehana, Benu Bansal, Yuanyi Pan, Jinjing Guo, Virginia He, Justin Song, Andrey I Seleznev, Katelyn Hur, Anna He, Alexander Davydov, Qi Yang, Anna Ostropolets, Randi Vita, Bjoern Peters, Alan Ruttenberg, Alexander D Diehl, Charles Tapley Hoyt, Paola Roncaglia, Rachael P Huntley, Richard H Scheuermann, Melanie Courtot, Thomas Todd, Samantha Sayers, Fang Chen, Xinna Li, Feng-Yu Yeh, Zuoshuang Xiang, Arzucan Ozgur, Patricia L Whetzel, Mark A Musen, Christopher J Mungall, Wolfgang W Leitner, Licong Cui, Lesley A Colby, Harry L T Mobley, Brian D Athey, Gilbert S Omenn, Lindsay G Cowell, Cui Tao, Junguk Hur, Barry Smith, Yongqun He

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Vaccines are widely used in both research and clinical settings. To facilitate FAIR data practices, we urgently need to standardize vaccine representation, integrate information across diverse vaccine types, and support computer-assisted reasoning. Accordingly, we have since 2007 developed the community-based Vaccine Ontology (VO), which aligns with the Basic Formal Ontology and adheres to OBO Foundry principles. VO ontologically models vaccines, vaccine components, vaccine immune responses, vaccine investigation studies and other vaccine-related topics. VO represents more than 10,000 vaccines targeting 289 infectious pathogens and cancers in humans and over 30 nonhuman animal species. VO provides mappings to external resources such as …

Survival Of The Fittest: Extremophilic Actinomycetes As The Future Of Antibiotic Treatment, Kyley Nelson, Ben Reddan

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

The antibiotic resistance crisis is an emerging global health threat. In 2019 alone, 1.27 million deaths were attributed to antibiotic-resistant pathogens, and researchers predict the problem will worsen without intervention. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become a primary model for this crisis because it utilizes genomic adaptations to bypass β-lactam antibiotics. Although temperate actinomycetes have historically provided the majority of clinical antibiotics, recent bioprospecting has revealed that extremophilic actinomycetes represent a critical untapped resource. These organisms exhibit several adaptations to thrive in extreme environments, which results in the production of novel secondary metabolites and resilient extracellular enzymes. This literature review …

The Pressure Is On For Pediatric Primary Lymphedema (Ple): Guiding Future Occupational Therapy Clinicians To Address The Unmet Needs And Enhance Care At An Academic Health Center, Ginger A. Kohler

Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate - Innovations in OT Symposium: Transforming Possibilities into Practice

Objective: Pediatric primary lymphedema (PLE) in adolescents is a rare, chronic condition frequently associated with delayed diagnosis and limited healthcare provider awareness. The purpose of this capstone project was to enhance Entry‑Level Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) Students’ knowledge of the characteristics, management strategies, and available resources for PLE in adolescents, while increasing awareness of the critical role of occupational therapists certified in lymphedema therapy.

Methods: A hybrid educational module consisting of two one‑hour sessions, one asynchronous and one in‑person, was developed and delivered to Residential Entry-Level OTD Students at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Module content included …