Digital Commons Network^™

The Benefits Of Handcrafting, Madison Mallory

Honors Theses

Handcrafting encompasses physical creative activities such as crochet, wood working, pottery, knitting, and many others. This study includes qualitative research to focus on the impact of handcrafting on individuals. This research was conducted via interviews with 11 individuals. The parameters for individuals to be included in this study is being 18 years of age or older and having experience with handcrafting. Through these interviews two interviewees referred to hand crafting as a form of meditation while seven others expressed feeling similarly using words such as feeling present, calm, focused, and relaxed. Two people share experiences of using handcrafting as coping …

Probing The Disequilibrium Chemistry Of Two Late T-Dwarfs Using Planetary Intensity Code For Atmospheric Scattering, Crystal-Lynn Jacqueline Bartier

Theses and Dissertations

We have performed a detailed analysis of the atmospheric properties of two late-T type brown dwarfs, 2MASSI J0415195-093506 and 2MASS J05591914-140448. For each brown dwarfs, we combined the spectra of each brown dwarf from the ground at 1-2.5 µm, AKARI at 2.5-5 µm, and from the Spitzer Space Telescope at 5-15 µm. For this project, we are particularly interested in probing the extent of vertical mixing. For this analysis, we used the Planetary Intensity Code for Atmospheric Scattering (PICASO), which is a code that creates a radiative transfer model for a given set of atmospheric parameters. With PICASO we find …

The Ninth Amendment And Natural Rights/Social Compact Theory: A Defense Of Fundamental Unenumerated Constitutional Rights In The Wake Of Dobbs, Joseph R. Guerra

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

In ruling that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not protect a right to an abortion, the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization relied on reasoning that casts serious doubt on the continued validity of other unenumerated constitutional rights. According to Dobbs, unenumerated rights cannot be recognized unless they are deeply rooted in this Nation's history and traditions, and have long enjoyed legal protection. In ruling that a right to abortion failed this test, the Court asserted that its decision did not undermine other previously recognized unenumerated rights, such as rights to …

Inclusion In Education: Supporting All Students, Sarah E. Cannon

Masters Projects

Inclusion has become a prominent topic in today’s education sector. However, it is far more than just a buzzword, it is federal law. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates that students with disabilities be educated in their Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), “Each public agency must ensure that—To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are nondisabled,” (U.S. Department of Education, 2017, para 1).  In summary, public schools must provide opportunities for students with disabilities to be educated alongside their general education peers …

Leadnursingforward.Org And A Focus On Nursing Retention: Advocating For Maryland’S Nursing Workforce, Kaynabess Freda, Lisa Seldomridge, Abigail Johnson

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Maryland’s Nursing Workforce Study identified critical shortages in registered nurses and nurse educators, emphasizing the urgent need for sustainable, equity-focused strategies to strengthen the workforce and academic pipeline (Global Data, 2022; Maryland Hospital Association, 2022; National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, 2020). To address these challenges, XXX was expanded as a statewide platform that advocates for healthier work environments through actionable, evidence-based resources. A team of academic content experts, GIS specialists, and marketers collaborated to design and implement new site features. The “Be a Maryland Nurse” page was developed to highlight statewide data and showcase successful retention strategies. …

Enhancing Nurse Preparedness And Safety In Home Health Through Simulation For Nursing Students, D'Ana Brooks, Christina Matousek, Kelli-Ann Mancini

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Nurses working in the home health setting often work alone in isolated and uncontrolled environments, which increases their risk of experiencing violence or unsafe situations. Recent home health nurse experiences suggest that the severity of safety events has increased in violence and in some cases, led to death. In a recent survey by National Nurses United (2023), eight out of ten nurses reported experiencing workplace violence, including verbal abuse, physical threats, and being pinched or scratched.⁴ Nursing curriculum does not consistently focus on education for the home health setting or overall nurse safety, calling for a re-examination of …

Mental Stress, Physical Activity And Reproductive Health: A Pilot Study On College-Aged Females In Stem, Ellie Nichols

Honors Theses

Introduction: Undergraduate students enrolled in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs face rigorous academic demands that place them under immense stress. Chronic exposure to stress elevates cortisol, a key hormone known to disrupt endocrine function, including the reproductive system; such disruptions may contribute to menstrual irregularities. Among mediators that help the body return to homeostasis, physical activity (PA) is widely recognized as an effective tool for managing stress. Previous literature has documented the relationship between stress and reproductive health, however limited research has examined how PA may buffer stress related reproductive disruptions within the undergraduate STEM student population. This …

Social Workers’ Views On Students With Developmental Disabilities In Charter And Private Schools In Idaho, Branden Smalley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Idaho private and charter schools are experiencing increased enrollment, including students who are developmentally delayed. Such an increase in the population of developmentally delayed students presents challenges for school social workers in providing needed therapeutic services. This study addressed the limited therapeutic services for students with developmental disabilities in Idaho’s private and charter schools, as perceived by school social workers. The purpose was to examine school social workers’ perceptions of the barriers and challenges they encounter when supporting students with developmental disabilities in private or charter schools in Idaho. Participant eligibility criteria included holding a minimum of a bachelor’s degree …

How Positive Psychology Coaching May Influence Authentic Leadership Development, Amy Lynn Weilbacher

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although organizations often articulate values driven missions, failure by leaders to consistently embody these values in practice can erode credibility and effectiveness. Organizational leaders need to understand the role of positive psychology coaching in authentic leadership development because mission credibility depends on the leaders’ enacted values. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore how positive psychology coaching may influence authentic leadership development. This study was guided by a conceptual framework integrating positive psychology and authentic leadership. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 11 U.S.-based organizational leaders who participated in positive psychology coaching. Six key themes emerged …

Energetic Characterization Of 3-D Printed Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Fuels For Hybrid Rocket Propulsion Applications, Stephen A. Whitmore, Ryan J. Thibaudeau, Ava T. Wilkey

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Hybrid rocket technologies are gaining recognition as eco-friendly alternatives to traditional propulsion systems. Utah State University’s Propulsion Research Laboratory has developed a High-Performance Green Hybrid Propulsion (HPGHP) technology, leveraging 3D-printed ABS fuel for reliable, low-energy ignition. Among tested materials, only ABS shows suitable electrical-breakdown properties for arc ignition. Unfortunately, due to the proprietary formulations in commercial ABS blends, and its limited use as a rocket-propellant, related composition and combustion data are limited. This study uses spectroscopic evaluation and bomb calorimetry to estimate material compositions, enthalpies of formation, and combustion energies for multiple commercially available 3-D print feed stock ABS types, …

The Faces Behind “La Calle Principal”: The Economic Role Of Tourism In Shaping Local Livelihoods In Santa Cruz, Galapagos, Gabriella Alba

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Understanding the socioeconomic influences of a region is a complex endeavor, as many variables contribute to the fluctuations of an economic system, many of which intersect at the political and, in this case, ecological level. Specifically, this research aims to analyze tourism as one of those key factors to answer this question: How does tourism impact the socioeconomic livelihood of locals from La Isla de Santa Cruz, Galapagos? The Galapagos is a series of islands off the coast of Ecuador known for its rich ecological history as a site of scientific discovery. This has led to the archipelago’s extreme protection …

Reconstructing Fire Progression From Uas Observations To Evaluate Bioaerosol Transport Sensitivity In Coupled Fire–Atmosphere Simulations, Isaac Forrest, Ali Tohidi, Angel Farguell, Aurélien Costes, Leda N. Kobziar, Phinehas Lampman, Eric Rowell, Adam Kochanski

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Bioaerosols released during wildland and prescribed fires may influence ecosystems, air quality, and microbial dispersal, yet their transport and deposition remain poorly understood. This study combined infrared uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) observations of a prescribed burn with the coupled fire–atmosphere model WRF-SFIRE and a Lagrangian particle model in order to evaluate how uncertainties in simulated fire behavior affect predicted bioaerosol (bacterial cell) transport and deposition. A reconstruction of the observed spatiotemporal evolution of the fire was derived from thermal UAS measurements acquired during the burn and incorporated into a WRF-SFIRE simulation, in which the modeled fire spread was constrained to …

Using Machine Learning To Optimize The Board Game Can't Stop, John C. Carter

Honors College Theses

Can’t Stop is a jeopardy dice game invented by Sid Jackson and first published in 1980. It has players rolling four dice to make pairs that advance markers up a board, with the first player to complete three columns winning the game. One of the most important decisions each turn is deciding whether to stop rolling the dice to keep your progress, or risk failing the next roll and losing your progress. Different strategies have been developed on when is the optimal time to stop, using a variety of statistical and mathematical approaches. However, one approach that has not seen …

Dixie Knights, Dissonance And Contradictions, Isaiah Kennedy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

My thesis work, Dixie Knights , Dissonance and Contradictions uses painting, ceramics, illustration, and installation to ask, “What does it mean to be Southern in contemporary times?” Using Willie Morris’s opening statements in The Southern Album, it is grappled through a post-digital lens. The works use collaged quilt patterns, pixelized video game references, surreal interior/exterior spaces, art historical dialogue and auto-biographical details. These motifs explore the complexities of how Southerness is impacted by class, history, race, occupation, being in a state of constant cognitive dissonance, and cultural synthesis that occurs when different moments of influence come together to create new …

When Is Style Substance?, Jordi Fernadez Servitje

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal (AELJ) Blog

While we are all aware of our ability to judge a book by its cover, our critical eye extends beyond the face of the book and to the font it is printed in as well. Strictly speaking, font refers to the size, weight, and style of a particular letter, while typeface refers to the overall style and design of the script. The term font comes from the days of physical printing; the font was the metal stamp used for each particular letter. Physical fonts have become antiquated by the advent of digital printing, but in common vernacular, font has remained …

The George-Anne Daily, Georgia Southern University

George-Anne Media Group: Newsletters & Magazines

No abstract provided.

Wherefore The Magic? The Evolutionary Role Of Psilocybin In Nature, K. J. Matthews Nicholass, I. Flis, M. E. Hanley, M. E. Knight, S. M. Lane, G. Littlejohn, M. D.F. Thom, R. A. Billington, R. Boden, R. Cummins, B. J. Green, C. Griffin, S. Jones, D. Salmon, I. Sleep, N. Smirnoff, J. S. Ellis

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Research into psychedelic compounds is in resurgence because of the exciting potential for their use in the treatment of psychiatric and mental health disorders. Despite this revival, remarkably little is known about their evolution. One of the most intriguing psychedelic compounds is psilocybin, the compound found in ‘magic’ mushrooms and used in ritual ceremonies in North America for generations. Associated with agaricomycete fungi across eight distantly related genera, psilocybin acts in a similar way to the neurotransmitter serotonin, yet how and why natural selection favoured its biosynthesis remains unclear. Given the resemblance to serotonin, a highly conserved neurotransmitter across invertebrates …

Re: Conditional Approval Letter For Diggings East 95 % Remedial Design Package Submittal (Dated March 25, 2006), The Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area (Sbcca) – 95 Percent Programmatic Technical Specifications Submittal (Dated March 25, 2026), The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Sbcca Operations And Maintenance (O&M) Plan (Dated March 24, 2026), And The Sbcca Final Principles For A Greener Cleanup Report (Dated February 4, 2026), Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Approval Letter For The 2024 Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Stormwater Evaluation And Maintenance Report (Dated April 8, 2026), Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Effective Data-Driven Marketing Strategies Used By Independent Insurance Agency Owners To Acquire And Retain Clients, Yolanda Marie Gunn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective use of data-driven marketing strategies among independent insurance agency owners’ limits client acquisition and weakens retention in saturated markets, thereby jeopardizing financial stability, constraining sustainable growth, and reducing long-term competitiveness. Grounded in data-driven decision-making theory, this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore strategies independent insurance agency owners used to implement data-driven marketing practices to improve client acquisition and retention. Participants were six independent insurance agency owners in the southern United States with experience implementing data-driven marketing strategies. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, field notes, and publicly available agency marketing materials and analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic …

Social Support And Weight Management Behaviors Lived Experiences Of Overweight Native Hawaiian Women, Satu Gruenstein

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Hawaiian Islands have an alarming concentration of obesity and related chronic health issues and many Native Hawaiian women do not have access to culturally sensitive weight loss information. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to increase understanding of the lived experiences of middle-aged Native Hawaiian women, relating to weight loss, weight management, and the impact of social support and cultural factors on those experiences. The conceptual framework for the study included the models of social support and social networks. A phenomenological research design and purposeful sampling were used to conduct semistructured interviews with eight middle-aged Native Hawaiian women, …

It Strategies Used To Implement Enterprise Resource Planning Systems, Michele Doverspike

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementation represents a significant challenge for small businesses, with failure rates that can lead to substantial financial losses and operational disruption. Information Technology (IT) managers in small businesses face a gap in evidence-based strategies tailored to their organizational context, increasing the risk of implementation failure and its associated financial and operational consequences. Grounded in general systems theory, the purpose of this qualitative multicase study was to explore the strategies IT managers use to implement ERP systems in small businesses in central Pennsylvania. The participants were six IT managers from small businesses in Pennsylvania who had …

Factors That Contribute To Successful Supervision For Pretrial Defendants With Diagnosed Mental Health Disorders, Kisha Gordon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Individuals with mental health disorders are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, yet minimal evidence exists on how risk-based case management influences pretrial supervision. Existing literature focuses on post-conviction populations, with limited focus on pretrial defendants, particularly those with mental health disorders and gaps in how gender and mental health intersect to influence supervision outcomes. The study addressed the problem of whether risk-based case management improves pretrial outcomes for defendants with mental health needs and vary by gender or case management components. The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental, retrospective design study was to examine the relationship between case management and …

The Euler Characteristic, Cara Admiraal

SPARK Symposium Presentations

The Euler characteristic is an example of a topological invariant most famously Leonard Euler proved that for any convex polyhedron with $v$ vertices, $f$ faces, and $e$ edges, $v-e+f=2$. In this presentation, we will extend his ideas to define the Euler characteristic for surfaces.

“The Left Leg Is Not Well”: Identity, Economy, And Ability In Early Modern Drama, Emma D. Whaley

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The human reality of the disabled experience often goes overlooked by scholars analyzing early modern literature. Most scholarship seems to interpret disability as metaphorical without examining the human who experiences it. In this paper, I will be examining disability in three early modern texts as literal and inquire into the realities of the disabled experience for the characters. A Larum for London, The Shoemaker’s Holiday, and The Fair Maid of the Exchange all prominently feature a disabled character—Stump, Ralph, and Cripple respectively. These characters offer a depth of personhood rarely examined in early modern literary scholarship, even in …

Task-Relevant Haptic Feedback Improves Asymptotic Performance In De Novo Arm Control Acquisition, Ian Howard, Laura Alvarez Hidalgo

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The human motor system can learn to control novel effectors, but the contribution of task-relevant haptic dynamics to de novo learning remains unclear. Using a bimanual robotic interface, participants learned over two days to control the shoulder and elbow angles of a virtual arm in order to achieve accurate endpoint movements via constrained handle motions. On Day 1, one group practiced a purely kinematic mapping, whereas another group received continuous haptic feedback generated by an endpoint mass. With practice, movements shifted from sequential to more coordinated control and trajectories became straighter, with reduced directional deviation during target-directed endpoint movements, particularly …

Spectrum, Volume 56, Issue 10, Sacred Heart University

Newspapers (Obelisk & Spectrum)

Highlights include: Daybreake Making Breakthroughs, Women in Sports Symposium Preview, Automatic Selective Service System, Pickleball Springing Excitement Onto Campus, Commuting to Their “Home Away From Home”, Painting a Picture of Talent at SHU, Men’s Lacrosse Gearing Up For MAAC Playoffs

The Current Status Of Company Law In Indonesia, A. Zen Umar Purba

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Al-Qur'an And Human Rights, Ismail Suny

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

2026 Urs Program, Kate Votaw

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Final URS Program
April 24, 2026