Digital Commons Network^™

The Central Role Of Caffeine In Energy Drink Effects, Viviana Valerio, Sarah Bailey

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The goal of this study was to assess the effects of caffeine in an energy drink against a caffeine-matched control on attention span. Two double-blind groups of a total of 107 subjects were formed. Each group was either assigned to the energy drink (C4 - Nutrabolt®) or a caffeine-matched control of 200 mg of caffeine. The subjects consumed the caffeine sources and waited 45 minutes. They then completed a psychomotor vigilance test (PVT), Memtrax (memory), handgrip strength, and a wall-sit endurance test. There were no differences in the improvement (pre vs. post) of the PVT test between the caffeine-matched control …

Group Differences In Conflict Processing Between Bilinguals And Monolinguals, Isidora Varas-Sanchez, Dylan Kuni, Julia Ribeiro, Andrea Fajardo Aguilar, Alyssa Harris

Undergraduate Student Symposium

There is an ongoing debate in the literature on the existence of a bilingual advantage on tests of attention. Hypothetically, bilinguals have an advantage over monolinguals on tests of attention because both attention and language control share the same inhibitory mechanism. Because bilinguals engage this mechanism more often than monolinguals, inhibitory control is believed to be stronger and confer an advantage. However, research findings on the bilingual advantage are inconsistent and attempts to reproduce prior results have sometimes failed. The argument is that studies may have failed to capture the important aspects of language linked to attention. Prior research from …

Sexual Dimorphism In Physiological, Metabolic, And Hypothalamic Alterations In The Tg-Swdi Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Yingying Zhu, Ariana Hernandez, Natalia Noto, Victoria Pulido-Correa, Chana Vogel, Julianna Bonetti

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting 55 million people worldwide. Cognitive disruptions, linked to pathology in the hippocampus and cortical areas, are frequently observed in individuals with late manifestation of AD; however, non-cognitive dysfunctions, which contribute to poor quality of life and survival, are often overlooked. The hypothalamus plays a role in regulating homeostatic functions such as hunger, thirst, sleep, and blood pressure. The coordinated activity of hypothalamic regions such as the paraventricular nucleus, arcuate nucleus, ventromedial nucleus, dorsomedial nucleus, and lateral hypothalamus are crucial in maintaining metabolic homeostasis and neuroendocrine processes. Dysregulation of these processes has been …

Traveling Waves In Reaction-Diffusion Equations With Delay In The Diffusion Term, William Barker, Van Minh Nguyen

Faculty Scholarship

We investigate the existence of traveling wave solutions for the reaction–diffusion equation ∂u(x,t)∂t=Δu(x,t−τ1)+f(u(x,t),u(x,t−τ2)), where τ1, τ2 > 0. This model is motivated by ecological applications in which migration rates incorporate historical effects and reproduction/death processes are subject to time delays at a given location. To address such systems under standard monotonicity assumptions, we extend the classical monotone iteration method. A key step involves a thorough investigation of the Green function associated with the functional equation x″(t)−ax′(t+r)−bx(t+r)=f(t), where a ≠ 0 and b > 0. Building on the resulting framework, we construct quasi-upper and lower solutions for the Belousov–Zhabotinski equations, thereby demonstrating the …

Architecture As Frozen Music: An Original Wind Ensemble Work Exploring Architectural Metaphors In Contemporary Music, Leighannah J. Turner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Architecture has long served as a source of inspiration for Western art music composers from the Early Renaissance through the Neoclassical period. While the relationship between music and architecture has been widely studied, much of the existing research focuses on traditional mediums such as the symphony orchestra. This project explores the concept of music as “frozen architecture” – introduced by Friedrich Schelling – and the metaphorical correlations as described by Vitruvius and Lupishko, applying these concepts to the contemporary medium of the wind ensemble through my original composition. My work integrates the architectural principles proposed by Vitruvius and Lupishko while …

Trustgen: A Platform Of Dynamic Benchmarking On The Trustworthiness Of Generative Foundation Models, Yue Huang, Et. Al

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Generative foundation models (GenFMs), such as large language models and text-to-image systems, have demonstrated remarkable capabilities in various downstream applications. As they are increasingly deployed in high-stakes applications, assessing their trustworthiness has become both a critical necessity and a substantial challenge. Existing evaluation efforts are fragmented, rapidly outdated, and often lack extensibility across modalities. This raises a fundamental question: how can we systematically, reliably, and continuously assess the trustworthiness of rapidly advancing GenFMs across diverse modalities and use cases? To address these gaps, we introduce TrustGen, a dynamic and modular benchmarking system designed to systematically evaluate the trustworthiness of GenFMs …

Draft Final 2025 Bpsou Subdrain Data Summary Report (Dsr), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Learning Techniques In Prediction Of Functional Epigenomic Events, Mohammad Shiri

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Accurately predicting functional epigenomic events from DNA sequences is critical to understanding gene regulation and the functional impact of non-coding variants. Despite considerable progress, critical challenges hamper the effectiveness and efficiency of existing deep learning approaches. These challenges include negative transfer in multi-task learning (MTL), suboptimal network architectures, and pervasive label noise, particularly the positive-unlabeled problem arising from data sparsity in single-cell assays. This dissertation presents a cohesive framework of novel learning techniques to effectively address these challenges. First, a highly scalable task grouping framework is presented to mitigate negative transfer in deep MTL. This method clusters tasks based on …

Pushing High-Performance Private Inference Towards Resource-Constrained Edge Clients, Xiangrui Xu

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

The widespread adoption of Machine Learning as a Service (MLaaS) has enabled resource constrained edge clients, such as mobile and IoT devices, to leverage powerful deep learning mod els hosted on the cloud. However, this paradigm introduces critical privacy challenges regarding the client’s sensitive input data and the server’s proprietary model parameters. While cryptographic techniques like Homomorphic Encryption (HE) and Multi-Party Computation (MPC) enable Private Inference (PI), existing frameworks impose prohibitive computational and communication overheads that render them impractical for edge deployment. This dissertation introduces three novel frameworks—SPOT, LUTless, and PrivShap—to systematically address the efficiency bottlenecks of PI in edge …

Radicals Transforming Organic Matter: Implications For Non-Pyrogenic Black Carbon And Nitrogen Formation, Molecular Dynamics In Tropical Soils, And Lignin Valorization, João Vitor Dos Santos

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Radicals drive the transformation of organic matter in natural and engineered systems, altering its structure, reactivity, and stability. Condensed aromatic carbon (ConAC) and condensed aromatic nitrogen (ConAN) are among the most persistent forms of organic matter in soils and are traditionally interpreted as products of biomass burning. This dissertation challenges the long-standing assumption that these materials are exclusively pyrogenic, showing that iron-mediated radical chemistry can generate condensed aromatic structures under ambient conditions.

Chapters II and III show that Fenton-like radical oxidation of lignin-rich biomass produces condensed aromatic structures compositionally similar to pyrogenic black carbon and black nitrogen when assessed with …

Learning In Motion: How Small Groups Can Promote Self-Regulated Learning In Physical Therapy Students, Sara Mclaren

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a critical skill for success in rigorous graduate health professions programs, where students must independently manage complex academic demands. Despite its importance, limited research has examined SRL processes among Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students in the didactic phase of training. Guided by Zimmerman’s cyclical model of self-regulated learning, this study examined SRL behaviors among second-year DPT students and explored how small group learning contexts may influence engagement in SRL processes and academic performance.

This mixed-methods study included 39 DPT students enrolled in a physical therapy program at a public university in the southeastern United States. …

Draft Final Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area Materials Management Plan Revision 1, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Final Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area (Sbcca) Construction Quality Assurance Plan (Cqap), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Milner Library Technical Services Department 2025 Annual Report, Milner Library

Reports and White Papers - Milner Library

Annual Report for the Technical Services Department of Milner Library, Illinois State University, for calendar year 2025.

Advancing Paleontologic Mapping: A Gis And Drone Photogrammetry Approach To The Lance Formation Beds Of Glenrock, Wyoming, William H. Steelman, Monika Angner, Norman S. Levine, W S. Persons

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

Small museums and volunteer-driven field programs often lack the resources required for detailed geological mapping, limiting the stratigraphic data associated with their fossil collections. To address this challenge, an affordable and replicable mapping workflow was developed that combined drone-based photogrammetry, GIS analysis, and targeted structural measurements using the Glenrock Exposure of the Lance Formation as a study site. The resulting 3D outcrop models, bedding-plane reconstructions, and 750-m-thick stratigraphic column provide the first comprehensive spatial framework for 35 fossil quarries curated by the Glenrock Paleon Museum. The results reveal tightly clustered fossil-bearing horizons, a long interval lacking preservation, and a notable …

The Compass - Volume 95 Issue 1 - Complete Issue, Scott R. Beason

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

No abstract provided.

Lessons Learned From The Implementation Of A Pragmatic Trial Evaluating Non-Pharmacological Approaches To Dementia Care In Us Nursing Homes, Carin Wong, Catherine V. Piersol, Felicia Chew, Cara Lekovitch, Victoria Shier, Mike Morris, Jenny Martínez, Julie Britton, Natalie E. Leland

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

RATIONALE: The consistent delivery of effective evidence into nursing home practice has been shown to enhance quality of care and residents' outcomes. Pragmatic trials enable the evaluation of efficacious interventions in a real-world context, including care of residents living with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). Yet, there are limited pragmatic trials conducted in nursing homes and even less evidence on the strategies to successfully conduct such research in this setting.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the lessons learned from a pragmatic trial and provide recommendations for future successful studies in United States (US) nursing homes.

METHODS: Drawing on a case example …

Exploring Tiktok Shop And The Correlation It Has With The Gen Z Consumers: Consumers Purchase Decisions Within The Beauty And Personal Care Product Category, Ciara A. Lewis, Richard Waters, Russell B. Clayton, Jaejin Lee

AMTP Proceedings 2026

The purpose of this paper is to understand the correlation between Gen Z consumers’ perceived level of attractiveness, credibility, trustworthiness, and relatability of a TikTok influencer and their intention to purchase beauty and personal care products from TikTok Shop. A quantitative research method was applied, using an online survey to gather data from 154 students between the ages of 18 and 27 from Florida State University. Pearson correlation analyses were used to investigate five hypotheses and one research question. Results indicated that credibility was the strongest correlation with behavioral intentions to purchase beauty and personal care products. There was a …

Conversation Analysis Of Public-Servant And Persons-Of-Interest Face-To-Face Talk Via Llm‑Supported Ai Script Mapping Tools, Arch G. Woodside, Suresh Sood

AMTP Proceedings 2026

Professional public servants (PSs) including police officers, postal workers, and government tax office and DMV employees interact face-to-face with citizens/persons of interest (POIs), in encounters that are frequently recorded using mobile phones and publicized on platforms such as YouTube.com. Building on our observations about recurrent PS–POI scripts and LLM-supported analysis, we develop five grounded propositions linking enacted scripts to existing theory. The propositions focus on describing early turn-taking asymmetry, the importance of sequential detail beyond-shallow analysis, the predictive role of script recurrence, the value of rich, script-based role-play, and the potential of narrative-intelligence databases for institutional learning. Instead of treating …

Who Said Cve? How Vulnerability Identifiers Are Mentioned By Humans, Bots, And Agents In Pull Requests, Pien Rooijendijk, Christoph Treude, Mairieli Wessel

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Vulnerability identifiers such as CVE, CWE, and GHSA are standardised references to known software security issues, yet their use in practice is not well understood. This paper compares vulnerability ID use in GitHub pull requests authored by autonomous agents, bots, and human developers. Using the AIDev pop dataset and an augmented set of pull requests from the same repositories, we analyse who mentions vulnerability identifiers and where they appear. Bots account for around 69.1% of all mentions, usually adding few identifiers in pull request descriptions, while human and agent mentions are rarer but span more locations. Qualitative analysis shows that …

Exploring Hemodynamic Signatures Using Event Camera, Zaid Ahmed

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

This thesis investigates event-based sensing for hemodynamic measurements in transmission mode through the human finger. Conventional frame-based imagers are limited by exposure time, frame rate, and motion blur, which reduce sensitivity to fast optical transients. To address these bottlenecks, this thesis introduces a novel transmission-mode sensing framework using a Prophesee EVK4 HD neuromorphic sensor. By capturing asynchronous ON/OFF events generated by local intensity changes, this work presents a new approach to three tasks: intra-finger pulse transit time (PTT) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) estimation, event-based transmission mode laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI), and Flicker Spike Arrival Time (FSAT) Delay Mapping, …

Integration Of Vision-Language-Action Foundation Models For Adaptive Robotic Arm Control In Manufacturing, Nina C. Kanonye

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Industrial automation increasingly demands robots that can adapt to dynamic environments without extensive reprogramming. Traditional robotic systems perform well in structured, repetitive settings but struggle when workspace configurations change. Programming a robot for each new task requires specialized expertise and significant time, creating a barrier for small and medium manufacturers. While recent VLA models have demonstrated strong capabilities in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) agents, existing research has rarely focused on the complex and sequential manufacturing tasks for robotic handling, printing, sorting and assembling. This research investigates whether CogACT can be fine-tuned to perform a pick-and-place task on the Yahboom …

Iron Deficiency And Depressive Symptoms: Effects Of Racial And Ethnic Disparity In Two Reproductive-Aged Us Women, Alexis Monkhouse

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Problem: Reproductive- aged women are one of the populations most at risk for iron deficiency and depression in the United States. While many studies have looked at the relationship between these two illnesses, none have explored it from a biocultural framework, examining how race/ethnicity affects this relationship. Using data from NHANES, this thesis examined the relationship between iron status (total body iron) and depressive symptoms (PHQ-9) among reproductive-aged women in the U.S. and how race/ethnicity affects it. Methods. NHANES survey data from 2005-2010 were pulled. Demographic and laboratory data were used to determine eligibility, total body iron, and depressive scores. …

Does Short-Termism Pay? National Short-Termism, Investment, Innovation, And Equity Returns, Andrew H. Cohen

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

We examine whether national short-termism, inferred from corporate language, predicts future real activity, equity returns, risk, and risk-adjusted performance. Using large-scale textual analysis of issuer-linked disclosures and earnings transcripts from the largest firms in twenty major equity markets, we construct country-quarter and annual Short-Termism Scores (STS) capturing the relative emphasis on short- versus long-horizon language.

Higher short-termism predicts lower subsequent gross fixed capital formation, lower research and development intensity, and lower multi-year equity index returns across horizons of up to sixteen quarters. In addition, higher short-termism is associated with greater future market volatility and lower Sharpe ratios, indicating a deterioration …

If Life Were Only As Our First Encounter, Yixiao Zhang

MFA in Visual Art

This thesis examines how contemporary portrait painting extends beyond the representation of physical appearance toward the construction of collective memory, history, cultural identity, and mechanisms of seeing. Using staged, photo-based portraits as a point of departure, my work engages both Eastern and Western traditions to produce new autoethnographic narratives. Rethinking the significance of portraiture today, this paper considers what persists and what has shifted over time. It argues that portrait painting is no longer merely a representation of an individual; rather, like a literary text, it functions as a signifier shaped by both the moment of its production and the …

Disease-Modifying Therapies Targeting Neuroinflammation In Alzheimer's Disease: Evaluation Of Ongoing Clinical Trials, Shree Diora, Reagan Colavita, Christa Torchia

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive decline and behavioral changes. While traditionally associated with amyloid-β plaques and tau tangles, growing evidence implicates neuroinflammation as a key driver of disease progression. Microglial, astrocytic, and mast cell activation, along with elevated pro-inflammatory mediators, contribute to synaptic dysfunction and neuronal loss. Targeting these pathways offers promising therapeutic avenues beyond amyloid and tau-centric strategies. This study evaluates the emerging disease-modifying therapies in clinical trials that target neuroinflammation in AD, focusing on mechanisms, trial phases, and emerging clinical findings. The clinical trial website was accessed to find drug therapies under …

Bone Mineral Density, Mechanical Loading, And Mediterranean Diet Adherence In University Runners: A Pilot Study, Sathvi Gandra, Kiana Medina, Auston Hsieh

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Bone mineral density (BMD) is influenced by both mechanical loading and dietary patterns and is a determinant of skeletal health in distance runners. This exploratory study examined descriptive relationships among Mediterranean diet adherence, running biomechanics, and BMD in a pilot sample of competitive distance runners. Seven university runners, (18-21 years; 5 female, 2 male) completed dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to assess total and segmental BMD, and a running biomechanical analysis on an instrumented treadmill. Biomechanical variables included peak vertical ground reaction force (vGRF), hip and knee joint reaction forces (JRF), ground contact time (GCT), and vertical stiffness(kvert). Dietary patterns …

Colon Cancer Findings And A Community Solution, Brintia Wright

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Colorectal cancer remains a significant public health concern due to its high incidence, mortality, and persistent demographic disparities. The primary goal of this project was to develop an evidence-based community resource guide for the South Florida region to support early detection and equitable screening for colon cancer. The resource guide was informed by a structured review of current screening guidelines, peer-reviewed literature, and population-level data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. SEER incidence, stage at diagnosis, and survival data for individuals aged 25-84 years diagnosed with colon cancer between 2000 and 2022 were synthesized to identify high-risk …

Mapping A World’S Fair: A Comparative Analysis Of Native American Experience At The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Margaret Jones

Mendel Sato Research Award Projects

This brief attempt to look into a few historical moments has demonstrated how quickly and dramatically the possibilities open to Native American people in the St. Louis region have changed over time. In 1904, to be a Native person standing at the entrance to the 1904 World’s Fair could mean a number of things, perhaps simultaneously: you were a tourist, you were returning to land you had been Indigenous to, you were visiting a part of the country you had never seen before, or you were a Native person at the largest celebration of American colonialism ever organized. This thesis …

New School Troubles: How Building Community Impacts Sense Of Belonging, Naydine Naileah Garcia

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

In this quantitative two group study, there were opportunities for 11th-grade students in ELA to build a classroom community throughout a three-week intervention, designed to examine if implementing these activities would increase their sense of school belonging. Sense of belonging is significant for students to feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others in the school's social environment. Sense of belonging was measured using the Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale as a pre and post test. The treatment group participated in four, 15-minute classroom community building activities a week, completing twelve activities by the end of the intervention. …