Digital Commons Network^™

Blunt Relief: Cannabis Use As Coping Mechanism For Undergraduate Students With Adverse Healthcare Experiences, Isabella Marie Cafini

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Negative experiences within the healthcare system can shape how individuals cope with psychological distress, particularly in young adult populations. Coping-motive frameworks suggest that when trust in formal support systems erodes, such as after an adverse healthcare experience, individuals may self-medicate with substances rather than risk another unsupportive interaction. This present study examined how negative experiences within the mental healthcare system influence help-seeking attitudes and cannabis use among college students. We hypothesized that (1) individuals with lower utilization of mental health resources will have higher cannabis use compared to those with higher utilization of mental health resources, and (2) greater amounts …

How Nature Affects Perceptions Oaf Architectural Details In Office Settings, Autumn R. Hurd

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The importance of nature in our everyday lives has been well documented and researched. Theories such as the Biophilia Hypothesis, Stress Reduction Theory, and Attention Restoration Theory each attempt to explain why nature influences psychological states. The present research examined the influence of nature in office settings, such that offices with real nature would be seen as more appealing. It was hypothesized that participants would view offices with real plants and nature within or near the settings would be seen as more appealing as compared to similar offices with either AI-Generated nature or no nature within or near the office …

The Development Of Wordercord, Rylee J. Curley

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

This paper delves into the ongoing development of the series, WONDERCORD, providing documentation of the progress, evolution, and future direction of the series. WONDERCORD is an indie animated series about 10 characters who get stuck in a new world and must explore games to collect batteries to return home. Motivated by the desire to innovate within the field of animation, Pokito Productions, our production studio, seeks to use a unique approach to storytelling through dynamic style changes in various media forms. Additionally, the paper delves into the marketing campaigns used to garner attention, and it will serve to offer a …

The Effect Of Perception & Trust: How Our Flaws Shape Prices, Institutions, Systems, And Economic Stability, David Mackinnon Butler

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Phantasmagoria: A Novel, Miran Bogedain

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

A Comprehensive Overview Of Prison Rape And The Impacts Of The Prison Rape Elimination Act, Kayn L. Bienhold

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

This paper will examine prison rape by exploring sexual abuse rates, the causes of underreporting, the gender-based prison and rape cultures, reasons why victims are targeted, and the impact The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) has had on the issue. It draws on both qualitative research and national surveys. Findings have shown that sexual victimization is much more widespread than indicated by official reports due to high rates of underreporting, fears of retaliation, and flawed implementation and enforcement of PREA’s policies. Culture in male prisons are shaped by hypermasculine hierarchies that discourage reporting, while female prisons experience disproportionately high rates …

Enhancing Healthcare Accessibility For Maya Immigrants In Northeast Ohio, Ellen D. Barnes

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

This research considers the efforts of healthcare practitioners and community workers in enhancing healthcare accessibility for Maya immigrant communities in northeast Ohio. Through ethnographic interviews and participant-observation research, I analyze how practitioners interpret their work with community members to navigate economic disparities and questions of legal standing, as well as cultural and linguistic differences. I also consider ways in which healthcare providers have sought to promote institutional change. This research gives insight into how institutional structures shape efforts for culturally informed care and how healthcare providers and healthcare seekers negotiate relationships within these confines.

Investigating The Impact Of Climate Change On Physical And Chemical Hydrology Of A Michigan Wetland, Emmalynn Boulton

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Wetlands support biodiversity, regulate water cycles, and sustain ecological health. Understanding their functions and the relative contributions of groundwater and precipitation are key to conserving these ecosystems effectively, especially under changing climate conditions. Fish Lake Environmental Education Center (FLEEC) is 240 acres of diverse, glacially-influenced wetlands located near Lapeer, Michigan. This site encompasses a bog consisting of sphagnum moss and peat underlain by clay, as well as many glacial kettles that form ephemeral vernal pools during periods of frequent precipitation. Previous studies have shown that groundwater flows from the north to the southeast, from the bog towards Fish Lake. The …

Do Sleep And Age Concurrently And Longitudinally Predict Children's Frustration Tolerance?, Mavery P. Allen

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Frustration is experienced when there is interference with one’s goal or progress towards one’s goal. This study sought to examine how age and sleep affect child frustration through the observation of 2 experimental tasks, each a year apart. This study included data from 100 children (boys = 54) ages 3 to 5 years (M = 3.86) at Wave 1. There are 2 waves, occurring a year apart. The first task in Wave 1 consisted of giving a child keys to a locked, clear box with intriguing toys, but unbeknownst to them, the keys did not work. The second task consisted …

Aurora 2026: A Year Of Art And Design, Aya Ghassan Bazziz

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The goal of this project was to revive the Aurora yearbook publication in order to illustrate the need for physical media as a form of documenting memory. Inspired by a century of volunteering editors of the yearbook program, particularly those of the late 70’s, I decided that the best way to conclude a year of hard work in the School of Art and Design would be the creation of a booklet and its exhibition for the program to view. While I struggled to complete this project due to shifting plans, my goals had been seen through; a booklet was created, …

Integrating Computational Modeling And Experimental Analysis To Characterize Autophagosome Size And Number., Rakan A. Alnsour

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Autophagy is a key cellular recycling process that helps cells maintain homeostasis and survive stress by breaking down damaged organelles and misfolded proteins. When autophagy is disrupted, it contributes to diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, so getting accurate measurements of autophagosome size and number is important for understanding how this pathway works. In this project, we are working on improving a computational model in CompuCell3D that simulates how autophagic bodies clump inside the yeast vacuole, which we later compare to real transmission electron microscopy images. We generated starting files with defined body numbers and sizes, simulated …

Nonbinary Gender Performance And Self-Identification In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Lillian R. Durr

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein, a text informed by a rich Romantic era philosophical tradition, has produced an expansive contemporary body of transgender studies scholarship. Building on transgender literary studies of Frankenstein, my thesis analyzes the difference between the monster’s internalized self-perceived identity and their externally performed and perceived identity. I interpret the difference between the monster’s internal and external identity as an analogy through which to understand contemporary nonbinary experiences. The “performance” of gender that Judith Butler describes is a limited expression of an internal, inescapable, ontological experience of self-identification. The monster’s own social experience illustrates the …

The Confidence-Man Goes To The Moving Panorama: Herman Melville’S Confidence Narrator And United States Imperialism, Bradley J. Lee

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis argues that Herman Melville fashioned his novel The Confidence-Man; His Masquerade (1857) after the moving panorama, a popular entertainment technology contemporary with the novel. More specifically, the thesis argues that the novel recalls Banvard’s Mississippi Panorama (1846). Using Jay Leyda’s The Melville Log and John Hanners’ record of Banvard’s performances, I establish beyond reasonable doubt the possibility that Melville saw this painting, or, at the very least, was aware of it, its content, and its social position. Tracing the novel’s engagement with this panorama reveals what seems at first to be its imperialist, Manifest Destinarian undertones. The novel’s …

Applied Machine Learning In Mineral Prospectivity Mapping In The South Pass-Granite Mountains Of Wyoming, Carl D. York

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The South Pass-Granite Mountains, comprised of Archean to Tertiary rocks embedded with an Archean greenstone belt in Central Wyoming, have historically been mined for gold, iron, steel, and silver. Rare earth elements have been of increasing interest in the region and thus, several datasets have become available. Knowledge driven and data driven models are used in mineral prospectivity mapping with input data including geological mapping, geochemical data, geophysical (USGS Critical Mineral magnetic and gravity data), radiometric (U, Th, K) data and multispectral remote sensing data. Mineral prospectivity has seen a rapid improvement in recent years using advancements in machine learning …

Small Mammal Communities Within And Land Coverage Around Southwestern Missouri Prairies, Kaitlyn J. Bebensee

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Land alterations can reduce the amount of suitable habitat necessary for persistence of an associated species. Within such constrained habitats, limited resources may elicit competition, which could cause shifts in abundance and occurrence of species. Missouri prairies have been declining in size, making it imperative to collect reference data on mammal populations within and land use types around remnants. For this study, I trapped small mammals in Southwestern Missouri prairies because they can be indicators of environmental health and can vary in abundance between prairies. I focus on the diet of two dominant small mammals, Peromyscus maniculatus and Microtus ochrogaster …

Flow Regime Shifts And Channel Morphological Adjustments In Response To Changing Climate Patterns: Examples From Gasconade River, Missouri, Usa, Katherine E. Brand

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Recent changes in climate patterns due to anthropogenic inputs (i.e. greenhouse gases/CO₂) have caused alterations to precipitation events leading to altered flow regimes. Changes in the magnitude and frequency of flood events results in physical adjustments to river morphology, including changes in width and depth. As rivers experience more frequent and larger flood events, they accommodate by changing their morphological characteristics. The Gasconade River, a tributary of the Missouri River located in southcentral Missouri, USA, has exhibited recent patterns of acute bank erosion with limited understanding of its causes and effects on the river. This study aims to understand how …

¡Salud! Sacrificing The Sacred Sip: A Critical Analysis Of The Impact Of The Spiritual Conquest On Alcohol Traditions In Central México, Elizabeth Vilchis

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

By thoroughly investigating the available primary sources, this thesis will convey the importance of the Mesoamerican inebriating drink pulque in both the ethos and mythos of ancient Nahua society, examining how the ritual use of pulque became problematic in the eyes of the Spaniards, by investigating the cultural and ideological contradictions or double standards that enabled the tensions, struggles, and violence with which the Spanish colonial regime repressed the ritual use of pulque. This thesis compares the Nahua ethos and mythos of pulque to the Christian ethos and mythos of wine, highlighting the parallels perceived by Spaniards in Central México …

Inherited Sins: Essays, Claire Ellerman

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Joan Didion said of her book, The Year of Magical Thinking, that, “the reason I had to write it down, is that no one had ever told me what it was like.” She was trying to make sense of her grief following the death of her husband, and in doing so, wrote a piece of creative nonfiction (CNF) that explores her own life in and around the larger ideas of mourning, connection, and moving forward. This is the ultimate aim of creative nonfiction: writing to make sense of our lives in relation to the world around us. In this …

Gene Editing And The Accessibility Of Bioterrorism: Rethinking Global Biosecurity In The Post-Covid-19 Era, Nicholas Morales

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

COVID‑19 demonstrated how a single biological event can strain health systems, disrupt supply chains, undermine national security, and erode public trust. This shock occurred as biotechnology became dramatically more accessible: gene editing and synthetic biology tools once limited to specialized laboratories are now widely available through inexpensive equipment, open‑source data, and decentralized expertise.

This expanded access accelerates innovation but also broadens the threat landscape. The ability to reconstruct pathogens using publicly available sequences and mail‑order DNA shows that complex biological synthesis is no longer confined to state programs. These risks are amplified by opaque biotechnology activities in China, Russia, and …

Incremental Cluster Validity Indices And Their Role In Interpreting Lifelong Learning Systems, Niklas Max Melton

Doctoral Dissertations

Clustering and supervised learning are often treated as distinct paradigms, yet both rely on structure in feature space. This dissertation investigates the relationship between cluster validity indices (CVIs) and supervised learning in real-time and lifelong learning settings where data arrive incrementally and cannot be revisited. Across four studies, it develops methods for online cluster validation, uses supervised learning to improve their interpretability, and applies these ideas to evaluating performance degradation in continual learning.

The first study extends incremental cluster validity indices (iCVIs), enabling widely used validation metrics to operate in streaming environments. Experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets show systematic …

Scaling Private Remedies To Public Problems: A Resilient Property Theory Analysis, Marc L. Roark

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Dynamic Rating Method: Effects Of Flood Wave Geometry On Discharge Estimation, Daniel James Read

Masters Theses

Rating curves are a vital tool to convert from observed stage to discharge in streamflow monitoring. Most gaging sites utilize a simple rating curve, which assumes a monotonic relationship between stage and discharge. In most cases, this assumption is valid; however, dynamic effects of flood waves often cause significant error in discharge estimation for mildly sloped streams. The dynamic rating method utilizes a numerical solution of the St. Venant Equations applied to time series stage data to compute discharge. Within this method, there is a flood wave parameter called the flood wave factor. The researchers designed a formal computational model …

Castrip Process Technology: Non-Grain Oriented (Ngo) Si Steels Extension And Carbide-Free Bainitic (Cfb) For Flat Products, Naram Naidu Meesala

Masters Theses

"This research explores the development of advanced steel grades manufactured through Castrip® twin-roll thin strip casting technology, with particular attention to non-grain-oriented electrical Si-Steels (NGOES) and carbide-free bainitic (CFB) steels. The Castrip® process offers a near-net-shape route for producing thin steel strips, which greatly decreases the number of processing stages, lowers energy demand, and reduces carbon dioxide emissions when compared with traditional steel production methods.

In the NGOES part of the study, several industrial Fe–Si steel compositions were cold rolled to final thicknesses ranging from 0.35 mm to 0.15 mm. These materials were then exposed to short-duration continuous annealing at …

Optical Fiber Eaf Refactory Lining Temperature Monitoring For Safety And Operating Efficiency, Manoj Kumar Pullagura

Masters Theses

"Electric arc furnace (EAF) sidewalls experience severe thermal, chemical, and mechanical loading, especially near burner and injector regions where refractory wear and water ingress from damaged cooling components pose safety risks. Conventional thermocouples and resistance temperature detectors provide reliable point measurements but lack the spatial resolution needed to capture steep gradients and localized anomalies. This research investigates embedded optical fiber sensors for high-resolution temperature monitoring of EAF refractory safety linings to support early water-leak detection and assessment of refractory thermal behavior. A combined Rayleigh backscattering-based optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) approach was evaluated through laboratory …

Validating A Low-Cost Radio Frequency Characterization Framework For Development-Grade Software-Defined Radios In Short-Duration Cubesat Missions, Thomas Wayne Francois

Masters Theses

Software-defined radios (SDRs) and CubeSat platforms have reduced the cost and complexity of space-based communication systems, enabling broader participation in satellite missions. While low-cost radio hardware is increasingly accessible, the ability to characterize and validate its performance remains constrained by the high cost and limited access to traditional RF test equipment. This disparity creates a challenge for small satellite development teams, which must characterize communication-system technical performance with limited access to laboratory-grade instrumentation.

This thesis presents a low-cost RF characterization framework for assessing key radio-frequency performance metrics using readily available hardware and measurement techniques. The approach integrates frequency translation, SDR-based …

The Occurence Of Expansive Clay Soils In Illinois And Their Effects On Shallow Lightly Loaded Foundations, Greg James Gollaher

Masters Theses

"The damage caused to shallow foundations and slabs on grade by the shrink-swell activity of clay soils is well documented across the United States. There are local and national resources available that delineate areas that are problematic and areas that are not. These resources paint Illinois as an undemanding foundation environment. However, our experience differs from this. Our experience tells us that damage related to the shrink-swell activity of clay soils is widespread, and commonly severe causing not only cosmetic damage to structures and hard improvements but also affecting the serviceability and longevity of structures. My goal is to accurately …

Divergent Genetic Architecture Of Cold Stress Tolerance In Aus And Tropical Japonica Rice, Georgia C. Eizenga, Yami Santamaria, Aaron K. Jackson, Huy Phan, Melissa H. Jia, Quynh P.-H. Grunden, Jeremy D. Edwards, Ed Himelblau, Michael Schläppi

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Introduction: 

Exploring natural genetic variation to facilitate breeding of improved rice seedling cold tolerance will allow the crop to be planted earlier in the growing season, taking advantage of spring rainfall and decreasing exposure to high summer nighttime temperatures, which reduce grain quality.

Methods: 

To uncover genomic regions in rice that manage cold stress tolerance response mechanisms in the cold-sensitive aus (AUS) and the relatively cold-tolerant tropical japonica (TRJ) subpopulations, and to identify cold tolerance genes, AUS and TRJ recombinant inbred line populations developed from crosses between cold-tolerant and cold-sensitive parents were used for quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of …

When Speech Speaks Louder Than Truth: Language Variation And Credibility In The Courtroom, Melanie E. Spinnie

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This study aims to investigate how linguistic variation affects perceptions of credibility in courtroom settings. It focuses on how jurors, judges, and other individuals in the legal system may exhibit bias (consciously or unconsciously) based on how a defendant or witness speaks-- this could include speech disorders as well as differences in dialect, accent, and speech style. Through review of relevant literature, review of a relevant historical case, conducting a survey, and conducting a semi-structured interview, this study explores whether certain speech patterns or characteristics are disproportionately associated with negative judgments during legal proceedings, such as reduced credibility and trustworthiness. …

Europe In The Indo-Pacific - Implications For The United States, Joshua G. Zinicola

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Within the last five years the Indo-Pacific has become a region of increasing interest to European NATO members. In particular, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy have assigned strategic importance for their national security to the region, signing cooperative agreements with regional allies of the United States and deploying significant forces to the region. These agreements include commitments to jointly develop new technologies and combat systems for employment in both Europe and the Indo-Pacific, such as the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), and the Trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (AUKUS). They also include …

Back Burner, Olga Jocelyn Shute

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

As a first-generation Mexican American, I look for alternative sources of inspiration through spiritual practices and postcolonial artwork that predate American modern/contemporary art. People of color in the US are categorized by words like Latin X, first, second, or third generation, Mexican American, and so on. In searching for my own identity, I question the verbiage that places constrictions over my body, soul, and life experiences. Compared to its pre-declaration of the lands, the United States' 250-year history is rather short. Looking at a portion of my cultural heritage, I associate dogs, jewelry, and maize with tradition, power, and spiritual …