Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Black Woman Experience Related To Sexual Practice, Sexual Identity, And Sexual Expression: A Qualitative Study, Ashley V. Rodriguez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study revealed the complex interplay between personal identities and social constructs, focusing on Black-identifying women and their lived experiences with sex, sexuality, and sexual expression. Over centuries, societal influences depicted Black women as hypersexual, simultaneously exposing them to criticism, shame, and judgment for their sexual expression and meaning-making related to sex and sexuality. Consequently, Black women remain a high-risk demographic for unsafe sexual practices and sexually transmitted infections. Using intersectionality theory and Black feminist theory, this study explored how Black-identifying women give meaning to sex, sexuality, and sexual expression as they shape the Black feminine experience. I sought to …

Association Between Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, Obesity, And Diagnosis Of Covid-19 In Puerto Rico, Julian Rene Rivera Rodriguez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The population of Puerto Rico has been heavily affected by chronic diseases; however, data remains limited on the influence of diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension, and obesity on the probability of COVID-19 diagnosis. The purpose of this quantitative study was to evaluate the association between non-communicable diseases that included DM, obesity, hypertension, and COVID-19 diagnosis, controlling for age and sex and person exposure in Puerto Rico. The sample consisted of 1,463 participants who underwent a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for COVID-19 from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021. Results from adjusted multivariable logistic regression analyses established that obesity OR …

Community College Students’ Perceptions Of Access And Barriers To Mental Health Supports, Kevin Paul Kuntz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem investigated in this project study was that community college students are graduating at lower rates than the national average, despite the on-campus mental health services in place in the Midwestern United States. Grounded in Tronto’s framework of institutional ethic of care, the purpose of this study was to explore students’ perceptions of their access to and barriers to receiving mental health support in community colleges. For this basic qualitative design, 10 students who attended at least one semester at one community college were interviewed. The semistructured interviews were coded and thematically analyzed with the following themes emerging: Students …

The Relationship Between Income And Race With The Utilization Of Oral Health Services Among Older Adults, Mishael Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Oral health disparities continue to present a significant public health challenge for older adults in the United States, particularly among racial minority and low-income populations. Despite national discussions around healthcare equity, there remains limited empirical insight into how race and income influence dental service utilization among Medicare beneficiaries. In this quantitative, cross-sectional study, the extent to which these demographic factors predicted oral healthcare utilization, using nationally representative data from the 2021 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, was assessed. Guided by the social determinants of health framework, chi-square tests, binary logistic regression, and negative binomial regression were performed to analyze the data. …

Leadership Behaviors And Practices That Enhance Middle Managers’ Leadership Skills To Be Highly Engaged, Mr. Meredith Rudolph Payne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Middle managers, who serve as conduits between the senior leadership and frontline employees, may lack the leadership behaviors and practices necessary to maintain high engagement levels. Financial services company leaders need to understand what causes middle managers to be highly engaged and motivated to provide them with the leadership skills necessary for better organizational alignment. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore and describe the lived experience and leadership behaviors and practices that middle managers use to enable them to be highly engaged in financial services companies in the United States. …

Educating About Military Culture: Lived Experiences Of Nurse Educators, Jennifer C. Dodge

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite national initiatives designed to expand healthcare programs and resources for veterans, there is a lack of knowledge about military culture and health problems specific to this demographic among registered nurses who serve in a role to impact the suicide rate among the veteran population. The purpose of this qualitative study, guided by Leininger’s culture care theory and Benner’s novice to expert model, was to understand the lived experiences of associate degree in nursing (ADN) nurse educators in non-Veterans Health Administration-affiliated programs regarding teaching undergraduate nursing students about military veteran culture. Fifteen ADN nurse educators, selected through purposeful sampling, participated …

Cep76 Impairment At The Centrosome-Cilium Interface Contributes To A Spectrum Of Ciliopathies, Aysegul Ozanturk, Leila Qebibo, Stephan Frangakis, Daniel G Calame, Isabelle Meunier, Béatrice Bocquet, Rafal Ploski, Mohammad Ayman Al Khateeb, Dana Marafi, Luke Mansard, Lena Damaj, Richard A Lewis, Farid Ullah, Thomas Arbogast, Jackson P Ogden, Madeleine Harion, Marjolaine Willems, Maha S Zaki, Tobias Bartolomaeus, Anne-Françoise Roux, James R Lupski, Malgorzata Rydzanicz, Rami Abou Jamra, Francis Ramond, Elise Heon, Lydie Burglen, Erica E Davis

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Dysfunction at the centrosome-cilium interface underlies a broad range of ciliopathies. Here, we identify biallelic variants in CEP76, encoding a centrosomal protein, in eight unrelated individuals presenting with neurodevelopmental, ocular, and variable additional multisystem features. Proband-derived fibroblasts and CEP76-depleted RPE1 cells display ciliary deficits, including impaired cilium formation and length, disrupted transition zone architecture, and impaired IFT88-mediated anterograde intraflagellar transport. Zebrafish cep76 mutants recapitulate key clinical phenotypes, and in vitro complementation assays confirm pathogenicity for all tested human disease-associated variants. Proteomics analysis identifies CEP76 interactors, including known partners CCP110 and CEP97, and highlights clinically and functionally relevant candidates, including …

Passenger Delight In Liminal Spaces: Uncovering The Dynamics Of Airport Airside F&B, Thorsten Merkle, Sushanta Das

ICHRIE Research Reports

The airport airside environment is a unique and highly consequential setting for consumer behavior, where passengers’ food and beverage (F&B) decisions are shaped by time pressure, emotional states, and spatial constraints. This study empirically validates two complementary frameworks - the CX Delightors Framework and the Airport Airside Consumption Model - in the U.S. context to deepen understanding of passenger behavior in this liminal space. Using survey data from 1,374 passengers across three major U.S. hub airports (DEN, PHX, SLC), we conducted principal component analyses to refine the original nine CX Delightors attributes into five robust dimensions: Hospitality & Ambiance, Value …

Evaluating Different Soil Health Parameters For Edge-Of-Field Water Quality, Dipesh Giri, Siddhartho Shekhar Paul, Yichao Rui, Molly Meyers

Symposium of Digital Agriculture

Soil health indicators are increasingly used to guide conservation practice outcomes, but their vertical distribution and relationship to nutrient losses in surface runoff remain understudied. Since 2016, we have conducted multi-depth soil health assessments across agricultural fields in the Great Lakes Basin transitioning to conservation practices such as cover cropping and no-till. Our goal was to identify soil metrics that are predictive of edge-of-field (EOF) water quality outcomes. We assessed 21 biological, chemical, and physical soil indicators at 0–5 cm and 5–15 cm depths, calculating stratification ratios (SR = 0–5 cm ÷ 5–15 cm) for 57 site-years. Nine indicators met …

Dronesar: A Uav Based Synthetic Sperture Radar For Soil Moisture Remote Sensing, Leo Li, Lena Azimi, Melba Crawford, James Garrison

Symposium of Digital Agriculture

Soil Moisture is a critical component of the earth water cycle and very important for plant health and development. DroneSAR is a drone based synthetic aperture radar technology that can provide high resolution field level soil moisture measurement data that can be used for flood/drought monitoring and crop yield prediction. Currently, this technology is under algorithm development for soil moisture retrieval.

Geospatial Modeling Of Spatiotemporal Variability In Farm-Scale Soil Organic Matter Dynamics, Amiya Kalra, Rachel Stevens, Shams R Rahmani, Daniel J. Quinn, Shaun Casteel, Siddhartho S. Paul

Symposium of Digital Agriculture

Soil organic matter (SOM) is a key indicator of soil health, which is vital for maintaining future crops and income. Furthering our understanding of long-term variability in SOM and digital soil mapping methods of SOM will help farmers make management decisions supporting stable yields. While SOM dynamics have been studied in some regional-scale and plot-level studies, their spatiotemporal variability at farm scale is largely unstudied. In this research, we used geospatial models to identify and interpret long-term trends (2015-2024) in SOM at farm scale using the Purdue University research farm in West Lafayette, Indiana as a case study. Our SOM …

The Political Construction Of Anti-Transgender Policy: A Critical Policy Analysis Of North Carolina State Legislators' Discursive Strategies, David Osworth, Morgan Edlin

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

In recent year anti-LGBTQ policy has been cropping up at the state level across the United States. While these policies have been described as unprecedented, they signal a period of retrenchment for the rights of queer and transgender individuals in the United States. This critical policy analysis of North Carolina state legislation that is decidedly homophobic and transgender examines the discursive tactics of policy actors (i.e. North Carolina Legislators) as they argue these policies during legislative sessions. Through our analysis of legislators’ commentary during House of Representative sessions we identified discursive formations that were considered allied with the LGBTQ community …

Wayward Joy In Queer Femme-Inist Educational Research, Sarah Stapleton, Lindsay Cavanaugh, Jade Crimson Rose Da Costa

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This article draws on our experiences with “Femme Educational Futurities,” a dream-mapping (Author 2, 2023), critical arts-based, participatory-informed project about softness in K–12 schools, to explore the boundaries of queer, femme-inist research. We trace how our attempts to enact research softly (Schwartz, 2020) led us towards wayward joy (Hartman, 2019): a messy affective terrain marked by connection, vulnerability, shame, and hope. For each author, we identify what Applebaum (1995) calls a “stop” moment and explore within each instance the convergence of softness, radical love (hooks, 2000) and tender failure (Halberstam, 2011), and discuss what joy means to us as a …

Myths And Magical Thinking: American Civil Religion, The Establishment Clause, And “Codified Irrationality” In Anti-Crt Measures, Kyle Reinhard

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

In Part I, I preview some of the overlapping tensions in U.S. public schooling created by the occasionally competing mandates of education federalism and democratic theory; describe the current state of the law with respect to the constitutionality of state and local governments seeking to inculcate (allegedly) prosocial community values in curriculum; and consider how battles over the meaning of “patriotism” through the decades show that ideology and religion often blend—and still, inevitably, make it—into the public square broadly nonetheless.

In Part II, I describe how religion is a useful tool, both descriptively and as a constitutional jurisprudential framework, …

From Freedom Schools To Freedom: A New Vision Of Desegregation, Joseph Kim

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

I begin with Part I, where I hone in on the school integration movement of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. I start at Brown v. Board of Education. When asked about Brown, most if not all people associate it with the racial integration of segregated public schools and the demise of Plessy v. Ferguson’s separate-but-equal doctrine. However, importantly, I argue that racial integration was not necessarily required by Brown. Rather than mandating racial integration of segregated schools, Brown mandated desegregation of segregated schools. The distinction between “desegregation” and “racial integration” is an important one. While …

Adaptive User Interface Lighting Based On Ambient Conditions, David Murphy, Gustavo Sonoda, Andrew Andreson Stewart, Kenichi Yoneda, Christian Robertson

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes techniques for adapting user interface (UI) lighting of an electronic device to blend with its ambient light conditions. Per techniques of this disclosure, on-screen UI elements on the device are dynamically relit to appear as if they are physical objects being illuminated by actual light sources in the surrounding environment. A model of the ambient lighting environment is created that includes the color, intensity, and location of point light sources in front of the device. Additionally, UI elements associated with an underlying operating environment as well as application specific UI elements are treated as part of a …

A Method And System For Recovering Useable, Secure And Available Key For Blockchain Applications, Panagiotis Chatzigiannis, Shimaa Ahmed, Suvradip Chakraborty

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for recovering useable, secure and available key for blockchain applications. The method involves receiving an input story from a user that encapsulates a memorable life experience and processing this using a natural language processing (NLP) model to create a semantic embedding vector. Additionally, the method optionally collects a biometric sample to produce biometric embedding, which is combined with semantic embedding. Locality-sensitive hashing (LSH) is applied to this combined embedding to create a fixed-length bitstring, which is then processed through a fuzzy extractor to produce a stable, cryptographically strong key for securing digital …

Codfish In Portugal: Drafting A Proposition Of A National Tourist Itinerary, Cristina Carvalho, António Gonçalves

International Journal of Tour Guiding and Visitor Attraction Research

The purpose of this empirical study is to draft a proposition on a tourist itinerary feasible of being organised, promoted and interpreted in its technical features by stakeholders, namely tour operators, promoters and official guides across Portugal. This themed proposition on codfish links towns such as Viana do Castelo, Ílhavo and Lisbon, thus encompassing manifold cultural expression elements, from cod schooners to museums, and from gastronomy to events. As an empirical study, the authors resort to data collected from several scientific sources to base its (yet brief) literary review on cultural tourism and heritage interpretation. Their experience in tour guiding …

Physics 2425 Lecture Slides Volume 1, Chapter 6: Application Of Newton's Laws, Raji Kannampuzha Ph.D.

Physics

This page provides lecture slides for Calculus-based University Physics I (PHYS 2425). Chapters covered in the course are based on OpenStax Physics Volume I and Volume II from Rice University. These materials were created as part of Collin College’s CARES OER Development Grant in 2022. Materials were peer-reviewed by Collin faculty and administrators as part of the grant process.

This work, "University Physics I Lecture Slides," is adapted from "University Physics Volume 1" and “University Physics Volume 2” by William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny, et al., used under CC BY 4.0.

Physics 2425 Lecture Slides Volume 1, Chapter 8: Potential Energy And Conservation Of Energy, Raji Kannampuzha Ph.D.

Physics

This page provides lecture slides for Calculus-based University Physics I (PHYS 2425). Chapters covered in the course are based on OpenStax Physics Volume I and Volume II from Rice University. These materials were created as part of Collin College’s CARES OER Development Grant in 2022. Materials were peer-reviewed by Collin faculty and administrators as part of the grant process.

This work, "University Physics I Lecture Slides," is adapted from "University Physics Volume 1" and “University Physics Volume 2” by William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny, et al., used under CC BY 4.0.

Learning How To Practice Takes Practice, Micah Killion, Robert Duke

John J. Cali School of Music Scholarship and Creative Works

Effective music learning depends on effective music practice. Although time spent with teachers is an important component of young musicians’ development, time spent alone practicing is perhaps even more consequential. Researchers and teachers have offered many prescriptions about effective music practice, yet observations of young musicians’ actual practice reveal that their behavior in the practice room is often quite unlike what teachers envision. The most important aspects of effective practice are the thinking, perceiving, and decision-making that serve to organize how musicians spend their time. We discuss how to help students focus their attention in ways that lead to the …

Investigation Of Different Pretreatment Methods On Macroalgal Biomass For Efficient Biohydrogen Production Via Dark Fermentation, Abeer Dhafer S. Alqahtani, Bassam O. Aljohny, Arulazhagan Pugazhendi

The Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Science

Traditional fossil fuel sources cannot meet increasing energy demand and lead to rising health and global warming concerns. Biohydrogen is a promising alternative to fossil fuels in the zero-carbon economy of the future. The third generation of biofuel that microorganisms produce is biohydrogen. Dark fermentation is gaining attention, which needs little energy and has a higher production rate than other techniques. The biomass of macroalgae has excellent potential as a substrate through dark fermentation. Macroalgae, also known as seaweed, is a highly abundant, fast-growing, and renewable resource that can be sustainably harvested. Macroalgae with significant carbohydrate and no lignin content …

Physics 2425 Lecture Slides Volume 1, Chapter 11: Angular Momentum, Raji Kannampuzha Ph.D.

Physics

This page provides lecture slides for Calculus-based University Physics I (PHYS 2425). Chapters covered in the course are based on OpenStax Physics Volume I and Volume II from Rice University. These materials were created as part of Collin College’s CARES OER Development Grant in 2022. Materials were peer-reviewed by Collin faculty and administrators as part of the grant process.

This work, "University Physics I Lecture Slides," is adapted from "University Physics Volume 1" and “University Physics Volume 2” by William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny, et al., used under CC BY 4.0.

Physics 2425 Lecture Slides Volume 1, Chapter 3: Motion Along A Straight Line, Raji Kannampuzha Ph.D.

Physics

This page provides lecture slides for Calculus-based University Physics I (PHYS 2425). Chapters covered in the course are based on OpenStax Physics Volume I and Volume II from Rice University. These materials were created as part of Collin College’s CARES OER Development Grant in 2022. Materials were peer-reviewed by Collin faculty and administrators as part of the grant process.

This work, "University Physics I Lecture Slides," is adapted from "University Physics Volume 1" and “University Physics Volume 2” by William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny, et al., used under CC BY 4.0.

Physics 2425 Lecture Slides Volume 1, Chapter 16: Waves, Raji Kannampuzha Ph.D.

Physics

This page provides lecture slides for Calculus-based University Physics I (PHYS 2425). Chapters covered in the course are based on OpenStax Physics Volume I and Volume II from Rice University. These materials were created as part of Collin College’s CARES OER Development Grant in 2022. Materials were peer-reviewed by Collin faculty and administrators as part of the grant process.

This work, "University Physics I Lecture Slides," is adapted from "University Physics Volume 1" and “University Physics Volume 2” by William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny, et al., used under CC BY 4.0.

Physics 2425 Lecture Slides Volume 1, Chapter 14: Fluid Mechanics, Raji Kannampuzha Ph.D.

Physics

This page provides lecture slides for Calculus-based University Physics I (PHYS 2425). Chapters covered in the course are based on OpenStax Physics Volume I and Volume II from Rice University. These materials were created as part of Collin College’s CARES OER Development Grant in 2022. Materials were peer-reviewed by Collin faculty and administrators as part of the grant process.

This work, "University Physics I Lecture Slides," is adapted from "University Physics Volume 1" and “University Physics Volume 2” by William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny, et al., used under CC BY 4.0.

Physics 2425 Lecture Slides Volume 1, Chapter 15: Oscillations, Raji Kannampuzha Ph.D.

Physics

This page provides lecture slides for Calculus-based University Physics I (PHYS 2425). Chapters covered in the course are based on OpenStax Physics Volume I and Volume II from Rice University. These materials were created as part of Collin College’s CARES OER Development Grant in 2022. Materials were peer-reviewed by Collin faculty and administrators as part of the grant process.

This work, "University Physics I Lecture Slides," is adapted from "University Physics Volume 1" and “University Physics Volume 2” by William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny, et al., used under CC BY 4.0.

Physics 2425 Lecture Slides Volume 1, Chapter 2: Vectors, Raji Kannampuzha Ph.D.

Physics

This page provides lecture slides for Calculus-based University Physics I (PHYS 2425). Chapters covered in the course are based on OpenStax Physics Volume I and Volume II from Rice University. These materials were created as part of Collin College’s CARES OER Development Grant in 2022. Materials were peer-reviewed by Collin faculty and administrators as part of the grant process.

This work, "University Physics I Lecture Slides," is adapted from "University Physics Volume 1" and “University Physics Volume 2” by William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny, et al., used under CC BY 4.0.

Physics 2425 Lecture Slides Volume 1, Chapter 7: Work And Kinetic Energy, Raji Kannampuzha Ph.D.

Physics

This page provides lecture slides for Calculus-based University Physics I (PHYS 2425). Chapters covered in the course are based on OpenStax Physics Volume I and Volume II from Rice University. These materials were created as part of Collin College’s CARES OER Development Grant in 2022. Materials were peer-reviewed by Collin faculty and administrators as part of the grant process.

This work, "University Physics I Lecture Slides," is adapted from "University Physics Volume 1" and “University Physics Volume 2” by William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny, et al., used under CC BY 4.0.

Physics 2425 Lecture Slides Volume 1, Chapter 13: Gravitation, Raji Kannampuzha Ph.D.

Physics

This page provides lecture slides for Calculus-based University Physics I (PHYS 2425). Chapters covered in the course are based on OpenStax Physics Volume I and Volume II from Rice University. These materials were created as part of Collin College’s CARES OER Development Grant in 2022. Materials were peer-reviewed by Collin faculty and administrators as part of the grant process.

This work, "University Physics I Lecture Slides," is adapted from "University Physics Volume 1" and “University Physics Volume 2” by William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny, et al., used under CC BY 4.0.