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05.05.2025 Ored Connect, Liz Williamson

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Rotc: Unh’S Pathway To Leadership, Sophie Clark

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Initial Scripts And Final Code Data For E2021-260 Study 1, Undergraduates' Access And Usability Of The Contentdm Interface And Irb2022-263 Study 2, Faculty Needs Assessment Of The Library Dam System, Lindsey Memory, Rebecca A. Wiederhold, Abby Beazer, Greg Seppi, Nicole Lewis, Elizabeth Smart, Brent Ellingson

ScholarsArchive Data

Included are the initial scripts and the final qualitative thematic codes (created using the grounded method) of two IRB studies completed by the BYU Library's Digital Collections Systems Management Committee. Study 1, "Undergraduates' Access and Usability of the CONTENTdm Interface" (BYU IRB E2021-260) administered a usability test and an oral survey/interview, resulting in two datasets: codes from video observational data of undergraduate subjects using the library's digital asset management system, CONTENTdm, to complete ten pre-set usability tasks, and also codes from open-ended interview questions about those undergraduate students' perceived effectiveness in the system, and their preferences in a library digital …

First-Principles Studies Of Excited-State Properties In Large-Scale Systems, Du Li

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Density Functional Theory (DFT) is widely used as a powerful tool for studying the electronic structure of materials. However, due to the local or semilocal nature of exchange-correlation functionals, such as the local density approximation and generalized gradient approximation functional, DFT often underestimates the electronic band gap. Many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) within the GW approximation provides more accurate quasiparticle energies calculation by incorporating many-electron screening effects. Additionally, solving the Bethe-Salpeter Equation (BSE) allows for a detailed analysis of excitonic effects in optical spectra. Despite their accuracy, GW-BSE calculations are computationally expensive, particularly for large-scale systems such as defects and substrate-supported …

Expanding The Toolbox For Supramolecular Chemistry: Probing Host–Guest Interactions And Binding With In Situ Ftir Spectroscopy, Shiva Moaven, Douglas A. Vander Griend, Darren W. Johnson, Michael D. Pluth

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Association constant (Ka) measurements provide fundamental information on host–guest interactions in supramolecular chemistry and other areas of science. Here we report the use of in situ FTIR spectroscopy to measure the Ka values across three classes of host–guest complexes that involve hydrogen bonding and halogen bonding. This approach can be performed with minimal sample preparation, does not require deuterated solvents, can measure association based on changes in host or guest vibrations, and benefits from a much shorter timescale than NMR spectroscopy. Due to its fast timescale, FTIR spectroscopy also provides details on host/guest conformational changes, such as the presence of …

Music As A Method For Conversion In 16th Century New Spain, Liana Howe

USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate)

This thesis examines how music contributed to the conversion of Nahuatl-speaking Indigenous peoples in sixteenth-century New Spain during the Spanish “spiritual conquest” that followed the fall of Tenochtitlan. Drawing on historical, anthropological, and psychological scholarship, as well as primary sources from the colonial period, the study compares pre-Columbian Nahua musical traditions with Franciscan missionary practices to explore why music proved to be an effective tool of religious instruction and persuasion. The research demonstrates that music occupied a central role in Nahua religious, educational, and social life prior to Spanish contact, making it a familiar and powerful medium through which missionaries …

The James Museum's "Art In Mind" Program Evaluation, Violet Adams

USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate)

This thesis evaluates the effectiveness of the Art in Mind program at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art in St. Petersburg, Florida, a therapeutic arts initiative designed for individuals with cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer’s disease, and their caregivers. Drawing inspiration from the Meet Me at MoMA model, the program uses guided art discussions, Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), and Personal Response Strategies (PRS) to promote social engagement, emotional well-being, and meaningful connections through art. Using pre- and post-tour surveys, the study assessed changes in participants’ mood, communication, and desire for social interaction. While quantitative analyses did not reveal statistically …

Successful Strategies Utilized By Business Leaders To Balance Tax Planning With Profitability, Quarnelia Patterson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The absence of business tax planning strategies can lead to a higher tax burden. Business owners are concerned because a higher tax burden may result in lower after-tax earnings and reduced cash flow. Grounded in the PESTLE analysis framework, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry study was to explore successful strategies that business leaders use to balance tax planning with profitability. The participants were eight small business owners located in the southwest United States who actively engaged in tax planning. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and a review of publicly available documents. Through thematic analysis, nine themes were …

Probation Officers Perceptions Of Probationers Economic Barriers To Successfully Complete Probation In Eastern North Carolina, Dwayne Ponton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative phenomenological study explored probation officers’ perceptions of the economic barriers that prevent probationers in Eastern North Carolina from successfully completing probation. Challenges such as unemployment, financial sanctions, housing instability, and debt were identified as key obstacles contributing to noncompliance and recidivism. Grounded in Merton’s Strain Theory, the study addressed a gap in research by focusing on the experiences of officers who directly supervise probationers facing economic hardship. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with twelve officers and analyzed using thematic analysis. The study was guided by two research questions: (1) What economic barriers prevent probationers from successfully completing …

Faculty Perceptions Of Challenges To Faculty Retention In Workforce Training Programs At A Higher Education Center In The Southern United States, Brea Terry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study is the challenges of retaining faculty in the workforce training program division at a higher education center in the southern United States. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore faculty perceptions regarding challenges to faculty retention in the workforce training program division at a higher education center in the southern United States and their recommendations for improved faculty retention. The conceptual framework that supported the study was Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with eight full-time workforce training faculty members who had been employed with the …

Developing An Effective Business Strategy For Microinsurance Demand In Nigeria, Adewale Ayokunle Adewusi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nigerian insurance leaders face significant challenges in developing a sustainable microinsurance sector. Despite subsidies from governments and donors aimed at increasing demand, microinsurance operators struggle to expand and sustain their customer base, posing a critical challenge for industry leaders. Grounded in the cumulative prospect theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies some insurance leaders in Nigeria use to grow and sustain business demand for microinsurance products. The participants were five insurance leaders in Nigeria who had employed successful strategies to develop and sustain business demand for microinsurance products. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and …

Recent U.S. Government Policy Literature On Critical And Strategic Minerals, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Critical and strategic minerals have become increasingly important in U.S. government civilian and military policymaking in recent years. This is demonstrated by the heavy use of such minerals in many critical civilian and military infrastructures. This work will discuss how this subject has been addressed in laws, presidential documents, and works by government agencies along with congressional oversight committees and support agencies. It will stress how the United States is heavily dependent on strategic minerals from adversarial foreign countries such as China and will examine U.S. efforts to increase its ability to produce such materials in the United States by …

Silent Sparks: Gaining Clinical Experience To Implement An Occupation-Based Program In A Birth-3 Group With Deaf/Hard-Of-Hearing Children, Sydney Patrow, Moses Ikiugu

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

This capstone project aimed to develop clinical skills and implement an occupation-based program for Deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) children at Metro Deaf School in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Guided by the Dynamic Family Systems Model, Lifespan Development, and Sensory Integration Theory, the project emphasized holistic, family-centered care, skill development, environmental modifications, and promotion of regulation and participation. Clinical skill development was assessed using the Theory Application Assessment Instrument (TAAI) and a site mentor survey. An 8-point improvement from pretest to posttest on the TAAI indicated enhanced theory use skills, and the mentor survey reflected high satisfaction. The program included a five-week …

Transformations Of Bound Quivers, Ari Pincus-Kazmar

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

A quiver Q is a directed multigraph. Representations of Q are assignments of vector spaces and linear maps to the vertices and arrows of Q; these are categorically equivalent to the modules over the path algebra kQ. The indecomposable representations of a given quiver and the irreducible morphisms between them are summarized combinatorially in the Auslander-Reiten quiver which, in the case of algebras of finite representation type, gives almost complete information about the category of representations. We introduce an intuitive transformation from a family of bound quivers to a family of A-type quivers which preserves properties of the Auslander-Reiten quiver.

Modeling Literary Connections: Exploring Transregional Resistance In Dalit Poetry, Antara Bhattacharyay

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

Structuring socio-political identities, the caste system (a graded form of hierarchy) remains entrenched in contemporary Indian society. Dalits, marginalized by the caste system, have expressed their resistance through literature, envisioning substantive equality and social change. In this thesis, I draw on digital humanities methods to examine regional variation in translated Dalit poetry from Bengali, Hindi/Urdu, Marathi, and Tamil languages. I utilize topic modeling—a machine learning algorithm that detects latent semantic structures in a text—as a point of departure for poetry analysis. I observe how topic modeling enables newer readings of the poems, revealing regionally resonant and broader Dalit themes.

Generational Remigration Of The Latvian Diaspora: Tracing The Confluence Of Cultural Identity And Economic Opportunity, Elizabeth L. Curiskis

Geography Honors Projects

At just 1.85 million, Latvia’s current population is declining at one of the fastest rates in Europe. This situation is prompting the Latvian government to introduce policies seeking economic, political, educational, and cultural engagement with the country’s diaspora with the hope that some of the approximately 390,000 emigrants and their descendants living abroad will return to live in Latvia. This paper asks whether these government initiatives are successful in their goal of influencing Latvian diaspora members to remigrate, and if the policies acknowledge and reconcile generational differences in the diaspora’s attitudes towards cultural involvement and eventual remigration. Through surveys and …

Seas Of Lemongrass: A Political Ecology Perspective On Urban Agriculture And Immigrant Food Security In The Twin Cities, Minnesota, Reece V. Mckee

Geography Honors Projects

Urban agriculture (UA) frequently employs organic, polycultural and agroecological techniques in order to farm suboptimal urban land with limited resources. However, less scholarly attention has been paid to its actual impacts on the eating patterns of marginalized groups like immigrants, which is important to study for political debates about the expansion and purpose of UA. In this study, I examined how different forms of UA affect food security and dietary diversity for immigrants in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Using dietary surveys, food access questionnaires, and informal conversations, I determined that a simplistic definition of food security focused only on overall …

Vienna In The New Century: From Public Housing Haven To Neoliberalized Mega Projects, Connery R. Ritter

Geography Honors Projects

While Vienna is often presented as a utopia for social sustainability, the urban developments after the turn of the century have revealed the variegated nature of Neoliberalization. Since the fall of the USSR, Vienna has privatized municipal bodies and engaged with financialized urban development projects. While this Neoliberalized urban governance approach has met with resistance, the resistance ironically has also enabled the city to capitalize on its social-welfarist past. Vienna nowadays brands itself as a sustainable and livable city for corporations, which leads to land assetization and new economic segregation.

How Much Should Consumers With Mild To Moderate Hearing Loss Spend On Hearing Devices?, Vinaya Manchaiah, Steve Taddei, Abram Bailey, De Wet Swanepoel, Hansapani Rodrigo, Andrew Sabin

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: This study examined the relationship between hearing device price and sound quality. Method: A novel consumer-centric metric of sound quality (“SoundScore”) was used to assess hearing devices’ audio performance. Each hearing device is tested with two fittings. The “Initial Fit” is designed to approximate the most likely fitting for an individual with a mild-to-moderate sloping sensorineural hearing loss. The “Tuned Fit” includes adjusting parameters optimized to hit prescriptive fitting targets (NAL NL2) on an acoustic manikin. Each fitting is evaluated across five dimensions. Both fittings are combined using a weighted average to create a single number from 0 to …

Fatigue, Recovery, And The Economics Of Remote Work, María Sáez Martí

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

I propose a model in which workers experience fatigue over time and can restore productivity by taking breaks. Optimal schedules feature evenly spaced, full-recovery breaks; when breaks are costless, they should occur frequently, but switching costs make the optimal number finite. The model is embedded in a principal-agent framework with contractual frictions. When employers control the schedule, workers overwork; when workers self-manage, they overrest. Both lead to inefficiencies. These results shed light on the trade-offs in remote work arrangements, especially following COVID-19. The analysis highlights how control rights, incentive design, and recovery constraints interact—and why neither rigid supervision nor full …

Hybridize Functions: A Tool For Automatically Refactoring Imperative Deep Learning Programs To Graph Execution, Raffi Khatchadourian, Tatiana Castro Vélez, Mehdi Bagherzadeh, Nan Jia, Anita Raja

Publications and Research

Efficiency is essential to support responsiveness w.r.t. ever-growing datasets, especially for Deep Learning (DL) systems. DL frameworks have traditionally embraced deferred execution-style DL code—supporting symbolic, graph-based Deep Neural Network (DNN) computation. While scalable, such development is error-prone, non-intuitive, and difficult to debug. Consequently, more natural, imperative DL frameworks encouraging eager execution have emerged but at the expense of run-time performance. Though hybrid approaches aim for the “best of both worlds,” using them effectively requires subtle considerations to make code amenable to safe, accurate, and efficient graph execution—avoiding performance bottlenecks and semantically inequivalent results. We discuss the engineering aspects of a …

Ability Of Strained C Atoms To Act As An Electron Donor, Mariusz Michalczyk, Wiktor Zierkiewicz, Steve Scheiner

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

There is a great deal of strain within the propellane and pyramidane hydrocarbon molecules. Quantum chemical calculations evaluate how this strain affects the ability of the bridgehead C atom to act as an electron donor in hydrogen, halogen, chalcogen, pnicogen, and tetrel bonds, despite the absence of a formal C lone pair or CC multiple bond. The strain induces the formation of a substantial region of negative electrostatic potential on this C atom which can attract the σ-hole of an electrophile. Each such molecule also contains an occupied molecular orbital that can be described as either a C lone pair …

“We All Have Our Boulders To Pass, And This Was One Of Mine”: Ethnoculturally Diverse High-School-Aged Youth And Their Reclamation Of Nature, Andrew T. Turchon

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative, ethnographic, youth-centered study explored how ethnoculturally diverse urban high-school-aged youth express their relationships to nature. Participatory and youth-centered methodologies and data sources, including Photovoice, photo-elicitation interviews, and classroom artifacts, centered the voices of a diverse group of urban youth and their experiences in local forest reservations. Diverse urban youth are typically marginalized from environmental education, place-based learning, and representation in outdoor-related research. Therefore, it is critical that educational researchers include the voices of these students in conversations about nature to broaden the sociocultural framework around what “nature” is, how it is experienced, and by whom. This theoretical framework …

Examining The Impact Of Reentry Programs On The Employability Of African American Ex-Offenders Entering The Workforce In The State Of Michigan, Lawrence Gene Caldwell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American ex-offenders in Michigan have faced numerous challenges when trying to secure employment after incarceration. Despite the well-documented difficulties of reintegration, their personal experiences and perceptions of these obstacles remain largely unexplored. Successful reintegration has required individuals to break free from the behaviors and social patterns reinforced during their time in prisons. This generic qualitative study examined the role of reentry programs in addressing these challenges and emphasizes the need to reassess current criminal justice practices to better support formerly incarcerated individuals. This generic qualitative study focused on the employment struggles faced by African American ex-offenders and the broader …

Experience Of Coparents/Partners Of African American Mothers Participating In Breastfeeding Education, Samantha Hickson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Coparents and partners of African American mothers are critical in the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding and influence a woman’s decision to breastfeed. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experience of coparents/partners of African American mothers participating in breastfeeding education and its impact on the support they provide. Bandura’s social cognitive theory provided the theoretical foundation for this study. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 11 participants. Data analysis followed the traditional seven steps of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings showed that while coparents and partners of African American breastfeeding mothers found breastfeeding education to be …

Lived Experiences Of African American Women Exposed To Intimate Partner Violence In Single-Parent Homes, Lattakka Salley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is widespread in childhood, but it is generally higher among African American children. Extensive qualitative analyses to understand the experiences of youth who have experienced IPV have suggested that help-seeking is vital to the survival rate of African American women. Nonetheless, most studies have involved mainly White participants from two-parent households. The current research included African American women who experienced IPV. Social learning theory was used in this study to describe the participants’ behaviors and experiences with IPV. A phenomenological approach was employed to uncover the participants’ lived experiences of IPV. Two research questions …

Mitigating Supply Chain Disruptions In The Retail Warehousing Industry, Terricka Nichole Townsend

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retail warehousing stability is increasingly threatened by global uncertainties and supply chain disruptions, requiring urgent and innovative strategies. This issue is critical for retail warehousing managers and supply chain leaders, as their ability to respond impacts organizational resilience, business continuity, and customer satisfaction. The purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore strategies used by retail warehousing managers to mitigate the negative impacts of supply chain disruptions on business stability. The situational crisis communication theory and attribution theory provided the conceptual framework for understanding how retail warehousing managers communicate and respond to supply chain disruptions while maintaining stakeholder trust …

Hybridize Functions: A Tool For Automatically Refactoring Imperative Deep Learning Programs To Graph Execution, Raffi Khatchadourian, Tatiana Castro Vélez, Mehdi Bagherzadeh, Nan Jia, Anita Raja

Publications and Research

Efficiency is essential to support responsiveness w.r.t. ever-growing datasets, especially for Deep Learning (DL) systems. DL frameworks have traditionally embraced deferred execution-style DL code—supporting symbolic, graph-based Deep Neural Network (DNN) computation. While scalable, such development is error-prone, non-intuitive, and difficult to debug. Consequently, more natural, imperative DL frameworks encouraging eager execution have emerged but at the expense of run-time performance. Though hybrid approaches aim for the "best of both worlds," using them effectively requires subtle considerations to make code amenable to safe, accurate, and efficient graph execution—avoiding performance bottlenecks and semantically inequivalent results. We discuss the engineering aspects of a …

Intouch Week Of May 5, 2025, New York Medical College

InTouch

• Showcasing Innovation: 21st Annual Doctoral Project Presentation Day Highlights Student Research Shaping the Future of Physical Therapy
• Sameh Said, M.D., Leads First Mid-Delivery Open Heart Surgery
• Student Spotlight: First-Time Parents Navigate the Demands of Medical School at NYMC

Understanding Potential Profitability Estimates For Western Kentucky Grain Production, Austin Randolph, Naveen Musunuru

Honors College Theses

Profitability remains a persistent challenge for grain farmers across the United States and globally. Without profitability, the continued operation of any grain farm becomes unsustainable. For grain farmers, profitability is not merely a financial goal but a crucial determinant of their livelihood. However, many grain producers face a significant obstacle: a lack of reliable tools to predict profitability and plan for the next season or make adjustments to existing operations. While budgets can offer a framework and tentative guidelines for farmers to follow, fluctuations in market prices can ultimately undermine these financial plans. The objective of this project is to …