Digital Commons Network^™

Three Essays On Governing The Energy Transition At The State And Local Levels, Brandon Charles

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation analyzes challenges in governing a large-scale transition in energy system infrastructure in the United States. Transitioning U.S. energy infrastructure toward a low greenhouse gas emission future raises challenges at all levels of government. The essays in this dissertation focus on challenges at the state and local levels, each leveraging different data and research designs to inform governments and administrative agencies about emerging issues. In the first chapter, I analyze changes in the stock of outstanding debt issued by local governments due to the U.S. boom in the extraction of shale oil and natural gas resources. Local governments in …

Talking From The Soul: Exploring The Impact Of African American Vernacular English (Aave) In Digital News On Black Youth Political Behavior, Ananda Collins

Dissertations - ALL

Black youth have a long history of political engagement yet consistently report the lowest levels of traditional forms of political participation in the entire U.S electorate. While social media has emerged as an alternative political space, structural and linguistic barriers continue to limit their engagement. This dissertation examines whether African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in digital political news media influences the political behavior of young Black Americans. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines a survey experiment and in-depth interviews, this study tests whether political news written in AAVE, compared to Standard American English (SAE), affects political engagement, information retention, and …

Papers On American Elections, Murat Abus

Dissertations - ALL

The transfer of executive power through free and fair elections is the cornerstone of democracy. However, losers' consent is a fundamental requirement for the peaceful transfer of power through elections. In advanced democracies, due to the long series of free and fair elections and frequent electoral turnovers, there is an implicit assumption about the status of elections as the mechanism to shape the structure of representative government and resolve societal conflicts. Voters naturally occupy a central role in the maintenance of this societal consensus. Therefore, factors that affect the voter experience - voter satisfaction and voter confidence - are normatively …

Inundated With Uncertainty: A Cartographic Assessment Of Fema’S Flood Insurance Rate Maps (Firms) And Flood Risk Discourse, Michael Cabal

Theses - ALL

Flooding accounts for almost 90% of all natural disasters in the United States. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is the authoritative agency tasked with mapping Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) that determine high-risk flood zones. These maps, known as Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), are used to establish mandatory flood insurance requirements, regulate local floodplain building requirements, inform future development, and mitigate potential flood damage. However, the process for updating and implementing flood maps has come under significant scrutiny for being oversimplified, inaccurate, and incomplete. Despite existing scholarship on the shortfalls of FEMA’s recent responses to disasters, there is limited …

Tomboys In Dystopia: An Analysis Of Gendered Traits In Ya Dystopian Literature, Bethany H. Jenkins

English Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

This thesis explores the world of young adult dystopian literature. Katniss (Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games), Tris (Veronica Roth’s Divergent) and Tierney (Kim Liggett’s The Grace Year) are all tomboy protagonists living in a dystopian society. Apart from the expected challenges of living in a dystopia, being a tomboy means facing conflicts that are a result of their gender non-conformity. Drawing heavily from the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, each protagonist is analyzed within the context of their own story to identify feminine and masculine traits that they express. These traits’ impact on the events of the story is …

Grit, Self-Assessment, And Second Language Proficiency: A Large-Scale Examination Using Data From The Language Ability Self-Evaluation Resource, Andrew T. Skoy

Theses and Dissertations

Grit has been defined as being "perseverance and passion for long-term goals" (Duckworth et al., 2007). Research has tied grit to success in the discipline of second language acquisition (SLA), where researchers have adapted Duckworth's general grit self-assessment instrument to capture measurements of grit within second language learners (Teimouri et al., 2022). Such a scale appears on the Language Ability Self-Evaluation Resource (LASER), a standardized language proficiency test developed by researcher at Brigham Young University. With the aim of replicating the studies that were done to validate the design of the LASER, responses to the grit-measuring section of the test …

Sensorimotor Factors In Fall Risk Assessment And Prevention In Older Adults, Claire Smith

Dissertations - ALL

The primary objective of this dissertation was to test the validity and sensitivity of a novel fall risk assessment and investigate the sensorimotor factors that prevent a fall. Study 1 was designed to validate a novel reaction time test and see if it was sensitive enough to correctly assign an older adult’s fall status. The evidence showed a significant difference between young and non-faller older adults (p < 0.001) and young and faller older adults (p = 0.040), supporting the existing literature. Although there was no significant difference between the older and fallers (p = 0.037), the reaction time test was able to accurately assign adults with their fall status, accurately placing 25% of the 36% of actual fallers into the fall status category. Study 2 examined if traditionally used measures of functional health could predict an older adult’s postural performance following random perturbations at increasingly difficult intensities. Stepwise multiple regression results indicated that gait speed (p < 0.001) and balance performance (p < 0.001) were significant predictors at the lowest perturbation intensity with no distractions (single-task), and plantarflexor strength (p < 0.001) was a significant predictor at all intensities with the addition of a distraction (dual-task) for stride length performance. There were no significant predictors of bilateral symmetry performance (p > 0.05). Study 3 examined the physiological mechanisms behind postural responses following a sudden perturbation. Stepwise multiple regression results indicated that H-reflex amplitude while standing was most common significant predictor at all perturbation intensities …

William Lewis, Jr. V. Tracey Chance

2026 Decisions

USDC for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Constrained Neural Intelligence: Investigations Into Deep Multi-Objective Optimization, Naveed Tahir

Dissertations - ALL

Neural intelligence is identified with complex learning problems optimized over the high-dimensional, non-convex parameter spaces of deep neural networks. Solving such problems generally requires handling competing objectives and conflicting constraints. This is traditionally dealt with using heuristic methods that collapse such complexity into unconstrained, singular objectives. While computationally convenient, this invites a tradeoff against the precision and stability afforded by non-heuristic, geometry-aware approaches. This dissertation explores constrained multi-objective learning in various applied and theoretical contexts and highlights the feasibility of approximate methods as well as the necessity of exact methods. We propose a framework for equality-constrained deep learning via approximate …

A Black Feminist Materialist Consideration Of Reconstruction Era Education In Virginia March - August 1866, Lida Colón

Dissertations - ALL

In this archival study of outgoing correspondence from the Superintendent for Freedmen's Schools in Virginia, I developed a Black feminist intervention into New Materialisms in writing studies that names the material conditions of Reconstruction era education beyond the settler colonial narratives of federal archives. In doing so, I aimed to develop a frame of reference for navigating our contemporary teaching conditions as antiracist writing pedagogues. I aimed to address three overarching research questions for this dissertation: (1) What context for our own material conditions can be provided from an examination of Reconstruction era education? (2) What context can be provided …

Examining Public Perceptions Of Source Credibility In Mental And Physical Health Communication, Bailey Fraser Dr, Joanna Pozzulo Dr., Emily Pica Dr.

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Surveys in Canada and the United States have indicated declines in subjective well-being alongside growing public interest in improving personal health. With increased availability of credible and non-credible health information, particularly online, it is important to understand how the public perceives the credibility of various information sources for physical and mental health information. The present research is the first known study to directly compare perceptions of source credibility across mental versus physical health contexts and to examine associated information-seeking behaviors. Results indicated that participants consistently rated professional sources as more credible than layperson sources and perceived meaningful differences in the …

Racial Differences In Hiv Testing And Hiv Infection Among Adults With Seborrheic Dermatitis In Atlanta, Georgia, Olivia Elizabeth Collins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Impactful Relationships Of Electricity Availability, Cost, And Metering On Socioeconomic Policy Factors In Nigerian Communities, Emmanuel Amanor Adamasi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Human Milk Small Extracellular Vesicles Elicit Changes In Inflammatory Response In Infant Human Intestinal Enteroids, Kacie D Waiters, Anthony S Peidl, Hailey A Mcandrew, Ashfia F Khan, Grace Adeniyi-Ipadeola, Hephzibah Nwanosike, Sana Sharif, M Funmi Babajide, Micah Castillo, Preethi H Gunaratne, Samaneh Karami, Hoa Nguyen-Phuc, Xinli Liu, Sasirekha Ramani, Tasneem Bawa-Khalfe

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Human milk (HM) is the key nutritional source for infants and the most effective preventative approach against serious gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases like necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants. Numerous studies in animal models indicate HM-derived small extracellular vesicles (HMEV) reduce severity of inflammation; however, data on human-specific models are limited. Isolated HMEV were characterized from early-HM (colostrum and transitional), mature-HM, and a combined, pasteurized donor bank-like HM sample (pool-); pool-HMEV retains a profile aligned with HMEV from both early- and mature-HM samples. Exposure to pool-HMEV initiates unique gene signatures associated with reduction of inflammation including NFkB-driven TNFα signaling in human …

Plasma Gdf15 Affects Long-Term Dementia Risk And Alters Neuroimmune Signaling, Cassandra O Blew, Michael R Duggan, Dimitrios Tsitsipatis, Gabriela T Gomez, Zulema Rodriguez-Hernandez, Luke C Pilling, Jingsha Chen, Eva Jacobsen, Heather E Dark, Yifei Lu, Shannon M Drouin, Cassandra M Joynes, Minhao Yao, Murat Bilgel, Abhay Moghekar, Qu Tian, Julián Candia, Mary Kaileh, Aditi Gupta, Krystyna Mazan-Mamczarz, Myriam Gorospe, Alexey Lyashkov, Yevgeniya Lukyanenko, Mika Kivimaki, Philipp Frank, Lori L Jennings, Valborg Gudmundsdottir, Vilmundur Gudnason, Lenore J Launer, Naoto Kaneko, Shintaro Kato, Makio Furuichi, Masaki Shibayama, Masahisa Katsuno, Keita Hiraga, Yukiko Nishita, Rei Otsuka, James R Pike, Mary R Rooney, Pascal Schlosser, Yuhan Cui, Guray Erus, Christos Davatzikos, Rebecca F Gottesman, Iwao Waga, Priya Palta, Christie Ballantyne, Michael Griswold, Zhonghua Liu, Luigi Ferrucci, Allison B Herman, Keenan A Walker

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Growth/differentiation factor-15 (GDF15) is a secreted cytokine strongly associated with dementia risk. However, the extent to which GDF15 represents a biomarker and driver of dementia risk remains unclear. Across multiple cohorts, we demonstrated that plasma GDF15 is associated with greater dementia risk over 15- to 25-year follow-up periods when measured in midlife, with stronger associations observed for vascular, compared to Alzheimer's disease (AD), dementia. Two-sample Mendelian randomization supported plasma GDF15's mechanistic role in AD and related dementias, while cohort studies linked it to cerebral small vessel disease, neurodegeneration, phosphorylated tau, and a cerebrospinal fluid proteomic signature indicative of neuroimmune activation. …

Early-Stage Corticostriatal Hyperactivity Impairs Cognitive Flexibility Alongside Striatal Cholinergic Dysfunction In An Alzheimer's Disease Model, Yufei Huang, Xueyi Xie, Zhenbo Huang, Ruifeng Chen, Himanshu Gangal, Xuehua Wang, Karienn Souza, Julia Hunter, Xin Wu, Doodipala Samba Reddy, Jeannie Chin, Jun Wang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Cognitive flexibility declines early in Alzheimer's disease, yet the underlying circuit mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we report that young 5xFAD mice exhibit deficits in instrumental reversal learning prior to spatial memory impairment. This behavioral inflexibility is associated with abnormal neuronal reactivation in the medial prefrontal cortex and dorsomedial striatum. Electrophysiological recordings reveal that medial prefrontal cortex neurons are hyperexcitable and receive increased excitatory input. Furthermore, glutamatergic transmission from the medial prefrontal cortex to striatal direct-pathway medium spiny neurons is enhanced and coincides with strengthened inhibitory transmission onto striatal cholinergic interneurons, reduced spontaneous firing, and diminished striatal acetylcholine release. Critically, sustained …

Marshallese Female Caregivers’ Intention To Seek Pediatric Care For Their Children, Ages 2–5, With A Body Mass Index At Or Above The 95th Percentile, Living In Northwest Arkansas, Madicyn Huddleston Freeman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Transformational Leadership On Volunteer Retention, Kirk David Hillabrand

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

The Architecture Of Leadership And Management: Power, Strategy, And Human Judgment In Modern Organizations, Arthur King Ma Ph.D.

Management Open Educational Resources

This book is a practical and accessible guide to management theory. It connects classic and contemporary leadership frameworks to real organizational challenges. It examines how managers lead people, shape behavior, adapt to changing situations, build trust, manage systems, develop learning organizations, and guide ethical, culturally intelligent, and sustainable performance. Through theory, key principles, and applied case studies from the United States and China, the book helps readers understand how management decisions influence people, culture, strategy, operations, and long-term organizational success. Designed for students, educators, and practitioners, it shows that effective management requires more than authority or technical skill; it requires …

Investigation Of Inlet Turbulence Effects On Mixing Characteristics Of A Jet In Crossflow, Erin Jagger

Masters Theses

Gas flaring is widely used in the oil and gas industry to dispose of excess waste gas, and improving flare efficiency is critical for reducing emissions. Flare performance depends strongly on turbulent mixing between the flare gas and surrounding crossflow. While previous studies have examined the effects of crossflow velocity and low turbulence levels, the combined effects of crossflow turbulence intensity and integral length scale on mixing remains insufficiently understood.

This study uses a non-reacting jet in crossflow (JICF) configuration to represent the mixing process between the flare and crossflow interaction. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations …

Data Scheduling Using Distance Function With Single-Pass Processing, Mahmood Shakir Hammoodi, Suhad Hatim Jihad, Mithal Hadi Jebur

Baghdad Science Journal

Task scheduling is one of the most fundamental difficulties confronting numerous sectors, including education, healthcare, and industrial management. Scheduling quality has a direct impact on performance efficiency, resource utilization, and end user satisfaction. With the growing volume and diversity of data, there is a greater demand for intelligent systems that can handle the spatial and temporal complexity of jobs and resource allocation. As a result, modern data analysis and decision-making processes have become critical for ensuring workflow optimization while reducing time and space waste. This study proposes an innovative approach to task scheduling that combines multidimensional data analysis using Data …

Optimized Multi-Criteria Routing Algorithm For Durable Wireless Sensor Networks, Ghaihab H. Adday, Maha S. Abdulridha, Hasanain A. Alsreeh, Taj-Aldeen N. Abdali

Baghdad Science Journal

The Internet of Things and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) rely on Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) as their underlying infrastructure. WSNs have recently attracted significant attention due to their crucial applications, such as monitoring applications. Geographic routing algorithms are widely used in WSNs because event location is often more critical than node identification. However, these algorithms still face challenges, such as workload imbalance and high energy consumption. Energy consumption is particularly vital in WSNs due to the sensor nodes' limited power resources. This work proposed an enhanced geographic routing algorithm based on the Technique for Order of Preference by …

Tlenet-Transformer For Epilepsy Detection With Futuristic Iomt Plans, Jayanthi Vajiram, Sivakumar. S

Baghdad Science Journal

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) is the most prevalent subtype of focal epilepsy, often posing diagnostic difficulties due to its complex clinical features. To address these challenges, this study proposes TLENet-Transformer, a novel deep learning architecture tailored for precise TLE identification. The study begins with skull stripping, bias field correction, z-score normalization, and Gaussian filtering; these methods are implemented to enhance image quality. Following this, a segmentation method based on an optimized Fuzzy C-Means clustering algorithm is employed, providing accurate delineation of regions. At this point, the segmented images are subsequently mapped to a pre-labelled Automated Anatomical Labelling (AAL) template to …

Weighted Average Ensemble Learning Model For Improving Brain Tumor Classification, Laith H. Alhasnawy, Hasanain Ali Al Essa, Tahseen A. Wotaifi, Abbas F. Hommadi, Ameer K. Al-Mashanji

Baghdad Science Journal

The detection of Brain Tumors (BTs) is of great benefit in identifying the growth of dangerous cells in the brain that pose a threat to the patient's life. Early detection of BTs remains a significant challenge due to subtle differences among tumor types and the complexity of brain anatomy. Manual diagnosis by radiologists is often time-consuming and subject to variations, which may delay treatment. Among available imaging techniques, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is widely used because of its high-resolution capabilities. Deep Learning (DL) has achieved remarkable success in image classification tasks through Transfer Learning (TL), which utilizes pre-trained models. Therefore, …

Complex Question Analysis In Voice Commands Using Generate Sql For Database Searching, P. Prabaswara, D. Wardani

Baghdad Science Journal

The definition of a complex question is a long sentence with many focal points that may have many answers, involve many entities, or use non-standard linguistic constructs. Complex questions can be obtained from voice commands. It will help some people with blindness or visual impairments. Voice commands have become a mandatory feature of applications, including the basic one to access databases. In this work, the Generate Structured Query Language Configuration (GSC) approach was developed to answer complex questions in the Indonesian language. The non-learning approach was chosen as the learning process needs costly computation and is inappropriate for low-resource languages. …

Neural Feature Crossing For Cross-Domain Recommendation In Knowledge Management Systems, Imran Khaled, Faiez Gargouri

Baghdad Science Journal

Recently, the rapid growth of digital knowledge resources has created an urgent need for advanced recommendation systems that capable to operate across various domains. This paper introduces KnowledgeXRec, a domain-aware hybrid recommendation framework that models both shared and domain-specific user-item interactions within a unified end-to-end architecture. Domain-specific feature crosses capture patterns unique to educational and cultural domains, while shared layers enable cross-domain knowledge transfer. Learnable embedding is represented categorical features such as learning style, age group, and content attributes, and the model is jointly optimized using binary cross-entropy loss with Adam optimizer. Findings provide evidence that KnowledgeXRec consistently outperforms seven …

Post-Covid Sli In Preschoolers: A Look At Changes In Speech And Language Impairments In Preschool-Aged Children In A Post-Covid Environment., Shenda Coy

Honors Theses

As the world has adjusted to times post-COVID, one thing that has caught the attention of professionals is a shift in speech language development in young children. Since COVID, more children are receiving speech and language services and diagnosed with SLI (speech and language impairment). This study investigates the reason for the shift, as well as strategies and services that can be used to adjust to these changes in numbers. The research for this project was conducted through anecdotal notes, personal research and observations. Information was collected over a number of years after COVID, from 2021-2026. This information when compiled …

Topical Normal Saline, Alcohol, And Petrolatum For Marsi: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Michael Hartanto Angriawan, Shannaz Nadia Yusharyahya, Rahadi Rihatmadja

Journal of General - Procedural Dermatology and Venereology Indonesia

Background: Medical adhesive-related skin injury (MARSI) is a common complication associated with acrylic-based adhesive removal. Topical agents such as 0.9% NaCl (normal saline), white petrolatum, and 70% alcohol are commonly used to assist adhesive removal; however, their effectiveness in reducing MARSI remains unclear.

Methods: This single-blind randomized controlled trial with a within-subject design included 56 healthy adults. Acrylic-based adhesives were applied to four sites on the upper arms. Adhesive removal was performed on days 3 and 6 using three interventions (normal saline, petrolatum, alcohol) and one control (no topical agent). Outcomes included MARSI incidence, clinical erythema score, erythema index, transepidermal …

A Cross-Sectional Study At A Tertiary Setting Assessing Socioeconomic Burden And Psychological Impact Of Dermatophytoses, Amrita Hongal, Varsha Manchegowda, Mohan Hebbur Naraharirao, Mahalaxmi Khatagave, Rakshitha Nandeesh

Journal of General - Procedural Dermatology and Venereology Indonesia

Background: Dermatophytosis is a highly prevalent superficial fungal infection in tropical regions, often chronic due to inadequate treatment. Its recurrent nature due to misuse of topical steroids and inappropriate treatment contributes significantly to both financial burden and deterioration in quality of life. This article aimed to assess the socioeconomic burden and psychological impact of dermatophytosis, accounting for its chronicity.

Methods: This study included 285 patients aged ≥12 years with previously treated dermatophytosis. Data on demographics, disease characteristics, and treatment patterns were collected. Quality of life was assessed using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire. …

Oral Tofacitinib For Recalcitrant Lichen Planus Pigmentosus: A Hospital-Based Retrospective Study, Rashmi Singh, Prachi Sharma, Rajnish Kumar, Mugdha Kulkarni, Tripti Upadhyay

Journal of General - Procedural Dermatology and Venereology Indonesia

Background: Cutaneous lichen planus (CLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease typically involving the flexor surfaces of the extremities. It is a CD8-positive T-cell-mediated disease of the skin in which an immune mechanism targets basal keratinocytes. Lichen planus pigmentosus (LPP), a variant of CLP, predominantly involves the extensor aspect and has recently been under the umbrella term of acquired dermal macular hyperpigmentation. The primary objective of our study was to determine the effectiveness of oral tofacitinib in treating LPP, and the secondary objective was to assess its safety.

Methods: Medical records of patients attending the Dermatology Outpatient Department between …