Digital Commons Network^™

A Machine Learning And Artificial Intelligence Sentiment Analysis Of Esg Disclosures, John Barnett Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

This dissertation examines whether environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure sentiment extracted from SEC Form 10-K Item 1A risk disclosures aligns with Bloomberg ESG scores. The study combines SEC textual disclosures, Bloomberg ESG ratings, firm financial data, executive compensation data, and executive gender characteristics. Natural language processing and artificial intelligence methods, including FinBERT, Loughran-McDonald sentiment measures, BART-MNLI zero-shot classification, LLaMA-based ESG scoring, and readability analysis, are used to evaluate ESG-related disclosure signals. Results reveal that SEC 10-K Item 1A risk-factor sentiment and Bloomberg ESG scores represent related but distinct constructs. ESG sentiment in Item 1A is poorly aligned with third-party …

Evaluation Of Dredged Sediments As A Partial Replacement For Fine Aggregate In Mortar And Concrete, Ashish Gautam

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

The feasibility of using dredged sediment from the Mobile River as a partial replacement for fine aggregate in mortar and concrete was investigated through a series of laboratory characterization and performance evaluation. Three dredged sediment samples (A, B and C) were initially examined, and Sample A was selected for further evaluation due to its closer resemblance to natural fine aggregate. This sample exhibited lower moisture content, higher sand equivalent values, higher specific gravity, and lower absorption. Mortar mixtures with 0, 10, 20, 30, 50, 75 and 100% dredged sediment replacement showed decreasing workability as the replacement level increased. The 20% …

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 42: How Accurate Are The Transcriptions Presented At The Alfred Russel Wallace Page Website?, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

A look is taken at the level of accuracy displayed by the transcriptions of Wallace writings offered at the Alfred Russel Wallace Page website, as determined by a ChatGPT analysis.

Oak Savanna Expansion: Indigenizing Psu's Urban Landscape, Ash Herb

University Honors Theses

Since time immemorial Indigenous Peoples have resided in what is now named Portland of the Pacific Northwest in the Willamette Valley. For hundreds of years, this forested Land has been colonized, razed to stumps and covered in cement in order to build the urban landscape. Due to such destruction on a broad scale, we are experiencing the results of climate catastrophe. By finding ways to reclaim our relationship with Land and returning to Indigenous epistemologies, our urban landscape has the opportunity to shift towards restoration and prosperity. Indigenous plants have existed here, supporting humans in a reciprocal relationship, for thousands …

University Of Central Florida Undergraduate Catalog, 2025-2026, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Clinical Machine Learning Model For Predicting Pathological Complete Response In Patients With Esophageal And Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma After Trimodality Therapy, Kohei Yamashita, Evan Kwiatkowski, Matheus Sewastjanow-Silva, Jane E Rogers, Katsuhiro Yoshimura, Melissa Pool Pizzi, Qiong Gan, Jenny J Li, Rebecca E Waters, Mariela Blum Murphy, Masaaki Iwatsuki, Wayne L Hofstetter, Aileen Chen, Ying Yuan, Jaffer A Ajani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Accurate prediction of pathological complete response (pCR) after preoperative chemoradiation therapy, followed by surgery (trimodality therapy) in esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (GEJAC) may improve clinical decision-making and patient counseling before esophagectomy. This study aimed to develop predictive models for pCR after trimodality using machine learning (ML) approaches.

Patients and methods: A total of 569 patients with EAC and GEJAC who received trimodality therapy at MD Anderson Cancer Center between 2002 and 2022 were included. Clinicopathological characteristics and survival benefit of patients who achieved a pCR were reviewed via descriptive and survival analyses. Subsequently, ML models based …

Safety And Efficacy Of Tranexamic Acid In Urologic Surgery: Results From The International, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Poise-3 Trial, Kari A O Tikkinen, Maura Marcucci, Alex L E Halme, Sandra N Ofori, Flavia K Borges, Charlotte T B Kanstrup, Lily J Park, Farhad Tondroanamag, Tuomas P Kilpeläinen, Sara V Tornberg, Thomas W Painter, David Conen, Vladimir Lomivorotov, Daniel I Sessler, Matthew T V Chan, Maria Jose Martinez-Zapata, Chew Y Wang, Denis B Xavier, Michael K Wang, Wojciech Szczeklik, Kate Leslie, Luke T Lavallee, Rodney H Breau, Kumar Balasubramanian, P J Devereaux

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and objective: Perioperative bleeding is common. Evidence for tranexamic acid (TXA) in urology remains limited and conflicting, and major urologic guidelines provide no recommendations. In an a priori planned analysis, we evaluated TXA among patients undergoing urologic surgery in POISE-3.

Methods: POISE-3 was an international randomized trial of patients undergoing surgery with bleeding and cardiovascular risk factors. Participants received TXA (1 g intravenous bolus at surgery start and end) or placebo. The primary efficacy outcome was a 30-day bleeding composite (life-threatening/major/critical organ), and the primary safety outcome was a 30-day thrombosis composite (myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery [MINS], nonhemorrhagic …

Computable Phenotypes For Research Using Real-World Data: Experiences From The Nih Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory, Marisa L Conte, Judith M Schlaeger, Guilherme Del Fiol, James R Campbell, Andrea L Cheville, Keith Marsolo, Kari A Stephens, Miriam O Ezenwa, Andrew D Boyd, Juanita E Darby, Nadine S Matthie, P Michael Ho, Alice Pressman, Morgan Justice, Carol Reynolds Geary, Keturah R Faurot, Alex Fist, Karen Staman, Hulin Wu, Rachel L Richesson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: Embedded pragmatic clinical trials (ePCTs) are conducted as part of routine clinical care and therefore use data collected from real-world data sources, such as electronic health record systems and administrative claims. A common approach for using these types of data across all phases of trial conduct is to create a computable phenotype (an explicitly defined data query data, including specified data types, data codes, and logical parameters) to capture patients with a clinical condition, exposure, symptom, characteristic, treatment, or outcome of interest.

Materials and methods: The Electronic Health Record (EHR) Core Working Group of the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory …

Indigenous Community Research Opportunities, Sharon Hausam, Aaron M. Canter

Faculty Publications

This is a working paper produced as part of National Science Foundation project #2115169, “Transforming Rural-Urban Systems: Trajectories for Sustainability in the Intermountain West,” known as the “Intermountain West Transformation Network” (TN), led by the University of New Mexico with institutional partners at three additional universities in New Mexico, two in Arizona, and one each in Utah, Colorado, and Washington. The TN’s Indigenous and Tribal engagement was supported through a contract with Dr. Sharon Hausam, additional work by Aaron M. Canter, coordination with Dr. Lani Tsinnajinnie, and an Advisory Committee on Indigenous Information Needs primarily comprised of Indigenous representatives in …

Opportunities For Leadership In Indigenous And Tribally Engaged Research At The University Of New Mexico, Sharon Hausam

Faculty Publications

This is a working paper produced as part of National Science Foundation project #2115169, “Transforming Rural-Urban Systems: Trajectories for Sustainability in the Intermountain West,” known as the “Intermountain West Transformation Network” (TN), led by the University of New Mexico with institutional partners at three additional universities in New Mexico, two in Arizona, and one each in Utah, Colorado, and Washington. The TN’s Indigenous and Tribal engagement was supported through a contract with Dr. Sharon Hausam, additional work by Aaron M. Canter, coordination with Dr. Lani Tsinnajinnie, and an Advisory Committee on Indigenous Information Needs primarily comprised of Indigenous representatives in …

Fuimos Olvidados Y Descuidados [Forgotten And Neglected]: Lessons Learned And Findings From On-Farm Covid-19 Education And Vaccine Clinics For Agricultural Workers And Their Multigenerational Families In Texas, Anabel Rodriguez, David I Douphrate, Ana L Pineda Reyes, Susana Zavala, Lus Chavez, Sofia Nicole Lopez, Andrea V Cabrera Cruz, Annie J Keeney, Nora Hernandez, Brenda Berumen-Flucker, Eva M Shipp, Matthew W Nonnenmann, Shannon P Guillot-Wright, Bethany Boggess Alcauter, G Lopez Ixta, Paula M Cuccaro, Higinio Fernandez-Sanchez, David Gimeno Ruiz De Porras

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Despite being deemed essential non-healthcare workers, agricultural workers were excluded from COVID-19 vaccine prioritization in Texas. This professional practice report describes the multifaceted worker health and safety approaches to protecting agricultural workers and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Between March 2020 and January 2025, several outreach, education, and training grants from various funding agencies were leveraged to deliver training, personal protective equipment, vaccines, and economic relief to agricultural workers in partnership with community-based organizations, industry, local public health departments, and academic institutions.

Findings: Timely funding efforts led to the distribution of 1,000 PPE kits, with more than …

The Association Between Apoe Genotype, Race, And Dementia: An Analysis Of 7 Population-Based Cohort Studies, Natalia Lakomski, Katherine Giorgio, John Stephen, Maxwell Mansolf, Aïcha Soumaré, Alden L Gross, Allison E Aiello, Archana Singh-Manoux, M Arfan Ikram, Catherine Helmer, Claudia L Satizabal, Deborah A Levine, Donald M Lloyd-Jones, Emily M Briceño, Farzaneh A Sorond, Frank J Wolters, Jayandra J Himali, Lenore J Launer, Djass Mbangdadji, David Li, Lihui Zhao, Oscar L Lopez, Stéphanie Debette, Sudha Seshadri, Suzanne E Judd, Timothy M Hughes, Vilmundur Guðnason, Michael Griswold, Paul S De Vries, Alison Fohner, Pamela L Lutsey, Rachel Zmora, Elizabeth A Peterson, Denise Scholtens, Norrina B Allen, Sanaz Sedaghat

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and objectives: The apolipoprotein E (APOE) haplotypes are known to be associated with dementia, with the ε4 haplotype associated with higher risk. It has been suggested that the APOE ε2 allele serves as a protective factor for dementia. However, data on the effects of the homozygous APOE ε2/ε2 genotype are limited, likely due to the rarity of the APOE ε2/ε2 genotype. Furthermore, the association between APOE genotypes and dementia may differ across self-reported race. We aim to investigate the association between APOE genotypes and dementia overall and across self-reported race, with a focus on the potential protective …

Emergency Medical Services Mental Health: Causes Of Providers Leaving The Industry, Brian C. Selke

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Employee resilience and mental health have become critical concerns in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) as workforce shortages increasingly threaten staffing stability and patient care. National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) data indicates that more than 30% of eligible EMS providers did not recertify between 2020 and 2023, raising concerns about workforce sustainability. This study examines EMS providers’ intentions to leave the profession and identifies workplace factors associated with turnover. A statewide survey of more than 1,200 licensed EMS providers in Alabama was analyzed using regression techniques to evaluate the relationship between workplace conditions and turnover intentions. Results demonstrate that …

"I Can See Where This Is Taking Me": Medical Students' Perceptions Of Humanities Courses At Aga Khan University, Kenya, Catherine Gathu, Marthaclaire Zammit, Urvi Saboo, Robert Opoka

Family Medicine, East Africa

Background Humanities courses in medical training are increasingly recognized as essential for developing empathetic, reflective and socially responsive physicians. Although well-established globally, their integration into medical education in African contexts remains limited. In Kenya, humanities are often peripheral within curricula dominated by biomedical sciences and clinical medicine. Aga Khan University (AKU), Nairobi, has introduced a novel medical curriculum that embeds seven core humanities courses as central components of the initial phase of its MBChB program. This study explored students’ perceptions and lived experiences of these humanities courses.

Methods A retrospective descriptive study using an embedded mixed-methods design was conducted among …

Effective Strategies For Accessing Capital For Startup Agricultural Entrepreneurs In St. Vincent And The Grenadines, Tonya Pompey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Limited access to capital is a significant barrier to market entry and long term sustainability in the agricultural industry. Agricultural business owners consistently identify capital constraints as the leading predictor of startup failure. Grounded in institutional theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to identify and explore effective strategies that agricultural startup business owners used to access capital for market entry and business sustainability. The participants were six agricultural startup entrepreneurs in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) who used effective strategies to access capital for market entry and sustained business operations for at least 2 years. Data …

Cultural Values, Norms, And Mental Health Service Utilization Among Young Adult Guyanese Immigrants, Rhonis Alfred

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Young adult Guyanese immigrants living in the United States often face cultural, familial, and social challenges that influence their perceptions of mental health and willingness to seek professional support. Despite growing attention to immigrant mental health, limited research has explored the experiences of this population. This qualitative study aimed to improve understanding of how cultural values, family dynamics, and acculturation stress influence mental health perceptions and help-seeking behaviors. The theoretical framework underpinning this study was acculturation theory. The research explored how participants navigated cultural identity, family expectations, and adaptation to life in the United States. A purposive sampling strategy was …

Effective Strategies To Improve Ai Governance And Regulatory Compliance, Mursal Haroon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior business leaders across sectors face increasing risks because many organizations lack effective strategies to ensure transparency and regulatory accountability in artificial intelligence (AI) governance. This problem is critical for industry leaders who rely on transparent and compliant AI systems to protect consumers and maintain operational stability. Grounded in the ethical usage of AI systems, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic study was to explore effective strategies senior business leaders use to improve transparency and regulatory accountability in AI governance. The participants were six senior business leaders in the United States who successfully implemented such strategies. Data were collected through …

Phenomenological Exploration Of The Military Veterans' Experiences Transitioning Into Civilian Workplace In Central Florida, James Wesley Shelton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Military veterans transitioning from military service to civilian employment frequently encounter challenges related to workforce integration, translating military-acquired skills, adapting to civilian workplace cultures, and employer perceptions of their qualifications. Organizational leaders need to understand these challenges as a key indicator of the factors that influence successful workforce integration, organizational commitment, and employee retention. Grounded in person-environment fit theory, the purpose of this qualitative study using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach was to explore the lived experiences of military veterans and how they make meaning of their transition to the civilian workplace. The participants comprised seven U.S. military veterans …

Criticality In A Heterogeneous Neutron Transport Rod Model, Samuel Kaleb Crowford

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This work studies the stochastic behavior of neutron populations in a one-dimensional rod model using Monte Carlo simulation. The first part of this project reproduces the computational results of Dumonteil, Horton, Kyprianou, and Zoia (2025) by independently implementing the Monte Carlo algorithm described in their article, with the asymptotic behavior of the first moment analyzed in relation to the dominant eigenvalue and adjoint eigenfunction of the neutron transport operator. The model is then extended to a heterogeneous setting by introducing a central region where fission is suppressed. A global expectation over initial positions and directions is used to estimate the …

Advancements In Modern Seismic Monitoring: Integrating Novel And Traditional Methods For Earthquake Detection, Characterization, And Structural Imaging, Marc Adrian Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Modern seismic monitoring has been transformed by machine-learning methods that detect and locate earthquakes at scales manual analysis cannot reach. This dissertation develops, validates, and applies such workflows across three settings that span the range of modern monitoring problems: a major subduction-zone aftershock sequence, the tectonic questions that sequence can answer, and an urban region without any local monitoring at all. First, I construct a high-resolution catalog for the aftershock sequence of the September 8, 2017, Mw 8.2 Tehuantepec, Mexico earthquake, by integrating deep-learning phase detection with established location and relocation methods. The resulting catalog of 11,374 relocated earthquakes is …

Food Insecurity And Parent Engagement In Pediatric Therapy: A Comparative Study Of Feeding, Speech-Language, And Combined Services, Kendra Kendra Rosales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Pediatric feeding disorders and food insecurity represent two compounding challenges for families navigating pediatric therapy services, yet their intersection has received little empirical attention. This study examined food insecurity rates across three pediatric therapy groups and explored the relationship between food insecurity and parent engagement in therapy. A cross-sectional online survey was administered to 175 caregivers of children actively receiving feeding therapy only (n = 34), speech-language therapy only (n = 93), or combined feeding and speech-language therapy (n = 48). Food insecurity was assessed using the USDA Household Food Security Survey Module: Six-Item Short Form, and parent engagement was …

A Patch-Level Framework For Urban Vegetation Water Demand Estimation Using Remote Sensing And Deep Learning, Jesus Daniel Pereyra Manriquez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Urban water management in semi-arid regions requires an improved understanding of how vegetation and climatic conditions influence landscape water demand. Existing approaches often lack an integrated, spatially consistent framework to quantify this relationship at fine scales. This study proposes a patch-level framework to estimate relative landscape water demand by integrating vegetation coverage, vegetation condition, and atmospheric demand. Vegetation coverage is derived from high-resolution imagery obtained from the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) using a U-Net segmentation model with a MobileNetV2 backbone. A patch-based representation is used to ensure spatial consistency across the study area. Seasonal vegetation dynamics are captured using …

Domain Adaptation Of Facial Age Estimation For Law Enforcement Mugshot Repositories, Jorge Alejandro Pacheco Roque

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Facial age estimation supports law enforcement via image-based, age-filtered queries, age-progressive re-identification, and bulk record labeling, where prediction accuracy determines if the resulting decisions can be trusted. State-of-the-art models excel on web imagery but incur higher error on mugshots due to domain shift between the professionally lit, filtered, and posed web photographs used during pre-training and the uniform backgrounds, uncooperative expressions, and decades of evolving capture technology found in mugshot collections. We address this gap by adapting SwinFace - a state-of-the-art multi-task Swin Transformer with public code and pretrained weights, trained on color face imagery for face recognition, facial expression …

Dlc Thin Films For Semiconductor Applications, Balam Arturo Sotelo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The growing need for resilient semiconductor supply chains has increased the interest in developing local and accessible materials fabrication strategies. Since large-scale semiconductor manufacturing is complex to establish quickly, simpler deposition techniques may provide a practical route to start developing semiconductors materials. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) is a promising candidate in this context because its properties can be tailored through substrate selection and processing parameters.

This thesis establishes an initial framework for the study and fabrication of diamond-like carbon (DLC) materials in the Department of Physics at The University of Texas at El Paso. DLC thin films were deposited by magnetron …

Stabilized Continuous Galerkin Methods For Heat Transport In Fully Coupled Nonlinear Thermo-Poroelasticity In Heterogeneous Porous Media, Payel Dey

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the numerical approximation of a coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) model with advective heat transport in heterogeneous media. The governing equations consist of three coupled equations: the momentum balance, the fluid mass balance, and the energy balance. The primary unknowns are displacement, pressure, and temperature. In this system, the fluid pressure determines the Darcy flux, and this flux transports heat through the advective term in the energy equation. Since the Darcy flux is computed numerically from the flow equation, the conservation properties of the flow approximation can affect the temperature solution. This effect is especially important when thermal …

Optimization Of A Cryogenic Electrical Characterization System And Its Application To Thermal Admittance Spectroscopy, Angel Efren Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Defect characterization in semiconductors relies on locating trap levels through the temperature dependence of carrier emission, which makes the accuracy of the device temperature a limiting factor in every extracted parameter. This work addresses the limitations in the cryogenic electrical characterization system at The University of Texas at El Paso, where Deep-Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) had been established but produced activation energies that disagreed with literature values by as much as 0.33 eV. The discrepancy was traced not to the technique but to the transfer of heat to packaged devices in a probe station designed for on-die measurement. The cryogenic …

A Scoping Review Of Participatory Tools And Practices In Collaborative Processes: Towards Multi-Actor Collaboration In Integrated Landscape Approaches, Irmeli Mustalahti, Ida Herdieckerhoff, Rebecca Mclain, Anna Mustonen, Rijal Ramdani, Agustiyara Agustiyara, Denis Dobrynin, Nicole Klenk, Gadfly Stratton, Miriam Castillo Orozco, Multiple Additional Authors

National Policy Consensus Center Publications

In this article, we ask how the different tools and practices used in participatory and collaborative processes could support multi-actor collaboration in integrated landscape approaches (ILAs). First, we conducted a scoping review to identify and synthesize literature on participatory and collaborative approaches related to forest, water, land and landscapes. Secondly, we analysed 130 articles to understand how and by which means these approaches engaged different actors in multi-actor collaborations. Our findings identified a wealth of different tools and practices available to support participatory and collaborative approaches, such as participatory mapping and modelling, games and visualizations, scenario development, and knowledge co-creation. …

Seizure Susceptibility And Morphological Analysis Of A Missense Mutation In Hcfc1a Protein, Jose Manuel Fabela

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Missense mutations in the HCFC1 gene cause methymalonic acidemia with homocystinuria cblX type (MIM#309541). cblX is an X-linked disorder that is associated with multiple phenotypes such as metabolic defects, failure to thrive, intractable epilepsy, facial dysmorphia, movement disorders, and intellectual disability. The mechanisms underlying these phenotypes are not completely understood. Here we used a zebrafish germline mutant allele (hcfc1aco64/co64) to study seizure susceptibility and adult brain structural malformations. Previous studies have established neural progenitor cell defects and hypoactive mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) in this allele. Given the known role of mTOR in seizure phenotypes, we hypothesized that missense mutation …

A Hybrid Machine Learning-Based Feasibility Prediction Of 3d Mechanical Designs Using Scalar And Geometric Features, Md Mohsin Uddin Fahim

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The computational bottleneck of structural feasibility screening frequently hinders the transition from a digital 3D model to a physically manufactured component. Traditionally, engineers have relied on either overly rigid heuristic constraint checks or computationally exhaustive finite element simulations. To address this inefficiency, this thesis proposes and validates a hybrid machine-learning framework to predict the structural manufacturability of 3D mechanical designs. Moving beyond the conventional reliance on isolated scalar parameters, the proposed methodology extracts and integrates both scalar manufacturing constraints (e.g., tolerance, minimum feature thickness) and spatial geometric descriptors (e.g., bounding volume, aspect ratio) directly from STL mesh data. Utilizing a …

Prevalence Of Type 2 Diabetes Risk Factors Among Landscaping Workers In El Paso, Texas, Valeria Fontes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a significant public health challenge worldwide, yet little is known about the prevalence of diabetes risk factors among landscaping workers, an understudied occupational group. The purpose of this pilot study was to estimate the prevalence of type 2 diabetes risk factors among landscaping workers in El Paso, Texas. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using a convenience sample of 20 landscaping workers. Participants completed a structured questionnaire and underwent anthropometric measurements, blood pressure assessment, point-of-care lipid and glucose testing, and vitamin D screening. Sixteen type 2 diabetes risk factors were assessed across seven domains: …