Digital Commons Network^™

Investigation Of Arm Stiffness Modulation During Overground Physical Human-Human Interaction, Henry Tien

Masters Theses

The vision of advancing robots capable of direct physical engagement with humans begins with an understanding of how humans interact with each other. Even rudimentary interactive tasks, such as shaking hands, provides tremendous challenges for modern robotics and current research into the biomechanics of such interactions is limited. Thus, further analysis of physical Human-Human Interaction (pHHI) will bolster efforts to enhance collaborative robot capabilities. To this end, a custom Force Perturbation Handle (FPH) was developed, including the requisite mechanical, electrical, and software systems, to investigate the unique role of arm stiffness modulation in haptic communication between humans. The novel device …

Isolation And Characterization Of A Halophilic, Extremely Acidophilic, Iron-Oxidizing Bacterium, Connor Crites

Masters Theses

This thesis describes the isolation and characterization of a halophilic iron- oxidizing bacterium from sediments obtained from Lake Magic; an extremely acidic, saline lake located in Western Australia. The purpose for the isolation of novel, halotolerant/halophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria is to aid in metal-mining bioleaching operations. Currently used iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria are extremely sensitive to chloride, which restricts their use in these industries.

A singular bacterial morphology was isolated from Lake Magic sediments that was roundly-rod shaped, 1-2 um in length, and stained Gram-negative. This organism was able to grow in a modified medium (DSM14174) using ferrous sulfate as an …

Constraint Programming For Optimized Degree Paths, Mitchell Lee Skaggs

Masters Theses

This work presents a degree planning tool developed as part of the Pervasive Cyberinfrastructure for Personalized eLearning and Instructional Support (PERCEPOLIS) project which generates complete, valid, and personalized degree paths at any point from admission to graduation. This eliminates tedious calculation and double-checking, allowing advisors to focus on a student’s long-term plans and students to proactively explore potential degree paths. The original research contribution of this work is the use of a unified model for academic requirements to automatically translate complex, real-world curricula into a constraint programming model that can be quickly optimized based on personalized student criteria.

Automatically translating …

Auto-Tuning And Applications Of Transient Voltage Suppressor Models In Full-Wave Simulations, Daniel Peter Szanto

Masters Theses

System efficient electrostatic design (SEED) combines full-wave geometry information with SPICE models of non-linear protection devices, typically transient voltage suppression (TVS) diodes, to allow optimization and validation of electrostatic design (ESD) protection early in the design process. TVS models have previously been developed which may be used in SPICE simulation tools like Keysight ADS, but these models could not be used directly in full-wave simulation tools like CST Studio. A process was developed for converting existing ADS models of TVS devices to a form that can be used within a CST full wave/SPICE hybrid simulation. Three TVS models were converted …

Selective Surface Activation And Flotation Of Pyrite For The Recovery Of Tellurium From Sulfide Tailings, Mulenga Mutema Chibesa

Masters Theses

Copper sulfide tailings from past and present mining operations are important secondary sources of critical elements such as tellurium (Te), a key component in cadmium–telluride photovoltaic solar cells. Characterization of tailing streams from copper porphyry (CP) ore flotation revealed that Te-bearing minerals are predominantly hosted in pyrite, which is usually depressed and discarded. Enhancing pyrite recovery is therefore a critical first step toward concentrating Te minerals for downstream extraction. However, pyrite flotation is often hindered by hydrophilic surface complexes formed during prior processing. This research investigated selective flotation of Te-bearing pyrite from CP tailings using micro flotation and bench-scale flotation, …

Reduction Of Wrong Blood In Tube Events: Improving Practice One Tube At A Time, Amy Taff Msn, Rn, Ni-Bc

Patient Care Services / Nursing

No abstract provided.

Analysis And Research On The Guiding Role Of Xi Jinping Thought On Socialism With Chinese Characteristics For A New Era In The Discipline Of Information Resources Management, Sanhong Deng, Yiqin Zhang, Hao Wang

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance]This paper explores the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in the development of the Information Resource Management discipline with Chinese characteristics, providing significant insights for the innovative advancement of China's Information Resource Management discipline and strengthening the discourse power of Chinese social sciences. [Method/process]This paper systematically reviews the core elements of the development philosophy of the Information Resource Management discipline within Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era from a holistic perspective,elucidates the logical system of the development of the discipline from the diverse perspectives …

The Evolution Of Research Methods In The Digital Humanities Perspective: A Quantitative Analysis Based On Cnki Data And A Large Language Model, Guangyao Sun, Dongbo Wang

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance]This paper aims to explore the evolution trend of research methods in the field of digital humanities with the help of large language model technology. [Method/process]This paper mainly focuses on the data of CNKI journal articles, selects the general Chinese large language model GLM-4, uses prompt engineering and chain of thought to extract and cluster the abstract data, of papers and analyzes its evolution trend through quantitative processing. [Result/conclusion]The study shows that GLM-4 can well identify and extract research methods from complex abstract data. Analyzing the evolution trend in chronological order, it is found that research methods such as "interview …

Interaction Mechanism Between Health Anxiety And Information Seeking Behavior From The Perspective Of Phenomenology, Yanfeng Zhang, Minqian Yu

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance]To analyze the evolution characteristics of health anxiety before and after information search behavior from the perspective of phenomenological graph analysis, and to explain the internal mechanism of the interaction between health anxiety and information search behavior. [Method/process]By using the phenomenological qualitative research method, the interactive mechanism between health anxiety and information search behavior was deeply explored. Based on the I-PACE theoretical model framework, the model elements of users' health anxiety and information search behavior were analyzed from the four dimensions of "Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution". To construct a mechanistic relationship model between health anxiety and information search behavior. [Result/conclusion]The research results revealed …

Research On Automated Generation And Evaluation Of Patent Claimsbased On Gpt-4, Junhua Li, Qian Yuan, Xiang Yan, Changhong Lv

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance]This study aims to automatically generate claims using the GPT-4 model, in order to reduce the writing difficulty for inventor and improve the work efficiency and quality. [Method/process]The article constructs Prompts suitable for automatically generating patent claims and implements four prompting strategies: ZeroShot, Exact-Drafting, Stepwise-Claim, and Exact-Step Claim. By inputting patent specifications and technical disclosure documents into the GPT-4 model and using Prompts to guide its output, the automated generation of patent claims is achieved. The ROUGE and BERTScore evaluation metrics were used to assess the quality of the text, and the generated text was analyzed in comparison with the …

Research On Emerging Technology Topic Identification Based On Bertopic, Dakun Wang, Bolin Hua

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance]Identifying and foreseeing emerging technologies, bring technological first-mover advantages to enterprises and governments, and grasp technological development trends in a timely manner. [Method/process]This study uses BERTopic's topic modeling method to obtain domain topic distribution, and merges paper and patent topics based on the cosine similarity of topic vectors to identify emerging topics. [Result/conclusion]Using the BERTopic topic modeling method combined with index evaluation can effectively identify emerging topics and emerging terms.Taking the field of new energy vehicles as an example to carry out empirical research, using two methods: divided verification period and data verification method, 12 of the 16 identified topics …

Countering Workplace Wellness Bias Through Wellness-Legal Partnerships, Barbara Zabawa

Faculty Works

In the current United States economy, wellness is predominantly marketed to society’s privileged individuals, catering to a mostly white and high-income clientele. When marginalized communities encounter wellness services, such as in the workplace, they are faced with an Implicitly biased industry. These biases include an emphasis on individual behavior change without considering social determinants of health (SDOH), cultural appropriation of wellness activities for capitalistic gain, use of biased health measures like Body-Mass Index (BMI) and constant images of and expectations of achieving a stereotypical healthy body. The legal community must wake up to these biases and advocate for more equitable …

Health Care Corporatization As A Catalyst For Wellness Legal Partnerships, Barbara Zabawa

Faculty Works

The increasing presence of private equity investment in physician practices reveals that current health law practice sites such as in-house, corporate law firms, and Medical Legal Partnerships (MLPs) are ill equipped to address patient harm from health care corporatization. A new type of health law practice is needed to address the adverse impact health care corporatization is having on health care purchasers (primarily employers and patients) and physicians. I label this new health law practice the Wellness Legal Partnership (WLP), modeled after the Medical Legal Partnership (MLP). WLP lawyers can look to systems leadership theory, lawyer fiduciary duties, and health …

No More Wild West: The Need For Wellness Professional Standards, Barbara Zabawa

Faculty Works

The burgeoning wellness industry attracts a lot of practitioners who are largely unregulated. This “wild west” of wellness creates uncertainty for insurers, employers, consumers and practitioners as to what services and items wellness practitioners can offer, whether those practitioners are qualified and whether they behave in an ethical manner. Some guideposts for these wellness stakeholders would be welcome and may reduce consumer harm. Guideposts for wellness is especially crucial in a time when the Braidwood v. Becerra case threatens the delivery of preventive care services by the health care sector. As we have learned from the health care sector, the …

Historical Perspectives On Family Law: An Annotated Bibliography, Allen Roston

Faculty Works

This bibliography lists articles and books that provide historical perspectives on major aspects of family law. It focuses on legal history, but it includes some works that look at family relationships and issues through the broader lenses of social history, cultural history, or other historical approaches.

Interview Of Naomi Cahn, June Carbone, And Nancy Levit, Moderated By Claire Hill And Matthew Bodie, Naomi Cahn, June Carbone, Nancy Levit, Claire Hill, Matthew Bodie

Faculty Works

This conversation occurred at the start of the conference on "Women at Work" on Thursday, October 24, 2024, from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m. The conference, sponsored by the University of Minnesota Law School, was inspired by the new book, Fair Shake: Women & The Fight to Build a Just Economy, by Naomi Cahn, June Carbone, and Nancy Levit. The co-authors were interviewed by two members of the University of Minnesota School of Law faculty, Claire Hill and Matt Bodie. What follows is the conversation, edited for clarity. Questions to the panelists are in italics, while their responses are in regular …

The Integrated Support Plan For End-Of-Life Care (Isp-Eolc), Kaitlin R. Sugarman

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

The Integrated Support Plan for End-of-Life Care (ISP-EoLC) workbook was developed to address the growing need for structured, occupation-based resources for occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) working in end-of-life care. Rooted in evidence-informed practice, this workbook guides OTPs in supporting patients and caregivers through one of life’s most complex transitions. Each chapter of the workbook focuses on a key topic, including early recognition of OT needs, meaningful role participation, iterative interventions, caregiver support, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Designed to be both educational and interactive, the workbook includes patient and caregiver-directed activities that promote communication, reflection, and emotional connection. It also offers practical …

Know More Falling: Community-Based Fall Prevention, Edward R. Mcwithey

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

The aging population is expected to grow to 2 billion worldwide by 2050 (Rosado et al., 2021). Aging is classified as a determinant risk factor for falls and fall-related injuries (Rosado et al., 2021). This capstone project aimed to promote understanding and address fall prevention in the older adult population with multiple stakeholders throughout the Dallas, Pennsylvania community. Project goals included developing community partnerships, providing education and addressing wellness and health equity among community-dwelling older adults through multifaceted interventions. The literature search yielded a synthesis and analysis of current evidence focused on community-based fall programming, adding to the body of …

A Parent's Guide To Success, Marina D. Bucciarelli

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

A Parent’s Guide to Success, a doctoral capstone project, explored occupational therapy’s (OT) role in family-centered practice (FCP). The project focused on areas of education, advocacy, and program development which were informed by the completion of a scoping review. This capstone project was developed as a primary prevention resource for parents and caregivers of children from birth to three years. It was designed to prepare, inform, and support new parents and caregivers with educational videos and resources that depict the skills, knowledge, and support needed for optimized family outcomes. Education was also a valuable aspect of this project as the …

Death And Dying Across The Lifespan, Paige Sala

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

Death and Dying Across The Lifespan centers on the creation of three interdisciplinary educational courses focused on end-of-life care for three distinct age groups: geriatrics, adults, and pediatrics. The courses aim to improve undergraduate students’ competence in addressing death and dying with patients, caregivers, and other healthcare professionals within the team. The courses were developed in response to growing evidence that supports the need for education on death, dying, and caring for individuals at the end of life. Many students are not adequately exposed to these topics in current curricula, despite the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in this area of …

Students Obtaining Tools To Achieve Regulation (Soar), Lacey D. Sanguinito

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

Students Obtaining Tools to Achieve Regulation (SOAR) is a doctoral capstone project that addressed the need for integrated social emotional learning (SEL) in elementary education. SEL is an evidence-based approach shown to improve academic outcomes, behavior, and long-term life success, yet implementation barriers remain in school settings. This project aimed to enhance student regulation, classroom engagement, and teacher confidence in SEL techniques through a multi-tiered approach. A scoping review of SEL literature identified the implementation methods and barriers to SEL curricula in elementary education, which informed the development of SOAR. SOAR consisted of (a) a 20-session, movement-based SEL curriculum targeting …

Meaning Within The Lines, Melody Kneller

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

“Meaning Within the Lines” was a doctoral capstone project developed to improve children’s handwriting through program development, education, and advocacy. Through an occupational therapy handwriting program at Misericordia University, local children struggling with handwriting received pro-bono occupational therapy services that improved their overall handwriting skills, using the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum and manipulatives. This project also advanced the knowledge of undergraduate occupational therapy students' through observation of OT sessions. Education workshop opportunities increased underclassman knowledge in handwriting development and provided resources that they can use for their future practice. Advocacy efforts to educate area school district personnel was completed to …

Preventing Diabetes In At-Risk Youth, Abrielle Milling

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

A unique diabetes prevention program was developed by an OT doctoral candidate to run in a non-traditional format in a school-based setting. The implementation of this program aimed to enhance students' understanding of diabetes through occupation-based interventions and health education. The program was conducted with 8th-grade students and focused on developmental skills suitable for this age level. The program utilized hands-on activities to enhance participation and promote carryover. Diabetes prevention has become an increasing area of health promotion as the condition continues to pose challenges within the adolescent population, becoming an emerging health problem. This incurable chronic disease has many …

The Sensational Students Sensory Program, Ashlie Kohr

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

The Sensational Students Sensory Program focused on the areas of program development, clinical skills, and education. It was developed and implemented for Dallas Area School District to empower students' knowledge about their emotions and how their body feels when they experience certain emotions. Resources and tools were developed for students to use as self-regulation strategies. The students had the opportunity to participate in group sessions with peers to create sensory tools to build a sensory toolbox they could use during the school day to help with self-regulation. The goal was to help these students better understand their emotions and how …

Allstar Abilities Sports Camp: A Community-Based Sports Program For Children With Disabilities, Kolby D. Engel

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

The focus of this Doctoral Capstone Experience (DCE) was creating the Allstar Abilities: Sports Camp to provide children with disabilities with the opportunity and environment to participate in team sports and sports activities. Within the local community surrounding Misericordia University there are few opportunities for children with disabilities to participate in these kinds of activities. This creates an occupational injustice for this population. Through research and needs assessments it was found that only sports such as baseball and basketball were locally available for this population to safely participate in. The Allstar Abilities: Sports Camp was then created to fill this …

Occupational Therapy In Caregiver Education And Dementia Care, Sophie Winter

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

The doctoral capstone project addresses education on optimal care for individuals with dementia to increase occupational performance and limit excess disability through training sessions with caregivers. The community program created took place at a community memory care adult day program. The bulk of the project focuses on education for caregivers of those with dementia through creating educational handouts, practicing through trainings, and creating personally tailored activities for cognition maintenance and participation. Caregiver manuals were made to address caregiver burnout, education, and competency. The other major part of this capstone was program development assessing the needs of the population and creating …

W.O.R.K. Towards Inclusivity In Employment, Chloe N. Tinklepaugh

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

W.O.R.K. Towards Inclusivity in Employment was a doctoral capstone project focused on promoting sustainable employment for neurodiverse individuals. Despite their capabilities, neurodivergent individuals often face barriers to employment due to employers’ misconceptions about their abilities (Bonaccio et al., 2020). This project addressed these challenges through three main components: researching employers’ perspectives, curriculum revision, and educating employers. For research, Luzerne and Lackawanna county employers were surveyed to assess their training, resources, and perspectives on neurodiversity in the workplace. Findings indicated that employers were open to receiving more education and training on how to support their employees, but they currently lack the …

Promoting Optimal Pediatric Development, Rachel N. Mills

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

This quality improvement capstone project embodied a multifaceted approach to supporting the infant and early childhood populations at a local pediatric outpatient clinic. The capstone project endeavors were guided by the theoretical underpinnings of the literature and results of in-depth needs assessments. The themes that emerged from the systematic review of the literature, which involved the efficacy of parent education programs in increasing parental knowledge and competence in supporting their child's physical and emotional development, were seamlessly integrated into the program. Evidence-based practice, principles of early intervention, and preventative care were used at the clinic to support infant and early …

Athletes Thriving Health, Resilience, And Inspiration For Victory And Empowerment (Thrive): A University Athletics Mental Health Program, Grace E. Yeatman

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

Athletes Thriving Health, Resilience, and Inspiration for Victory and Empowerment (THRIVE) is an occupational therapy (OT) doctoral capstone project that was created to address increased rates of mental health concerns as well as significant levels of mental health stigma among university athletes (Johnson, 2022). The goals of this capstone project were to educate and train athletes in mental health and wellness to support healthy engagement in occupations, promote self-advocacy with seeking mental health services, and increase athletic department staff comfortability and capability with addressing athlete mental health. OT programs and interventions with this population are mainly in the context of …

Adjusting Your L.E.N.S: Learn And Educate With Neurodiverse Students, Jenna Potter

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

This doctoral capstone project, Adjusting Your L.E.N.S: Learn & Educate with Neurodiverse Students, focused on how occupational therapy (OT) can play a unique role in contributing to an inclusive postsecondary higher education (IPSE) program at a local university. This capstone project focused on supporting faculty, staff, and peer academic coaches, developing a transition camp for high school students, and enhancing the university’s current IPSE program to ensure that students with intellectual disability and autism can access higher education and learn within an inclusive and supportive setting. A faculty, staff, and academic coach training program was implemented to equip participants with …