Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating The Impact Of Pfas Contamination On Mental Health, Jihyun Kim

Open Educational Resources

To explore the intersection of environmental injustice, racial disparities, and public health through an examination of PFAS contamination in drinking water and its impact on communities of color. This study will address environmental, social, and health implications of PFAS exposure, with a specific emphasis on promoting equity and advocating for policy changes to rectify systemic inequalities.

An Introduction To Cultural Anthropology: What Does Anthropology Offer The Current World?, Kristina Baines, Victoria Costa, Baird Campbell

Open Educational Resources

This Open Educational Resource (OER) is designed to be used as a textbook to accompany an introductory course in Cultural Anthropology. The chapters can, however, stand alone or be expanded and be used in courses with units on Medical Anthropology, Ethnographic Methods, Race and Gender Studies, Climate and Environmental Anthropology and others. Please feel free to use all or part of the textbook and supplemental materials provided. This resource is published under a creative commons license. Use and modify as you wish for non-commercial use only with attribution to Cool Anthropology.

Deriving Nonlinearity Coefficients From Changing Background, Mark Esplin, Deron Scott, Bryce Walker, Ben Esplin

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Contents

• Quadric Nonlinearity
• Nonlinearity Model and Sensitivity Studies
• Application to CrIS Sensor
• Check Method with Stepped Blackbody Data
• Conclusions

Guidelines For Radiometric Calibration Of Electro-Optical Instruments For Remote Sensing, Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

SDL Presentation on Radiometric Calibration of Electro-Optical Instruments for Remote Sensing

Quantifying The Effectiveness Of Dynamic Response In Web Application Honeypots, Luke Constantino

Honors

This research quantifies the effect dynamic response has on the effectiveness of web application honeypot systems. While much academic effort has been directed toward honeypot development, few scholars have measured the effect of various honeypot tools and compared them against each other. This research measured the effectiveness of honeypot dynamism through a standardized experiment between a Tanner/Snare honeypot system, a Glastopf honeypot system, and a static honeypot system. Using the T-Pot framework, this study analyzed the duration of attacker engagement and their actions across various honeypots. Results show that the Tanner/Snare honeypot engages attackers in a fundamentally different way than …

China Vs Democracy: The Strategic Use Of Cyber Influence Campaigns, Alexander Deak

Honors

The People's Republic of China (PRC) has increasingly expanded its cyber influence campaigns against democratic states. Scholars largely agree that these campaigns align with the PRC’s broader goal of regional and global hegemony and that the PRC employs a range of cyber strategies to target democratic rivals. However, little research has examined what drives the PRC to adjust its online influence operations. This paper addresses that gap. Specifically, I compare the PRC’s cyber influence campaigns between two democracies to identify the demographic factors shaping its strategic choices. Using a comparative case-study approach, I analyze the PRC's influence efforts in Canada …

Acting Quickly: Determining Urgency In Phishing Messages, Patrick Rau

Honors

In the modern cyberscape, phishing serves as a useful means for attackers to gain access to their victims. Creating the best phishing message is a sophisticated art form, with one common tactic involving asking the victim to follow through on an action with great haste. Through the utilization of sentiment analysis, or weighing how much of a certain emotion is conveyed in text form, classifying this sense of urgency becomes relatively trivial. The research done in this project attempts to create a working machine learning model that can categorize the urgency value of a body of text. The data gathered …

Implementing Learning Walks: An Action Research Study In A Public High School, Kay Bass

Dissertations and Theses

Researchers have shown that learning walks can serve as a dynamic form of professional development, particularly when aligned with a professional learning community (see Baker & King, 2013; DuFour et al., 2010; Feeney, 2014; Ginsberg et al., 2018; & Steiny, 2009). This study implemented learning walks in a public high school setting to gather teacher perceptions on the use of learning walks, how to refine learning walks, and teachers’ perceptions of instructional strategies explored during learning walks in a Tier 1 setting. Action research was used herein. A total of 18 teachers participated in this study from a rural public …

Cold War Karl Mundt: The Utility Of Anticommunism During The Eightieth Congress, Wattier Zachary

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines South Dakota House Representative Karl Mundt during the Eightieth Congress and his role in helping to build a movement and consensus over domestic and international communism. I argue that not only did Mundt help facilitate the Second Red Scare that allowed for the “McCarthyism” of the 1950s to thrive, but Mundt also aided in selling a combative diplomacy towards the USSR which intensified relations into a Cold War. As a ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mundt advocated for the use of soft power, education, information, and propaganda to sell his idealized Americanism to …

The Impact And Perceptions Of Open Educational Resources And Oer-Enabled Pedagogy On Affordability, Enrollment, And Student Success In Undergraduate Anatomy And Physiology, Justin Burr

Dissertations and Theses

Open educational resources (OER) can help improve the affordability of higher education. While the impacts of OER on student success and cost savings have been studied in some areas, the literature lacks evidence for undergraduate anatomy and physiology. Additionally, the potential impact OER has on student enrollment choices in undergraduate anatomy and physiology remains unstudied. The cost of textbooks has been a notable hurdle to higher education participation and success, particularly among minority and underserved populations. This study aimed to evaluate the impacts of OER on affordability (cost), access (enrollment), and student success. A mixed-methods approach was used to answer …

Personality Functioning And Sexual Aggression: How Criterion A Of The Alternative Model Of Personality Disorders (Ampd) Relates To Sexually Aggressive Cognitions In Men, Ryan Van Fossen

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated how personality functioning and maladaptive traits contribute to sexually aggressive cognitions (SAC) in men, extending existing research on personality pathology. Three primary aims were examined. Aim 1 explored the relationships between SAC and the four components of personality functioning (identity, self-direction, empathy, intimacy). Aim 2 evaluated the structure of personality functioning as measured by the Levels of Personality Functioning Scale-Self Report (LPFS-SR). Confirmatory factor analyses tested four competing models: unidimensional, two-factor, four-factor, and bifactor. Aim 3 assessed the combined influence of maladaptive traits and personality functioning on SAC. Participants included 469 heterosexual cisgender men, ages 18–24, drawn …

Secondary School Leaders’ Perceptions Of Their Role In Mitigating Cyberbullying, Masey Pechholt

Dissertations and Theses

Cyberbullying is a pervasive issue in secondary schools, posing significant challenges to student well-being and academic success. This phenomenological study explored how school leaders perceived their responsibilities in addressing and preventing cyberbullying within secondary school environments. Grounded in ecological systems theory, the study examined social media technologies and their relation to cyberbullying in schools, cyberbullying and cybervictimization, digital literacy among students, faculty, and parents/guardians, social media exposure and its impact at school, implications for school leaders addressing cyberbullying and both the value and problems of digital literacy. Through in-depth interviews and qualitative analysis, school leaders revealed a shared commitment to …

Least Tern Abundance, Nesting Productivity, And Dispersal Between Nesting And On- And Off-River Foraging Sites In The Missouri National Recreational River, Kyle Jorgensen

Dissertations and Theses

The Interior Least Tern (Sterna antillarum athalassos) has experienced significant conservation success, culminating in its removal from the federal endangered species list in 2021. However, the species remains state-endangered in South Dakota, and knowledge gaps persist regarding its foraging ecology and population dynamics along the Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR). This study aimed to address these gaps by quantifying Least Tern abundance, nesting productivity, and movement patterns between nesting and foraging sites during the 2024 and 2025 breeding seasons. We conducted surveys of Least Terns on riverine sandbars and off-river wetlands within a 30-km radius of the MNRR, employing both …

Supporting Will And Preference In Adult Disability Services: A Critical Discussion On Practice For Social Care Workers., Laura Doyle

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

Policy and legislative discourse in relation to adults with disabilities in Ireland has signalled a move to supporting a human rights-based approach in adult disability services. Legislative changes, in relation to decision making, suggests a changing paradigm in regard to support for adults with disabilities in Ireland; one from supporting their best interests to one that supports their will and preference. Social Care Workers are currently on the threshold of this change. In March 2018, the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) 2006 brought about legislative changes with the introduction of the …

Disability, Child Protection And The Internet: The Socio-Cultural Construction Of Risk, Susan Flynn, Rose Doolan Maher, Julie Byrne

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

Today, children and young people are foisted into precarious social conditions defined by the rapid encroachment of virtual media into the intricacies of contemporary life. For children with disability, technological proficiency and the judicious use of virtual platforms may open new horizons for social inclusion and belongingness. Yet, reformulations of child safeguarding practice are prompted by novel and sophisticated threats to child safety in the digital era. In this paper,a scoping review of published literature, utilising the PAGER framework (Bardbury- Jones et al 2022), provides a basis to elaborate upon child protection risks grounded in internet use by children and …

“We All Agree That The Best Thing To Do Is Be Kind To Ourselves”: Emotionally Reflexive Reorientations Of Childcare During The Covid Pandemic, Mary Holmes

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

In the face of a crisis like COVID-19, people in the UK mused on how they felt and how to care, including how to care for children. This musing can be understood as emotional reflexivity: which means reflecting on how to feel and how to use those reflections in our emotional practices. I illustrate emotional reflexivity at work in 47 volunteer writers’ responses to the Mass Observation Project’s special COVID directive in March 2020. It asked the writers to share their experiences as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded. They did their emotional reflexivity with other people and sometimes reoriented caring for …

Child Protection And Disability: An Anti-Oppressive Reading, Susan Flynn Dr

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

Existing research alludes to complex inequalities within child protection systems for disabled children and disabled parents. An established risk of maltreatment that is higher for disabled children than for majority population peers converges with intersecting inequalities in the child protection arena. These include discrepancies around professional responses and service outcomes. Practice shortcomings, under-resourcing, practical impasses and knowledge deficits are also an enduring concern. Further, inequalities in child protection service outcomes and involvement for intellectually disabled parents are well documented. Thus, child protection and welfare casework with disabled children and disabled parents is fraught with complexities. This is due to the …

Mobility-Stress Dynamics: What Audit Scores Can Tell Us About Mobility Patterns And Stress, Mason Hatwan

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation, leveraging secondary data from the Colorado EMA Project, investigates the dynamic relationships between mobility patterns, stress, and alcohol-related negative consequences among undergraduate college students (N=182, Mage 18.47). Grounded in Dynamic Systems Theory (DST), the study explores daily variations in mobility and stress using a Dynamic Structural Equation Model (DSEM). The analysis aims to understand how these variables interact within and between individuals, focusing on the role of baseline alcohol-related negative consequences as measured by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Findings reveal a significant autoregressive effect for stress, indicating that higher stress on one day predicts higher …

A Phenomenological Study Of Hispanic And Latinx Community Mental Health Care Providers, Sara Zare

Dissertations and Theses

Despite experiencing similar rates of mental health disorders, Hispanic/Latinx individuals are less likely than other ethnic/racial groups to access mental health services. There is a growing need for culturally responsive mental health services that address the unique barriers to access and unmet needs faced by Hispanic/Latinx communities. Community mental health organizations are critical to providing care to underserved populations who experience a wide range of resource-related barriers. The representation of bilingual and bicultural Hispanic/Latinx providers within these settings has become invaluable to addressing unique barriers not historically addressed by community mental health organizations. The present study utilized a phenomenological approach …

Building Healthcare Students’ Research Skills Through Co-Creating A Game To Teach Research: A Qualitative Study, Lise Johns, Leanne Bisset, Stacey Weightman, Gary Grant, Mary-Ann Shuker, Thea Van De Mortel

Health Professions Education

Purpose. Healthcare students may lack the knowledge and confidence to apply research. This study evaluated the impact of immersion in student-academic co-creation and evaluation of a gamified resource on healthcare students’ research knowledge, and confidence.

Method. A qualitative descriptive design was utilised. Student partners contributed to all aspects of design, implementation, and evaluation of the game. Students’ perceptions of this process were evaluated via a group interview and thematic analysis.

Results. Six undergraduate students from five healthcare disciplines participated. Two overarching themes were identified. The first related to impacts of the immersion process on students’ own research knowledge and confidence, …

A Bibliometric Analysis On Climate Change And Its Implications For Medical Education, Sungkono Sungkono, Firdian Makrufardi, Annisa Fairuz Nur Azizah, Firdiawan Ekaputra

Health Professions Education

This study aims to conduct a comprehensive examination of research in medical education, especially in graduate medical education within the context of climate change. Moreover, this study examined the current research trends on climate change for graduate medical education. The analysis encompasses citation, co-citation, co-occurrence, thematic mapping and evolutionary analyses. Through this bibliometric review, researchers will gain valuable insights by identifying influential publications and understanding the fundamental structure of the field. Additionally, this review paved the way for future studies by highlighting influential research trends and emerging topics. The findings delineate various approaches of discussion based on clusters identified through …

The Scale And Sustainability Of An Early Childhood Dual Language Program, Michelle Belfiore Loconte

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The history of multilingual education in the United States over the last fifty years has gradually transitioned from a subtractive bilingual approach to additive approaches, where students increase their cognition of both their native language and the target language. The dissertation study explored the scale and sustainability of one dual language early childhood program that has been implemented over the past 19 years, expanding across grade levels. The research question of this dissertation study was, “What can we learn from a long-lasting and steadily expanding public early childhood dual language program?” The data for this dissertation was collected through a …

Understanding Motivations For Graduate Assistant Unionization At A Large, Private, Elite Research University In The Midwest, Cynthia Shannon-Hutchison

Dissertations of Practice

The right of graduate student workers to unionize at private universities within the United States was reconfirmed in 2021 after years of uncertainty. The focus of this study was to understand specific challenges and desires, beyond wages and benefits, that drove students at a large private research university to organize for collective bargaining. This instrumental case study used constructivist grounded theory methodology to explore the motivations and issues that prompted students to unionize at a large, private, elite research university in the Midwest of the United States. The study provides insights into specific issues that were the platform for organizing, …

Addressing The Computer Science Teacher Shortage: A Case Study Of Wisconsin Public High Schools, Sujeeth Goud Ramagoni, Dennis Brylow

Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

Technology is evolving rapidly worldwide, making computational knowledge integral across virtually every field. Consequently, broadening access and promoting equity in computer science (CS) education at the high school level is crucial. Certified CS teachers are critical in creating opportunities to provide equitable CS access to high school students. In recent years, Code.org reports have highlighted a significant increase in student access to CS content across the U.S., particularly in high schools. Therefore, this paper provides a high-level overview of Wisconsin (WI) public high school CS education, examining CS teacher certification and course enrollment data from 2017 through 2023 academic years. …

A Survey On Non-Invasive Computing: Neurological-Hematological Framework For Early Infection And Stroke Detection With Future Directions, Masud Rabbani, Nafi Us Sabbir Sabith, Sheikh Iqbal Ahamed

Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

This paper introduces a novel, non-invasive tool for building a holistic neurological-hematological diagnostic framework that can be used for early detection of infection and stroke. We proposed and developed a multimodal sensing approach, where an ear canal–based acoustic system can be used to identify brain activities and a smartphone-based facial video analysis platform to estimate white blood cell (WBC) and hemoglobin (Hb) levels. Our ear-based EEG methodology achieved a remarkable 96% classification accuracy from the low-frequency level (>30hz), with regression models with mean R2 scores above 0.96 across all EEG bands. For hematological diagnostics, the system predicted WBC counts …

Master Of Social Work Portfolio, Kinley Mae Pope

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Accurate Body Weight Class Prediction From Mirna And Gene Expression In Blood And Saliva Samples, Kimberly Lettner

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

miRNA interference on protein abundance related to glucose uptake and lipid production has been evaluated in biomedical research and linked to metabolic disorders like severe obesity. The direct regulation of protein abundance caused by miRNAs on a person’s metabolism can lead to an increased weight and overall size. Body size, measured by BMI, provides additional physical descriptions that can be combined with hair color, eye color, age, and skin pigment to aid investigations of unidentified remains or unknown suspects not found in a database. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the miRNA expression of target biomarkers in dried …

Molecular Screening And Dynamics Simulation Reveal Potential Phytocompounds In Swertia Chirayita Targeting The Uspa1 Protein Of Moraxella Catarrhalis For Copd Therapy, Md. Moin Uddin, Md. Shydhur Rahman Chowdhury, Md. Arju Hossain, Asif Ahsan, Md. Tanvir Hossain, Abdul Barik, Md. Arif Hossen, Md. Faisal Amin, Rafsan Abir, Mohammad Shah Alam

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences Faculty Publications

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a global health burden, with Moraxella catarrhalis significantly contributing to acute exacerbations and increased healthcare challenges. This study aimed to identify potential drug candidates in Swertia chirayita, a traditional Himalayan medicinal plant, demonstrating efficacy against the ubiquitous surface protein A1 (UspA1) of M. catarrhalis through an in-silico computational approach. The three-dimensional structures of 46 phytocompounds of S. chirayita were retrieved from the IMPPAT 2.0 database. The structures underwent thorough analysis and screening, emphasizing key factors such as binding energy, molecular docking performance, drug-likeness, and toxicity prediction to assess their therapeutic potential. Considering the …

Integrating Seismic Attributes And Machine Learning For Accurate 3d Petrophysical And Geomechanical Modeling In Shale Plays, Rasaki Olaide Salami

Theses and Dissertations

The increasing reliance on shale plays for hydrocarbon production necessitates accurate 3D petrophysical and geomechanical models to optimize resource recovery. However, conventional methods struggle with shale reservoir complexities such as low permeability, anisotropy, and data heterogeneity, leading to uncertainties in property predictions. This dissertation integrates seismic attributes with machine learning (ML) techniques, including Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks, Temporal Convolutional Networks (TCNs), and Wasserstein Generative Adversarial Networks with Gradient Penalty (WGAN-GP), to enhance predictive accuracy.LSTMs and TCNs effectively capture temporal dependencies, while WGAN-GP generates high-quality synthetic data to mitigate data scarcity. The study critically evaluates existing 3D modeling methodologies, identifying …

Enhancing Engagement In Cardiovascular Risk-Reducing Behaviors Through Motivational Text Messaging (Mtm) In An Underserved Population Of Memphis, Tennessee, Lindsey H. Dao

DNP Projects

Enhancing Engagement in Cardiovascular Risk-Reducing Behaviors Through Motivational Text Messaging (MTM) in an Underserved Population of Memphis, Tennessee