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School Of Nursing Newsletter Summer 2026, Southern Adventist University

Southern Nursing - School of Nursing Newsletter

The Summer 2026 issue of the newsletter features information on the Hamilton County Homeland Security emergency preparedness event held in April, an update on the Nursing Simulation Center, the spring RHO IOTA induction ceremony, and mission trip experiences.

Graduate School Blog - July 2026, Cynthia Haynes

UofM Grad School Blog

This issue features Dr. Deborah Tollefsen’s reflection on the hidden curriculum of graduate education and the importance of making unwritten academic expectations more transparent and accessible to all students. We also highlight graduate alumni, Dynisha Woods, promote the Dissertation Writers Retreat and 2026 Graduate Student Orientation, and recognize the recipients of the 2026 Graduate Student Research Grants. These stories and opportunities showcase resources designed to help graduate students navigate their academic journeys, build meaningful connections, and achieve their professional goals.

July 2026 Bulldog Alumni & Friends News, Kari Jones, Garrett King

Bulldog Alumni & Friends News

July 30 SWOSU Near You: Eischen’s

July 27 - August 7 Online SWOSU Athletic Auction

August 7 SWOSU Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet

August 8 SWOSU Athletic Auction and Dinner

October 30-31 SWOSU Homecoming

Proposed Risk-Based Framework To Predict Long-Term Performance Of Military Airfield Concrete Pavements, Dimitrios Kimon Tsirmpas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Concrete airfield pavements are designed following strict specifications to provide decades of performance and serviceability. The pavements are expected to withstand demanding operational loading and environmental conditions. However, long-term performance often strays from the expected results despite compliance to the specifications. This thesis establishes the foundation of a framework that links the mixture design test results to the in-service performance of airfield pavements. The goal of this work was to create the principles of a risk-based framework for pavement decision making using a case study on two similar airfields. With this quantitative framework established, the approval processes for concrete mix …

A Systems Analysis Of Autonomous Uav Swarm Spraying For Precision Agriculture, Ryker Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The application of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in civilian sectors, particularly for precision agriculture and targeted aerial spraying, has rapidly evolved from passive monitoring to advanced, autonomous, multi-agent coordination. While deploying UAV swarms offers a promising solution to the payload and battery endurance limitations of single drone operations, realizing field-scale coverage introduces significant logistical and safety challenges. To evaluate the trajectory and viability of swarms, this study synthesizes bibliometric trends, operational simulation, and safety reporting analysis. First, because physical testing of complex swarms poses financial and safety risks, we developed an agent-based and discrete event simulation to evaluate autonomous spraying …

Design And Modeling Of A Robotic Manipulator For Agricultural Explorations, Trent Thomas Powell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the modeling, design, and early testing of a spherical revolute revolute prismatic (RRP) robotic manipulator for probe based applications. The system is motivated by agricultural grain probing, where a probe is positioned over a truck bed and inserted into the grain to collect samples as trucks enter storage facilities, ports, hubs, or transfer points. A spherical RRP configuration is useful for this type of task because it provides a large accessible workspace while maintaining a relatively simple mechanical structure. A model based design approach is used to develop the system, beginning with forward and inverse kinematics …

#Metoo Vs. Anti-Dei, Nicole Porter

Faculty Publications

Nine years ago, the entire country was talking about the #MeToo movement, which can be credited with the unseating of hundreds of powerful men and changing the way we talk about and address sexual harassment in the workplace. In 2026, continued progress of the #MeToo movement might be threatened by a new movement-the Trump Administration's attack on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. This article discusses the ways in which the #MeToo movement conflicts with the anti-DEI movement. Specifically, it addresses how employers will respond to pressure to dismantle DEI programs, offices, and training, and how those responses will affect …

Video Games As An Advertising Media: A Comparative Analysis Between Portuguese And Spanish University Students, Alejandro Tapia-Frade, Gema Bonales-Daimiel, Belén Moreno-Albarracín

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Changes in leisure consumption are causing transformations in the relationships between young people and brands. A reflection of this is found in video games, whose predominant user profile is that of young people between 18 and 30 years old. They invest more and more time in digital universes: they play, socialize and even buy, and income from the video game sector has increased year after year in Spain and in the world, surpassing those generated jointly by cinema and music. A review of previous literature indicates the relevance as an object of study of video games that are used as …

Optimizing Escort Strategies For Chokepoint And Littoral Maritime Lanes Using Mixed-Integer Programming, Shantonu Mitra

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Protecting high-value units (HVUs) while traversing maritime chokepoints under threats is a significant challenge that requires effective planning for allocating limited naval assets (escort ships, detection capabilities, and defensive capabilities). Although the weapon-to-target assignment problem has been previously studied in the literature, the problem of allocating limited naval assets under uncertain threat scenarios remains unexplored. This research develops a two-stage stochastic optimization framework with the objective of maximizing the expected weighted survivability of HVUs across all scenarios. The first-stage decisions include assigning available escorts to HVUs, selecting locations for deploying detection capabilities, and allocating defensive capabilities to each escort prior …

Investigation Of Early To Late Cretaceous North American Ecosystems And Paleoclimate Using Geochemical Proxies, Clayton William Forster

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The relationships between the environment and an organism can be traced through stable isotope and trace element geochemistry. This thesis explores the stable oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of fossil vertebrate assemblages in pursuit of revealing the relationships between dinosaurs and their archosaur relatives with the environment in which they lived during the Cretaceous. The Cretaceous Period of North America experienced some of the hottest intervals in the Phanerozoic Eon and the continental vertebrate taxa that existed during this time recorded these periods within the stable isotopic composition of their skeletal bioapatite. Oxygen isotopes in the bioapatite of vertebrates reflect …

Item Response Theory Evaluation Of Mental Health Sentiment Scales, Muhammad Amzad Hossain

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mental health is an essential part of overall well-being. Accurate measurement of constructs such as loneliness, anxiety, depression, and life satisfaction is extremely important in research and practice. Traditional approaches based on Classical Test Theory (CTT) are limited. They rely on total test scores and assume constant measurement error across individuals. They may not reflect true variability in measurement precision (Zein & Akhtar, 2025; Marvianto, 2023). In contrast, Item Response Theory (IRT) provides an advanced approach by examining item-level performance. It models the relationship between latent traits and responses (Zein & Akhtar, 2025 ). To address these limitations, this study …

Identifying Muscle Health Deficits Among Older Adults With And Without Cognitive Impairment, Ray Guerreros Urbina

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Age-related declines in skeletal muscle health (SMH) and cognitive function are major contributors to disability, loss of independence, and reduced quality of life among older adults. Emerging evidence suggests that skeletal muscle and cognitive health may be interconnected through shared physiological mechanisms; however, the relationships between specific aspects of SMH and cognitive performance remain unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between SMH and cognitive performance among older adults and to determine whether SMH differs between cognitively healthy and cognitively impaired individuals after accounting for age and physical activity. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using …

Pre-Service Teacher Mental Health Bias Toward Students, Rachael Ann Crofford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand mental health bias held by pre-service teachers. Participants in the study were 122 pre-service teachers enrolled in teacher education programs at three universities (two in the Midwest and one in the South) and included 92.6% white, 82% female, and ranged in age from 18-59 years old, with the largest group of participants being 20 years old. This cross-sectional survey study used the Biases Toward Children with Psychological and Behavioral Disorders Scale (Hirsch, 2013), comprised of 21 items using 1-6 Likert scale. In addition, demographic, education experience, mental health training, mental health care …

Challenges And Opportunities In Dry Aging: Producer Perspectives And Valorization Of Dry- Aged Waste Products, Peyton Scout Arnold

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite the projected increase in the dry aging market, producers may be hesitant to incorporate dry aging practices. This thesis aims to identify primary concerns faced by producers in implementing a dry aging program. Semi-structured interview surveys were conducted via Qualtrics (N = 100). Results indicated that an “advanced” level of dry aging knowledge correlated with a higher importance in the use/sale of dry aged products (P = 0.02). Cost, demand, and sourcing were the top three concerns of producers practicing dry aging. Those considering implementation were concerned with cost, processing parameters, safety, demand, and sourcing. No significant differences were …

The Narrative Dynamics Of Special Books By Special Kids Youtube Videos And Comments: A Study Of Disability Rhetoric And Public Narrative Engagement, Jessica Louise Allee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Digital media has expanded disability advocacy and community building by enabling accessible, visual storytelling and connection. Special Books by Special Kids (SBSK), a YouTube channel using interview-based disability storytelling, foregrounds people’s experiences with disabilities in the videos, while inviting viewers to interpret, identify with, and respond in the comments. As a participatory storytelling space, SBSK offers a site for examining how disability meanings are constructed, negotiated, and transformed through narratives, multimodal practices, and audience uptake, while revealing how dominant disability rhetoric or ableist discourse that positions people with disabilities as burdens, inherently deficient, or socially devalued, can be reproduced, complicated, …

Development Of Medical Device For Hypovolemic Assessment Using Peripheral Venous Pressure, Connor J. Breshears

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Accurate assessment of intravascular volume status remains challenging because traditional measurements such as heart rate, blood pressure, physical examination findings, and laboratory values may be subjective, delayed, or insensitive to early volume loss. Peripheral venous pressure (PVP) waveform analysis provides a potential approach for minimally invasive volume-status monitoring because PVP waveforms can be acquired from peripheral venous access and may contain frequency-domain information related to cardiac activity, respiratory modulation, vascular coupling, and intravascular filling. This thesis presents the development and evaluation of a proof-of-concept embedded prototype for PVP waveform acquisition and volume-status classification. The system integrates a Millar MEMS pressure …

A Quantitative Examination Of The Relationship Between College Gpa And Culturally Inclusive Support Services, Sara Jo Barnett Nsakashalo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Eurocentric formal education model was first introduced to American Indians as a weapon, a tool by which American Indian culture and lifeways could be dismantled thus forcing the entire population into assimilation. The residual trauma of the Indian Boarding School era and other federal Indian policy continue to impact American Indian students, even at the postsecondary level. For decades, research has focused on exploring the role of Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU) to explain the increased success American Indian students experience at these institutions when compared to other institutions. Though they have demonstrated an exceptional ability to adequately serve …

Identification Of Conditionally Essential Genes Required For Salmonella Enterica Serovar Typhimurium Adaptation To The Chicken Cecal Extract Through Ex Vivo Modeling And Transposon Insertion Sequencing, Deborah Bukola Olubanjo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) remains a major foodborne pathogen associated with chicken, where it can persist in the intestinal tract without overt disease and contribute to zoonotic transmission. The chicken cecum represents a complex ecological niche shaped by microbial competition, host-derived substrates, short-chain fatty acids, oxygen limitation, extracellular components, and diverse metabolic gradients. Although transposon insertion sequencing (Tn-seq) has been widely used to define bacterial fitness determinants, limited work has examined genome-wide adaptation of S. Typhimurium in chicken ceca-derived ex vivo systems that preserve key features of the avian cecal environment. This dissertation investigated conditionally essential genes required …

Uti, Delirium, And Dementia: A Conceptual Bioinformatics Framework For Clinical Attribution, Rob E. Carpenter, Andrew Krouse

Human Resource Development Faculty Publications and Presentations

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is frequently invoked to explain delirium, confusion, and functional decline in persons with dementia. Yet urine positivity in this population often reflects asymptomatic bacteriuria, colonization, chronic pyuria, contamination, or sampling noise rather than clinically attributable infection. For biomedical informatics and computational diagnostics readers, this narrative review contributes an integrative conceptual bioinformatics framework for probabilistic clinical attribution of suspected UTI in dementia under uncertainty. We formalizes the attribution problem by distinguishing organism detection from a clinically plausible infection-related contribution to neurocognitive decline. The framework integrates clinical, laboratory, biological, and longitudinal data to clarify whether urinary findings are …

Examining Clinical Educators’ Readiness For Artificial Intelligence In Medical Education: An Exploratory Qualitative Study, Tim Murphy, Ginger Vaughn, Rob E. Carpenter, Benjamin Mckinney, Rochell Mcwhorter

Human Resource Development Faculty Publications and Presentations

Artificial intelligence (AI), treated in this study as an umbrella term for AI-enabled clinical and educational technologies rather than as a single platform, is reshaping medical education, including how diagnostic skills, treatment planning, and patient care are taught. This study examines AI integration in medical education through the perceptions and readiness of clinical educators. Guided by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, the study explores factors influencing AI adoption in medical training, including performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions. In this exploratory study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 clinical educators in the south-central …

Rethinking Preoperative Mrsa/Mssa Screening Through Molecular Triage, Rob E. Carpenter, Greg Whitlock

Human Resource Development Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Preoperative screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) is intended to identify patients at increased risk of surgical site infection and guide decolonization and perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis. However, many molecular assays reduce this decision to a binary positive/ negative result, potentially obscuring clinically important distinctions in organism identity, methicillin resistance attribution, and mupirocin resistance risk. Methods: This structured narrative review organized direct perioperative evidence and indirect mechanistic, implementation, and economic evidence around one question: how MRSA/MSSA screening can move from organism detection to actionable molecular triage. Results: Useful preoperative reporting depends on assigning resistance markers …

From Learner To Leader: Exploring Principals' Perspectives On Professional Learning, Development, And Mentoring, Eric William Kausch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This purpose of this qualitative study was to examine veteran secondary school principals’ engagement in professional learning, development, and mentoring for the improvement of their leadership skills. While previous literature provides insight into administrative preparation programs, mentoring of novice leaders, and succession planning for those advancing their careers, there are fewer studies that discuss enhancing experienced principals’ leadership development. The study was guided by three research questions: (1) How do principals describe their experiences participating in professional learning and development? (2) What types of leadership experiences do principals engage in to improve their leadership skills? and (3) How does engaging …

Univariate And Bivariate Binary Spatial Regression Models With Application To Plant Abundance Data, Amir Hamza Akash

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Analyzing species distributions is of prime interest in ecological research. Prevalence of a species usually depends on several environmental and topographic features not all of which can be quantified or measured. Spatial random effects play an important role as a surrogate for missing features that can explain similarity in species prevalence patterns between neighboring locations. In this thesis, we focus on a dataset on abundance of plants in the southern part of South Africa. First, we build a hierarchical Bayesian model for binary regression, using the probit link, on presence/ absence of a species based on available covariates. Since the …

July 2026 Library News, University Libraries

Library News

No abstract provided.

Embodying The Art: Reflections On Process And Performance Through The Mfa Acting Program At The University Of South Carolina, Olan James Domer

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis contains a collection of reflections on each role performed as a student enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts in Acting program at The University of South Carolina. The shows, The Visit, A Raisin in the Sun, Antigone, Twelfth Night, and The Importance of Being Earnest included a combination of undergraduate and graduate actors. Each chapter outlines the processes of an actor in preparation, practice, and performance of a theatrical role. In-depth discussions of audition material choice, faculty feedback, vocal and physical technique, challenges, successes, and points of personal growth are included for each performance. These reflections reveal …

Investigating The Factors Impacting Consumer Intentions To Purchase Energy-Efficient Appliances, Yusra Memon, Raheela Haque

Business Review

Energy-efficient appliances protect the environment through reduced energy usage, lowering pollution, and preserving natural resources. Hence, this research is aimed to examine the factors influencing Pakistani consumers' intentions to purchase energy-efficient appliances. This research adopts a quantitative approach and purposive sampling technique, and the data was collected from 350 respondents belonging to major metropolitan cities of Pakistan i.e. Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, Islamabad, while SPSS and AMOS were used for data analysis. The study supports a number of important relations suggested by the Value–Belief–Norm (VBN) theory in the framework of buying energy-efficient appliances (EEAs) in Pakistan. Biospheric values (BV) significantly forecast …

Escape Room Vs. Classroom: A Comparative Study On Meaningful Learning And Knowledge Retention, Michael Defrancisco, Amanda Bennett, Victoria English

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center

Purpose: To compare escape room learning and standard education platforms (didactic) instruction on nurses’ confidence, knowledge retention, and perceived meaningfulness.

Syllabus: Engl 1010 English Composition I, Sarah C. Bonanno

Open Educational Resources

This is a syllabus for English Composition I (ENGL 1010 FYSA) taught at Brooklyn College during the Fall 2026 semester. This course teaches students concrete and transferable writing skills through the genres of literacy narrative, argumentative essays, and comparative writing.

Women & Mental Health: What Utahns Need To Know, Brie Sparks, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Mental health shapes how individuals think, feel, cope with stress, and engage in relationships and communities. Mental health concerns have increased nationally and in Utah, influenced by social isolation, economic stress, and lasting effects of the COVID‑19 pandemic. Utah now has one of the highest rates of mental illness in the country, with nearly 29.9% of adults reporting a condition, and women are disproportionately affected. Understanding these patterns and their drivers is essential to improving outcomes for women, families, and communities across the state.

Monitoring And Short-Term Forecasting Of Atmospheric Air Pollutants Using Deep Neural Networks, Prasanjit Dey

Dissertations

Accurate forecasting of near-surface atmospheric air pollutants such as PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, and O3 remains a critical scientific and societal challenge. This difficulty arises from several factors, including nonlinear pollutant dynamics, sparse ground monitoring net works, heterogeneous satellite observations, and strong cross-pollutant interdependencies. Substantial advances have been achieved in temporal deep learning, probabilistic modeling, satellite-based estimation, physics-informed methods, and foundation models. However, these paradigms have largely evolved in isolation. As a result, existing systems are often station-dependent or pollutant-specific and optimized for a single forecasting task. This limits their robustness and generalizability across regions and heterogeneous data regimes.

This …