Digital Commons Network^™

Recidivism Rates In The United States Versus Europe: How And Why Are They Different?, Madalyn Hayden

Honors Theses

Recidivism rates in the United States (70%) are almost triple that of most European countries (20% in Norway). The question that this project aims to answer is “How and Why are Recidivism Rates in the United States and Europe Different?”. High recidivism rates like the ones we have in the United States indicate that a criminal justice system is perpetuating a crime cycle, rather than rehabilitating or reforming its prisoners. High recidivism rates in the United States are first and foremost caused by high incarceration rates and high juvenile incarceration rates. Other causes are a focus on punishment in our …

Computer Organization And Assembly Language Embedded Firmware Overhaul, Elaine Yun Ru Chan

Honors Theses

The WMU Computer Organization and Assembly Language class has encountered some difficulties in the past several years regarding the procurement of required hardware and software for the curriculum. This has led to a number of challenges for students, including:

• Difficulty in obtaining the necessary hardware and software

• Inability to complete assignments and projects due to hardware or software failures

• Frustration and anxiety caused by the challenges of the course

To address these challenges, a new choice of embedded firmware was researched and developed. This firmware allows for more reliable flashing of the MSP430 Microcontroller and remains reliable on modern operating …

Thermal Control For A Miniaturized Fabry-Perot Interferometer In A Cubesat, Callie Pilkington

Honors Theses

The evaluation of neutral winds is critical in understanding the ever-changing weather and climate of the thermosphere, which can develop into a hostile environment for satellites. To measure these neutral winds, Michigan Aerospace Corporation is developing a 6U CubeSat that utilizes a miniaturized Fabry-Perot interferometer. For ideal operation, the Fabry-Perot interferometer requires a closely maintained thermal environment. These requirements are crucial in obtaining accurate measurements and for sustaining instrument and mission life due to the vast temperature range experienced in the thermosphere. With the solutions outlined in this proposal, the goal is to provide Michigan Aerospace with an optimized configuration …

High Power Rocket Motor Test Bench, Jonathan Wine

Honors Theses

Static ground testing of rocket motors is used to gather performance data and troubleshoot the propulsion system, allowing propulsion engineers to compare actual characteristics to the designed parameters. It is also used in the development and validation of new propulsion systems and alterations to the fuel and oxidizer mixtures. Test benches are used to continuously collect data throughout the burn of a rocket motor, which allows engineers to plot the thrust as a function of time. This plot, a thrust curve, displays several important pieces of information about a rocket motor. This information is crucial to allow astronautical engineers to …

Analysis And Mitigation Of Pneumatic Regulator Resonance, Luke Fouch

Honors Theses

Internal resonance in pneumatic regulators can result in heavy leakage, which can lead to less efficient processes. To address this issue, two simulations were developed to simulate pneumatic regulation systems. The first simulation involved deriving a mathematical model of the equations of motion for a regulator and applying it using MATLAB. The second simulation involved developing a Simulink model that incorporated physical regulator properties. To verify the accuracy of both models, physical testing data was used. After verification, the models were modified in various ways to determine the main drivers of resonance in pneumatic systems. Additionally, Finite Element Analysis was …

Blood Flow Restriction Therapy As A Treatment In Rehabilitation, Sara Barr

Honors Theses

Blood flow restriction therapy, also known as BFR, is a treatment that is gaining popularity in the realm of rehabilitation and personal fitness. Commonly, BFR is used along with resistance training in physical therapy clinics for patients post-surgically, post injury, and for general muscle weakness (Congetti et al., 2022). BFR utilizes occlusion and pooling of blood, along with triggering the physiological processes of resistance training to decrease the hypertrophic threshold of a muscle (Congetti et al., 2022). This literature review aims to investigate the effects of BFR on patients in physical therapy after surgery by examining the history and origin …

Conversion Of Biomass To Bio-Fuel Using Fast Pyrolysis With Companion Coal Gasification, Nicholas Hayes

Honors Theses

The objective for this design is to determine the economic benefits of using soybeans to combine biomass pyrolysis with coal pyrolysis processes to reduce the complexity and cost of producing bio-oils. Biomass is produced in multiple industries and is converted to a usable fuel substitute for petroleum. There will be many methods to analyse the pros and cons which will be used for comparison of biomass to bio-oils reactors system which in this case would be soybeans vs coal gasification.

After thorough research, the team selected a fluidized bed reactor as the main equipment for the fast pyrolysis. The reactor …

Design And Implementation Of Test Stand Upgrades For Investigating Gearset Churning Losses With Baffles, Matthew Martin

Honors Theses

The automotive industry is continually researching ways to decrease energy losses in drivetrain applications. Rotating gear sets in an oil bath suffer frictional losses due to oil churning. The Center for Advanced Vehicle Design and Simulation (CAViDS) consortium has proposed studies to understand and reduce these churning losses. The primary means to reduce these churning losses are to redirect the oil flow using baffles and/or alter the oil viscosity. To perform churning loss optimization under controlled conditions, an existing test stand was upgraded to improve safety, introduce oil temperature control, and allow for the interchange of baffle designs. For safety, …

Project-Based Learning And Third Grade Literacy: Teacher Perceptions On Viability Of Implementation For Content Area Instruction, Syndie White

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The impacts of third-grade literacy have resulted in laws and various policies to support reading proficiency. Even with an increased focus on meeting the literacy needs of third-grade students, there remains an important question, “How can schools meet literacy needs while also developing learners with the 21st-century skills needed to contribute to the future workforce?” This study examined teachers' perception of Project-Based Learning to support third-grade reading and writing literacy goals. The following questions guided the study. What are elementary school teachers’ perceptions of Project-Based Learning as an approach to enhance literacy outcomes for third-grade students through cross-content integration of …

Uab Spring Commencement Will Be April 28-29, Shannon Thomason

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

2022-2023 Senior Recital - Benjamin Kremer (Violin), Benjamin Kremer, Sheng Yuan Kuan

Junior and Senior Recitals

No abstract provided.

Redacted #00009

All Decisions

Handwritten Opinion.

Comparative Nutritional Assessment And Metabolomics Of A Wrky Rice Mutant With Enhanced Germination Rates, Santiago Bataller, Anne J. Villacastin, Qingxi J. Shen, Christine Bergman

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Rice is the primary staple food for half the world’s population. Climate change challenges and food insecurity supports the need for rice with agronomically advantageous traits. We report on a transposon insertional rice mutant with enhanced germination rates. This trait is advantageous for rice growth in limited water regions and to reduce yield constraints caused by weed and bird competition. Evaluations of vital nutritional components, compositional analysis, and comparative metabolomics on threshed grain samples are performed, as these assays are those used to assess the safety of foods from genetically modified crops. Compared with the wild type (cv. Nipponbare), oswrky71 …

Design Of A Dynamometer Test Platform For Formula Sae Internal Combustion And Electric Powertrains, Ryan Bare

Honors Theses

This dynamometer project was completed for the Formula SAE team at Western Michigan University and aimed to deliver a functional and safe engine dynamometer test stand. Formula SAE is a student organization that designs and manufactures a new formula style race car from the ground up every year to compete at an international collegiate competition. The purpose of the dynamometer is to allow the team to tune their internal combustion (IC) engine and the newly developed electric powertrain (EV). The engine dynamometer is important to the Formula team as it will allow engine tuning and diagnosis prior to the completion …

How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World (Flyer), Gaia Vince

The Idea of Nature Public Lecture Series

Gaia Vince is an award-winning science journalist, author, broadcaster and speaker. She is particularly interested in the interaction between human systems and Earth’s planetary systems, and has traveled the world extensively to research it. Her work has appeared in many media outlets, including the BBC, The Guardian, New Scientist, Australian Geographic, Science. She has created science documentaries for radio and television, and gives talks around the world. Previously, she held senior editorial positions at the science journal Nature, Nature Climate Change, and New Scientist magazine. Her latest book, Nomad Century, is an urgent investigation of the most underreported, seismic consequence …

Development, Survival, And Fecundity Of Helicoverpa Zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) On Five Weedy Host Plants Common Across The Mid-South Usa, James P. Glover, Maribel Portilla, Gadi V.P. Reddy

Faculty Publications

Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a highly mobile and polyphagous pest known to feed on over 300 cultivated and wild host plant species. Larvae cause significant economic damage to several commercial row crops over multiple generations each growing season. The objective of this study was to compare biological fitness of H. zea on 5 weedy host plants commonly found across the mid-south US. Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), kudzu (Pueraria montana [Lour.] Merr. (all Fabaceae), and honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica Thunb.; Caprifoliaceae) were evaluated as primary food sources for H. …

Fischman Serves As Witness In Endangered Species Act Hearing, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

An environmental law expert from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law served as an expert witness today (April 18) as part of a congressional hearing on the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Professor Rob Fischman participated in one of three panels convened by the U.S. House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries as lawmakers consider four Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions challenging the implementation of certain aspects of the ESA.

Brain Connectivity Signature Extractions From Tms Invoked Eegs, Deepa Gupta, Xiaoming Du, Ann Summerfelt, L Elliot Hong, Fow-Sen Choa

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

(1) Background: The correlations between brain connectivity abnormality and psychiatric disorders have been continuously investigated and progressively recognized. Brain connectivity signatures are becoming exceedingly useful for identifying patients, monitoring mental health disorders, and treatment. By using electroencephalography (EEG)-based cortical source localization along with energy landscape analysis techniques, we can statistically analyze transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-invoked EEG signals, for obtaining connectivity among different brain regions at a high spatiotemporal resolution. (2) Methods: In this study, we analyze EEG-based source localized alpha wave activity in response to TMS administered to three locations, namely, the left motor cortex (49 subjects), left prefrontal cortex …

Extended Analysis Of Hiv Infection In Cisgender Men And Transgender Women Who Have Sex With Men Receiving Injectable Cabotegravir For Hiv Prevention: Hptn 083, Mark A Marzinke, Jessica M Fogel, Zhe Wang, Estelle Piwowar-Manning, Ryan Kofron, Amber Moser, Pradip Bhandari, Ryann Gollings, Lane R Bushman, Lei Weng, Elias K Halvas, John Mellors, Peter L Anderson, Deborah Persaud, Craig W Hendrix, Marybeth Mccauley, Alex R Rinehart, Marty St Clair, Susan L Ford, James F Rooney, Adeola Adeyeye, Suwat Chariyalertsak, Kenneth Mayer, Roberto C Arduino, Myron S Cohen, Beatriz Grinsztejn, Brett Hanscom, Raphael J Landovitz, Susan H Eshleman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

HPTN 083 demonstrated that injectable cabotegravir (CAB) was superior to oral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate-emtricitabine (TDF-FTC) for HIV prevention in cisgender men and transgender women who have sex with men. We previously analyzed 58 infections in the blinded phase of HPTN 083 (16 in the CAB arm and 42 in the TDF-FTC arm). This report describes 52 additional infections that occurred up to 1 year after study unblinding (18 in the CAB arm and 34 in the TDF-FTC arm). Retrospective testing included HIV testing, viral load testing, quantification of study drug concentrations, and drug resistance testing. The new CAB arm infections …

The Extent Of Disability Education In Three Levels Of Nursing Education: A Descriptive Quantitative Stud, Ksenia Zukowsky, Phd, Crnp, Nnp, Julia Ward, Rn, Phd, Ruth Wittmann-Price, Phd, Rn, Anef, Faan

College of Nursing Posters

Purpose

• This quasi-experimental research project, completed by a Qualtrics survey, assessed the knowledge and confidence of baccalaureate, masters, and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) nursing students’ about caring for People With Disabilities (PWD).
• Participants completed a Qualtrics survey to assessed the knowledge and confidence about caring for People With Disabilities.

Vector In Partition Extension: Analysis Of Clustering When Genetics Distance Is Weighted By Covariates., Joseph Handwerker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Partitioning of data into clusters is a widely popular method of gaining insight into the similarities and differences of groups. Amongst the most popular approaches are the K-means and K-prototype methods, however, they fail to consider potential joint effects and interactions of the variables. The Vector in Partition (VIP) algorithm fills this gap with a distance measure designed to partition genetic and epigenetic data; specifically gene expression (GE), DNA methylation (CPG), and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). This work focuses on an extension to the VIP method by furthering incorporating K-means and K-prototype framework within the novel distance measure to incorporate …

Data-Driven Approach To Detect Tree Species Migration Potential In Eastern Us Forest: Extending The Temporal Range Of Forest Inventory And Analysis, Md Shah Naim Hredoy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Climate change is expected to extend the growing season for trees in northern latitudes, potentially leading to a northern migration of species. However, the evidence of such migration is largely limited to indirect modeling methods, due to the lack of empirical data. FIA data of USDA provide an opportunity to empirically examine the signatures of species migration across United States (US). If the northern migration proves to be true, it is expected that sapling population will be further north than adult populations in both leading and trailing edge of the species range. This study aims to assess tree species migration …

We Support Our Women: How Buick's Campaigns And Commercial Promote Corporate Social Advocacy, Marketing, And Responsibility, Sparkle Faith Burns

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This research seeks to determine if Buick’s campaigns and commercials promote corporate social advocacy, marketing, and responsibility. Buick launched the #SeeHerGreatness and Dream with Us campaigns in 2022 and created The Quadruple Take – Buick Envision commercial in 2021. Within the literature review the three theoretical theories are discussed. There is also a section on women in advertising and the term femvertising is discussed. To evaluate if Buick uses all three theories a qualitative textual analysis was completed. For every chapter literary background is provided to establish a foundation for the reader. For the #SeeHerGreatness chapter literary information is provided …

Arthur's Heir, Holly Elizabeth Mcginnis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Arthur’s Heir is a coming-of-age fantasy novella, in a pseudo-Medieval world, that follows teenage Hew as he leaves his home for a new employment opportunity— at the king’s castle in the bustling capital city. The story follows Hew and his friend Saerlaith as he navigates the hurdles thrust upon him in an uncertain world, his important relationships, and his own identity. Readers will be challenged to consider each of our potentials for bravery, heroism, and evil. What do we believe about our forefathers, our heroes, and ourselves? Who do we trust and how far will we go for the ones …

Assemblages Of Activism: Agency, Expertise, And Empowerment In An Online Health Community, Shanna L. Cameron

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

As the Internet has increasingly transformed patients’ engagement with health information, scholars in the rhetoric of health and medicine have shifted their attention to understanding how everyday health practices rhetorically shape the complex identities of patients, as well as the decisions they make in healthcare settings (Arduser, 2011; Bivens et al., 2018; Bellwoar, 2012; Hensley Owens, 2011; DeHertogh, 2015; Segal, 2009). This scholarship complicates traditional notions of agency, expertise, and empowerment in writing studies by effectively demonstrating how patients develop health practices that are embodied, technological, and rhetorical; individuals often navigate varying levels of complex information from both institutional and …

April 18, 2023 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Transdisciplinary Considerations Of California: Society, Culture And Identity, Kerri J. Malloy

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Accurate Pulse Assessment By Radial Artery Palpation: A Pilot Study, Abigail Mathis

Honors Projects

Pulse assessment is an essential component of an individual’s health state. Assessment of a pulse by palpation is the most commonly used technique. A patient’s pulse rate informs healthcare workers of the status of a variety of body systems, including cardiac, neurologic, and endocrine functions. Despite the widespread and frequent use of pulse assessment, current methods for counting a pulse lack strong supporting evidence. Additionally, published research on accuracy of pulse palpation used only young, healthy participants without arrhythmias or cardiac problems, limiting generalizability to the broader population who contain those variables. The purpose of this study is to determine …

Legal Seminar To Examine Roles Of Military, Higher Ed, Government In Fostering Innovation Ecosystems, University Of Dayton

News Releases

The University of Dayton School of Law's 32nd Program in Law and Technology seminar June 9 will examine the roles of the military, higher education and government in fostering innovation ecosystems, especially in central and southwest Ohio.

Evaluating The Efficacy Of An Acuity Stratification Tool In Community Based Palliative Care, Madison K. Niederer

Doctoral Dissertations & Projects

Background: Community-based palliative (CBPC) care teams strive to optimize the quality of life of patients living with serious illness while also providing value-based care. An acuity tool was previously implemented at a CBPC site to promote resource allocation and improve follow-up care. Initial implementation failed, and re-implementation was undertaken.

Objective: Address barriers to acuity tool uptake and provide education on correct acuity tool documentation to improve the number of patients that receive prescribed follow-up care.

Setting/Subjects: An urban CBPC service in the Midwestern United States with a patient panel of 443 patients. Subjects include nurses, social workers, providers, and patients. …