Digital Commons Network^™

Comparison Of Aquatic And Land-Based Rehabilitation In Post-Stroke Patients For Balance And Gait: A Systematic Review, Guillermo Mota, Halil Rodriguez, Edgar Hinojosa, Rebeca Baeza

DPT Capstones

Introduction. Cerebral vascular accidents (CVA), or stroke, can lead to impairments in strength, range of motion (ROM), balance, cognition, sensory integrity, and motor function. These several impairments all contribute to a decline in dynamic and static balance among stroke patients. Traditional rehabilitation for stroke involves land-based therapy (LB) techniques addressing impairments within each individual patient. Aquatic therapy (AQ) has also been utilized for rehabilitation in stroke and has been found to be beneficial among stroke patients. The purpose of this Systematic Review (SR) is to compare the effect of AQ and LB therapies on balance and gait. The rehabilitation programs …

The Efficacy Of Mirror Therapy On Lower Extremity Function, Gait, And Balance In Hemiparetic Individuals Post-Stroke: A Systematic Review, Van Tran, Mauricio Calvo, Valerie Fairley

DPT Capstones

Objective: Common residual impairments of the lower extremity following a stroke include hemiparesis, inability or difficulty with walking, decreased walking speed, or decreased balance with ambulation. Mirror therapy is a recognized intervention for stroke rehabilitation that aims to facilitate functional motor recovery of a paretic limb. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of mirror therapy in combination with conventional stroke rehabilitation interventions on lower extremity function, gait and balance in hemiparetic individuals recovering from stroke.

Methods: A systematic search of the current literature was performed using MEDLINE, PEDro and PubMed to identify studies concerning mirror therapy …

Chitosan-Based Composite For Wound Healing & Biomedical Applications, Abdul-Razak Masoud

Doctoral Dissertations

Polymer composites have witnessed increased research interest in the last decades, and the applications of these materials include drug delivery, tissue engineering, and wound bandages and dressings. Numerous polymers have been studied to fabricate the ideal wound dressing. Making these polymer composites biocompatible, porous, and bioactive with high absorption capabilities is critical to guide cell growth and differentiation and limit their detrimental effects on incorporated therapeutic molecules. This research work aims to address shortcomings of available wound dressings by fabricating a biocompatible, porous, bioactive, and antimicrobial dressing using chitosan (CTS) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) polymers incorporated with zinc-doped halloysites (ZnHNT). …

Creating Inclusive Practices Through A Culture Of Caring In School Leadership: A Principal’S Perspective, Kasie Mainiero

Doctoral Dissertations

Elementary educational research and practice have relied heavily on academic success and achievement based on standardized test scores, sometimes to the exclusion of other vital aspects of education, preparing each student to reach their full potential mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally. This dissertation posits that the leaders of schools must establish a caring culture to create positive outcomes in teacher satisfaction, student attendance, and student performance. It further explains that we must look at the leadership to determine their qualities and characteristics for this to be possible. This dissertation presents the role a Culture of Caring plays in a diverse …

Assessment Of Human Performance In Industry 5.0 Research Via Eye-Tracking And Cognitive Biases, Dana Isam Hamarsheh

Doctoral Dissertations

Manufacturing assembly is combining previously made components or subassemblies into a final finished product. The assembly process can be manual, hybrid, or fully automated. Human operators who are involved in assembly use their judgment to perform the process. They collaborate with the other work agents such as assembly machines, robots, smart technologies, and computer interfaces. The recent Industrial revolution, Industry 5.0, exploits human expertise in collaboration with efficient and accurate machines. Manufacturing facilities that feature Industry 5.0 work settings require higher expectations, higher accuracy, sustainability solutions, mass customization of products, more human involvement, and digital technologies in smart workstations. Given …

The Perceived Impact Of The Use Of African American Vernacular English In A Sales Situation, Cameron Sumlin

Doctoral Dissertations

According to William Raspberry “Good English, well-spoken and written, will open more doors than a college degree. Bad English will slam doors you didn’t even know existed.” This dissertation examines the use of Standard American English (SAE) vis-à-vis African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in a sales situation. This dissertation is grounded in the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) and its two dimensions, warmth and competence. This research reveals the perceived influence that a particular dialect has on stereotype activation, through warmth and competence in a personal selling situation. This study extends marketing and sales literature by specifically focusing on AAVE vis-à-vis …

Clay Nanotube Drug Carrier With Enhanced Membrane/Skin Permeability, Mahdi Saleh

Doctoral Dissertations

Halloysite nanoclay is a natural material which is interesting for biomedical applications. Its unique physiochemical structure that forms the tubular shape originates from rolled sheets of aluminosilicate 15-20 times, such that alumina is inside and silica on the outside of the nanotubes, thus defining inner positive and outer negative charges. The dimensions of these tubules vary from 500-1,000 nm in length, external diameter 50-60nm, and inner lumen 12-15nm. Halloysites are biocompatible, cheap, and available in large quantities which suggests that these tubules can be used as effective nanocarriers. In this work, we exploited halloysite as a “nano-torpedo” for targeted drug …

Bi-Weekly Facilitated Peer Group Sessions Propel Accountability, Carol Wittmeyer

Business Faculty/Staff Publications

Most business plans fail. The research and evidence are overwhelming. Try a Google search on business execution or implementation and you will find hundreds of thousands or more results describing this doom. There are many reasons for this, and they include factors such as inappropriate or overly ambitious plans, and not providing a laundry list of needed resources such as experts and funding. So, what can NSRA business owners do to lessen the chance they become a statistic? Consider joining a facilitated peer group.

A Zooarchaeological Metadata Analysis Of Animal Domestication In The Neolithic Northern Levant, Ashlyn R. Cartier

University Scholar Projects

This project compiles and examines 17 published faunal assemblages spanning the Epipaleolithic to the Pottery Neolithic in the Northern Levant to uncover early trends in animal management practices. Through a close examination of indices tracking the proportions of low and high-ranked prey, wild versus domestic game, and taxonomic diversity, it is possible to examine the trends in and deduce the approximate timing of the shift toward early animal management practices. To examine the conditions from which this phenomenon emerged, analyses of hunting intensity and taxonomic tradeoffs were implemented. Hunting intensity provides an analysis of low and high-ranked prey to examine …

Shakespearean Constellations, Sarah Bradshaw

University Scholar Projects

Sarah Bradshaw’s thesis argues that Shakespeare's legacy is a fundamentally collaborative product. Rather than viewing Shakespeare’s legacy as the product of a single individual, what "Shakespeare" has come to mean over the past 400 years is altered by those who read, depict, and adapt these texts. Bradshaw presents Shakespeare, Romantic critics, and film adaptors as artists collaborating with their pasts and presents to adapt texts into new environments. By adopting Walter Benjamin’s metaphor of the constellation, Bradshaw theorizes Shakespeare’s legacy as a larger image in which each source, reading, and adaptation operates as a discrete object of study that together …

Fast -- Asymptotically Optimal -- Methods For Determining The Optimal Number Of Features, Saied Tizpaz-Niari, Luc Longpré, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In machine learning -- and in data processing in general -- it is very important to select the proper number of features. If we select too few, we miss important information and do not get good results, but if we select too many, this will include many irrelevant ones that only bring noise and thus again worsen the results. The usual method of selecting the proper number of features is to add features one by one until the quality stops improving and starts deteriorating again. This method works, but it often takes too much time. In this paper, we propose …

Newsletter, Spring 2023, Annette Kluck, Margaret Savoie, Sandra Spiroff

Newsletters of the Graduate School

No abstract provided.

Aged 539 Graduate Internship Report, Alana Grace Reeder

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This project report includes documentation required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. the documents are concurrently used for the Ag Incentive Grant review process at Livingston High School conducted by staff of the California Department of Education. The supporting documents include information to receive state and local funding and they outline the goals and objectives of the program. This document also provides an overview of operations of the Livingston High School Agriculture Department.

The Giannis Effect: How Celebrities Impact Prejudice In Their Communities, Mason Bosley

Economics Honors Projects

This paper examines the effect Giannis Antetokounmpo, a Greek-Nigerian NBA player for the Milwaukee Bucks, has had on bias towards immigrants and Black people in Milwaukee and in Wisconsin as a whole. This work is based on the breakthrough 2021 study from Alrababa’h et al., which found that Liverpool FC’s signing of star Muslim footballer Mohamed Salah dramatically reduced public instances of islamophobia in Liverpool. Using Synthetic Control (SC) and Synthetic Difference in Difference (SDID) frameworks, I implement two methods of analysis to examine Giannis’s influence: an examination of Anti-Black and Anti-Immigrant hate crimes in the US, and analysis of …

The New Heavens And New Earth: The Interpretive Development Of Isaiah 65:17, Baron Vander Maas

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Equipping Christians With A Post-Christian Evangelism Paradigm At Great Oaks Church Of Christ, Tim Alsup

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Feedforwarding Techniques In Sermon-Crafting: A Collaborative Approach To Preaching, Stephen Rollins

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Prayer As A Pathway To Reimagining Evangelism At Lindenwood Christian Church (Disciples Of Christ), Geoffrey Mitchell

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Examining Representation Of Gifted Students In An Urban Gifted Education Program Through The Lens Of Social Capital Theory And Culturally Relevant Leadership, Zakisha N. Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

Gifted education has been permeated with discrepancies in representation since its inception. Despite efforts to minimize the gifted gap, under identification of minority groups continues. A gifted student’s social capital and a school district’s execution of culturally relevant leadership may impact underrepresentation. Therefore, an instrumental case study was implemented to understand, through a social capital and culturally relevant leadership lens, how gifted policy impacts representation of students in a gifted education program in an urban school district. Gifted identification relies heavily on teacher recommendations, which is why it is essential to understand educators’ perceptions of giftedness when investigating underrepresentation. Twenty …

Achieving Health Equity In Connecticut: An Examination Of The Role Of Local Health Departments, Jhinelle Dawson

Health Science Doctoral Thesis

Health equity refers to the opportunity for every person to be as healthy as possible. Unfortunately, people of color continue to face differences in health outcomes and are negatively impacted by health inequities. Local health departments (LHDs) are positioned to address health equity as these departments provide core services that improve community health. The Connecticut Department of Public Health created the Healthy Connecticut 2025 framework, which outlines strategies that address the social determinants of health (SDOH) that in turn influence health inequities. However, it is unclear what LHDs in Connecticut are doing to address the SDOH. Therefore, this study investigated …

Declining Unionization And The Despair Of The Working Class, Kelly Chen, Samia Islam

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

While the effects of labor unions on objective conditions have been extensively studied, little is known about their role in individuals' perceptions of economic circumstances. We investigate whether union density affects the subjective well-being of area residents by exploiting the staggered adoption of right to work laws in the United States through a border-county design. We find that unionization promotes happiness for those of low socioeconomic status, including non-college-educated residents and current or former blue-collar job holders, but has no discernible impact on their high-status counterparts. Of affected residents, workers stand to reap the most benefit. We also find that …

Assemblage Dwelling: A Radical Migrant Domesticity In Urbanity, Protik Choudhuri

Architecture Senior Theses

Humanity will end the 21st century as an entirely urban species. But urban environments are factories- the site of perpetual reproduction of services, interactions, urban and domestic spaces for capital accumulation, rather than the outcome of social processes. As such, the conditions under which migrants have integrated into the urban environments globally are characterized by the extraordinary struggle for decent housing and work.

Globally, it is the squatting movement that responded by countering exclusionary forms of ownership and radically transforming urban and domestic conditions for migrants through two distinct operations: the illegal appropriation of vacant buildings and domestic interventions centered …

Efficacy Of Coping Strategies On Emotional Regulation For Individuals With Childhood Trauma, Alyssa Szatmary

MOT Student Capstones

In childhood, individuals may be exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and carry the weight of the trauma throughout the lifespan. Childhood trauma can have a negative impact on mental health, causing emotional dysregulation, and influencing perspective, actions, and social patterns. Individuals who have experienced childhood trauma may improve their quality of life by creating resilience, advocating a healthy lifestyle, and developing adaptive, coping strategies to cope with adverse, or major life events. In the Upper Cumberland of Tennessee, there are limited resources within the community that targets this population. This capstone project aims to assess the differences in emotional …

Will Increasing The Knowledge About Community Transition Programs For Adolescents And Young Adults With Intellectual Disabilities Enable Ot Practitioners To Integrate Transition Services Into Practice?, Emily Draughon

MOT Student Capstones

The transition from adolescence to adulthood for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) can be especially challenging due to intellectual and adaptive deficits. Without adequate support and guidance throughout this transition, these individuals are not able to maximize their independence and participation with essential occupations including post-secondary education, employment, and community participation. Occupational therapists (OT) use a holistic and client-centered approach and specialize in adapting the environment and/or the task to meet the specific needs of the person to promote independence and full participation in desired occupations. The current trend in transition programming displays an underutilization of OT support. Increasing OT …

Training Program For Occupational Therapists Working With Skilled Caregivers In Skilled Nursing Facilities, Lovegifty Dudero, Mai Huynh, Ridhee Patel

Occupational Therapy | MSOT Capstone Projects

Dementia impairs one’s ability to live independently and participate in everyday activities (CDC, 2019). Individuals with dementia (IwD) are often referred to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) for around-the-clock care to receive support for their everyday challenges brought on by dementia symptoms. Although certified nursing assistants (CNAs) help IwD with everyday self-care tasks, they frequently lack specialized dementia care training. Consequently, CNAs experience low self-efficacy when providing care and managing challenging behaviors IwD may have. OTs have expertise and understanding regarding the stages of dementia and how the symptoms of dementia impact participation in daily occupations. OTs working in SNFs are …

Occupation-Based Cna Program To Build Caregiver Knowledge And Self-Efficacy In Dementia Care, Lucky Ung, Judy Chen, Michelle Hong

Occupational Therapy | MSOT Capstone Projects

Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) are primary caregivers to individuals with dementia (IwD) who reside in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). CNAs are also expected to know how to provide person-centered and occupation-based care while managing challenging behaviors of IwD without formal training which become sources of strain and stress for CNAs and often leads to feelings of uncertainty and inadequacy (Pelissier et al., 2015). Further research shows that specialized dementia care training programs are beneficial to CNAs in acquiring the knowledge and skills required to provide high quality dementia care and that CNAs prefer the use of a multimodal education program …

Tell Me The Old, Old Story: An Educational Curriculum For Junior Week At Christian Youth Encampment, Justin Lance Simmons

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to create a curriculum framework for the Junior Week of camp at Christian Youth Encampment (CYE) in DeRidder, LA. The initial step in this project was to develop information on the ministerial context of CYE by investigating its history and interviewing those who have experienced camp both as campers and staff. Next, an examination of theological and theoretical foundations was made, considering the history of narrative in the instruction of children both for Israel and the church. Also, the concept and practices of narrative and its usefulness as a pedagogical tool were explored. Using …

Final Report To Sustainable Cities Program For Marshall, Il, Nathan Myers

2023 Spring Reports (Marshall, IL)

The following report addresses the recommendations produced by students in the PA 605: Organizational Behavior in Government Agencies and PSCI 415/515: Public Policy regarding four projects of interest to the City of Marshall, Illinois. These projects include: • Developing a communication plan covering internal offices, community residents, and external stakeholders • Providing recommendations for a tornado preparedness and response plan • Providing recommendations for the development of a local community development foundation • Providing recommendations for the development of a special housing project to attract young people to settle in Marshall The recommendations point to three important themes running through …

Marshall Downtown Revitalization, James Speer, Tessa Lomax, Garrison Bock, Adrienne Taylor, Erica Sykes

2023 Spring Reports (Marshall, IL)

The biggest issue Marshall faces when starting to think of its revitalization journey is the downtown owners that are not willing to leave their housing downtown that they do not use. To combat we suggest the implementation of new attractions that might draw in a new crowd of people with fresh ideas for Marshall. Suggesting Food truck festivals is something that the downtown revitalization team produced as a solution to the lack of food options and to encourage community engagement, two of the major points brought up in our meeting. Below is the explanation of the importance of our idea …

City Of Marshall Gas Line Survey, Dalton Faddis, Trace Thomas, William Heller

2023 Spring Reports (Marshall, IL)

For our Project, we are working with the City of Marshall. The City of Marshall owns and operates its own utilities. Approximately a year ago, the city experienced a leak on the west side of town. Due to overgrowth, they were unable to access the pipeline to repair it for several days. To prevent further extended outages, they are looking for a detailed evaluation of the pipeline right of way to ensure that they have adequate access to it, ensuring that they don’t experience such an outage again. They asked us to survey their gas pipeline from where their line …