Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Mcconnell Heart Health Center And Member Well-Being Programs, Taylor Harr

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

My practicum was from September 2021 to January 2022. I was with the fitness team and had the opportunity to explore each of the departments within the facility. McConnell Heart Health Center is a facility that provides people the opportunity to improve their overall health. Originally designed for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of cardiac wellness, but has expanded to help other aspects of one’s health.

Swimming Up The Stream Of Commerce: How Plaintiffs In Products Liability Litigation Are Disadvantaged By Current Personal Jurisdiction Doctrine, Lily S. Smith

University of Richmond Law Review

The growth of e-commerce has facilitated an increasing number of products’ travel, frequently across state and international lines. This development has subsequently increased litigation between parties who are of diverse residencies. These disputes have challenged the fundamental territorial principles that established early personal jurisdiction doctrine. Moreover, unprecedented corporate expansion—both geographically and economically—has created an environment that has outgrown a doctrine focused on protecting defendants’ rights. As courts are beginning to reform their analysis in products liability litigation towards finding Amazon and others like it strictly liable for injuries caused by products sold on their sites, Amazon will have to find …

St. Dominic Deaf Center, May-June 2022

Saint Dominic Deaf Center

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Houston, TX

Saint Dominic Deaf Center Finding Aid

St. Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin, May 1, 2022

Saint Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Chicago, IL

Saint Francis Brogia Deaf Center Church Bulletin Finding Aid

St. Benedict Parish For The Deaf Church Bulletin, May 1, 2022

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in San Francisco, CA

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin Finding Aid

The Prevalence Of Mirror Gazing Behaviors In Men, Rutuja Pramod Chinchankar

Dissertations

Muscle Dysmorphia is when the individual is preoccupied with the idea that his or her body build is too small or insufficiently muscular. This study looked at the distinct criteria of MD, which is persistently and obsessively checking one’s appearance in the mirror and being dissatisfied with it. It studied the reasons behind these repetitive mirror-gazing behaviors. This study also attempted to understand the effect of an individual’s age, educational background, religious orientation, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status on his predisposition to MD via mirror-gazing behaviors. This study used a qualitative research design. Part I of the study included participants …

Factors Affecting Graduation With Honors: A Case Study In Business, William Litzinger

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Undergraduate Honors Theses

Many first-year college students elect to enroll in their university’s honors program. These programs offer students many educational benefits not provided to non-honors students, such as smaller class sizes, priority registration, and added faculty interaction. However, of the students that enter the university as an honors student, many fail to complete their honors program. Researchers have documented completion rates as low as 18.45% (Campbell and Fuqua, 2008). So why are honors graduation rates so low? In this study, variables were examined that the literature suggests affects honors graduation rates (High School GPA, ACT/SAT scores, AP credits, GPA 1^st term …

Through The Archway, Bryant University 2022 Commencement Magazine

Bryant University Commencements

No abstract provided.

A Collaborative Approach In Education Through Interprofessional Education (Ipe) And Practices (Ipp) Of Classroom Teachers And Speech-Language Pathologists To Develop Professional Identity, Communication Skills, And Goal Sharing, Avery Smith

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Interprofessional Education (IPE) and Interprofessional Practices (IPP) between classroom teachers and speech-language pathologists to further develop professional identity, enhance communication skills, and bolster collaborative goal sharing. The study aimed to establish interprofessional relationships between participants, which included two classroom teachers and a speech-language pathologist, as well as determine the effects that the interprofessional practices have on identified students in kindergarten and first-grade achievement. The speech-language pathologist and the classroom teachers were given a survey at the beginning and end of the intervention to gain qualified information providing an understanding …

Speech-Language Pathologists' Academic Preparation For Transition Services, Kathleen Bridgforth

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

When individuals with disabilities reach their senior year of high school, they undergo a transition period. Speech-language pathologists are often tasked with working on an interdisciplinary team to assist individuals undergoing transition. While research has been done on how professionals as a group can help with transition, there has been little to no research done on how SLPs can be better prepared to assist during this process. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the preparedness of SLPs in high schools to assist individuals undergoing the transition period. The requirements for the participants include being a practicing or past …

Assessment And Treatment Of Childhood Apraxia Of Speech: The Perspective Of Current Speech-Language Pathologists, Sabrina White

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

“Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a neurological childhood (pediatric) speech sound disorder in which the precision and consistency of movements underlying speech are impaired in the absence of neuromuscular deficits (e.g. abnormal reflexes, abnormal tone)” (ASHA, 2007b, Definitions of CAS section, para. 1). The role of speech-language pathology in conjunction with childhood apraxia of speech is the treatment of whichever speech sound disorders exist. The variable nature of CAS creates challenges for SLPs. Presently, “there are no validated diagnostic features that differentiate CAS from other childhood speech sound disorders.” (ASHA, 2007b, Signs and Symptoms, para 1). Due to this …

How Can Black-Dalit Feminist Solidarity Create Social Justice And Transformation?, G. Annunziata

Student Zines

Hi friends! My name is G and I'm a college freshman earning my B.S.in Behavioral Neuroscience and a minor in Psychology. The topic ofmy zine is about the solidarity of Black-Dalit feminists and the impact they have on the social justice movement. We are going to explore the similarities in oppression and activism between the Dalit liberation and the Black Lives Matter Movement. I hope my zine is either educational and/or informational. Thanks for reading! :)

Pay Negotiations Differences In Men And Women How Gender’S Effect On Self-Advocacy Contributes To Sex Discrimination In Corporations, Laurel Mccabe

Information Systems Undergraduate Honors Theses

Sex discrimination comes in many shapes and colors, such as not wanting to hire pregnant women, passing women up for promotions because of their status of motherhood, women being more likely to be removed from their upper management positions when things go wrong compared to their male counterparts, and economic differences in negotiated outcomes based on gender. Sex discrimination is something organizations should be concerned with their participation in and facilitation of and examine, internally, how to diminish its effect on female employees. Organizations need to clarify that wages are negotiable and increase visibility into compensation plans, hiring, and promotions. …

Carnarvon Floodplain Management - Working Group Report, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia, Department Of Water And Environmental Regulation, Western Australia, Canarvon Growers Association, Department Of Fire And Emergency Services, Western Australia, Shire Of Canarvon, Western Australia

Horticulture research reports

Periodic flooding of the lower Gascoyne River floodplain at Carnarvon is a natural event. The flooding results from cyclonic and thunderstorm activity in the catchment, with the risk period generally from November to May, associated with the wet season in the north of WA. The Carnarvon horticultural area has suffered considerable damage following flooding of the Gascoyne River in 1960,1961, 1974, 1980, 1995, 2000, 2009, 2010/11 and 2021.

The WA Government has undertaken restoration programs to replace soil lost for most of these major flooding events. Apart from the soil loss and risks of permanent damage to the natural resource, …

Ongoing Calculus In The Cerebral Cortex, Luke Long

Physics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Various modes of neuronal computations have long been theorized to be possible based on the structure and geometry of the brain. These computations also seem necessary for many of the integral functions of the brain, like information processing and regulatory processes in the body. However, experimental data directly supporting these claims have been rare.

In this study, data collected in mice from a large number of neurons over a long period of time provided the opportunity to search for some of these computations, specifically change detection and squaring calculations. Using Matlab, the goal of this analysis was to find statistically …

The Demotechnic Index Of Nations, 1980-2018, Camden Rainwater

Geosciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Demotechnic Index (DI) is a non-dimensional metric that is the scalar multiple of energy consumption over and above that required for mere subsistence of a national population. Thus, the DI is a measure of energy efficiency that scales a country’s industrial energy consumption (called the total technological energy) and the energy required to meet the metabolic demand of the population (called the total metabolic energy). The DI was created by scientist John Vallentyne in 1982, refined in 1994, but never gained popularity or wide use as a sustainability metric. The objective of this thesis was to re-evaluate the DI …

Ransomware And Malware Sandboxing, Byron Denham

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The threat of ransomware that encrypts data on a device and asks for payment to decrypt the data affects individual users, businesses, and vital systems including healthcare. This threat has become increasingly more prevalent in the past few years. To understand ransomware through malware analysis, care must be taken to sandbox the ransomware in an environment that allows for a detailed and comprehensive analysis while also preventing it from being able to further spread. Modern malware often takes measures to detect whether it has been placed into an analysis environment to prevent examination. In this work, several notable pieces of …

A Study Of Software Development Methodologies, Kendra Risener

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Software development methodologies are often overlooked by software engineers as aspects of development that are handled by project managers alone. However, if every member of the team better understood the development methodology being used, it increases the likelihood that the method is properly implemented and ultimately used to complete the project more efficiently. Thus, this paper seeks to explore six common methodologies: the Waterfall Model, the Spiral Model, Agile, Scrum, Kanban, and Extreme Programming. These are discussed in two main sections in the paper. In the first section, the frameworks are isolated and viewed by themselves. The histories, unique features, …

Comparative Study Of Snort 3 And Suricata Intrusion Detection Systems, Cole Hoover

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS) are one layer of defense that can be used to protect a network from cyber-attacks. They monitor a network for any malicious activity and send alerts if suspicious traffic is detected. Two of the most common open-source NIDS are Snort and Suricata. Snort was first released in 1999 and became the industry standard. The one major drawback of Snort has been its single-threaded architecture. Because of this, Suricata was released in 2009 and uses a multithreaded architecture. Snort released Snort 3 last year with major improvements from earlier versions, including implementing a new multithreaded architecture …

Using Bluetooth Low Energy And E-Ink Displays For Inventory Tracking, David Whelan

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The combination of Bluetooth Low energy and E-Ink displays allow for a low energy wire-less display. The application of this technology is far reaching especially given how the Bluetooth Low Energy specification can be extended. This paper proposes an extension to this specification specifically for inventory tracking. This extension combined with the low energy E-Ink display results in a smart label that can keep track of additional meta data and inventory counts for physical inventory. This label helps track the physical inventory and can help mitigate any errors in the logical organization of inventory.

Historical Underpinnings And Consequent Effects Of Labor Exploitation Of Mexican And Central Americans In The United States, Andrew Elkins

World Languages, Literatures and Cultures Undergraduate Honors Theses

The experience immigrants have today working and living in the southern United States is defined by systems that have developed out of lingering racist attitudes and reactions toward these individuals. The flow of people across the U.S.-Mexico border has a long history, and it is characterized by patterns that have continued from early guest worker programs to the present-day flow of migrants, both legal and undocumented. Also continually present is the racialization of these migrants, which has often forced them to work and live as marginalized members of American society. This project will explore the establishment of Mexican American citizen …

An Examination Of The Spelling Patterns Of Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Elementary School Students, Emma Villanueva

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

Learning how to spell and applying knowledge from the five domains of language to spelling (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics) is an essential component of academic success. In order to excel in school, all students need to learn how to spell. Students who are D/deaf and hard of hearing (d/hh) often struggle with spelling due to most methods of spelling education involving connecting spoken/heard sounds to letters, syllables, and words. There is limited research available regarding the methods deaf and hard-of-hearing students use to spell as well as error patterns typically made by this population.

The purpose of this research …

Determining Earthquake Impacts On Arkansas' Roadway Network: An Application Of Hazus., Simon Rothwell

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Natural hazards are a dangerous and unpredictable aspect of life on earth. They can cause devastating damage to our surroundings that makes movement of people, goods, and emergency services difficult. There is a need to plan for these disasters to ensure that damages to our infrastructure and people are minimized. It can be difficult for planners to determine which parts of a roadway network are most vulnerable to a specific disaster and what their impact on the rest of the network may be. This thesis uses a nationally available natural disaster estimation tool developed by FEMA called “Hazus” (FEMA, 2020). …

Addressing Mental Health Of Hospitality Employees: An Exploratory Study, Chase Izell

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

Exacerbated by a global pandemic, mental health challenges within hospitality professionals are an area of growing prevalence and concern for the industry. Historically unaddressed, these issues are continuing to impact the morale of essential talent which is promoting a culture of turnover that defines the industry today. Aside from the direct costs incurred by voluntary employee termination, the indirect costs to workplace culture and guest satisfaction have furthered the overall financial impact of a largely untreated problem. The objective of this research is to provide evidence of declining mental health in the hospitality industry while illuminating the key contributors to …

“Tiktok Made Me Try It”: Social Media’S New Role In Marketing Strategies And Its Effect On Consumer Behavior, Preston Starkey

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study investigates the impact that social media has on marketing strategies and consumer behavior. Social media has risen significantly in popularity over the past decade, and with the introduction of Social Media Influencers, brands have found a new market to promote their products. However, there is very little research conducted to show how social media users are engaging with the new marketing strategies and how it affects their purchasing behavior. This study begins by performing two case studies on brands that have successfully utilized social media to market their products: Crumbl Cookies and Chipotle Mexican Grill. This study then …

Surface Laser Texturing Of Cocrmo Alloys, Gabriel Dharwadker

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Artificial orthopedic implants such as hip joints suffer from excessive wear due to excess friction between the polyethylene and cobalt-chromium-molybdenum surfaces of the device. This increase in friction causes a fraction of them to give out within ten years. Therefore, to minimize the probability of this happening, recent research has been conducted regarding laser surface texturing of the cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy components of artificial joints. These surface textures serve to mimic the native lubrication mechanisms of cartilage in natural joints, which, in a natural joint, lowers the friction. However, the production of these laser surface textures is still a field of …

Assessing The Potential Effectiveness Of Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy For Quantifying Neonatal Skin Properties Using Tissue Phantoms, Jack Murphy

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) has previously been shown to be effective at analyzing the optical characteristics of a wide variety of biological tissues, including the skin. In addition to being sensitive to the amount of blood and its oxygenation, DRS can be used to extract bilirubin levels and assess jaundice, a common complication in newborn infants. To assess its potential for being utilized in applications involving neonatal skin, we evaluated the utility of DRS for extracting hemoglobin and bilirubin concentrations from tissue phantoms. Phantom sets were created by including a known amount of scattering and by varying known concentrations of …

Lateral Antebrachial Cutaneous Neuropathy: A Review Of 15 Cases, Anza B. Memon, Selina Mahmood, Furqan Waseem, Frederick Sherburn, Ashley Nardone, Bashiruddin K. Ahmad

Neurology Articles

BACKGROUND: Lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve is a terminal sensory branch of the musculocutaneous nerve. Lateral antebrachial cutaneous neuropathy (LABCN) is rare and often underdiagnosed. Less than 100 cases have been described in the orthopedic literature.

METHODS: It's a single-center retrospective study. A retrospective chart review of patients with LABCN who were seen over 16 years was performed. Demographics and detailed clinical information were recorded. In addition, electrodiagnostic data were reviewed, and clinical outcome was recorded.

RESULTS: Fifteen patients were included in this study. Postsurgical etiology was the most common (n = 7) cause of LABCN. Other cases included antecubital fossa …

Stem Club, Camden Jones, Erica Gesner, Amber Gadeken

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

The goal of this club is to introduce various topics stemming from different fields in science. We hope to excite the students about science and show them how important it is to their everyday lives. This club also aims to provide free education to underserved communities.

The Relationship Between People And The Tegu: A Review Of The Literature, Jordan Haley

Honors College Theses

This thesis will explore the relationship humans have had with tegu lizards and how it has evolved over time, from their historical use as a source of leather and bushmeat in South America to their more recent rise in the pet trade and consequential establishment as an invasive species in the United States.