Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Essential Life Skills On An Adolescent's Ability To Be A Productive Citizen, Emmanuel D. Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This effort aimed to research the need for adolescents to obtain necessary life skills and their ability to succeed after acquiring those skills. There is an evident absence of rudimentary people skills among contemporary teenagers that causes them to miss out on otherwise achievable opportunities. They also do not appreciate the chances that their mistakes afford them. Young people know and understand the implications of their lack of life skills; however, many lack the motivation to move forward and take advantage of occasions to better themselves. To find resolutions regarding this research, this writer interviewed experts, conducted student surveys, and …

The Organizational Leadership Framework, John Robert Sparks

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The field of leadership has evolved quite drastically over the years. Douglas McGregor showed us the evolution from a Theory X style belief that employees are unmotivated and dislike their work to his Theory Y style belief that employees are motivated and receive a sense of enjoyment from their work. Abraham Maslow expanded on this work with his Theory Z belief that optimal employee performance would prevail with the proper leadership approach. For years now, leadership has focused on various approaches or styles that produce the best performance resulting from the relationship between the leader and their follower. Organizations, research, …

How Organizational Leaders Are Challenged As Their Organizations Move To More Virtual Or Digital Work Environments, Brian Anthony Ziroli

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Organizations are moving toward more virtual and remote work environments. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the need for organizations to be able to operate and grow while some or all their employees work remotely. While this change to work environments has provided some opportunities, it has also presented several challenges to organizational leaders. Research has demonstrated that leaders and managers are challenged with communication issues, including miscommunication, issues with clarity, and issues with information and knowledge sharing; a reduction or loss of employee satisfaction and motivation; lack of employee engagement; issues with onboarding and training; and a reduction in performance …

Telework In Times Of Crisis, Samantha Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a digital transformation globally as office-based work shifted to telework. Low level positions within the office that were previously not permitted to telework had to during the pandemic. Clerical positions proved to be productive while teleworking. Managers may have had to adjust their management styles to fit their remote staff’s needs. Since clerical staff was so productive while teleworking, they may continue to telework after the pandemic as a new normal. Organizations can take the lessons learned from this digital transformation to apply to uncertainty management planning to prevent future business disruptions.

Operational Structures Forming Complex Feedback Loops In Health System / Accountable Care Partnerships – A Multiple-Case Study Investigation To Enable System Dynamics Simulation, Richard J. Pro

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 introduced accountable care organizations as a critical component in the transformation of the United States healthcare industry to a value-based care model. It also triggered an ongoing series of health system consolidations consistent with the theory of transaction cost economics. Consolidations included the alignment of health systems with accountable care organizations despite the assertions of some researchers that competing economic models rendered such partnerships financially unviable. The academic literature is silent on this issue, without any published studies of the effects of health system / accountable care organization interactions. The purpose …

C. I. Scofield's Teachings Regarding The Conversion And Restoration Of The Jewish Nation In Fulfillment Of Old And New Testament Prophecies And Their Potential Apologetic Value, Timothy M. Skinner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The confirmation of C. I. Scofield's beliefs and teachings regarding a literal and national restoration of the Jewish people in fulfillment of Old and New Testament prophecies can be argued through the writings of Reformed theologians and those hostile to dispensationalism by utilizing a comparative biblical/theological approach on a key eschatological passage, Romans 11:26 and the statement, “All Israel shall be saved.” Non-dispensationalists acknowledge or are in agreement with many of the teachings of Scofield but reject his conclusions regarding the restoration of a literal Jewish nation as being proof of the proper interpretation of the biblical text, even though …

Increasing Adherence To Psychotherapy Treatment In Adult Mental Health Patients Through The Use Of Tele-Behavioral Services: An Integrative Review, Almaz Assefaw

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Telebehavioral therapy has been developing in recent years as a viable alternative to in-person provider treatment. This was due, in part, to the recent COVID-19 pandemic necessitating rapid and widespread adoption of remote care services in general. Before this event, and despite years of development in telemental and telebehavioral technology, the U.S. rate of adoption of such services had been low. As psychotherapy is an effective way to treat mental health issues with or without the use of psychotropic drugs, ways to increase patient adherence to psychotherapy must be studied to provide high-quality mental health outcomes. One measure that has …

The Impact Of Agile Project Management On Productivity In It Projects, Kristin A. Seeton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Agile project management is considered an enabler for increased productivity over traditional project management frameworks because Agile helps the team remain focused and transparent, fostering collaboration, communication, and accountability. The methodology relies on self-organized and frequently geographically disbursed teams. This approach encourages creativity and innovation, increases the pace of development, enables flexibility in response to changing requirements, and promotes customer satisfaction. However, implementing Agile methodologies requires a philosophical change in management’s approach. Adapting to an Agile organization requires understanding the differences in methods and the impact of the changes on the working culture. The engagement of remote team members by …

The Effects Of Remote Learning On Slife Students From Central America During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sarah Katherine Richter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Covid pandemic caused changes in education of which we may never know or understand all its repercussions to the public education system. One group of vulnerable students, newcomers from Guatemala and Honduras with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE), were negatively affected. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one SLIFE program sent its students home in the spring of 2020 to quarantine and did not return to in-person learning again until a year later. The purpose of this quantitative, causal comparative study is to investigate the effects of remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic on SLIFE students’ education while attending …

Effects Of Increased Levels Of Relaxin Hormone In Women During Pregnancy In Relation To Spondylolisthesis: A Literature Review, Joselin R. Guerrero Rapalo

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Female Students’ Perception Of Stem Identity At Utrgv, Kristen L. Hallas

Honors Theses

Despite the increase in representation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate programs, they are still underrepresented in the workforce. Recent statistics published by the National Science Foundation show that the rate of females and Hispanic/Latina females earning degrees does not match the rate in which they earn STEM occupations, especially advanced degrees. Moreover, out of early career doctorate holders, women are less likely to hold post-doctoral scholar positions and are more likely to hold an academic, non-tenure track position. In response to these disparities, I sought to identify the strongest motivators driving the ambition of female …

Research Report: High Tunnel Tomato Fruit Cluster Pruning, Caterina Roman, Rebecca G. Sideman

Faculty Publications

Tomatoes are a high value crop grown worldwide. Indeterminate varieties are commonly grown in high tunnel structures throughout New England for the fresh market. Indeterminate tomato plants often suffer from a phenomenon called ‘June drop’ in which the plant’s first four to five cluster of fruit set perfectly but the subsequent two to three clusters have poor set and plant productivity drops suddenly. While cluster thinning (e.g., reducing the number of fruit allowed to mature per cluster) has been successfully shown to increase fruit size, it has generally not increased marketable yield. We hypothesized that reducing the fruit load by …

Implementation Of An Extended Kalman Filter Using Inertial Sensor Data For Uavs During Gps Denied Applications, Sky Seliquini

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are widely used across the industry and have a strong military application for defense. As UAVs become more accessible so does the increase of their applications, now being more limited by one’s imagination as opposed to the past where micro electric components were the limiting factor. Almost all of the applications require GPS or radio guidance. For more covert and longer range missions relying solely on GPS and radio is insufficient as the Unmanned Aerial System is vulnerable to malicious encounters like GPS Jamming and GPS Spoofing. For long range mission GPS denied environments are common …

Nord Stream 2: The Gas Curtain Of Europe, Sarah Elizabeth Nelson

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The debate over the 1,200 kilometer Nord Stream 2 pipeline, capable of delivering 110 billion cubic meters of liquified natural gas (LNG) under the Baltic Sea directly from Russia to Germany, has received global attention since its declaration of intent in 2015. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is not only significant for the contestation it has created within the European Union but for the divisions it has deepened in the U.S.-German transatlantic alliance. Specifically, many European countries, with an emphasis on Ukraine, and the United States view the pipeline as a Kremlin-instigated operation to exploit Europe’s vulnerability to energy demand …

Rape, Consent, And The U.S. Military, Siris Fernandez

Institute for the Humanities Theses

The military’s sexual assault prevention and response program is unable to effectively eliminate or even minimize occurrences of sexual assault in the service. This program focuses primarily on the elimination of sexual assault through yearly mandatory education on the current policies and procedures that occur when a victim comes forward. The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) program is reactionary and unequipped to tackle a culture that continues to promote a climate in which sexual assault and harassment exist without fear of retaliation. This thesis explores these issues and provides suggestions for changes in future revisions of the SAPR program. …

Investigating Psychological Capital As A Moderator In The Relationship Between Incivility And Stem Students' Major Embeddedness, Kristen Denae Eggler

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Increasing the number of students who graduate from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors is a national priority in the United States as there is a need for more STEM employees in the labor force. However, less than half of students who initially declare a major in STEM graduate college with a STEM degree, in part because of the unwelcoming climate in STEM. The aim of the current study was to understand how incivility may undermine a student’s embeddedness within their undergraduate major and whether the individual difference of Psychological Capital could assuage the undermining effects. The presence of …

Optimization Of 8-Plate Multi-Resonant Coupling Structure Using Class-E2 Based Capacitive-Wireless Power Transfer System, Yashwanth C. Bezawada

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Capacitive-wireless power transfer (CPT) effectively charges battery-powered devices without a physical contact. It is an alternative to inductive-wireless power transfer (IPT) which is available in the present market. Compared with IPT, CPT offers flexibility in designing the coupling section. Because of its flexibility, CPT utilizes various coupling methods to enhance the coupling capacitance. Misalignment is a common issue in any WPT system. Among IPT and CPT, IPT has better performance for misalignments, but it requires bulk and expensive ferrite core to attain a high coupling coefficient. This work focuses on designing a CPT system to minimize the impact of misalignments. …

Wearing An Apple A Day Won’T Keep The Doctor Away: Diagnosing Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome With An Apple Watch, Grace Judd, Jason Heino

Providence Portland Medical Center Internal Medicine 2022

No abstract provided.

Mycobacteriosis Of Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis) In Virginia Tributaries Of The Chesapeake Bay, Joshua S. Mcgilly

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Mycobacteriosis was first documented in Chesapeake Bay striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in 1997 after fish exhibited emaciation and skin lesions. Since it was first identified, studies of mycobacteriosis in the mainstem of the Chesapeake Bay (2003-2007) and the Rappahannock River (2005-2012) have shown high disease prevalence and disease-associated mortality. Until this study, no current prevalence data existed from the Rappahannock River, and no published prevalence data existed for the James River, leaving a gap in our understanding of this disease in major Chesapeake Bay tributaries. We began gathering mycobacteriosis prevalence data from an existing survey collecting striped bass …

Factors Promoting And Inhibiting The Practice Of Needs Assessment By Human Performance Practitioners, Christopher D. Adams

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Needs assessment is an essential activity for human performance improvement practitioners. This qualitative study employed the critical incident technique to determine factors, encountered by practitioners during needs assessment, which promote or inhibit successful needs assessment by exploring practitioners work across 50 incidents. Using extreme cases representing practitioners’ most and least successful needs assessment experiences allowed participants to recall rich detail of their process and the context in which they were working. Participants were also asked to reflect on what criteria they used to select most and least successful examples. From that basis, the study explored three research questions and associated …

The Impact Of First-Person Perspective Text And Images On Drivers’ Comprehension, Learning Judgments, Attitudes, And Intentions Related To Safe Road-Sharing Behaviors, Alexandra Bryson Proaps

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Drivers and cyclists lack an alignment of road sharing knowledge, attitudes, and expectations, resulting in unnecessary fatalities. Educational countermeasures need to present information that captures drivers’ interest by being personally relevant, facilitate elaboration and synthesis of new information with existing knowledge, and change attitudes, intentions, and behavior. Well-documented health-related communication methods were employed to determine their effectiveness in a transportation domain. Health countermeasure designers use first-person perspective to improve narrative instruction outcomes, based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Exploring narrative perspective-taking as a design tool requires the integration of multiple disciplines.

Our design case stems …

The Relationship Between Optional Developmental Education Enrollment And The Mathematics Achievement Of Students At One Community College In Florida, Andrea Lisa Lee

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Although nearly half of community college students require some type of remediation, less than one-third of the students who start in developmental education graduate within eight years (Park, Tandberg, Hu, & Hankerson, 2016). As such, there is great uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of developmental education (Ari et al., 2016; Bailey et al., 2013). Additionally, because most institutions rely on standardized testing to determine student course placements, many critics blame placement testing procedures for the perceived ineffectiveness of developmental education (Fletcher, 2014; Jaggars & Hodara, 2013). However, rather than adjust placement procedures, some states moved away from mandated placement, and in …

"Quality-Less” Higher Education: Relationship And Neocolonialism In International Development In Afghanistan, Wolayat Tabasum

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This study aimed to explore the internal quality assurance and accreditation (QAA) policy at University X in Afghanistan. A single case study and document review methods were chosen to examine the policy implementation process and its perceived effectiveness at a single university. This case study also explored faculty members' perceptions toward QAA, the policy's impact on teaching and learning, and the opportunities and challenges it might offer. The findings of the study produced unexpected and expected results. The expected findings were tailored around social relationships, labor division, the hierarchy of labor, incompatibility of the policy, and their impact on the …

The Narratives Of Teacher Candidates In Clinical Practice Within A Teacher Residency: The Shaping Of Professional Teacher Identities, Lauren Marie Laughlin

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Clinical practice within teacher residencies offers contextually based experiences that are influential in the development of professional teacher identities. Additionally, the stories told by teacher candidates about these experiences are instrumental to this development as narratives and identity are intertwined (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). Consequently, this study employs narrative inquiry to explore the three-dimensional space of time, place, and sociality that teacher candidates encountered for the first part of their clinical practice within a teacher residency. Additionally, I explore tensions each participant faced. Data collection included interviews, observations, and artifacts as each piece of data informed the other. Then, thinking …

Frequency Agile Ofdm System For Radio Communication In High Frequency Bands, Erin E. Hill

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

High Frequency (HF) radio communication existed as the primary source of over-the-horizon communication for decades prior to the wide implementation of satellite and cellular networks. Even today, should satellite communication become unavailable, the robust backup of HF vitally supports long distance data transmission without the need of a cellular infrastructure. This capability is of particular importance to naval applications while at sea. Frequency choice, however, becomes critical in supporting reliable HF communication as too high of a frequency will not return to earth and too low of a frequency will result in high absorption rates within the atmosphere. A potential …

Complex Thought For Complex Work: Preparing Cognitively Complex Counselors For Work In Diverse Settings, Alexandra C. Gantt

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Counselor education researchers have explored the need for high levels of cognitive complexity (CC) in mental health counselors due to its relationship with high quality counseling skills and counselor ways of being (e.g., Castillo, 2018; McAuliffe & Lovell, 2006; Ridley et al., 2011; Welfare & Borders, 2010b). In these studies, researchers have called for continued study of means of enhancing CC in counselors in training (CITs) through andragogical efforts (e.g., Castillo, 2018; Duys & Hedstrom, 2000; Welfare & Borders, 2010a). However, we do not have an understanding of minimally acceptable CC for graduating CITs. In this study, I explored counselor …

Nietzsche’S Will To Power As That Which Eternally Recurs, Joshua Aaron Ackerman

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Commonly believed to be a thought experiment to help us with life affirmation, a cosmological or metaphysical interpretation of Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence seems to be gaining ground. I argue for a metaphysical reading of the eternal recurrence. In arguing for this position, I hold that Nietzsche’s view of the eternal recurrence can be traced back to his admiration for the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus. Specifically, I think Nietzsche draws on a few of Heraclitus’ cosmological doctrines which include continuous flux, a unity of opposites, and eternal strife. In Nietzsche adopting Heraclitus’ cosmological standpoints, my view is that Nietzsche’s Will to Power …

Deep Learning Object-Based Detection Of Manufacturing Defects In X-Ray Inspection Imaging, Juan C. Parducci

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Current analysis of manufacturing defects in the production of rims and tires via x-ray inspection at an industry partner’s manufacturing plant requires that a quality control specialist visually inspect radiographic images for defects of varying sizes. For each sample, twelve radiographs are taken within 35 seconds. Some defects are very small in size and difficult to see (e.g., pinholes) whereas others are large and easily identifiable. Implementing this quality control practice across all products in its human-effort driven state is not feasible given the time constraint present for analysis.

This study aims to identify and develop an object detector capable …

Temporal Dynamics And Seed Dispersal In Plant-Frugivore Communities Of The Dominican Republic, Spencer Christian Schubert

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Plant-animal mutualisms are a foundational component of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems. Most tropical forest plants have adapted to produce fleshy fruits to attract frugivorous animals to disperse seeds. Interaction patterns among plant taxa and their seed dispersers are driven by a complex suite of factors involving their evolutionary history and environmental context, and the structure of these mutualistic networks are theoretically tied to their ecological function. I carried out a series of field studies to investigate the temporal dynamics of mutualistic interactions of plant and avian frugivore communities in the central Dominican Republic and how their characteristics affect seed dispersal …

Negative Appraisals And Experiences Of Thriving And Burnout At Work And School During The Covid-19 Pandemic: The Moderating Effect Of Embeddedness, Kate Noel Warnock

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The current study examines the effects of negative appraisals of COVID-19 on thriving and burnout, and whether embeddedness moderates these effects. Specifically, I examined whether negative appraisals of COVID-19 at work and school are related to less thriving and more burnout in the respective domains, and whether the predicted effects of negative appraisals of COVID-19 on thriving and burnout were stronger among those who reported more embeddedness in their job or major compared to those who are less embedded. Additionally, I investigate potential spillover effects of negative COVID-19 appraisals in one domain into the thriving and burnout in the other …