Digital Commons Network^™

Rhetorical Violence: The Rhetorics Of Women's Counter Political Violence, Kylie Rowland

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Protest is omnipresent, and yet not much is known about the efficacy and impacts of its different rhetorical strategies—particularly so for marginalized populations, whose available means of protest are already limited by both material realities and assumptions that govern who and what can make waves. This bind is further exacerbated by gendered and racialized civility politics that determine which bodies can be disruptive and which already are considered “violent.” To address this gap, I turn toward the under-researched rhetorical potentials of marginalized people’s—specifically women and queer folks’—use of symbolic protest “violence,” which works to strategically make evident the larger ongoing …

A Software-Defined Radio Testbed For Mimo-Ofdm Communications, Chaz G. Maschman

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this thesis, we implement a testbed for multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) systems via GNU Radio. Specifically, we implement a configurable framework for the construction of MIMO-OFDM software-defined radio (SDR) systems as a GNU Radio module. The GNU Radio MIMO-OFDM module consists of multiple algorithmic blocks necessary for implementation of a MIMO-OFDM system. This includes a library for the generation of orthogonal or pseudo-random pilot sequences, amendments to the Schmidl-Cox protocol for MIMO synchronization, and the creation of click-and-drag GNU Radio blocks implementing the conversion of arbitrary data sent via external programs to MIMO-OFDM frames, the initial …

Developing 'A Guide To Agricultural Education Advisory Committees: Development, Uses, And Transitions', Christine Schuler

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project developed a practical guide to support agricultural education advisory committees in their development, use, and long-term sustainability. Strong school-community partnerships are essential to effective agricultural education programs, particularly in small, rural communities where programs serve as connections between the school and local industry. Advisory committees play a critical role in maintaining these relationships, yet many agricultural educators lack clear, accessible resources to guide this work. This project addressed that need by creating a comprehensive, practice-based guide established from research and professional experience.

This guide started from a review of literature on school-community partnerships, advisory committees, and agricultural education …

Watersmart Farms - Desalination: Community Desalination, Sharmina Begum, Wendell Ela, John K. Ruprecht

Natural resources commissioned reports

The Wheatbelt is a vast agricultural region in southwestern Western Australia, covering approximately 25 million hectares, of which 17 million are cleared. It is a key contributor to the state’s economy, supporting broadacre grain production, livestock (such as sheep, beef, and pigs) grazing, mixed farming, and numerous small rural communities. However, decades of extensive land clearing for agriculture have significantly altered the natural hydrological balance. These changes have disrupted local water cycles, increased recharge post-clearing, increased evaporation, and contributed to widespread soil salinity.

Compounding these land-use impacts, the region has also experienced a long-term drying trend due to climate change. …

Sounding W. B. Yeats’S “Cuchulain Comforted”, David Sergeant

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

What Keeps Teachers: A Systematic Review Of Induction And Early-Career Teacher Retention In Rural Schools, Bobbie Jean Mcdonough

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Teacher retention remains a persistent challenge in United States education, particularly in rural K–12 public schools. This systematic review synthesized empirical research on induction and early-career teacher retention in rural United States settings published between 2000 and 2025. Guided by a postpositivist framework and aligned with PRISMA 2020 standards, 56 studies met inclusion criteria following structured database searches and multi-stage screening. Findings across the included studies indicate that retention was most consistently associated with induction, mentoring, professional learning, responsive leadership, collegial relationships, and teachers’ integration into their school and community, with no single support appearing sufficient in isolation. Across research …

04-21-26 Bor Hsc Committee Notice Of Meeting Cancellation, Patricia Serna

HSC Committee (A subcommittee of the UNM Board of Regents)

04-21-26 BOR HSC Committee Notice of Meeting Cancellation

Visits Related To Alcohol, Substance Use, And Mental Health In New Mexico’S Emergency Departments: Social Determinants Of Health And Discharge Disposition, 2021-2024, Samuel L. Swift, Maya Stefanovic, Dylan Pell

Population Health Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Social Emotional Learning On Chicanx Students And Their Educators, Alesia Renee Camacho

Chicana and Chicano Studies ETDs

My research on the impact of social emotional learning on Chicanx students and their educators aims to analyze how the planned implementation of a carefully curated curriculum centering on the students’ culture and lived experiences makes for a better overall experience. For this study, I use the interpretive paradigm as it allows me to explain how education can serve as a tool to illuminate the injustices that students and their families face in their lives and, in turn, how these injustices are addressed in Ethnic Studies courses. Chicana/o/x Studies scholars have long advocated for utilizing students’ knowledge, experiences, perspectives, and …

Energy Management And Water Balance In Migrating Hummingbirds, Shayne R. Halter

Biology ETDs

Small body size and rapid metabolism make annual migrations challenging for North American hummingbirds. Many of these birds make annual journeys of over 10,000 km. During migrations, hummingbirds use stopover sites, where they remain for several days to accumulate body fat. At these stopovers, they often encounter uncertainties in food resources, competition, and weather. To save energy, hummingbirds sometimes enter nocturnal torpor. My dissertation uses respirometry data, lipid measurements from Quantitative Magnetic Resonance, and feather hydrogen stable isotopes to understand how energy levels, migration patterns, torpor use, and water balance interact in four species of migrating hummingbirds. I discovered lipid …

Biological Soil Crusts: Effects Of Environmental Change On Dryland Microbes, Mariah T. Patton

Biology ETDs

Climate change is increasing rainfall variability, altering nutrient availability, and causing warming in drylands, which comprise approximately ~36% of Earth's terrestrial surface. These expanding ecosystems contribute the most to interannual variability in the global carbon cycling. Biological soil crusts (biocrusts)—often called the "skin of the Earth"—are critical components of dryland surfaces, consisting of successional microbial communities dominated initially by Cyanobacteria and later by a more diverse composition with other bacteria, archaea, lichen, fungi, and algae. These communities play essential roles in soil aggregation, erosion prevention, and carbon and nitrogen cycling. However, our ability to predict biocrust responses to environmental change …

Dreamcs: Geometry-Aware Text-To-3d Generation With Unpaired 3d Reward Supervision, Xiandong Zou, Ruihao Xia, Hongsong Wang, Pan Zhou

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

While text-to-3D generation has attracted growing interest, existing methods often struggle to produce 3D assets that align well with human preferences. Current preference alignment techniques for 3D content typically rely on hardly-collected preference-paired multi-view 2D images to train 2D reward models, when then guide 3D generation — leading to geometric artifacts, such as the Janus face problem and geometric incompleteness, due to their inherent 2D bias. To address these limitations, we construct 3D-MeshPref, the first large-scale unpaired 3D preference dataset, featuring diverse 3D meshes annotated by a large language model and refined by human evaluators. We then develop RewardCS, the …

Reducing Class-Wise Performance Disparity Via Margin Regularization, Beier Zhu, Kesen Zhao, Jiequan Cui, Qianru Sun, Yuan Zhou, Xun Yang, Hanwang Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Deep neural networks often exhibit substantial disparities in class-wise accuracy, even when trained on class-balanced data—posing concerns for reliable deployment. While prior efforts have explored empirical remedies, a theoretical understanding of such performance disparities in classification remains limited. In this work, we present Margin Regularization for performance disparity Reduction (MR2 ), a theoretically principled regularization for classification by dynamically adjusting margins in both the logit and representation spaces. Our analysis establishes a margin-based, class-sensitive generalization bound that reveals how per-class feature variability contributes to error, motivating the use of larger margins for “hard” classes. Guided by this insight, MR2 optimizes …

Managing Reproducibility Debt In Scientific Software: A Practical Framework, Zara Hassan, Christoph Treude, Graham Williams, Michael Norrish, Alex Potanin

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Scientific software includes end-user applications, modelling tools, research software for publications, and production systems for real users. It plays a key role across various scientific disciplines by enabling large-scale computation, simulation, and data analysis. Unlike commercial software, scientific software is often developed in dynamic research environments with limited engineering practices, documentation, or testing. This makes it fragile and difficult to reproduce results, even when code and data are available, conditions in which Reproducibility Debt (RpD) accumulates. This paper presents the Reproducibility Debt Management Framework (RpD-MF), which is grounded in evidence from a systematic literature review, practitioner interviews, and a global …

Real-Time Motion-Controllable Autoregressive Video Diffusion, Kesen Zhao, Jiaxin Shi, Beier Zhu, Junbao Zhou, Xiaolong Shen, Yuan Zhou, Qianru Sun, Hanwang Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Real-time motion-controllable video generation remains challenging due to the inherent latency of bidirectional diffusion models and the lack of effective autoregressive (AR) approaches. Existing AR video diffusion models are limited to simple control signals or text-to-video generation, and often suffer from quality degradation and motion artifacts in few-step generation. To address these challenges, we propose AR-Drag, the first RL-enhanced few-step AR video diffusion model for real-time image-to-video generation with diverse motion control. We first fine-tune a base I2V model to support basic motion control, then further improve it via reinforcement learning with a trajectory-based reward model. Our design preserves the …

Autobackdoor: Automating Backdoor Attacks Via Llm Agents, Yige Li, Zhe Li, Wei Zhao, Nay Myat Min, Hanxun Huang, Xingjun Ma, Jun Sun

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Backdoor attacks pose a serious threat to the secure deployment of large language models (LLMs), enabling adversaries to implant hidden behaviors triggered by specific inputs. However, existing methods often rely on manually crafted triggers and static data pipelines, which are rigid, labor-intensive, and inadequate for systematically evaluating modern defense robustness. As AI agents become increasingly capable, there is a growing need for more rigorous, diverse, and scalable \textit{red-teaming frameworks} that can realistically simulate backdoor threats and assess model resilience under adversarial conditions. In this work, we introduce \textsc{AutoBackdoor}, a general framework for automating backdoor injection, encompassing trigger generation, poisoned data …

Approaches And Barriers To Cultivating Critical Thinking Skills For Effective Clinical Decision Making, Yousif Abdulraheem

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Clinical decision-making is a complex process that involves gathering information, analyzing data, making informed judgments, and taking appropriate actions for a patient's care. Critical thinking (CT) is a vital component of this process, as it enables healthcare professionals to evaluate information, identify biases and assumptions, and make informed decisions (1). It requires careful consideration of multiple factors, including the patient's age, gender, medical history, physical exams, and diagnostic test results, health status, lifestyle, and even preferences, to develop a diagnosis and treatment plan. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of promoting CT skills in …

The Incidence, Clinico-Epidemiological Features, And Prognosis Of Neuroblastoma. A Retrospective Study In Al-Imamain Al-Kadhumain Medical City, Hadeer Jasim, Sawsan Sati Abass

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background: The neuroblastoma (NB) burden varies from region to region. Its presentation is variable, and its prognosis is hugely variable.Aims: The present study aims to evaluate the incidence, clinico-epidemiological characteristics, and prognosis of children with NB receiving treatment and follow-up in Al-Imamain Al-Kadhumain Medical City, a pediatric cancer center.Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective study involving NB patients managed at Al-Imamain Al-Kadhumain Medical City. The present study was conducted for 14 months between April 2021 and May 2022. The data about age, sex, primary site, metastases, signs and symptoms, staging, and follow-up were extracted from patient files in the …

Bacterial Contamination In Random Donor Platelet Concentrates Using The Bact/Alert 3d Microbial Detection System And Vitek 2 Bacterial Identification System, Zaid Kareem, Haithem A-Rubaie, Yaqoob Saleh

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background: Platelet transfusions are associated with an increased risk of infection and sepsis due to their susceptibility to bacterial contamination. Stored at 20–24°C for up to five days, platelet concentrates (PC) provide an optimal environment for bacterial growth. Bacterial contamination remains a significant cause of transfusion-related morbidity and mortality. Accurate estimates of contamination rates are essential to guide safety practices and testing protocols. The study aimed to determine the frequency of bacterial contamination in random blood donor PC and to identify the most common bacterial species implicated in contamination. Subjects, Materials, and Methods: Samples from 130 random donor PC taken …

Detection Of Bacterial Contamination In Single-Donor Platelets Using Bact/Alert And Vitek Systems, Samah Maidi, Haithem A-Rubaie, Yaqoob Saleh

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background: Bacterial contamination of platelet units is a serious concern in transfusion medicine, potentially leading to septic transfusion reactions, which can be life-threatening. Due to their storage at room temperature (20–24°C) with constant agitation, platelet concentrates are particularly susceptible to bacterial growth, especially from skin flora introduced during blood collection or processing. Common contaminants include Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci, and Gram-negative organisms such as Escherichia coli. Contamination may result from inadequate aseptic techniques, faulty collection equipment, or undetected donor bacteremia. Early detection and the application of pathogen reduction strategies are critical for ensuring transfusion safety. Aim: This study aimed to …

Peripheral Nerves’ Involvement In Controlled & Uncontrolled Hypothyroidism: An Electrodiagnostic Study, Amina Ali Abdulghani, Farqad Bader Hamdan, Abbas Mahdi Rahmah

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background: Hypothyroidism arises from reduced thyroid hormone production or activity due to dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis. Peripheral polyneuropathy is caused by axonal or myelin sheath damage. This study aimed to explore the neurophysiological impact of hypothyroidism, not to test an intervention.Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted from March to December 2024, involving 50 female hypothyroid patients aged 20–75 years. Patients were divided into controlled (n = 14) and uncontrolled (n = 36) groups. All underwent motor and sensory nerve conduction studies (NCS), F-wave analysis, sural-radial amplitude ratio (SRAR), and needle EMG. Peripheral neuropathy was diagnosed based on reduced …

Clinical And Radiological Outcome Of Cavernous Malformation Treated By Gamma Knife Radiosurgery, Ali Aljuboori, Yasir Hamandi

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background: Cavernous malformation is A well-circumscribed, benign vascular hamartoma consisting of irregular thick and thin-walled sinusoidal vascular channels located within the brain. lacking intervening neural parenchyma, large feeding arteries, or large draining veins. Usually 1–5 cm in size, may haemorrhage, calcify or thrombose, choosing best method of surgical treatment is crucial in order to decrease the cavernoma size, rate of haemorrhage and associated neurological symptoms.Methods: From Nov. 2021 to Dec. 2023 there were 40 cases of cavernous malformation treated by gamma knife radiosurgery at Dr. Saad Al-Witry Neuroscience Hospital by experienced neurosurgeon and approved for gamma knife radiosurgery all patients …

Predictive Frax Score Value Of Dexa System Among Patients Screened For Osteoporosis In Al -Hilla City, Najlaa Mohammed

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

BACKGROUND:Osteoporosis is a disease which makes bones weak and fragile. This greatly increases the risk of breaking a bone Even after a minor fall or bump. The disease has no obvious symptoms, so many people don’t know they have osteoporosis until they suffer a fracture. Fractures can be life-altering, causing pain, disability and loss ofindependence. That’s why it’s important to prevent osteoporosis.OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to evaluate the fracture risk predictions based on calculations prepared with bone mineral density (BMD) values using the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX®). PATIENTS AND METHOD:This descriptive, cross-sectional study included male and female …

Role Of The Dwi And Adc Value In Complex Renal Cystic Masses (Bosniak Iii And Iv), Mohammed Kadhim, Furqan Ahmed

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background: Cystic renal masses are commonly encountered in clinical practice. Objective: To study the value of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) and ADC value for distinguishing benign and malignant complex renal cystic masses (Bosniak III and IV).Patients and methods: the study included 30 patients with complex renal cystic masses identified by computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound (U/S). there was 18 females and 12 males. The study was conducted in Al-Imamain Al-Kadhmain Medical City/ Baghdad from December 2022 to October 2023. The DWI and ADC were correlated with the histological finding (all patients have a histopathological diagnosis by surgical resection). Results: …

Pathological Evaluation Of Surgical Specimens After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Of Breast Cancer In A Sample Of Iraqi Females, Farah Matti, Ayser Latif

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background: Breast cancer remains the most common malignancy among women worldwide. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is increasingly used to downstage tumors and improve surgical outcomes. The Residual Cancer Burden (RCB) system has emerged as a reliable tool to quantify treatment response across various breast cancer subtypes. Objective: This study aimed to assess clinicopathological features of breast cancer patients before and after NACT, evaluate treatment response using RCB class categories, and examine the associations between RCB classes and clinicopathological parameters. It also explored the impact of NACT on axillary lymph node retrieval and surgical trends in Iraq. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study …

Perceptions Of Resident Doctors In Baghdad Medical City Toward The Role Of Artificial Intelligence In Medicine, Ghufran Jimaa, Ghaith Mohammed

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into healthcare, with the potential to improve diagnosis, treatment, and patient outcomes.Aim of the study: The aim of this study is to investigate the perception of resident doctors in Medical City hospitals, Baghdad, Iraq, regarding the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in individual patient care and its impact on ethics and medical education.Participants and method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 200 resident doctors in Medical City hospitals, Baghdad, Iraq, in 2024. The survey included questions about the respondents' demographics, knowledge about AI in medicine, attitudes toward AI, perception of AI in …

Effect Of Ursodeoxycholic Acid In Lowering Neonatal Indirect Hyperbilirubinemia, Raza Husain

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background: Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is one of the most frequent conditions in newborns. Around 60% of term and nearly 80% of preterm infants show visible jaundice during the first postnatal week.Aim: This study evaluated whether adding ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) to conventional phototherapy accelerates the decline of indirect bilirubin in neonates.Methods: A randomized controlled trial was carried out in the Neonatal Care Unit at Sulaimani Pediatric Teaching Hospital between February 2014 and February 2015. Two hundred neonates with indirect hyperbilirubinemia were enrolled and randomly assigned to: - Group A (n=100): Oral UDCA 10 mg/kg/day in two divided doses plus phototherapy. - Group …

Association Of Vitamin B12 Deficiency & Clinical Neuropathy With Metformin Use In Type 2 Diabetes Patients, Shahad Shareef, Zainab Abdulghani

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background: Type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with long-term microvascular complications such as neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), affecting nearly 50% of patients, poses a risk for severe outcomes like foot ulcers and amputations. Vitamin B12 deficiency can further exacerbate neurological issues through axonal demyelination, potentially leading to irreversible nerve damage. Method: this cross-sectional observational study was conducted at the Iraqi National Center for Diabetes & Endocrinology to assess serum vitamin B12 levels in T2DM patients on metformin versus other oral hypoglycemic agents, and to explore the association with peripheral neuropathy. Results: A total of 89 …

Inguinal Versus Scrotal Approach For Hydrocelectomy In Adults With Idiopathic Hydrocele, Wissam Alquraishy, Mohanned Alsaadi

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background: Hydrocele is a common benign condition in adult males caused by fluid accumulation within the tunica vaginalis, leading to painless scrotal swelling.Aim of the Study: To compare the outcomes of hydrocelectomy using the inguinal versus scrotal approach in adult patients with idiopathic hydrocele.Patients and Methods: This prospective, non-randomized comparative clinical trial was conducted from June 2020 to October 2021 and included 44 adult males (20–65 years) with unilateral idiopathic hydrocele. Patients were allocated into two equal groups (n=22) using a structured allocation method to balance baseline variables. Group I underwent hydrocelectomy via an inguinal approach, whereas Group II underwent …

Large And Small Fiber Neuropathy In Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: A Case-Control Study From Iraq, Safa Dheaaulden Abdulmunem, Farqad Bader Hamdan, Arif Sami Malik

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with neurological complications, including peripheral neuropathy. While large fiber neuropathy is commonly recognized in CKD, the involvement of small fibers and the influence of arteriovenous fistula (AVF) remain less well studied. This study aimed to investigate the presence of large and small fiber neuropathies in CKD patients and examine their correlation with demographic and clinical parameters.Methods: This case-control study included 40 participants: 20 CKD patients on maintenance hemodialysis and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. All participants underwent neurophysiological assessments, including nerve conduction studies (NCS), sympathetic skin response (SSR), and cutaneous silent period …