Digital Commons Network^™

The Influence, Dependency, And Targeting Of Fatty Acid Uptake In Er+ Breast Cancer, Abigail E. Goen

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Estrogen Receptor-positive/ Human Epidermal Growth Factor 2-negative, breast cancer (ER+/HER2- BC) is the most prevalent subtype of BC, impacting millions of individuals. Although early screening and treatment with endocrine therapy has greatly enhanced survival, this subtype sustains a steady increase of risk for recurrent disease for decades after diagnosis, indicating the persistence of residual cancer cells that are capable of maintaining dormancy for >20 years prior to metastatic outgrowth. Dormant cells reprogram metabolic pathways which can be profoundly influenced by the tumor microenvironment in promoting quiescence or proliferation. Fatty acid oxidation dependency has been noted as a hallmark of drug …

Governing Agroecological Transitions: Landscape Legacies, Participation, And Socioecological Change In The Northeastern United States, Kristen Jovanelly

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Agroecological transitions are often presented as purposeful shifts toward more resilient, equitable, and ecologically sustainable landscapes. In practice, these transitions unfold through histories, ecological feedback, institutional arrangements, and contested forms of participation. This dissertation examines how these forces shape what agroecological transitions become, for whom, and with what socioecological consequences across urban and working landscapes in the northeastern United States.

Drawing on historical and critical analysis, ecological modeling, greenhouse experimentation, ethnographic fieldwork, and institutional analysis, I trace transition through urban forests, community-garden seed banks and soils, temperate agroforestry systems, and a participatory tree nursery. Analyses of urban greening and agroforestry …

A Mixed-Methods Case Study Exploring Peer Online Course Review And Equity Outcomes At A California Community College, Mark C. Malonzo

Theses and Dissertations

This single-case mixed-methods study examined how faculty participation in the Peer Online Course Review (POCR) process influenced course design practices and equity-focused learning experiences in asynchronous online courses at Jay College. Institutional data indicated persistent equity gaps, with BIPOC students, particularly Black, American Indian, and Pacific Islander students, experiencing lower success and completion rates in online courses.

The quantitative strand analyzed pre- and post-POCR student success metrics using existing institutional data. The qualitative strand drew on structured faculty interviews to examine changes in instructional practices, accessibility, and equity-minded pedagogy following participation in POCR. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed separately …

Measurement Invariance Of Transtheoretical Model-Based Measures For Covid-19 Vaccination Readiness, Allegra Opiela

Open Access Dissertations

Purpose. To assess the measurement invariance of four novel Transtheoretical Model (TTM)-based measures for readiness to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Design. Cross-sectional.

Setting. Online survey study in the United States (US).

Participants. 1169 US-based adults aged 18-85.

Measures. Demographics, Stage of Change, Vaccination History, Decisional Balance, Self-efficacy, Myths, and Barriers to COVID-19 vaccination.

Analyses. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses with increased restraints on model parameters to assess configural (no constraints), metric (factor loadings constrained), and scalar invariance (factor loadings and item intercepts constrained) in a sequential manner.

Results. Decisional Balance, Myths, and Barriers demonstrated scalar …

Coarse-Grained Models For Microbial Metabolisms And Biological Interactions, Meng Gao

Open Access Dissertations

Microorganisms are microscopic, typically unicellular organisms widely distributed across the world’s environments.  In the global ocean, they account for the majority of primary production and decompose organic matter to drive nutrient cycles. Through their metabolic processes, including photosynthesis, dinitrogen (N₂) fixation, sulfur oxidation, and methanogenesis, microbes contribute to global biogeochemical processes, and establish their ecological niches in suitable habitats. Their biological interactions, including competition, symbiosis, and grazing, are important links among different functional groups in marine communities. Consequently, quantifying microbial metabolisms and their biological interactions is important to investigate their ecological functions in marine ecosystems and the global …

Estimating The Average Treatment Effect In Randomized Controlled Trials With Incomplete Covariates, Elizabeth M. Pauley

Open Access Dissertations

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are commonly used to estimate average treatment effects (ATEs), with baseline covariates often included to improve precision and statistical power for detecting those effects. In applied settings, covariates can be incomplete, and some may moderate treatment effects, leading to heterogeneous treatment effects (HTE). Literature lacks clear direction regarding whether incomplete covariates should be included when estimating the ATE and how different missing data handling methods perform in such conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of four missing data handling methods in RCTs via Monte Carlo simulations, namely listwise deletion (LD), inverse probability weighting (IPW), …

The Actor, The Character, And The Audience: The Impact Of Racial Alignment On Theater Audiences, Conwell Worthington Iii

Open Access Dissertations

Broadway represents the pinnacle of live theater in the USA, generating billions of dollars in revenue and serving as an international cultural icon. Despite Broadway’s prominence, it faces challenges stemming from its reliance on a relatively homogeneous audience base and a changing market. One determinant of both financial and critical success is casting. Casting also significantly impacts audience perceptions and acceptance. The recent success of Hamilton: An American Musical and Six: The Musical juxtaposed with the failure of 1776 have sparked discussion and interest into how to best utilize non-traditional casting as a strategy to broaden Broadway Audiences. This dissertation …

Computational Modeling And Machine Learning For The Design Of Polymer-Based Protective Systems Under Dynamic Loading, Jonathan Tate Villada

Open Access Dissertations

Computational modeling and machine learning offer powerful pathways for designing polymer-based protective systems subjected to dynamic loading, particularly for mitigating the early shock-dominated response generated by near-field underwater explosions (UNDEX). As naval, offshore, and submerged infrastructure systems continue to grow in strategic importance, there is an increasing need for lightweight, damage-tolerant protective solutions capable of reducing transmitted pressure, deformation, and energy transfer under extreme impulsive environments. Since large-scale experimental testing under such conditions are costly and limited, validated numerical frameworks provide an efficient means to evaluate polymeric coatings, architected metastructures, and data-driven predictive tools across broad design spaces. The first …

Ecce Leadership Development: Supports, Barriers, And Identity Formation, Andrea Weidele

Open Access Dissertations

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) leadership development is not given the attention it deserves. Despite the proven link between high-quality ECCE programs and positive societal outcomes, leadership development within the sector is significantly under-resourced. Because program quality is inherently tied to leadership efficacy, there is an urgent need to investigate the supports and structures that foster effective ECCE leadership. This study addressed that gap by using a qualitative multiple case study to explore how six ECCE program leaders of licensed ECCE programs from a New England state describe their leadership development, including supports and barriers they encountered and how …

Generating Template Banks For Intermediate Duration Gravitational Waves, Michael St. Pierre

Open Access Dissertations

There are a multitude of astrophysical sources which carry the potential to produce perturbations in spacetime, known as gravitational waves, across a wide spectrum of frequencies. Over the brief history of gravitational wave astronomy, short-duration “chirp” signals emitted from black hole mergers, highly energetic “burst” signals emitted from supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), and long duration “continuous” signals emitted from galactic neutron stars and the stochastic gravitational wave background have traditionally been at the forefront of search development, leaving a class of intermediate duration  ($10² - 10⁴ seconds) gravitational wave signals poorly suited for detection. The conventional way …

Extending Low-Frequency Traveling-Wave Propagation In A Water-Filled Cylindrical Waveguide Using Active Impedance Control, William Slater

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation investigates extending the frequency range over which a one-dimensional, plane traveling wave can be generated in a water-filled, steel-walled waveguide under ocean temperature and hydrostatic pressure conditions. The wave guide considered is a thick-walled, steel cylinder filled with a water/glycol mixture with a transducer at each end and a hydrophone array along the length. One transducer excites a plane wave while the other cancels reflections, resulting in a traveling wave in the waveguide. The current (open-loop) measurement system is advertised to generate traveling waves for low frequencies where only 3.4% of a wavelength can be measured (kL …

Linking Phytoplankton Physiology And Ecology To Global Biogeochemical Cycles: A Modeling Approach, Margaret Bernish

Open Access Dissertations

Phytoplankton, or microscopic primary producers, contribute to carbon export through the biological transformation of carbon dioxide into organic molecules. Phytoplankton are responsible for approximately half of global net primary production, while only contributing minimally to total photosynthetic biomass. Despite their important role in the global cycling of nutrients, phytoplankton physiology and ecology are often highly simplified in global biogeochemical models. This dissertation elucidates the role of phytoplankton physiology and ecology within biogeochemical cycles, allowing for better characterization of marine microbial distribution and better representation of nutrient cycling for interpretive and predictive models. The development of formulations that link physiological responses …

A Longitudinal Study On The Impact Of Childhood Air Pollution Exposure On Adolescent Cognition, Emily K. Carter

Open Access Dissertations

About 2 in 5 Americans live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution. Poor air quality has been shown to lead to a diverse set of negative health that can affect the cardiovascular system and have downstream effects on brain structure and cognition. The detrimental impacts of air pollution on cognition have been widely studied, though due to methodological limitations in the available research, a direct association between air pollution exposure and cognitive development remains inconclusive and unclear. Further, studies in this area have largely focused on prenatal exposure and neurocognitive impacts during early childhood; the potential longer-term effects …

Attract Or Repel: Ceo Activism & Gen Z Pursuits, William Thomas Garrett

Open Access Dissertations

This study examines the effect of CEO sociopolitical activism on Gen Z job seekers by conceptualizing the former as an identity-implicating experience that poses either an identity opportunity or identity threat. As part of a 3 x 3 experimental study, participants reviewed comments about a proposed transgender bathroom bill made by the CEO of a fictional potential employer. The experiment introduced features of organizational policies governing internal discussions of political and social issues in the workplace and measured the ability of the policies to influence the potential applicant’s perception of an opportunity or threat. Results examined the relationship between the …

Investigating The Effects Of Nucleopore Defects On The Cellular Response To Stress In Als/Ftd Ipsc-Derived Neurons, Alicia Christine Collins

Open Access Dissertations

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/frontotemporal dementia (ALS/FTD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease spectrum characterized by motor dysfunction, cognitive decline, and death within a few years of clinical onset. Hallmark features of ALS/FTD include defects in nucleocytoplasmic transport (NCT) and abnormal cytoplasmic mislocalization and aggregation of the RNA-binding protein TDP-43, both of which have been shown to be exasperated by oxidative stress (OS). It remains unclear how these processes are connected and how they collectively contribute to neurodegeneration. To fill this gap of knowledge, we used human embryonic kidney cells, neuroblastoma cells, and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cortical neurons harboring the ALS/FTD C9ORF72 …

Submesoscale Dynamics Of Phytoplankton And Carbon Export Revealed By High-Resolution Airborne And Satellite Remote Sensing Of Currents And Ocean Color, Sarah E. Lang

Open Access Dissertations

Satellites and airborne sensors reveal submesoscale (1 - 10 km) variability in ocean color in the form of filaments, eddies, and patches. The variability in ocean color is closely tied to the physical dynamics that restructure phytoplankton distributions and drive active biological responses like changes in primary productivity and community structure. As the base of the marine food web and a key component of the biological carbon pump, phytoplankton are crucial to the overall health of marine ecosystems and to the ocean's role in climate. This dissertation focuses on the use of airborne and satellite remote sensing to study the …

Colorectal Cancers With Distinct Metastatic Potential Trigger Divergent Early T Cell Responses, Marwa Ahmed Saad

Student Theses and Dissertations

The intestinal mucosa harbors the largest immune compartment in the mammalianbody, where resident and recruited immune cells must maintain tolerance to commensal and dietary antigens while preserving their ability to mount effective responses against pathogens and malignant transformation. Uncontrolled epithelial proliferation leads to colorectal cancer (CRC), the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. More than 85% of human CRC cases arise from accumulating sporadic or hereditary mutations in the tumor suppressor genes Apc, Tp53, Smad4, and the oncogene Kras. Although immune checkpoint blockade has transformed the treatment of certain solid tumors, most CRCs, particularly those with a proficient mismatch …

Investigating Primary Motor Cortex Involvement In Mouse Vocal Communication, Elena N. Duryea Waidmann

Student Theses and Dissertations

Vocal communication is used to transmit a range of information to other individuals. While many vocalizations are innate, some species can learn to change their vocal output. This is termed vocal-learning, and it is a rare trait and a necessary building block for human spoken language and songbird song. Comparative work in humans and songbirds suggests that convergent genetic and neural specializations may drive these learned vocal behaviors. Two key features of these advanced vocal learners are: i) specialized primary motor regions in the forebrain with activity tied to vocalization; and ii) dense monosynaptic projections from the primary motor cortex …

Noncanonical Roles Of Hepatitis B Virus Precore Rna In Reverse, Mengyin Zhang

Student Theses and Dissertations

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a partially double-stranded DNA virus that replicates through reverse transcription. Transcription from the HBV core promoter generates two genome-length RNAs: pregenomic RNA (pgRNA) and precore RNA (pcRNA). pcRNA contains the entire pgRNA sequence plus an additional 32 nucleotides at its 5’ end that include the precore start codon, enabling translation of the precore protein, the precursor of the secreted HBV e antigen (HBeAg). Whereas pgRNA is translated to produce core and polymerase and serves as the template for reverse transcription by cis-acting HBV polymerase, pcRNA has long been considered unable to support HBV DNA synthesis. …

Astrocyte Identity And Function Acquisition During Nervous System Development In C. Elegans, Simin Liu

Student Theses and Dissertations

Astrocytes are essential regulators of nervous system development, homeostasis, and function. Beyond their well-established roles in synapse formation, metabolic support, and neural circuit modulation, astrocytes are increasingly recognized as dynamic participants in behavior regulation and neurological disease. Despite their importance, the developmental logic by which astrocytes acquire their identity and functional properties remains incompletely understood. In particular, how distinct developmental programs coordinate to establish astrocyte identity, and how immature glial cells transition into fully functional astrocytes, are central unresolved questions in neurobiology. In this thesis, I investigate the developmental mechanisms that establish astrocyte identity and function using the astrocyte-like Caenorhabditis …

Factors Affecting Dating Violence In Adolescence, Madison Darrah

Graduate Research Papers

Prior research has named many risk and protective factors associated with adolescent dating violence (ADV). However, comparatively little research has examined how substance use intersects with these risk and protective factors or how effective interventions can be designed to address both issues of substance use and ADV simultaneously. The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between substance use and ADV, with a particular focus on perpetration of ADV during adolescence. This literature review synthesizes existing research to identify factors associated with ADV, evaluate theoretical frameworks that explain ADV, and examine how substance use contributes to ADV …

“En La Clase, Sí. En Estados Unidos, No.”: La Motivación, La Pertenencia Y El Intercambio De Recursos En Clases Para Adultos Aprendices De Inglés, Katie Hunter

Graduate Research Papers

En los Estados Unidos, los programas de educación para adultos pueden abrir la puerta a varias oportunidades para estudiantes con trasfondos académicos no tradicionales. Los programas como la educación básica para adultos, la equivalencia de escuela secundaria, la preparación profesional y técnica y, lo más importante para los propósitos de este estudio, la educación para adultos aprendices de inglés, promueven el progreso profesional y apoyan a los estudiantes a identificar y trabajar para alcanzar sus metas personales. Sin embargo, en este contexto educativo es de suma importancia reconocer el conocimiento arraigado en la experiencia vivida que los estudiantes traen al …

Collaboration And Co-Management Ahead Of Permitting: Understanding How Actors And Their Interactions Lead To Non-Optimal Shoreline Projects, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Mariana Saitgalina, Michelle Covi

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Living shorelines are widely promoted as nature-based solutions to coastal erosion and wetland protection, yet hardened shoreline structures continue to dominate even in jurisdictions with explicit policy mandates prioritizing living shorelines. In this research, we examine why non-optimal shoreline modification outcomes persist in Virginia (USA) despite a regulatory framework designed to promote ecological alternatives. We use primary data from interviews with wetlands board members, marine contractors, and nonprofit organizations and findings from a secondary survey of shoreline property owners to analyze shoreline management as a multi-sector collaborative decision-making process. Findings show that shoreline outcomes are shaped less by individual regulatory …

Sea-Level Rise Adaptation And Collaboration In Polycentric Governance: A Comparison Of Three Regions, Francesca Vantaggiato, Mark Lubell, Matthew C. Nowlin, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Majid Shafiee-Jood

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Adaptation to sea-level rise confronts coastal communities worldwide with a new set of collective action problems that require collaboration. When does collaboration result in concrete action for adaptation? To address this question, we combine the Ecology of Games and Collaborative Governance frameworks using a comparative analysis of three coastal regions in the United States. We leverage original survey data from the San Francisco Bay Area in California (2018, N = 878), the Tri-County (Charleston) Area in South Carolina (2022, N = 152), and the Hampton Roads region in Virginia (2023, N = 153), three regions that differ in terms of …

Beyond Teaching: Black And Hispanic Calculus Students Describe Interactions With Faculty, Kevin A. Palencia Infante, Ricela Feliciano-Semidei, Alcibiades Bustillo-Zarate, Ke Wu

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

The experiences of underrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs provide valuable insights into improving their retention and academic achievement. This study investigates how Black and Hispanic calculus students describe faculty-student interactions. Four students participated in a demographic survey and follow-up interviews, sharing their experiences with calculus learning. Using thematic coding guided by validation theory, the data revealed instructors’ academic practices that either validated or invalidated students’ participation in calculus classes. These practices include cultivating in-class conceptual support, promoting collaborative learning spaces, demonstrating out-of-class academic availability, acknowledging and integrating diverse student experiences, and encouraging metacognitive …

The Impact Of Defunding The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (Snap-Ed) In Louisiana, Virginia Bordelon, Senlin Chen, Yuxin Nie, Denise Holston, Jessice Stroope

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) was a federally funded initiative that aims to improve nutrition knowledge, promote physical activity, and provide education through Policy, System, and Environmental (PSE) strategies. This study examined the relationship between the defunding of SNAP-Ed and how nutrition and physical activity were affected among low-income families. Data for this study originated an interview with a Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) economist, an interview with SNAP-Ed field agent, and survey responses from 32 adult participants familiar with SNAP. The SNAP recipients use the education program resources to assist in healthy recipes, physical
education …

Low Burden Of Clinically Relevant Anaemia And Thrombocytopenia Among Adolescents Living With Hiv Receiving Tenofovir/Lamivudine Plus Dolutegravir: The Cipher-Adola Study In Cameroon, Nadine Nguendjoung Fainguem, Yagai Bouba, Rachel Kamgaing, Jeremiah Efakika Gabisa, Aude Christelle Ka’E, Michel Carlos Tommo Tchouaket, Alex Durand Nka, Cynthia Ayafor, Lum Forgwei, Upal Roy

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Anaemia and thrombocytopenia adversely affect adolescent HIV outcomes, yet adolescent-specific data from the tenofovir/lamivudine/dolutegravir (TLD) era remain scarce, and access to full blood count (FBC) testing is limited in Cameroon. We evaluated the prevalence, severity, and factors associated with these cytopenias among adolescents living with HIV (ADLHIV) in the TLD era.

Methods: Multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted among ADLHIV (10-19 years) receiving TLD in the CIPHER-ADOLA cohort in Cameroon. Full blood count, viral load (VL) and CD4-count were performed. Factors associated with anaemia and thrombocytopenia were ascertained.

Results: A total of 252 ADLHIV was enrolled (50.8% male, 83.3% were …

From Fragments To Cohesion: Developing A Sustainable Online Course For Foundational Information Literacy Instruction, Katie Strand, Shawn Hall, Lara Petersen, Sara Szobody

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

This poster session will discuss the strategies we employed to build a sustainable online learning program and the lessons we learned along the way. We will address common challenges associated with maintaining and updating online learning resources, highlighting the logistics and ongoing commitment required. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive understanding of how to create an effective and sustainable online learning program that enhances student engagement and success. By sharing our experiences and outcomes, we hope to inspire other academic libraries to rethink their online learning strategies and embrace innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of their students.

Analysis Of Δ¹¹B As A Seawater Ph Proxy: Comparing Ocean Circulation Inverse Model Output With Marine Calcifier Geochemistry, Jesse I. Dong

CMC Senior Theses

Increasing anthropogenic carbon flux into the oceans decreases seawater pH, alters dissolved inorganic carbon speciation, and reduces biogenic calcification. The marine calcifiers— specifically corals and coralline algae—incorporate elements from surrounding seawater into their carbonate structures, which preserve past records of ocean carbon chemistry. In particular, boron in biogenic carbonate is a potentially valuable proxy for historical ocean pH across human timescales. Within seawater, boron primarily exists as boric acid B(OH)3 and borate ions B(OH)4 - , where higher pH favors the formation of borate ions. Borate ions preferentially incorporate the heavier ¹¹B isotope over 10B. On the other hand, if …

Waveguide-Assisted Single-Mode Fiber Bragg Gratings In A Highly Multimode Coreless Fiber Via Femtosecond Laser Inscription For Extreme Temperature Quasi-Distributed Thermal Sensing, Farhan Mumtaz, Koustav Dey, Bohong Zhang, Jeffrey D. Smith, Ronald J. O'Malley, Jie Huang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This research reports a potential quasi-distributed thermal mapping optical sensing system for extreme temperatures, leveraging femtosecond (fs) laser inscribed single-mode fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) and a waveguide within coreless, highly multimode optical fiber, resulting in a single-mode structure. Unlike doped single-mode fibers, coreless fibers composed of silica rods prevent issues associated with dopant migration and ensure data accuracy. The strategic placement of point-by-point FBGs in a cascaded formation on the fs-laser inscribed waveguide facilitates localized multipoint sensing. The long-term stability of the proposed waveguide-assisted FBG system was assessed over 24 hours at elevated temperatures (1000°C), showing no hysteresis during heating …