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Webs of Support: A Qualitative Social Network Analysis of First-Year Residential Students and Mental Health Support
No full textThe mental health crisis among American college students has become a major concern for higher education, as students go through a significant life transition during a developmental stage often characterized by the onset of psychological issues. Despite efforts to expand services within a public health framework, many students are deterred from seeking formal help due to structural, psychological, and cultural barriers. As a result, students tend to rely more on informal support networks than on structured on-campus resources. Building on Varga and Zaff’s (2018) webs of support framework, this qualitative social network analysis (QSNA) explored how 13 first-year residential students constructed and integrated the varied elements of their social support networks to address mental health concerns. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and participant-created sociograms. Findings revealed that students demonstrated agency in creating and navigating their networks, while benefiting from the social support provided by their diverse relationships. These results highlight a deeper understanding of how and where students seek support through this formative transition
LEADING ELA IN RURAL SCHOOLS: A Case Study of Curriculum Leadership and Administrator Persistence in New Jersey
No full textAbstract Lisa Ann D’Amico-Blaney LEADING ELA IN RURAL SCHOOLS: A Case Study of Curriculum Leadership and Administrator Persistence in New Jersey 2025-2026 Ane Turner Johnson, Ph.D. Doctor of Education Rural ELA administrators serve in complex roles within K-12 district across the United States of America. They are expected to enact curricular change in homogeneous communities that often resist change. Within their role, they are expected to serve as both school and community leaders, which often comes with an immense amount of pressure. This research aimed to understand how they navigate barriers of rurality while implementing diversified ELA curriculum in such complicated settings. This study particularly focused on how their persistence was affected in these rural contexts to shed light on the emotional labor within the role. While there is adequate research on rural districts in the south and western part of the nation, there is very little research on the experiences of rural administrators who serve in densely populated northeastern states. This research aimed to address that gap and to offer recommendations for how rural ELA administrators in these contexts can recognize the barriers they face without losing their authentic sense of self within their work environment
INTELLIGENT SKIES: DEEP LEARNING ARCHITECTURES FOR SCALABLE AVIATION SAFETY SYSTEMS
No full textThe growing complexity of aviation operations, particularly in rotorcraft and vertical flight necessitates the development of intelligent, automated systems to enhance safety and situational awareness. This thesis investigates the application of artificial intelligence (AI), with a focus on deep learning (DL), to address critical safety challenges in aviation. Four core use cases are examined: helicopter cockpit flight data monitoring, runway detection, helipad segmentation, and obstacle localization around rotorcraft landing zones. Each application targets a specific gap in current aviation infrastructure, with an emphasis on operational needs identified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Leveraging a range of DL architectures, including convolutional neural networks and zero-shot vision-language models, this work demonstrates how modern DL computer vision techniques can be effectively applied to complex, safety-critical tasks using video footage and high-resolution satellite imagery. The proposed models are designed for scalability and seamless integration into existing aviation workflows, ensuring both practicality and impact. The results underscore DL’s potential to modernize aviation safety systems, enhance situational awareness, and enable more proactive and data-driven safety management practices
A Point-Cloud Data Analysis Framework for Early Deformation Detection
No full textFrost heave and thaw-related deformation threaten the performance of roads, runways, embankments, and buried utilities in cold regions, yet traditional inspections remain reactive and often miss early uplift. This study evaluates the capability of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) to detect small-scale ground deformation and introduces a practical point-cloud framework designed for early-stage characterization. Controlled jack-lift experiments quantified handheld LiDAR accuracy at uplift increments of 6.35, 12.7, 19.05, and 25.4 mm, with corresponding detection accuracies of 88%, 86%, 93.33%, and 94%. Registration quality had a significant impact. The targetless scans showed slight misalignment, whereas spherical targets provided precise, repeatable outputs. Although the framework functions without baselines or targets, the highest fidelity is achieved when both are available and when baseline subtraction is applied. A combined global and local roughness strategy was established to differentiate shallow uplift, with global metrics demonstrating greater sensitivity during the initial stages of deformation. The study enhances LiDAR-based (handheld for small scale; mobile and terrestrial for large-scale) deformation monitoring by quantifying accuracy under controlled uplift, formalizing a robust registration and change-detection framework, establishing a practical thresholding strategy, and identifying an optimal analysis grid. Grid-resolution analysis identified a 5 × 6 grid size (3.33% of the scan area) as the optimal balance between computational cost and accuracy. These results support earlier detection of ground deformation
Rescuing and Preserving Public Data with the Data Rescue Project
No full textConcern for the continued access to and preservation of public federal data drove the development of the Data Rescue Project (DRP), a grassroots, community-led effort, in February 2025. This presentation will focus on efforts in the library community and beyond to rescue federal public data at risk of loss or deletion. It will review the development of the DRP and its current initiatives and consider future challenges for public data infrastructure in the United States
DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENSEMBLE BIOSENSOR FOR FATTY ACIDS AND ENHANCING THE ANTIBIOTIC PROPERTIES OF MEROPENEM WITH HYDROPHOBIC ION PARING AND NSF NATIONAL I-CORPS EXPERIENCE AND COMMERCIALIZATION ROADMAP FOR THE PAPER BASED ENSEMBLE BIOSENSOR FOR IBS
No full textThis thesis integrates three interconnected studies focused on advancing biomedical diagnostics and therapeutic formulation. Primary task was developing an ensemble biosensor for multiplex fatty acid detection using protein - fluorophore interactions. A fluorescence matrix of BSA and FABP with 1,8-ANS, 2-AC, and fluorescein differentiated eight fatty acids with 94.59% accuracy. Validation in H. pylori positive stool samples confirmed its sensitivity and specificity with potentiality as a non-invasive diagnostic platform for Gastrointestinal and chronic diseases. The second project explores Hydrophobic Ion Pairing (HIP) to enhance the lipophilicity and bioactivity of the β-lactam antibiotic meropenem. HIP complexes with hydrophobic counter-ions improved stability, membrane permeability, and antimicrobial efficacy, offering a scalable strategy to combat antibiotic resistance. The third component, developed under the NSF I-Corps Program, translated the ensemble biosensor into a market-ready paper-based platform for point-of-care IBS diagnostics. Through extensive stakeholder interviews and iterative business modeling, the work bridges laboratory innovation with real-world application, demonstrating a unified approach to diagnostic development and translational science
BRIDGING THE GAP: EXPLORING THE EDUCATIONAL TRANSITIONAL EXPERIENCES OF FOREIGN-BORN GHANAIAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
No full textThis study investigated the gaps and limitations in language transition and the educational experiences of high school students born in Ghana who are English Language Learners. The research analyzed migration patterns within this group and how these experiences affect their integration into the American education system. It also examined whether culture and acculturation influence this transitional process. The study explored the language transition process, learning experiences, and cultural shifts within English-dominant educational systems, emphasizing participants\u27 lived experiences and any challenges they faced during their transition. Although English is Ghana\u27s official language, significant dialectal, exposure, and teaching-quality differences affect students\u27 proficiency levels when they enter new academic environments abroad. Using a qualitative methods approach, this research combined interviews and focus groups with Ghanaian ELL students. Although Ghanaian students generally possess basic English skills, some face limitations with academic vocabulary, pronunciation, and classroom discussion norms. Factors such as cultural identity, prior educational experience, and social isolation significantly influence their language development and overall integration into school. The study highlights the importance of customized transitional strategies for new migrants, such as targeted counseling and student orientation, to support their smooth integration into the new dominant culture and environment
Bridging Communities: A Mixed Methods Case Study of Commuter Student Civic Engagement at Goldfinch University
No full textThis mixed methods case study explores how commuter students come to understand their own civic engagement, and how commuters who demonstrate a high level of engagement come to find their place within the campus community at one mid-sized, public, residential university. Commuter students at residential institutions remain an under-served and misunderstood population, even as they account for the majority of college students nationally. By emphasizing civic engagement, student affairs professionals can create a campus that serves this population more effectively. The findings revealed the opportunities for institutions to engage commuter students by bridging the gap between a student’s home and campus communities to better contextualize developmental experiences. Additionally, the findings reinforce the need for civic engagement to remain central to student affairs practice within already existing transformational leadership development models. This research addresses the gap in scholarship at the intersection of undergraduate commuter students and civic engagement as an outcome and as a framework for development, as well as the emphasis of civic engagement as a pathway to grow commuter student sense of belonging within campus communities
ACOUSTIC WAVE-BASED TECHNIQUES FOR WAVE MANIPULATION AND NON-DESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION IN ENGINEERED MATERIALS AND SYSTEMS
No full textAs engineering structures grow in scale and complexity, ensuring structural integrity and long-term performance remains a critical challenge. Wind turbine blades (WTBs), which are essential components of renewable energy infrastructure, operate under harsh conditions that can lead to fatigue, cracking, and eventual failure. Undetected damage may reduce energy efficiency and pose serious safety risks. This dissertation investigates acoustic wave–based non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques for damage detection in WTBs. Simultaneously, the increasing adoption of 3D-printed concrete (3DPC) in construction presents challenges for evaluating material properties during the fresh and early-hardening stages, when the material continuously evolves. Therefore, an acoustic-based monitoring approach is developed to characterize sound velocity, dynamic Young’s modulus, and curing behavior from the fresh state. In parallel, acoustic metasurfaces with subwavelength thickness enable precise manipulation of acoustic wave propagation but are often limited by fixed geometries and single-function operation. To address these limitations, frequency-multiplexed acoustic metasurfaces are developed that allow a single passive structure to operate at multiple frequencies and perform distinct functions. Through theoretical analysis, computational modeling, and experimental validation in the sonic regime, metasurfaces capable of wave splitting and focusing are demonstrated
COMPARATIVE EVOLUTION OF CAENORHABDITIS HERMAPHRODITES
No full textThe Caenorhabditis genus produced three independently-evolved hermaphroditic species, C. elegans, C. briggsae, and C. tropicalis. This convergence happened by the independent co-option of male programs for use in a female body. This required two distinct steps: (1) mutations in the sex-determination pathway that activated spermatogenesis in XX animals, and (2) mutations that expressed one of the redundant sperm activation signals in XX animals. My project focused on characterizing how sex-determination genes work in C. briggsae and C. tropicalis. Loss-of-function alleles were used to compare the core sex-determination pathway to that of C. elegans. I found that the somatic sex-determination pathway is highly conserved in C. tropicalis. However, I detected intriguing differences in how this pathway regulates somatic tissues like the male nervous system and male tail. Germ line sex-determination, while ultimately controlling gamete fates through FOG-3/FOG-1 repression of oogenesis, has seen more significant changes. One conserved aspect of the pathway is that the FEM-1, FEM-2, and FEM-3 proteins appear to act as a complex to regulate TRA-1 degradation in all three species. However, they have a second function downstream of TRA-1 that has changed significantly, and FEM-2 plays little role in this second function in C. tropicalis and C. briggsae. Finally, analysis of C. tropicalis confirms the hypothesis that regulation of TRA-2 is the most sensitive point for altering the control of germ cell fates in XX animals, to allow spermatogenesis