Information Seeking Behavior of Faculty at Deeni Madrassas in Rawalpindi District, Pakistan

This study aims to investigate the information-seeking behavior of the faculty members of Deeni madrassas in the Rawalpindi District. This study used the survey method, and data were collected using structured self-administered questionnaires to 246 faculty members with 209 returns. The study found that information seeking from various formal and informal information resources was to prepare class lectures, preaching, and research. Holy books were an important resource for teaching and preaching, and journals were the most important source for their research. The study also found that the respondents frequently faced the bad experiences of library staff and a lack of information searching skills. This study is limited to the Madrassas faculty members at Rawalpindi District. This study contributes to the limited literature on the information-seeking behavior of the faculty of deeni madrassas. It is the first study of its kind

Art TEAMS Year 2 Report

The Art TEAMS Year 2 Report outlines the progress and achievements of a grant-funded teacher professional learning initiative in art education. Focusing on integrating visual and emerging media arts into various subjects, the project has significantly surpassed its goals, evidencing its success through both qualitative and quantitative assessments. The wide-ranging engagement from educators across different settings underscores the initiative\u27s effectiveness and its role in fostering a vibrant community committed to excellence in art education. The curriculum developed for teacher professional development spans 8 graduate-level classes, focusing on pedagogy and emerging media arts, and is supported by a dedicated website for recruitment and information dissemination. The research and evaluation team employed a comprehensive approach to data collection and analysis, ensuring a deep understanding of the program\u27s impact. The evaluation revealed that the project met most Government Performance and Results Act measures, with specific success in teacher efficacy and curriculum integration. Year 2 also highlighted the program\u27s dissemination achievements, including increased digital outreach and participation in national conferences, demonstrating the project\u27s commitment to sharing its successes and learnings with a broader audience. Despite these successes, the initiative faced challenges, particularly in fully achieving teacher collective self-efficacy and a sense of belonging within schools, indicating areas for future focus. The report showcases the Art TEAMS project\u27s significant contributions to art education, emphasizing the importance of collaborative, creative teaching practices and the potential for arts integration to enhance educational outcomes across disciplines

Sun, Thunder, Daugava: Accessible Choral Music From the Latvian Choral Tradition

I have been fortunate enough to visit Latvia twice, once in 2009 and again in 2023. With connections made through the global outreach arm of the Lutheran Church Missouri–Synod, I was able to incorporate myself into Latvian culture in ways that may not have been possible had I been a standard tourist. I am grateful to have been invited into the homes of Latvian friends, to have studied in the Jāzeps Vītols Music Academy Library, and to have celebrated both the Jāņi midsummer festival in the Latvian countryside and my twenty-second birthday on the shores of the mighty Daugava River. Upon observing and participating in these events, one truth becomes abundantly clear: choral music and group singing are inherently woven into the fabric of the Latvian people.Despite a rich history of choral music, repertoire from the Latvian choral tradition has yet to become ubiquitous among high school, college, and community choirs across the United States. While there could be many reasons for this, I believe two main barriers exist: 1) the inherent level of complexity found in Latvian choral music, including large amounts of divisi singing as well as extended choral techniques, and 2) American’s general unfamiliarity with the Latvian language. Having taught choral music at the middle school, high school, and collegiate levels, I have sympathy and appreciation for the thousands of decisions that go into choosing repertoire each semester. While we strive to be as inclusive as possible, repertoire that is too difficult is (rightfully) stashed away, and the time to execute deep-dive searches for appropriate foreign repertoire is a luxury often not afforded.The purpose of this study is to make known a handful of accessible pieces from the Latvian choral tradition that can be learned in a reasonable amount of time by the average high school, collegiate, church, or community chorus. By highlighting pieces that fit my personal parameters for the term “accessible” I hope to remove any barriers that may exist which prevent programming more of this often-overlooked segment of choral repertoire

Leveraging AI To Improve Clinician Wellbeing

Medical Solutions is one of the nation’s largest healthcare talent ecosystems, connecting nurses and health clinicians with healthcare systems nationwide. Medical Solutions creates technologies for the healthcare staffing industry, enabling hospitals, clinicians, and recruiters to increase care. Medical Solutions’ products include an app for travel clinicians to search and apply for jobs, manage credentials, connect with recruiters, and a platform for hospitals to recruit, hire, retain, and manage clinicians. Traveling clinicians face unique challenges, including increased stress, isolation, and burnout. Before this project, these issues were addressed through dialogues with recruiters, an increasingly complex strategy as the number of clinicians and recruiters grows. To address this, the team developed an AI-driven mental wellbeing assistant for traveling clinicians employed by Medical Solutions. Delivered via a web application, a clinician can chat with the bot about their mental health and wellbeing. The bot then replies with a sympathetic tone, emphasizing active listening. It will defer clinicians to appropriate resources for their struggles, such as their Medical Solutions recruiter, using a retrieval-augmented generation system to incorporate Medical Solutions-specific data. The solution’s goal is to reduce burnout and, consequently, turnover by providing an early intervention tool that can address some of the mental health needs of clinicians. As the AI assistant helps clinicians navigate their wellbeing, job satisfaction can improve while clinician burnout rates fall. This can also save costs associated with hiring and training new staff and increase satisfaction among the hospitals Medical Solutions serves

Patrons of D.V.G Public Library, Kolar are Aware of and Using the Information Sources & Services: A Survey

The most important aspect of any library is its patrons. Any library’s goal is to determine what its users need, meet those needs, and satisfy them to the best of its ability. When it comes to public libraries, they face greater challenges in meeting the requirements of their increasingly diverse readership. The present study is an attempt to analyze the awareness and usage of the information sources and services offered by the D.V.G. public library, Kolar. A well-structured questionnaire was distributed to draw the data from the users. Responses from the users show that 95% of respondents are aware of and use them to fulfill their information needs. The study suggests improving the ICT infrastructure to enhance the patron\u27s satisfaction level

Netflix, Inc. Strategic Audit

Netflix, Inc. is a large publicly traded multinational corporation within the Streaming entertainment industry. Founded in 1997, Netflix started as a mail-based DVD rental service. Soon switching from a per-rental fee model to the subscription model they still use today. In the late 2000s the company began offering the ability to stream content directly from home and have now grown to become the most successful streaming company in the world. This report will provide an overview of Netflix’s background, its position in the industry landscape, and its ability to sustain a competitive edge. Using both Porter\u27s Five Forces and PESTEL Analysis frameworks, the paper conducts an in-depth examination of external and internal factors affecting Netflix\u27s competitive standing. Furthermore, strategic recommendations are offered to guide Netflix\u27s future endeavors in maintaining its leadership position in the streaming industry

Design and Fabrication of a Carbon Fiber Wheel for the Husker Motorsports Club

Every year, the Husker Motorsports team participates in a Formula SAE competition that challenges students to design and manufacture a Formula-style vehicle to compete against colleges from around the world. The Husker Motorsports club has sponsored this senior capstone project to improve the vehicle’s performance by reducing unsprung mass. Unsprung mass reduction has numerous benefits on vehicle dynamics, including improved acceleration, handling, and braking. To achieve these performance improvements, the team developed carbon-fiber composite wheels that weigh less than the current wheel solution and provide better rigidity. The team designed and modeled the wheel according to the 2023-2024 competition car criteria, conducted composite loading simulations based on past vehicle performance and developed a manufacturing plan for future production. In addition to using 3D modeling, traditional manufacturing, and mechanical testing, the project incorporated complex simulation and composite manufacturing. The project produced a successful one-piece carbon fiber wheel with a reusable male mold system. As the use of high-performance composites increases in motorsports, this project will provide Husker Motorsports with a product that will improve their competitiveness for future competitions

Advancements in Microscale Tensile Testing: A Novel Device for the High Throughput Analysis of Two-photon Polymerized Microfibers in Liquid

Two-photon polymerization (TPP) enables the 3D fabrication of micro- and nanostructures from biocompatible materials with high resolutions, reaching into the realm of hundreds of nanometers. Such capabilities are crucial for advancing applications in fields like mechanobiology. As microscale technologies evolve, the precise characterization of material properties becomes increasingly essential. This is especially true for TPP-printed microstructures serving as scaffolds for 3D cell culture and intended for studying the mechanics of tissues. Despite the importance, traditional micro-scale tensile testing methods typically lack scalability and fail to replicate relevant environmental conditions. This dissertation introduces a new device that is specifically designed to enhance throughput and that enables tensile testing of microfibers within liquid environments. This microscale tensile testing device not only enhances testing capabilities but also provides unique insights into material behaviors, unlocking new possibilities for understanding and manipulating micro- and nano-scale materials. Central to this research is an extensive exploration of the physical and chemical processes underlying TPP. By examining various processing parameters and their effects on mechanical properties, this study elucidates how TPP can be optimized for enhanced performance. The results demonstrate that the new device not only significantly improves the efficiency of microscale mechanical testing but also enables precise evaluation of the fabrication process. This advancement establishes a new benchmark for evaluating microscale materials, crucial for advancing fields such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. These advancements also contribute significantly to the field of materials testing by providing a robust tool for rapid and detailed assessment of a multitude of photo-resins. Future work will focus on further refining the device’s capabilities, including standardization and automation, and exploring its applications in broader industrial settings. Advisor: Ruiguo Yan

Parenting Identity and Parental Mental Health in Chinese Parents in Mainland China

In the modern context of mainland China, parents of young children face unique parenting stressors, making parental mental health during the early stages of parenting a significant public concern. Increasing awareness of the role of self-concepts in mental health underscores the importance of exploring the relationships between parenting identity concepts, parenting stress, parental mental health, and familial factors. This study aims to examine the relationship between parenting identity and parental mental health, specifically depression and anxiety, in the context of early childhood parenting stress. Data were collected from 456 parents at four daycare centers and public spaces in an Eastern province of mainland China. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the research hypotheses. The results revealed that parenting stress and the commitment process of parenting identity uniquely predicted parental mental health. The salience of the parenting identity moderated the influence of the exploration processes of parenting identity (i.e., in-depth exploration and reconsideration of commitment) on parental depression, but not anxiety. Correlations between parenting identity processes and parental stress were stronger in the current sample compared to Western research literature, indicating the possible influence of cultural context. The findings highlight the novelty of integrating different identity concepts from various theoretical frameworks, the complex interplay between psychological, cognitive, and familial factors in contributing to mental health, and the significance of employing a processual perspective to disentangle relationships at the micro-psychological level. Practical implications based on the current results were also discussed. Advisors: Yan Ruth Xia and Patty Ku

Nanoparticle-based Approaches to Brain Injury and Studies for Improved Detectability toward Better Delivery Characterization

The clinical translation of nanoparticle (NP) therapeutics for brain injury has been slow despite preclinical promise. The causes of disconnect between preclinical and clinical outcomes is multifactorial, but insufficient delivery is noteworthy. Preclinical delivery characterization often lacks, obscuring mechanisms of failure, slowing development. Multimodal imaging is a promising strategy to improve delivery characterization, combining the strengths of various modalities. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and luminescence imaging are a suitable combination for multimodal imaging, expanding the spatial and temporal resolution of either alone, but further material development is needed to enhance detectability. One problem is the interference of cellular autofluorescence in luminescence imaging. The use of sensitized lanthanide luminophores, with emission lifetimes multiple orders of magnitude longer than autofluorescence, has been shown as an effective interference mitigation strategy in small molecule chelates as well as NP systems. This dissertation covers the assessment of several surface-coordinating ligands for enhanced photoluminescence of ultrasmall Eu2O3 NPs. Among the tested species, quinaldic acid (QA) and kynurenic acid (KA) were previously unreported for the sensitization of NPs, while terephthalic acid (TA) was previously used in a different Eu NP model. NP characterization showed consistent core structure, effective ligand coordination, and enhancement of Eu3+ emissions over tissue lysate autofluorescence. TA, QA, and KA provided signal-to-tissue-noise fold enhancements of 75, 89, and 108, respectively with time-gating. KA was further investigated as a co-sensitizer with DPA to enable the UV-A excitation of KA while passivating the surface with DPA to enhance emission intensity and lifetime. Using KA with DPA enhanced Eu3+ emission relative to tissue lysate autofluorescence, providing a 797-fold increase with time-gating. Comparison of that co-sensitized NP to Rhodamine B in a model of mounted tissue imaging showed a 15-fold improvement in detection limit on a number concentration basis. This work showed the efficacy of Eu sensitization with novel species, and it motivates further investigation toward mixed Gd/Eu NPs for multimodal imaging. Advisor: Forrest M. Kievi