Digital Commons Network^™

The Evolving Crime Of Sex Trafficking, Madison Krause

Senior Honors Theses

Human trafficking is a global crime that occurs in all countries regardless of status or rank. It victimizes both genders and all age groups. The two most common types of human trafficking are for the purposes of forced labor and commercialized sexual exploitation. The demand for commercialized sexual exploitation has increased throughout the United States. Technology and social media have enhanced and made the ability to commit sex trafficking easier and more efficient. The ties between pornography and sexual exploitation have also had an impact on sex trafficking recruiting and grooming.

Misinformation Persists In Complementary Health: Evaluating The Reliability And Quality Of Youtube-Based Information On The Use Of Acupuncture For Chronic Pain, Majesty Greer, Sai Kamma, Henry Tran, Bright Etumuse, Jay D. Shah, Youshaa El-Abed, Jane O. Onyemachi, Nasir Hussain, Thomas P. Pittelkow

Student Publications

Introduction: Acupuncture is commonly used to treat chronic pain. Patients often access public social media platforms for healthcare information when querying acupuncture. Our study aims to appraise the utility, accuracy, and quality of information available on YouTube, a popular social media platform, on acupuncture for chronic pain treatment.
Methods: Using search terms such as “acupuncture for chronic pain” and “acupuncture pain relief”, the top 54 videos by view count were selected. Included videos were > 1 minute duration, contained audio in English, had > 7000 views, and was related to acupuncture. One primary outcome of interest was categorizing each video’s usefulness as …

Law Library Blog (February 2024): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Online Disinhibited Contracts, Wayne R. Barnes

Faculty Scholarship

There have been at least two dominant forces at work in the realm of consumer contracting over the past several decades. One has been the rise and domination of the standard form contract (whereby merchants contract with consumers via the use of standardized, boilerplate terms and conditions that consumers do not read or understand). The second force has been the rise of e-commerce and the purchase of goods and services via websites and other online platforms, and the use of “wrap” formation methodology (whereby merchants obtain consumer assent to the online terms and conditions via the consumer’s informal click, scroll, …

E-Commerce And The Digital Economy: The Place Of Nigerian Libraries, Rebecca Chidimma Ojobor Dr., Scholastica C. Ukwoma Dr., Victoria N. Okafor Prof.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

The paper takes a literature-based approach to examine the state of academic libraries in Nigeria in the implementation of e-commerce in the digital economy with the goal of identifying the barriers to e-commerce practices and proffering recommendations for better e-commerce applications in Nigerian libraries. E-commerce is becoming a fundamental mode of exchange as a result of the development of information and communication technologies (ICT), and is providing the digital economy with many exciting opportunities. The efficiency and productivity of many organizations, including the library, could be increased through e-commerce. It gives the library an outstanding opportunity to lessen the …

The Monarch Initiative In 2024: An Analytic Platform Integrating Phenotypes, Genes And Diseases Across Species., Tim E Putman, Kevin Schaper, Nicolas Matentzoglu, Vincent P Rubinetti, Faisal S Alquaddoomi, Corey Cox, J Harry Caufield, Glass Elsarboukh, Sarah Gehrke, Harshad Hegde, Justin T Reese, Ian Braun, Richard M Bruskiewich, Luca Cappelletti, Seth Carbon, Anita R Caron, Lauren E Chan, Christopher G Chute, Katherina G Cortes, Vinícius De Souza, Tommaso Fontana, Nomi L Harris, Emily L Hartley, Eric Hurwitz, Julius O B Jacobsen, Madan Krishnamurthy, Bryan J Laraway, James A Mclaughlin, Julie A Mcmurry, Sierra A T Moxon, Kathleen R Mullen, Shawn T O'Neil, Kent A Shefchek, Ray Stefancsik, Sabrina Toro, Nicole A Vasilevsky, Ramona L Walls, Patricia L Whetzel, David Osumi-Sutherland, Damian Smedley, Peter N Robinson, Christopher J Mungall, Melissa A Haendel, Monica C Munoz-Torres

Faculty Research 2024

Bridging the gap between genetic variations, environmental determinants, and phenotypic outcomes is critical for supporting clinical diagnosis and understanding mechanisms of diseases. It requires integrating open data at a global scale. The Monarch Initiative advances these goals by developing open ontologies, semantic data models, and knowledge graphs for translational research. The Monarch App is an integrated platform combining data about genes, phenotypes, and diseases across species. Monarch's APIs enable access to carefully curated datasets and advanced analysis tools that support the understanding and diagnosis of disease for diverse applications such as variant prioritization, deep phenotyping, and patient profile-matching. We have …

Dgidb 5.0: Rebuilding The Drug-Gene Interaction Database For Precision Medicine And Drug Discovery Platforms, Matthew Cannon, James Stevenson, Kathryn Stahl, Rohit Basu, Adam Coffman, Susanna Kiwala, Joshua F Mcmichael, Kori Kuzma, Dorian Morrissey, Kelsy Cotto, Elaine R Mardis, Obi L Griffith, Malachi Griffith, Alex H Wagner

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The Drug-Gene Interaction Database (DGIdb, https://dgidb.org) is a publicly accessible resource that aggregates genes or gene products, drugs and drug-gene interaction records to drive hypothesis generation and discovery for clinicians and researchers. DGIdb 5.0 is the latest release and includes substantial architectural and functional updates to support integration into clinical and drug discovery pipelines. The DGIdb service architecture has been split into separate client and server applications, enabling consistent data access for users of both the application programming interface (API) and web interface. The new interface was developed in ReactJS, and includes dynamic visualizations and consistency in the display of …

The Metaverse, Religious Practice And Wellbeing: A Narrative Review, Justin Thomas, Mohammad Amin Kuhail, Fahad Albeyahi

All Works

The metaverse is touted as the next phase in the evolution of the Internet. This emerging digital ecosystem is widely conceptualized as a persistent matrix of interconnected multiuser, massively scaled online environments optimally experienced through immersive digital technologies such as virtual reality (VR). Much of the prognostication about the social implications of the metaverse center on secular activities. For example, retail, entertainment (gaming/concerts), and social networking. Little attention has been given to how the metaverse might impact religion. This narrative review explores contemporary research into online religious practice and the use of immersive digital technologies for religious purposes. This focus …

A Matter Of Facts: The Evolution Of Copyright’S Fact-Exclusion And Its Implications For Disinformation And Democracy, Jessica Silbey

Faculty Scholarship

The Article begins with a puzzle: the curious absence of an express fact-exclusion from copyright protection in both the Copyright Act and its legislative history despite it being a well-founded legal principle. It traces arguments in the foundational Supreme Court case (Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service) and in the Copyright Act’s legislative history to discern a basis for the fact-exclusion. That research trail produces a legal genealogy of the fact-exclusion based in early copyright common law anchored by canonical cases, Baker v. Selden, Burrow-Giles v. Sarony, and Wheaton v. Peters. Surprisingly, none of them …

Target(Ed) Advertising, Derek E. Bambauer

UF Law Faculty Publications

Targeted advertising—using data about consumers to customize the ads they receive—is deeply controversial. It also creates a regulatory quandary. Targeted ads generate more money than untargeted ones for apps and online platforms. Apps and platforms depend on this revenue stream to offer free services to users, if not for their financial viability altogether. However, targeted advertising also generates significant privacy risks and consumer resentment. Despite sustained attention to this issue, neither legal scholars nor policymakers have crafted interventions that address both concerns, and existing regulatory regimes for targeted advertising have critical gaps.

This Article makes three key contributions to the …

Willingness To Accept Monkeypox Vaccine And Its Correlates Among Men Who Have Sex With Men In Southern China: A Web-Based Online Cross-Sectional Study, Xinju Huang, Zhifeng Lin, Jiao Qin, Dee Yu, Fei Zhang, Ganggang Fang, Xi Chen, Jinfeng He, Ping Cen, Mu Li, Rongjing Zhang, Tong Luo, Junjun Jiang, Sanqi An, Hao Liang, Li Ye, Bingyu Liang

Journal Articles

BACKGROUND: The May 2022 global outbreak of monkeypox (MPX) poses a threat to the health of men who have sex with men. However, there is limited data on the willingness of MSM to receive monkeypox vaccination in Southern China. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of MPX, concerns regarding MPX, and willingness to receive monkeypox vaccination, as well as their correlates, among MSM in China.

METHODS: We conducted a Web-based online survey of MSM in Southern China from August to September 2022. Data were collected on the socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, worries, concerns regarding MPX and willingness to receive monkeypox …

Radicalisation And Extremism On Social Media: What Steps Can Be Taken?, Emeka Williams Etumnu, Oluchi I. Williams-Etumnu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Unarguably, the social media has brought the world together in an online space and as a result of this, extremist groups utilise the social media to radicalise people especially the youths who are vulnerable and fancy their ideology towards their cause. The paper was underpinned on public sphere theory and the desk research method was employed in the course of the study. It was revealed that social media plays a tremendous role towards radicalisation and extremism. The need for digital literacy, where rules can be made to assist individuals of all ages in developing critical thinking skills and building resilience …

The Alliance Of Genome Resources: Transforming Comparative Genomics., Carol J Bult, Paul W Sternberg

Faculty Research 2023

Comparing genomic and biological characteristics across multiple species is essential to using model systems to investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying human biology and disease and to translate mechanistic insights from studies in model organisms for clinical applications. Building a scalable knowledge commons platform that supports cross-species comparison of rich, expertly curated knowledge regarding gene function, phenotype, and disease associations available for model organisms and humans is the primary mission of the Alliance of Genome Resources (the Alliance). The Alliance is a consortium of seven model organism knowledgebases (mouse, rat, yeast, nematode, zebrafish, frog, fruit fly) and the Gene …

Local Competition, Multimarket Contact, And Product Quality: Evidence From Internet Service Provision, Kyle Wilson

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

I investigate the effect of competition on quality in the internet service provision industry: I examine both local competition within markets and multimarket contact among firms across markets. This industry offers an ideal setting, as quality is both objective and measurable. I use data from speedtest.net from 2008 to 2014 to estimate a reduced-form model of the effects of local competition and multimarket contact on realized consumer download speeds. I find that increased multimarket contact leads to decreased download speeds, which is consistent with the mutual forbearance hypothesis. I also find that duopolies lead to faster download speeds than do …

Broadband Equity, Access, And Deployment In Nevada, Brad Wimmer

Policy Briefs and Reports

The $45.45 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program’s primary objective is to extend broadband service to all unserved and underserved locations in the U.S. and its territories. Several industry studies predict that the BEAD program can meet its goal of providing universal access to broadband service if eligible entities execute their grant programs well. My review of the BEAD program indicates that policy makers can enhance the likelihood of program success by designing competitive grant programs that give applicants the incentive to undercut the subsidies proposed by their rivals and provide applicants the flexibility to design networks that …

Being Present Without Being Present: An Internet-Based Approach To Providing Pastoral Counseling To An Always Online Generation, Stephen Lyon Woolverton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The increasing reliance that Millennials and Gen-Z Christians have on the internet for almost every question that comes up in their lives should be viewed by pastoral counselors as a cultural context that need to be understood as part of the counseling process and not an obstacle to the counseling process. The emergence of the internet, and the part that it has played in the culture of American Christians who have grown up with constant access to this avenue of communication, has only recently begun to be seen and utilized by pastoral counselors. This research uses the perspective of a …

Uptake Of Hiv Testing And Its Correlates Among Sexually Experienced College Students In Southwestern, China: A Web-Based Online Cross-Sectional Study, Jinfeng He, Ping Cen, Jiao Qin, Weiao Qin, Xiudong Xu, Yuanhong Yang, Jinglan Wu, Mu Li, Rongjing Zhang, Tong Luo, Zhifeng Lin, Xinju Huang, Chuanyi Ning, Hao Liang, Li Ye, Bin Xu, Bingyu Liang

Journal Articles

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is becoming more common among college students in China. However, latest data on the prevalence and correlates of HIV testing among sexually experienced college students is rarely.

METHODS: An online survey was conducted among college students aged 18 years or older using multistage stratified cluster sampling from 16 colleges. Data on socio-demographic, HIV testing, HIV-related awareness, attitudes, sexual education and behaviors were collected. Propensity score matching (PSM) and logistic regression model were used to identify factors associated with HIV testing.

RESULT: A total of 108,987 students participated the survey, of which 13,201 …

All The News That’S Fit To Be Identified: Facilitating Access To High-Quality News Through Internet Platforms, Sonja R. West, Jonathan Peters, Lefteris Jason Anastasopolous

Scholarly Works

Roughly half of Americans get some of their news from social media, and nearly two-thirds get some of their news from search engines. As our modern information gatekeepers, these internet companies bear a special responsibility to consider the impact of their platform and site policies on users’ access to high-quality news sources. They should adopt policies that clear the digital pathway between the public and press by facilitating such access. To that end, the companies must first, address the threshold issue of how best to identify high-quality news sources. This article examines factors that would be useful, drawing from legal …

Cyber Borders: Exercising State Sovereignty Online, Beth Simmons, Rachel Hulvey

All Faculty Scholarship

The internet brings challenges that threaten national identities and the foundations of what it means to be a state. Well-known challenges include difficulties maintaining important national values, competition threatening local economic plans, and even the inability to maintain a meaningful informational environment for self-governance. These influences are plausibly understood as challenges to some of the basic functions of a sovereign state. Despite these challenges, we identify the social practice of establishing control over mercurial mediums. States have responded by erecting cyberborders with a collection of laws, practices, and internet architecture designed to filter digital information within the territorial jurisdiction of …

Computer Self- Efficacy, Computer Attitude And Internet Identification As Determinants Of Internet Use Among Librarians In Public Universities In Western Nigeria, Bruno I. Igbeneghu. Dr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

The study examined the extent to which computer self-efficacy, computer attitude and Internet identification determined the use of Internet among librarians in public universities in Western Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive research design of the ex-post facto type. The target population for the study were librarians in public universities in Western Nigeria. One hundred and seventeen librarians participated in the study. Computer self-efficacy inventory, Computer attitude inventory, Internet identification inventory and Internet use inventory were used to obtain data. Four hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation …

Book Review Of Inside Mathforum.Org: Analysis Of An Internet Based Education Community., Jose Ponce

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Inside Mathforum.org: Analysis of an Internet-Based Education Community, Wesley Shumar, Cambridge University Press, September 7, 2017, 1st Edition, 204 pages, ISBN: 9781108518345 (e-book).

Unleashing The Potential Of The Internet Of Things In Transforming Libraries Into Intelligent Hubs Of Digital Knowledge, Niranjan Mohapatra, Satyajit Nayak, Dillip Kumar Parida

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Internet of Things (IoT) is a rapidly evolving technology that has the potential to transform the way libraries operate and provide services to their patrons. By connecting devices and systems to the internet, libraries can gain access to real-time data and automate many of their processes, leading to more efficient and effective operations. This paper explores the use of IoT in libraries, specifically focusing on how it can enable smart libraries in the digital era. The paper will discuss the benefits and challenges of implementing IoT in libraries and provide examples of how libraries are currently using IoT to improve …

Comparing Genomic And Epigenomic Features Across Species Using The Washu Comparative Epigenome Browser, Xiaoyu Zhuo, Silas Hsu, Deepak Purushotham, Prashant Kumar Kuntala, Jessica K Harrison, Alan Y Du, Samuel Chen, Daofeng Li, Ting Wang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Genome browsers have become an intuitive and critical tool to visualize and analyze genomic features and data. Conventional genome browsers display data/annotations on a single reference genome/assembly; there are also genomic alignment viewer/browsers that help users visualize alignment, mismatch, and rearrangement between syntenic regions. However, there is a growing need for a comparative epigenome browser that can display genomic and epigenomic data sets across different species and enable users to compare them between syntenic regions. Here, we present the WashU Comparative Epigenome Browser. It allows users to load functional genomic data sets/annotations mapped to different genomes and display them over …

Chatgpt In Context, Allison Papini

Library Staff Publications, Presentations & Journal Articles

The rapidly changing nature of disruptive technologies like ChatGPT can cause confusion and even discomfort. This presentation addresses these concerns by evaluating the uses and capabilities of AI through the lens of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework.

The Factors Associated With Confidence In Using The Internet To Access Health Information: Cross-Sectional Data Analysis., Kasi Lou Van Heel, Anna Nelson, Daniel Handysides, Huma Shah

HPD Articles

BACKGROUND: Confidence in health information access is a measure of the perceived ability to obtain health information. One's beliefs or perceived ability to access health information is particularly important in understanding trends in health care access. Previous literature has found that access to health information is lowest among society's most vulnerable population groups. These groups include older, less educated, and low-income populations. While health confidence has previously been used as a scale to measure health outcomes, additional research is needed describing the demographic factors associated with users' confidence in health information access. This may be a key component of health …

Internet Usage During And Post Covid-19 Pandemic: A Study On The Students Of Information Science And Library Management In The University Of Rajshahi, Bangladesh., Zihadur Rahman, Md. Armanul Haque, Dil Afroz Bente Aziz

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 epidemic significantly impacted daily life and led to the adoption of significant steps to stop the virus's spread. Educational institutions and social gatherings were placed on prolonged lockdown, with people continuing to maintain physical distance. As a result, students of all classes are highly engaged in using the internet. In this article, the usage of the internet of the student's Information Science and Library Management, University of Rajshahi are studied. The aim of the present study was to examine the usage of the internet during the post-pandemic. Furthermore, this research aims to investigate the internet usage …

Improving Digital Literacy Through A 1:1 Digital Device Implementation: An Applied Study, Sherry Watts

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this applied study was to solve the problem of the need to improve digital literacy for students on an urban middle school campus in South Texas and to design a solution to address this problem. I collected data using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Teachers and instructional coaches were interviewed via the Zoom video conferencing online platform to explore how teachers and instructional coaches described the relationship between the deployment of a 1:1 digital device program and the improvement of students' digital literacy on their middle school campus. I collected quantitative and qualitative survey data from teachers …

Platform Accountability: Gonzalez And Reform, Eric Schnapper

Presentations

Section 230(c)(1) was adopted for the purpose of distinguishing between conduct of third parties and conduct of internet companies themselves. Its familiar language provides that “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” The last four words are central to the limitation on the defense created by the statute; it is only regarding information created by “another” that the defense may be available. Section 230(e)(3) makes clear that even a partial role played by an internet company in the creation of harmful …

A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Self-Guided Online Acceptance And Commitment Therapy As A Transdiagnostic Self-Help Intervention, Korena S. Klimczak, Guadalupe G. San Miguel, Miriam N. Mukasa, Michael P. Twohig, Michael E. Levin

Psychology Student Research

Online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) interventions use websites and smartphone apps to deliver ACT exercises and skills. The present meta-analysis provides a comprehensive review of online ACT self-help interventions, characterizing the programs that have been studied (e.g. platform, length, content) and analyzing their efficacy. A transdiagnostic approach was taken, including studies that addressed a range of targeted problems and populations. Multi-level meta-analyses were used to nest multiple measures of a single construct within their respective studies. A total of 53 randomized controlled trials were included (n = 10,730). Online ACT produced significantly greater outcomes than waitlist controls at …

Online Risks For Youth And Families, Brandon T. Mcdaniel Phd, Jessica Pater Phd

Health Services and Informatics Research

Parkview Mirro Center for Research and Innovation

Executive Statement

Recent congressional attention has focused on the online risks of youth [1]. Parents, caregivers, and families are often unprepared to handle many of these risks, and parents/caregivers also experience some of these risks themselves. Although not an exhaustive list, risks can include cyberbullying, social comparisons, exposure to sexualized content, gambling addiction, Internet addiction, self-harm, and negative impacts on family and personal relationships [1]. Internal platform policies and design features are not enough to fully address key aspects of risky online behavior and potentially harmful digital habits. Additionally, current public policies and …