Digital Commons Network^™

Learning About Gujarati: Cultural Identity And Family Language, Vritti Sodha

Florida Atlantic Undergraduate Research Journal

Language loss is a prevalent problem that is occurring in immigrant families in the United States. Since regional languages such as Gujarati are not used outside of households and community gatherings, it is not given much importance to learn. In order to combat this problem, community centers hold Gujarati classes for students of all ages to help preserve the language, but the lack of motivation to learn the language still remains. This is because a student needs to have a connection to the language to be motivated to learn it, which can be made through active learning. This study examines …

Man, Cut The Crop: Effects Of Cropectomies On Survival And Behavior In Drosophila Melanogaster, Emily Peraza

Florida Atlantic Undergraduate Research Journal

The gut-brain axis mediates communication between the digestive and nervous systems to regulate physiology and behavior. Its dysfunction profoundly impacts human health and causes disease. Region-specific hormones and neurotransmitters in the digestive system respond to several processes to signal the brain, but the mechanisms of gut-brain signaling are not fully defined. Drosophila melanogaster is a powerful model for studying gut biology by showing remarkable similarity to mammalian digestive systems, as both regulate energy by distributing nutrients. We refined a minimally invasive surgical protocol to remove the crop from adult flies. We then utilized the Activity Recording CAFE (ARC) and Drosophila …

Unwilling Consent Or Ravishment? Sexual Violence In Late Seventeenth-Century London, Susan Hernandez

Florida Atlantic Undergraduate Research Journal

No abstract provided.

A Comprehensive Overview Of The Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm, Vincent Stafford

Florida Atlantic Undergraduate Research Journal

As quantum computing research advances, the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) has emerged as a leading approach to harnessing current quantum hardware for solving complex combinatorial optimization problems. This pedagogical, expository paper outlines the mathematical foundations of QAOA, explains its step-by-step implementation from first principles in a manner accessible to advanced undergraduate students and non-specialists, and explores real-world applications such as protein folding and job scheduling. We also examine the algorithm’s performance challenges, including barren plateaus and circuit depth limitations.

Rural Business Development Corporation Annual Report 2025-26, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Reports

Overview

In this report, the Rural Business Development Corporation is referred to as ‘the Corporation’ or ‘the RBDC’. The RBDC is an independent statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia (WA), established under the Rural Business Development Corporation Act 2000 (Act). The Act preserved and continued the body corporate established by the Rural Adjustment and Finance Corporation Act 1993.

What we do

The RBDC administers approved assistance schemes on behalf of the WA Government for the benefit of rural industry and regional communities. Approved schemes may provide financial assistance by way of loans, grants, or other financial incentives. The …

The Study Of How Sensory Marketing Techniques Used By Beauty Brands Influence Engagement And Consumer Perception On Social Media Platforms, Particularly By Evoking Specific Consumer Emotions, Eeshani Juthani

Digital Marketing Theses

This study describes how a consumers' attitude towards beauty products on social media is affected by sensory marketing techniques and cues. This study also examines how sensory marketing tactics and elements such as sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste affects the way a consumer engages with content on social media platforms like Tiktok and Instagram.

Building Resilient And Sustainable Built Environments Through Climate Adaptation, Digital Innovation, And Infrastructure Governance, Mohammed Ali Berawi, Mustika Sari, Perdana Miraj

CSID Journal of Infrastructure Development

The built environment has become one of the most important arenas for responding to climate change, resource pressure, and rapid urban transformation. Cities, infrastructure networks, buildings, and construction projects are no longer expected only to provide physical services. They are also expected to reduce environmental impact, protect communities from disruption, support economic activity, and remain useful under uncertain future conditions. This expectation places resilience and sustainability at the center of infrastructure development.

Resilience refers to the capacity of built systems to anticipate shocks, absorb pressure, recover from damage, and continue functioning. Sustainability asks whether those systems can do so while …

Biographies, Editorial Team

Florida Atlantic Undergraduate Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Cognitive Load In Law Enforcement Decision Support Systems: A Human-Centered Evaluation Of Traditional And Ai-Enhanced Mdts, Benjamin Burchfield

Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the cognitive and usability associations of mobile data terminal (MDT) systems used by law enforcement officers during routine operational tasks. Grounded in Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the research examines how MDT interface design and interaction methods including AI-enhanced and speech-enabled interfaces are associated with perceived cognitive workload, technology acceptance, and operational performance during simulated traffic stop scenarios. Using a framed field experiment with active law enforcement officers, the study evaluates relationships among user experience, perceived cognitive load, task performance, and officers’ willingness to adopt MDT technologies.

The Regulatory Costs Of Wine Production In Napa County, Lynn Hamilton, Michael Mccullough

Agribusiness

Unlike other food products, commercial alcoholic beverage production has been subject to federal regulation and taxation since the founding of the United States, with specific wine taxes being levied during the wartime Emergency Revenue Act of 1914 (Cilluffo and Gravelle, 2024). Since then, taxation and regulations have expanded, with many new laws originating at the state level. Additional regulatory costs, combined with the current decline in consumer demand raise questions regarding the long-term viability of California wine production. Napa County Farm Bureau contacted Cal Poly to assess baseline conditions in the industry by conducting a case study of regulations accruing …

What We Know About Accounting Ratios: Methodological Considerations, Wojciech Kuryłek, Oskar Kowalewski

Studia i Materiały Wydział Zarządzania Uniwersytet Warszawski

Purpose: This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of the methodological aspects of financial ratio analysis, consolidating dispersed knowledge on the computation, statistical properties, and appropriate usage of accounting ratios.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The study adopts a narrative literature review methodology, systematically surveying published research on financial ratio distributions, normality testing, data transformations, outlier handling, the proportionality assumption, dimensionality reduction techniques, compositional data analysis, and recommended ratio sets for corporate financial research.

Findings: Financial ratios predominantly deviate from normal distributions, exhibiting skewness, excess kurtosis, and sensitivity to outliers. Transformation techniques such as logarithmic, square root, and Box‑Cox methods yield mixed results in …

The Gravity Of The Ukraine War: Measuring Conflict Impacts On European Grain Trade, Stefan Bonchis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the heterogeneous structural disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine on the European Union’s agricultural trade architecture, focusing on three critical commodities: wheat, maize, and sunflower seeds. Employing a structural gravity model framework across all 27 EU Member States, the study evaluates two conflict episodes, the 2014 Crimea annexation and the 2022 full-scale invasion, to identify the net beneficiaries and heavily impacted nations within the EU agricultural trade network. The empirical strategy utilizes a dual-test design to capture the full scope of the disruption. Test A (Ukraine towards the EU trade) reveals a distinct geographic logic in …

Cdt-1d Cnn Integration With Simpson-Sobolev Regularization For High-Frequency Options Trading: With Fem-Based Heston Option Pricing, Daniel M. Margolis, Johannes Tausch, Arthur K. Selender

Mathematics Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a computational framework for high-frequency options trading that combines Cross-Data-Type 1-D Convolutional Neural Networks (CDT-1D CNN) with Simpson-Sobolev regularization for directional prediction, and finite element methods (FEM) for realistic option pricing during backtesting. The core innovation lies in developing a mathematically rigorous regularization approach that maintains the adaptability of modern deep learning while enabling accurate evaluation through stochastic volatility models. The primary contribution is the Simpson-Sobolev regularization scheme, which extends traditional Sobolev regularization by incorporating Simpson’s rule for numerical integration. This approach achieves higher-order accuracy in approximating the Sobolev norms that control function smoothness. Simpson’s rule attains …

J Mich Dent Assoc July 2026

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Each month, the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association delivers news, information, and features about Michigan dentistry to our state's oral health community and the MDA's 6,200-plus members. It remains the main publication reaching Michigan dentists and is available worldwide through ADA Commons.

The July 2026 (Volume 108, No. 7) issue of the Journal is published in print format to provide updates and insights for Michigan's oral health community and MDA members. Print editions occur every other month beginning with January.

The July 2026 issue of the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association celebrates the 40th anniversary of the association's …

Institutional Barriers To Agro-Food Export Upgrading: Evidence From Indonesia’S Modified Cassava Flour Sector, Arie Kusuma Paksi, Fiya Ainur Rohmatika, Melvin Jabar

DLSU Business & Economics Review

The growing global demand for functional and sustainable foods has prompted developing countries to explore alternative exports, including Indonesia’s modified cassava flour (MOCAF). Despite its environmental benefits and gluten-free properties, MOCAF’s penetration into European markets remains limited. This study examines institutional barriers constraining MOCAF exports using Scott’s framework of regulative, normative, and cognitive institutions. A qualitative approach combined in- depth interviews, town hall meetings, and secondary data from governmental and international sources. Findings show that institutional constraints, rather than product quality alone, hinder European Union market entry and reduce competitiveness. Regulative barriers include fragmented logistics and high certification costs. Normative …

The Role Of Speculators In The Agricultural Futures Market And Their Impact On Prices, Clement Asamoah

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study evaluates the impact of speculative activity on agricultural commodity returns, specifically in the corn, soybeans, rice, and oats markets. The study also analyzed the influence commodity returns have on speculative positions. Weekly data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission were used as a proxy for speculative activity, and futures data were also retrieved from Barchart. Vector Autoregressive models and the Granger Causality tests were estimated to identify the relationships between returns and speculation. The paper found that speculative positions do not Granger-cause returns over the course of a week except for rice Tuesday results, which recorded a statistically …

Investigating The Factors Impacting Consumer Intentions To Purchase Energy-Efficient Appliances, Yusra Memon, Raheela Haque

Business Review

Energy-efficient appliances protect the environment through reduced energy usage, lowering pollution, and preserving natural resources. Hence, this research is aimed to examine the factors influencing Pakistani consumers' intentions to purchase energy-efficient appliances. This research adopts a quantitative approach and purposive sampling technique, and the data was collected from 350 respondents belonging to major metropolitan cities of Pakistan i.e. Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, Islamabad, while SPSS and AMOS were used for data analysis. The study supports a number of important relations suggested by the Value–Belief–Norm (VBN) theory in the framework of buying energy-efficient appliances (EEAs) in Pakistan. Biospheric values (BV) significantly forecast …

Impartial Intelligence? Evidence Of Country-Label Sensitivity In Ai Financial Analysis, Fabio Motoki, Jedson Pinto

School of Accountancy Faculty Publications

This study examines whether large language models exhibit systematic country-contingent differential treatment in financial fraud detection. Analyzing 30,000 synthetic transactions with identical statistical properties across three country attributions (United States, Great Britain, and China), we find LLMs assign significantly higher fraud probabilities to Chinese-attributed transactions (36.2%) compared to Western countries (≈30–31%), resulting in accuracy disparities of 67% versus 74%. The gap remains stable across five independent experimental replications and persists when using Chinese language prompts, ruling out linguistic effects. Bias mitigation strategies, such as requiring explanations or explicit country neutrality instructions, reduce but fail to eliminate these disparities. Testing across …

How Cultural Homogeneity Couples With Organizational Climate In Public School Environments, Steven R. Peterson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study examines how cultural homogeneity influences teachers’ perceptions of school climate in Indiana public schools. Grounded in systems thinking and organizational theory, the study analyzes how shared values and norms shape teachers’ responses to leadership practices and stakeholder demands. Data were collected from educators using the School Culture Survey and a custom scenario-based climate instrument capturing reactions to organizational challenges. Statistical analyses explored relationships between cultural homogeneity and teachers’ perceptions of stability, workload, and adaptive capacity. Results indicate that alignment in key cultural dimensions—particularly Collaborative Leadership—significantly shapes climate experiences, while overall homogeneity alone does not predict workload pressures. …

Framework For Building A Social Media Marketing Strategy For Micro-Small Businesses, Joanna Byrne

Theses

Existing social media marketing literature consistently fails micro-small businesses with five or fewer staff. These sources default to models built for brands with dedicated marketing teams and large budgets. This project addresses that gap using a mixed-methods, practitioner-based action research design. It combines quantitative platform analytics with qualitative process documentation. The research covers four businesses at distinct stages of digital development: Torched Motorsport Supply, a new automotive parts retailer built from zero digital infrastructure; Byrne Diesel Performance, an established diesel shop with an unoptimized presence; Texas Best Compost, a startup developing its brand identity and digital launch disrupted by supply …

Robust Generator Maintenance Schedule For Frequency-Secure Power Systems, Yang Yang, Qiuzhuang Sun, Jimmy Chih-Hsien Peng, Loon Ching Tang, Zhisheng Ye

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Problem definition: Normal operations of a power system require that alternating current frequency be maintained at a nominal value, for example, 50 Hz, whereas severe deviation from this value due to power deficiencies can cause cascading generator trips. Maintaining the frequency requires adequate inertia and frequency regulation reserve, which are primarily provided by online generators. In daily operations, generators due for preventive maintenance must be taken offline, and thus an improper maintenance schedule could jeopardize frequency security, as exemplified by the recent Texas power blackout. However, this natural nexus between frequency security and maintenance has been over-looked largely in the …

Online Sports Betting Legalization And The Reallocation Of Retail Investor Information Search Toward Lottery-Type Stocks, Jared Richard Stark

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I examine whether the legalization of online sports betting is associated with a reallocation of retail investors' information search across stocks around firm earnings announcements (EAs). Prior work links legalization to a reallocation of household capital, but its association with information search has not been examined. Exploiting the staggered timing of legalization following Murphy v. NCAA, I use four treated and four matched control states over 2017-2024 and measure search using state-level Google Trends data for firm tickers. Treated and control states are already on different trajectories before any legalization, which confounds the average-level comparison. The association I can document …

Cultural Diplomacy Through Museums: An Analysis Of The Role Of Sheikh Dr. Sultan Al Qasimi In Promoting Intercultural Dialogue Through History, Culture, And Tourism, Abdulla Almheiri, Fareed Awae, Muhammad Talhah Jima’Ain, Hamdan Chehdimae, Mohamad Azrien Mohamed Adnan, Fuad Trayek

All Works

This study aims to analyze the role of cultural diplomacy in the Emirate of Sharjah through museums. Particular emphasis is placed on the important contributions of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Al Qasimi in promoting intercultural communication and consolidating cultural identity through the support of history, archaeology, and tourism. The study uses a quantitative approach with a survey research design. The perspectives of 285 museum visitors have been analyzed based on arithmetic means and standard deviations to measure their level of awareness regarding the museum’s historical, cultural, and tourism dimensions. The findings indicate a high level of awareness concerning the …

The Power And Peril Of Awe In Leadership: Transforming Follower Identity And Behavior, Jack Mcguire, Daniel Mcallister, Jochen Menges, David De Cremer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Awe is a profound emotion that has captured significant attention within psychological research. While the potential for leaders to inspire awe in followers has received some recognition, systematic research on the nature and effects of awe in leadership—and within organizational contexts more broadly—remains limited. In this article, we offer a conceptual framework that explains the multifaceted and transformative nature of leadership through the power of awe. Specifically, we identify four leader behaviors—charismatic leadership tactics, exceptional performance, problem reframing, and self-sacrificial behavior—that elicit awe among followers. We further propose three variants of awe-inspiring leaders, describing how variation in a leader’s self-construal …

Operational Agency: A Permeable Legal Fiction For Tracing Culpability In Ai Systems, Anirban Mukherjee, Hannah H. Chang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Modern artificial intelligence (AI) systems act with a high degree of independence yet lack legal personhood—a paradox that fractures doctrines grounded in human-centric notions of mens rea and actus reus. This Article introduces Operational Agency (OA)—a permeable legal fiction structured as an ex post evidentiary framework—and Operational Agency Graph (OAG)—a tool for mapping causal interactions among human actors, organizations, and AI systems. OA evaluates an AI’s observable operational characteristics: its goal-directedness (as a proxy for intent), predictive processing (as a proxy for foresight), and safety architecture (as a proxy for standard of care). OAG operationalizes that analysis by embedding these …

The Personality Profile Of Innovator, Entrepreneur, And Business Leader Elon Musk, Amelia Brower, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect personality assessment of entrepreneur and business leader Elon Musk, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data relating to Musk were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5-TR.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles (MIPS) manuals. Musk’s primary personality patterns …

The Impact Of Fear Of Aging On Luxury Consumption Among Middle-Aged Women, Jiyeon Lee, Xiaofei Wu, Dongwoo Ko

Asia Marketing Journal

This study investigates the relationship between fear of aging and luxury consumption behaviors among middle-aged women, focusing on the psychological and social dimensions of aging anxiety. Utilizing frameworks such as Objectification Theory and the Double Standard of Aging, the research explores how aging anxiety impacts attitudes toward luxury goods, mediated by fear of negative evaluation and body esteem. A survey of 288 women aged 41 to 60 was conducted, revealing that fear of aging significantly influences luxury attitudes and purchasing intentions. Findings indicate that luxury goods are seen not only as tools for status maintenance but also as avenues for …

Uncovering App Activity Patterns Behind E-Commerce App Usage: An Explainable Ai Framework, Myounggu Lee, Hye-Jin Kim

Asia Marketing Journal

In today's competitive mobile ecosystem, understanding how general app activity influences e-commerce app usage is crucial for marketers. This study introduces an explainable AI (XAI) framework using SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) to identify non-e-commerce apps associated with e-commerce app usage. Drawing on mobile app launch data from 1,000 Android users in South Korea, we train a machine learning model to predict usage and apply SHAP to quantify the marginal contribution of each app. Results show that apps such as YouTube, Naver, and KakaoTalk are strongly linked to e-commerce activity at the user level. By visualizing user–app associations and clustering users …

From Emotions To Impulse: A Serial Mediation Approach In Tiktok Live Commerce, Amrul Asraf Mohd-Any, Moniruzzaman Sarker, Shaoxuan Lu

Asia Marketing Journal

Based on social exchange theory, this study investigates how interactions between influencers and followers during live streaming impact impulse buying behaviour. It explores how perceived influencer traits, namely authenticity, expertise, attractiveness, and homophily, influence trust, emotional attachment, and para-social interaction, which in turn drive impulsive purchases. Using PLS-SEM technique, a survey of 303 Chinese TikTok users reveals that emotional factors, particularly para-social interaction and attachment, have a stronger effect on impulse buying than trust. Authenticity and homophily emerge as essential in fostering emotional engagement, emphasising the importance of relatability over authority. The findings suggest that successful influencer marketing in live …

Organizational Psychology Theories In Graduate Medical Education: A Narrative Review, Mohamad S. Saad, Naim El-Aswad, Zeina Ghossoub, Relly Nadler, Serena Wasilewski

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Physicians and educators tend to be more versed in recognizing disease patterns and medical problems than in identifying malfunctioning patterns in the psychological aspects of their mentees and work environments. Just as hypertension and diabetes are the common soil for many acute medical problems, agency problems and organizational silos can lead to many acute managerial problems in graduate medical education (GME) settings.

Data show that most workers are lonely at work, which leads to negative emotions and undermines performance. Organizational problems seem to stem from an individual’s inability to align one’s motivation with the organization’s shared value. This can cause …