Digital Commons Network^™

Relational Knowledge Restructuring: Explored Though Experimental And Bayesian Computational Methods, Ashley Nicole Douglass

Dissertations - ALL

Are people rational Bayesian learners that produce a final posterior belief that is a compromise of their prior and the amount of new data? If they are then can one create a model that can predict their final belief given an estimate of their prior belief and the new data? This study aims to explore this. The participants were presented with two relational structures, the initial and the alternative which contradicted each other to a certain degree. In condition 1 the alternative structure was similar to the initial and in condition 2 the structure had the same number of contradictions …

A Comparative Study Of Conceptual Metaphors In Indonesian And Chinese Economic Headlines, Hendy Yuniarto

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

This study examines how economic concepts are metaphorically constructed in Indonesian and Chinese news headlines. Employing the Lakoff and Johnson's framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, the study analyzes and compares conceptual metaphors in economic news headlines from CNBC Indonesia and China Business Network published between January and April 2025. Employing a qualitative methodology guided by MIPVU, the study mapped conceptual economic metaphors in a corpus of 500 economic news headlines. The investigation demonstrates a significant overlap in the conceptualization of economic events in both languages: economic actions are physical movements, business is a natural force, economy is a competition, money …

“The Being Of Being Creative” In Assessment: Learning From The Creative And Performing Arts, Eliana Elkhoury

Turning Toward Being: The Journal of Ontological Inquiry in Education

Assessment design shapes not only what students learn, but who they become as learners. In the era of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), where information is abundant and recall is easily outsourced, higher education assessment must move beyond memorization and toward authentic tasks that cultivate deeper learning and ontological growth. This conceptual, reflective paper argues that assessment should be grounded in students’ mode of being, rather than restricted to knowing, having, or doing. Drawing on Barnett’s ontology of higher education, Biesta’s subjectification, and Su’s epistemological distinctions, this paper positions assessment as a formative site where agency, ownership, identity, and self-understanding can …

Unintended Consequences Of California’S Proposition 12 Affecting Low-Income Communities, Blanca Estella Garcia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The background of this study established context describing the 2018 implementation of Proposition 12 in California, a law intended to improve animal welfare standards. The central problem identified the law’s unintended effects on multiple stakeholders, which prior literature suggested could include increased production costs and limit consumer access. However, existing studies have focused on theoretical and economic projections, leaving gaps in understanding secondary data research and practical impacts on farmers and low-income consumers. The purpose of the study was to examine unforeseen consequences of Proposition 12, with attention to its direct and indirect impacts on animal welfare, farmers, and low-income …

Developing A Tool To Measure Resistance To Sustainable Food Choices: A Pilot Study In Ireland And The Netherlands, Kate Flanagan, Bart Sinteur, Patricia J. Bulsing, John M. Kearney

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

Consumer uptake of a sustainable diet is critical for addressing environmental challenges and promoting public health. Understanding why consumers resist adopting sustainable eating habits can inform targeted interventions and policies. This pilot study examines whether a newly developed scale can effectively detect consumer resistance to a sustainable diet. Currently, there is a lack of research on a tool to measure consumer resistance to a sustainable diet, highlighting the need for a reliable instrument.

The aim of this study is to develop a scale, based on existing literature, to measure consumer resistance to a sustainable diet. Additionally, the study aims to …

Editorial-Sure Journal Volume 7, Issue 2, Geraldine M. Dowling, Eva Campion, Sinead Loughran, Ariane Perez-Gavilan, Josephine Treacy

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

Impact Of The Covid-19 Outbreak On The Emotional Responses And Self-Protective Behaviors Of Nursing Students., Banisha Lyngdoh Nonglait, Jyothsna Jennifer Hans, S P Sagar, Gayatri Poojari, Sanju Pant, Maria Pais Dr

Manipal Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of our society. The higher education sector is no exception. Students face an increasingly unstable environment, impacting their physical and emotional health.

Objectives: The study aims to determine students' emotional responses to the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. It also assesses their behavior in protecting themselves from cross-contamination during this period.

Methods: A descriptive survey design was used in this study, which included 61 undergraduate students. To collect data, researchers employed socio-demographic questionnaires alongside a structured attitude survey designed to assess emotional responses and self-protective behaviors related to COVID-19. The reliability …

The 2025 Pakistan Floods: Investigating The Human, Agricultural, And Economic Collapse, Abdullah Khan

MSJ Capstone Projects

This project examines the 2025 Pakistan floods as a multidimensional climate disaster that triggered severe human, agricultural, and economic consequences. Moving beyond event-based reporting, the study examines how climate change, weak governance, poor infrastructure planning, and delayed institutional responses intensified the scale of destruction. Using investigative journalism methods, the project combines field reporting from flood-affected areas, in-depth interviews with displaced communities, local activists, and experts, and analysis of official data and policy documents. The findings reveal widespread displacement, loss of livelihoods, food insecurity, and long-term social vulnerability, particularly among marginalized rural populations. Agricultural collapse emerged as a central concern, threatening …

Front Matter, Kritika Kultura

Kritika Kultura

No abstract provided.

I Can’T Even With This Thesis: A Syntactic And Pragmatic Analysis, Ester Luna

Yale Working Papers in Grammatical Diversity

This project focuses on the construction I can’t even, a sentence coined in the early 2000s that expresses a speaker’s strong emotion to the point where they are lost for words. The most typical emotion conveyed using I can’t even is exasperation, as in example (1), but it can also be an indication of extreme happiness, like in (2).

• (1) He tried to get my number AGAIN. I can’t even.
• (2) You came all the way from New York to watch me perform? I can’t even.

While the modal can and the adverb even normally require the …

Late-Stage Capitalism And Consumerism In Higher Education: A Morphogenetic Analysis, Kallen Zhou

Publications

Facing widespread student disengagement and dissatisfaction, U.S. higher education is undergoing a paradigm shift, detaching from its civic and pedagogical origins. A key force driving this transformation is the rise of student consumerism. While existing literature documents market-driven actions adopted by higher education institutions (HEIs) and the consumer roles students play, it overlooks structural market forces. Specifically, little theorization exists on the relationship between late-stage capitalism and student consumerism. This paper addresses that gap through two steps: first, offering a historical analysis of the traditional university model, late-stage capitalism, academic capitalism, and the decline of the liberal arts; second, developing …

Hoarding And The Hoarded Home: A Phenomenological And Psychoanalytic Study, Brianna Stich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While research on hoarding tends to isolate hoarders from the homes they hoard and in which they live, the hoard and the hoarder share a life in the home. This study explores how hoarders live with and live through their hoard at home. It combines psychoanalysis and phenomenology within a unique methodological framework to provide a hermeneutic reading of the psychological significances of the hoarded home. In this study, the contemporary conceptualization of hoarding is historically situated and critiqued from a phenomenological perspective, and the view that hoarding is a single, behaviorally-defined syndrome that is explainable by a cognitive-behavioral model …

Butterflies & You: Considerations Of Human Relationships With The Natural World, M. E. Colby

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Science communication only accounts for approximately 2% of the entire scientific output of 2017-2022 (Parejo-Cuéllar et. al, 2024). It is an under-researched and under-valued field, especially in an age that has devalued science as a whole. The delicate art of explaining complicated ideas to people who are unfamiliar with scientific jargon is vital to humans’ understanding of the world. Butterflies & You is a documentary film exploring the relationship between humans and the many different butterfly species that call Illinois home. Video-based science communication is important to research and practice because of its impact on environmental advocacy and the growing …

For 600,000 New Yorkers, Toxins Are In Their Tap Water: A New York Focus Analysis Of State Inspection Data Shows Key Toxins Are In Public Water Systems From Long Island To The Adirondacks, Posing Risks For Cancers And Other Diseases. Millions Are Being Spent To Fix Problems, But Even Well-Planned Efforts Have Faced Delays. Poorer Towns Wonder If They Can Afford To Fix The Problem., Shuchi Shah, Hayden Betts, Aurora Martinez, Rebecca Mccray

Capstones

The story stems from an analysis of New York State data on drinking water contaminants. The state inspection data shows key toxins are in public water systems from Long Island to the Adirondacks, posing risks for cancers and other diseases. Millions are being spent to fix problems, but even well-planned efforts have faced delays. Poorer towns wonder if they can afford to fix the problem.

Inside The Gen Z Vote Across Gender And Race, Juliet La Sala

Capstones

This capstone examines how two people from two different Gen Z groups are navigating the 2024 U.S. election. One story revolves around a young woman adopting a U.S. version of South Korea’s 4B Movement and another reflects on a Gen Z Arab American responding to the Israel–Hamas war. Through reported stories and interviews, it explores how personal experience, gender and ethnic violence, and political disillusionment shaped these young voters’ choices and activism. Sierra Bee's story is in light of Trump's election and Liam's is right before the 2024 election took place. Together, the pieces highlight how global events and identity-based …

Two Major Ontario Hospital Labs Bought Research Dogs From U.S. Breeder With Troubled Pastdogs Bred For Scientific And Medical Testing Suffer Abuse As The Scientific Industry Increasingly Turns To Alternatives For Research., Allison Hunter, Mary Beech, Sami Marshak, Kate Morano

Capstones

The purpose-bred dog breeding industry for research is little known. Each year, thousands of dogs are bred for scientific and medical testing, supplied to research facilities by a handful of major commercial breeders. But gaps in enforcement and regulation have allowed abuses to persist, even as the industry increasingly turns to alternatives to animal testing. Animal rights advocates have been decrying the treatment of these dogs. A federal Inspector General report found lax oversight of the industry, raising further concerns about how dogs are treated. This story was reported in collaboration with the Investigative Journalism Bureau, based in Toronto, and …

Accepting Vs Understanding, Transgender Aliens And Alienation, Reyna G. Aliah

English

Trans people have been the subject of intense discrimination in recent years, suffering dehumanization from right-wing and conservative groups. This dehumanization (and the fear resulting from it) parallels common attitudes in science fiction about actual aliens. Orson Scott Card’s Hierarchy of Foreignness classifies individuals and species into five categories, depending on their sentience; whether they are from the same city, nation, or planet; and whether communication is possible. This paper examines how transgender people can be classified according to this system on a societal level, with said class depending on the lens used to view them as well as the …

Evaluating Joint Control Teaching Procedures For Teaching Yes-No Responding With Tact And Intraverbal Questions For Children With Autism, Desiree J. Dawson

Theses & Dissertations

Responding to yes and no questions is a general language skill that allows individuals to efficiently interact with their verbal community. Few behavior analytic studies have sought teaching this skill in general, with even fewer studies seeking to teach this skill when it pertains to a tact or intraverbal context. All behavior analytic studies to date seeking to teach this skill have used direct prompting and reinforcement of the yes and no responses, but there is little guidance for what can be done if this teaching strategy is not producing desired acquisition. The current experiments examined a teaching procedure informed …

Enhancing Public Health Strategies: Addressing The Rsv Burden In Alabama Through Clinical Treatment, Community Prevention, And Surveillance Approaches, Martha K. Findley Roper, Jennifer S. Dawson

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Introduction: Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a highly contagious pathogen driving morbidity, hospitalizations, and economic burden. This review uses the epidemiological triad and National Wastewater Surveillance System data to assess transmission, viral load spikes in Alabama, and strategies for treatment and prevention.

Methods: A review of literature on supportive care, vaccination, monoclonal antibodies, and emerging nanomedicine was reviewed to evaluate strategies for reducing viral burden and complications.

Results: Trends from December 2024–January 2025 were assessed with National Wastewater Surveillance System data. Primary prevention includes immunization, hygiene, air quality maintenance, and early diagnostics. Tertiary care addresses complications such as secondary …

Exploring Occupational Therapists' Experiences With Animal Assisted Therapy Competencies For Safe And Ethical Practice, Macy Burr

Student Dissertations

The implementation of animal-assisted therapy requires professionals to establish competencies and work with animals that possess specific characteristics and have undergone specialized training. Researchers noted a lack of uniform guidelines for practicing animal-assisted therapy in occupational therapy. The Association of Animal-Assisted Intervention Professionals recently developed a set of competencies for the safe and ethical inclusion of animals in professional settings, with a section in the appendix specifically tailored to occupational therapy. Although extensive research was conducted to develop these competencies, there is little research on their application to practice. The identified problem was the lack of research to guide the …

Emotions As Work Material: On Dancers' Refined Use Of Affectivity, Camille S. Buttingsrud

Duquesne Studies in Phenomenology

As part of their professional practice, dancers allow their affectivity to enhance their kinesthetic work. Their intentional and disciplined use of personal, emotional resources ensures both creativity, interpretation, absorption, and connections in ways that extend beyond the traditional phenomenological understanding of affectivity as pre-reflectively based. The affective regulations dancers employ can be seen as an “artistic epoché,” and their layered performance awareness corresponds with Edmund Husserl’s descriptions of “image-consciousness.” Through qualitative interviews with three professional dancers, phenomenological theory, and additional supportive literature, this article shows how affectivity can be experienced through high-order levels of Leib, constituting states of “bodily …

Kalunga Crossings: Waterscapes Of Terror And "Teachment" In The African Atlantic World, Dianne M. Stewart, Tracey E. Hucks, Solimar Otero

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

In this article, we think alongside historian of religions Charles H. Long to analyze the relationship between water and empire, explore theoretical approaches to water and modernity, and probe the significance of water in Africana ecologies and spiritual cultures, highlighting its suggestive contributions to restorative epistemologies of ecological co-habitation. Our investigation advances an Africana religious framework of “waterscapes of terror and ‘teachment’” that centers diaspora bodies of water as loci for analyzing history, materiality, and ecological regard. Teachment is an anti-colonial linguistic irruption, an all-encompassing term for Africana pedagogies and epistemologies that defy antiblack and anti-African colonial instruction. Examining how …

'Coming Here, It’S Just Weird': 'Making The Familiar Strange' Through Exploring Experiences Of Sexism And Feminisms, Emilia A I Little

Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal

This paper explores personal experiences with gender and how these experiences changed whilst attending university as an undergraduate student. The paper uses gender and feminist theory to guide a critical and auto-ethnographic exploration of personal experiences of a young woman within a patriarchal system. The paper uses journal excerpts to recount past and current experiences through feminist lenses. Through exploring gender theory, binary and performativity, personal experiences are validated and explained. The force of patriarchal oppression and privilege were illuminated as personal conceptions of gender were disrupted. The paper argues for much-needed feminist education in schools, centring around: avoiding the …

Chad Dobson Reflects On The Launch Of The World Bank Reform Campaign, Chad Dobson, Julie Radomski

Perspectives

Chad Dobson is the founder of the Bank Information Center (BIC) and led BIC from 1987 to 1997 and 2007 to 2016. He is widely accredited with developing the global campaign strategies for environmental and social reforms of multilateral development banks (MDB). In this interview, he recounts the early days of BIC and the development of the global campaign.

Exploring The Impact Of Inpatient Mental Health Care On Adolescents, Alexandria M. Mckahan

2025 Fall Honors Capstones Projects - Archive

Adolescent psychiatric hospitalizations continue to rise, yet there is limited research on which daily practices inside inpatient units genuinely support engagement and recovery. This project examined how structure, staff tone, and therapeutic programming influence adolescents’ participation and emotional stability within a real inpatient setting. The study focused on three questions: how structured routines affect recovery, what challenges staff face when supporting adolescents with complex needs, and how adolescents’ engagement patterns reflect their perception of care. Using a mixed-methods case study at Mesa Springs Behavioral Health Hospital, I conducted approximately twenty field observations, semi-structured staff interviews, and descriptive engagement tracking across …

Ecolinguistic Analysis Of Princess Mononoke: Boosting Environmental Literacy, Aditya Alam Soeta Bangsa, George M. Jacobs, Ingrid A. Gavilán Tatin

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

The Anthropocene is a term some scientists use for the current geological age, during which human activities profoundly and often negatively impact Earth’s systems, including environmental change. Despite widespread recognition of this global crisis, a gap persists between awareness and meaningful action, underscoring a critical deficit in environmental literacy. This study aims to address this gap by conducting an ecolinguistic analysis of Hayao Miyazaki’s (1997) film, Princess Mononoke. Stibbe’s (2020) Stories We Live By, particularly the story of ideology, was used to analyze the film and its five principal human characters, examining their attitudes and behavior, and connecting …

The ‘For Youth’ Page: Analyzing Tiktok Content Feeds For College-Aged Users, Hadiyah Mohamed

Honors College Theses

This study analyzes the content college-aged users encounter on TikTok’s “For You” page to understand the ways platform design and user-generated content shape prolonged engagement. Existing research frames doomscrolling largely as a compulsive behavior driven by algorithmic design, often overlooking the role of content itself and why it resonates with young adults. Through qualitative content analysis, 150 videos were collected across three TikTok accounts: scrolling from a personal account, a neutral new account, and a new account under the #CollegeTok tag. Videos were rigorously coded in a spreadsheet for narrative descriptions, topics, captions, hashtags, and tone to capture the themes …

Drones And The Changing Character Of War, Erik A. Davis

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Cheap drones have transformed the character of war by creating a “mass effect” that challenges traditional principles of force concentration. Unlike commentary focused on offense-defense debates or ethics, this article explains how Jevons’s Paradox, the Red Queen Effect, and models like Lanchester’s Laws and Hughes’s Salvo Equations underpin this shift. Drawing on lessons from Ukraine, historical theory, and production trends, it explains why the production of cheap “precision mass” is expected to accelerate. For military and policy practitioners, the analysis offers urgent guidance for adapting tactics, procurement, and doctrine to a battlefield dominated by ubiquitous, low-cost drones—before adversaries exploit this …

Women As Strategic Partners In Peacebuilding And Social Cohesion In Rural- Based Mining Areas: The Case Of Wards 1 And 2 Insiza District, Matebeleland South In Zimbabwe, Dumisani Maqeda Ngwenya, Sikhathele Mathambo

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article discusses the efficacy of the “women as strategic partners in peacebuilding” program, under the broader overarching Building Resilience, Inclusiveness, Social Cohesion and Healing Project, which is a response to the gendered conflicts and violence caused by the presence of artisanal mining in two wards of Insiza District, Matebeleland South in Zimbabwe. The intervention was premised on strengthening women’s capacity to create safe platforms for inclusive dialogue, consensus-building and decision making to address conflicts and creating a conducive environment for collaboration and trust, to enhance social cohesion and build a more peaceful society. Peace committees (PCs) established by Emthonjeni …

Indigenizing Aquaculture: In Pursuit Of An Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture System For Enhanced Self-Sufficiency In Akaroa Harbour, Aotearoa New Zealand, Cali R. Trainor

Capstone Collection

This study assessed the feasibility of integrating two pre-existing aquaculture activities in Akaroa Harbour, Aotearoa New Zealand into an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) system. The cultivation of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) presents an opportunity to improve the sustainability of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) farming by introducing alternative food sources for salmon, which can be used to produce fish feed locally, enhancing the self-sufficiency of the community and boosting the holistic efficiency of the system. Macroinvertebrates residing in giant kelp wrack were collected, identified, and quantified to determine if any of the Macrocystis-associated specimens could serve as …