Digital Commons Network^™

Online Dating Experiences And Body Dissatisfaction Among Transgender And Gender Nonconforming Individuals: A Qualitative Study, Luciano Caprio M.S.

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

Through the evolution of online dating applications, individuals are able to form interpersonal connections with one another at a rapid pace. The effects of such communications can hold both protective and risk factors within the LGBTQ+ community. Previous research suggests that lesbians, gay, and bisexuals who have experienced weight discrimination, particularly fatphobic and anti-fat attitudes, while utilizing these online dating platforms, have increased body dissatisfaction. However, there is minimal research focusing on the implications of discrimination, body dissatisfaction, and the usage of online dating platforms in the transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) community. This qualitative study explored the experiences of …

Ai And Strategic Power: An Analysis Of Ai In Cyberwarfare, Krystal J. Correal

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Artificial intelligence (AI) is intertwined in nearly all aspects of civilian life and is becoming progressively embedded into global conflict in novel ways. AI’s role in cyberwarfare is altering the structure of strategic power. This paper explores how the weaponized application of AI in cyberwarfare, both in military and public use, work to benefit states with advanced AI capabilities in kinetic and non-kinetic forms while undermining those without. With the focus on superpowered states, such as the U.S., China, and Russia, and a representative non-superpower, Ukraine, the study examines the basic requirements for AI dominance: resources (financial and other), technological …

I Love You, But I’Ve Got To Cancel You: Psychological Determinants And Consequences Of Cancel Culture Participation, Rebecca Tukachinsky Forster, Daniel H. Spitz

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

This study explores how individuals react to celebrities who take a political stance that contradicts and threatens their social identity. An online experiment examines these questions in the context of the Israeli war against Hamas in the wake of the October 7 terror attack. Israeli Jewish participants who were led to believe that a beloved celebrity fully embraced the Palestinian’s narrative and condemned Israel experienced more negative and less positive emotions and had a greater intention to cancel the celebrity. However, writing a comment or a social media post (particularly if the comment bashed the celebrity) partially buffered these emotional …

Fair Play Or Financial Power? Examining The Competitive Impact Of Foreign Investment In European Football, Emma M. Fogg

Scripps Senior Theses

Football is not only the most popular sport in Europe but also fundamental to driving local and international economies due to the heavy influence fans have on driving ticket sales, team merchandise purchases and media rights. In the last twenty years, it has become increasingly popular for wealthy capital groups or businessmen from outside Europe to buy clubs and give teams a large influx of capital. Fans and players alike have grown worried that this type of new ownership will change the football world for the worse because teams with foreign investment can outspend their opponents for the best players. …

How To Catch A Con: The Rhetorical Strategies Of Fraudulent Political Leaders, Lukas Huntington

CMC Senior Theses

The United States faces persistent challenges in controlling political fraud. Government agencies exhibit the second-highest fraud rate of any industry, and corruption levels have only worsened over the last decade, contributing to declining public trust in national leadership. Current fraud detection efforts generally catch late-stage, large-scale fraud, highlighting the need for earlier-detection mechanisms. One way this could be accomplished involves identifying rhetorical patterns that are commonly used by political frauds in order to flag high-risk individuals. Leaning on the Theory of Planned Behavior, it was hypothesized that political frauds would exhibit more rhetorical appeals to fear, blame, pathos, and self-promotion …

Are We Safe In The Digital World? Why We Still Fall Victim To Cybercrime, Kevin Le

Honors Papers and Posters

Cybersecurity has only recently gained press coverage as millions of individuals are victimized by cyberattacks. While current cybersecurity measures offer some protection, human error has been the number one cause of cyberattacks for the past eight years (Verizon, 2024). Cybercrime continues to evolve in complexity, leveraging advanced technology and human psychology to bypass traditional security systems. This study examines why individuals still fall victim to cyberattacks. It explores the psychological and cognitive factors that make individuals vulnerable, focusing on social engineering techniques such as phishing and pretexting. This study also analyzes factors from psychological theories, including Protection Motivation Theory, Routine …

News Mediated Reporting And Governmental Narratives About The Enforcement Of Elite Criminality: Exploring The Social Construction Of Financial Frauds And Discrepancies In Punishment, Dominic J. Zicari

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how financial crime enforcement decisions are socially constructed through a qualitative content analysis of news articles and government communications pertaining to two specific cases: the Enron scandal of 2001 and the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008. The study was guided by a theoretical framework that utilizes Barak’s (2017) theory of state-routinized crime control. The rigorous analysis of 394 news articles and government communication documents revealed that the media and the state rarely framed the subprime mortgage crisis as a criminal issue. Although the Enron scandal was frequently described as financial crime, journalists and government communicators were often …

The Swiping Desire: Intimacy, Libidinal Capitalism, And The Digital Subject In The Tinder Swindler, Chanif Ainun Naim

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

This article examines how dating applications operate as libidinal infrastructures that restructure and commodify intimacy within platform capitalism, using The Tinder Swindler as a cultural case study. Employing a visual-narrative approach within the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, the film is analyzed to reveal the structural exploitation of user affect and desire. Grounded in Lacanian psychoanalysis and Baudrillard’s simulation theory, the study argues that these platforms capitalize on the subject’s ontological lack (manque) which fuels desire as the desire for the Other’s desire. This psychic lack sustains a perpetual pursuit of recognition that can never be fulfilled. The swindler’s hyper-curated …

Political Communication In A Multicultural Metropolis: Chinese Ethnic Media And The 2023 Toronto Mayoral By-Election, Dongwei Lin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Chinese are the second largest visible minority group in Canada and the most frequently reported ethnic or cultural origin in Toronto. Mandarin and Cantonese are, respectively, the largest and third largest non-official languages in Toronto. However, little research exists on the role of the Chinese ethnic community in Toronto municipal politics, especially the role of Chinese ethnic media in Toronto municipal elections.

The key argument of this thesis is that “Chinese ethnic media represent complementary public sphere(s) for informing and engaging Chinese Canadians in local political participation and discussion.” Through the 2023 Toronto Mayoral By-Election case study, this thesis examines …

An Analysis Of Security Risks Posed By Text-Based Generative Ai And Corporate Security Weaknesses Leading To Data Leaks, Tashya Rakshana Byreddy

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Generative AI (GenAI) has become a fundamental part of modern life, influencing how we work, learn, and interact with technology. This project focuses specifically on text-based GenAI, which is widely used for tasks such as information gathering, code improvement, and content creation. Despite its benefits, it presents significant security risks that are often underestimated by users. This project investigates these risks and the corporate security gaps that lead to unintentional data leaks. The project also provides a brief overview of Large Language Models (LLMs), which are based on the deep learning technique known as Transformer architecture, used for performing …

Discretionary Dissemination On Twitter, Richard M. Crowley, Wenli Huang, Hai Lu

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The study provides large-scale descriptive evidence on the timing and nature of corporate financial tweeting. Using an unsupervised machine learning approach to analyze 24 million tweets posted by S&P 1500 firms from 2012 to 2020, we find that firms are more likely to tweet financial information around significantly negative or positive news events, such as earnings announcements and the filing of financial statements. This convex U-shaped relation between the likelihood of posting financial tweets and the materiality of accounting events becomes stronger over time. Whereas research based on early samples concludes that firms are less likely to disseminate financial information …

Bridging The Protection Gap: Innovative Approaches To Shield Older Adults From Ai-Enhanced Scams, Ld Herrera, London Van Sickle, Ashley L. Podhradsky

Research & Publications

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly gaining popularity as individuals, groups, and organizations discover and apply its expanding capabilities. Generative AI creates or alters various content types including text, image, audio, and video that are realistic and challenging to identify as AI-generated constructs. However, guardrails preventing malicious use of AI are easily bypassed. Numerous indications suggest that scammers are already using AI to enhance already successful scams, improving scam effectiveness, speed and credibility, while reducing detectability of scams that target older adults, who are known to be slow to adopt new technologies. Through hypothetical cases analysis of two leading scams, the …

تفعيل تطبيق تقنيات المحاسبة القضائية للتخلص من ممارسات الاحتيال المحاسبي في الدوائر الحكومية, ميثم نعمة عبيد

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

يسعى البحث الى تحقيق هدفه في تسليط الضوء على تقنيات المحاسبة القضائية للحد من ممارسات الاحتيال المحاسبي الحاصلة في الوحدات الحكومية العراقية، اذ تتمثل مشكلة البحث في ضعف نظام الرقابة المطبق في تلك الوحدات وعدم قدرته في الكشف عن حالات التلاعب والاحتيال سواء في الجانب المالي او الإداري واستند البحث على فرضيتين رئيسيتين لقياس علاقة الارتباط والتأثير بين تطبيق تقنيات المحاسبة القضائية الحد من عمليات الاحتيال المحاسبي. وتم اثبات صحة الفرضيات عن طريق نتائج التحليلات الإحصائية لإجابات عينة البحث بالاعتماد على استمارة الاستبيان التي خصصت لهذا الغرض اذ تم جمع وتحليل بيانات الاستقصاء لآراء عينة من الموظفين والأكاديميين ذوي الاختصاص …

Revolutionizing Public Safety And Criminal Justice Through Ai, Alan Saquella

Publications

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming public safety, criminal justice and security by fundamentally changing how crimes are committed, investigated and prevented. As AI tools become increasingly sophisticated, law enforcement and corporate security professionals are utilizing these advancements to enhance their capabilities. However, integrating AI into these sectors also brings significant challenges, including ethical concerns, recruitment difficulties, and the surge in crime rates. This article examines the transformative impact of AI, the ongoing efforts to unify AI applications across public safety and security sectors, and expert advice on overcoming the associated challenges.

Using Mentimeter In Online Book Clubs To Engage And Educate Extension Audiences, Nichole Huff, Miranda Bejda, Emily Dewitt, Heather Norman-Burgdolf, Melinda Mcculley

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cooperative Extension professionals, like many others, were tasked with quickly adapting to accommodate limited face-to-face interactions. The pandemic necessitated that Extension educators leverage online resources to deliver tailored programming in informative and innovative ways while providing engaging, hands-on learning experiences. This article highlights two studies using Mentimeter as a tool to educate and engage Extension audiences through subsequent installments of an online book club. The presented case studies examine the processes and outcomes of a unique educational approach to Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) in a non-traditional setting. The studies represent two distinct FCS disciplines: Family …

The Impact Of Social Media Advertising On Online Shopping Preferences In Nilai City, Malaysia, Fatimah Az Zahra Binti Zulkifli, Shahrina Ismail, Sharifah Fairuz Syed Mohamad

International Journal of Management, Finance and Accounting

Social media advertisements can influence consumers' purchasing preferences by impacting their awareness, attitude, trust, and intention towards the advertised products, services, or brands. This study aims to achieve two objectives: firstly, to determine the correlation between independent variables (security, privacy, product features, social influence, and promotion) and secondly, to examine the relationship between independent variables and dependent variables (online shopping purchasing preference among shoppers in Nilai). Convenience sampling was used to collect survey data, with questionnaires distributed through various online platforms to respondents residing in Nilai. A total of 272 responses were collected. The study utilized a Pearson correlation model …

Criminal Activities As Threats To Security In The Caribbean, Marika Dawkins-Cavazos

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This chapter presents an overview of the main criminal activities posing threats to security in the Caribbean region. How best to assess Caribbean security realities, the types of security threats, and the strategies employed to combat such threats in the region that are influenced by its strategic location and proximity to the United States are discussed. Information on criminal activities came from various government reports, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, news reports, and articles. The overall evidence suggests that criminal activities in the region undercut the law and weaken socio-economic and political stability that subsequently threaten Caribbean …

Lawfare As A Policy Tool In Sino-American Relations: The Case Of Huawei Cfo Meng Wanzhou, Zachary S. Souders

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

Competition between the United States and China is at an all-time high. Despite decades of diplomacy between the East and West, recent trends suggest the two powers are drifting further apart. To understand US-China relations, it is critical to understand major developments as they occur. This paper examines the geopolitical significance of United States v. Meng (2020), an extradition case in which US authorities requested the transfer of Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou to American jurisdiction. Despite US policymakers declaring Meng and Huawei to be threats to national security, the eventual dismissal of all charges Meng faced presents a puzzle …

Effects Of Age And Gender On Perceptions On Victims Of Financial Exploitation, Kathleen Hillman

Honors Theses

A report by the Center for Victim Research shows that younger adults are more often victims of general and identity fraud (Irvin-Erickson & Ricks, 2019, p. 9); however, research conducted on financial exploitation focuses heavily on older adults. However, a recent study by Gunderson and colleagues (2021) found that older and younger adults are highly susceptible to financial exploitation. The purpose of the current study is to determine if perceptions of vulnerability to financial exploitation vary by the age of the victim. A sample of undergraduate participants will be recruited from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga through an online …

Fraud In Genetic Testing: Swindling The System, Rachel Notestine, Rachel Notestine, Claire N. Singletary

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Healthcare fraud comprises a sizable portion of the United States healthcare expenditure and inflicts strain on payors, patients, and the healthcare system overall. The genetic testing industry is rapidly growing which provides a multitude of fraud opportunities. There is limited research exploring genetic testing fraud, although federal organizations have highlighted it as an issue. In this study, a retrospective review of federal websites, news articles, and a legal database identified 42 cases of fraud involving outpatient genetic testing published between February 2019 and December 2023. These cases were analyzed for themes via inductive conventional content analysis. Themes of fraudulent activity …

Breaking Barriers: Exploring The Intersectionality Of Minority Status, Migration Fear, And Diversity, Alptug Yunus Yorulmaz

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays that examine the intersectionality of minority status, migration fear, and racial diversity: 1) The first essay discusses the importance of ethnic diversity in financial advisory firms. Studies illustrate examples of taste-based discrimination and the challenges faced by minorities in accessing capital. Furthermore, studies conclude a lack of trust in financial advisors, despite their significant role in the financial industry. This essay examines how racial diversity in advisory firms can foster representation and guidance for both minority and non-minority clients. 2) The second essay examines the association between minority entrepreneurial success and migration fear. Studies …

Profiling Cybercriminals: Behavioral Analysis And Motivations Behind Cybercrime Activities, A'Shya Latrice Reynolds

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The study of cybercriminal behavior and motivations is crucial for understanding and combating the evolving landscape of digital crime. This paper delves into the intricate realm of cybercrime profiling, employing a multidisciplinary approach to dissect the behavioral patterns and underlying motivations of cybercriminals. Drawing from psychology, sociology, and criminology, the research examines the intricate interplay of individual traits, social dynamics, and technological factors that shape cybercriminal activities.

Through analysis of case studies and research, this paper uncovers the diverse range of motivations driving individuals towards engaging in cybercrime. From financial gain and ideological extremism to thrill-seeking and revenge, cybercriminals exhibit …

Foster Parents’ Views Regarding Lack Of Attachment In Children In Foster Care, Ronease Yvette Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Promoting Financial Inclusivity, A Route To Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis From Sub-Saharan African Countries, Sulayman Jallow, Pradipta Kumar Sahoo, Bamadev Mahapatra

Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking

The present study deep dives into the relationship between financial inclusion and per capita income growth of 42 sub-Saharan African countries from 2007 to 2020. With the help of the generalized method of moments (GMM) modeling framework, the study discloses that a rise in the number of bank branches, automated teller machines, and savings stimulates per capita economic growth. Conversely, an elevated number of credit provisions to the private sector and high growth of population hinder per capita economic growth. The policy recommendation is for banking authorities to expand their services to underserved areas, raise interest rates on deposits, and …

Development Of Technology Pilot Training To Reduce The Number Of Senior Citizens Victimized By Computer Fraud Scams, James Eric Johnston

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is need in the public sector to help people 60+ years of age in the safe, practical use of technology for business, personal use, and family interaction. This age group is targeted more than others involving technology fraud. The current study focused on which topics need to be part of Technology Fraud Pilot Training to reduce the victimization that is put upon seniors 60+ years of age. The project included measures that may improve understanding and safe usage of basic technology that is frequently used. These searches came from public administration, technology, government, city government, state sources, and others …

Environmental, Social, And Governance (Esg) Reporting: Attempting To Bridge The Gap On Reporting Standards And The Need For Uniform Standards, Emilee Kula

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Nexus Of Cybercrime, Money Laundering, Ethics And Deterrence In The Age Of Smart Machines, Leila Halawi, Robert Bacon

Publications

As societies transitioned from the industrial era to the post-knowledge age, marked by the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), the volume and accessibility of information experienced unprecedented growth. This transformation led to the ‘AI Age,’ where smart machines became paramount. Simultaneously, it marked an era of innovation and automation, promising greater efficiency and presenting novel challenges. In this dynamic landscape, cybercrime found fertile ground to evolve and adapt. It expanded its scope from early computer intrusions to many activities, from data breaches and ransomware attacks to identity theft and financial fraud. Money laundering, too, evolved in tandem, capitalizing on …

Supercharge Your Research Impact For The Health Sciences, Alanna Natanson

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Health science researchers at all stages of their career can use the strategies and tools in this guide to promote their scholarly research and document its impact on the field and wider world. Promoting and documenting research is important for crafting biosketches for grant applications and applying for promotion/tenure. Topics in the guide include selecting a journal for manuscript submission, open access publishing models, submitting supplementary materials to repositories, building a record of your scholarship, and exploring article-level and author-level metrics in Web of Science and Google Scholar. Explore the links to further background information and follow the step-by-step instructions.

U.S. Online Romance Scams: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Factors Associated With Victimization And Exploration Of Lived Experiences Of Victimization, Rebecca A. Cole

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

The objective of this dissertation is to understand develop an understanding of experiences of online romance scam¹(ORS) victimization and to examine factors associated with ORS victimization. The dissertation samples ORS victims and uses purposive sampling strategies to recruit participants. The research used a mixed methods explanatory design approach. Inclusion criteria included ORS victims 18 and older who lived in the U.S., lost any amount of money in ORS scam, and met the scammer on any Internet platform. Three research manuscripts complete this dissertation. The first manuscript is a scoping review to understand the mental and physical health outcomes …

Ability To Reduce Gram Scams Through Educational Intervention, Ellis Garel

Scripps Senior Theses

Objective: This study aims to understand why people fall for scams and seeks to explore what interventions for scam prevention are the most effective in older adults. Participants: Approximately 686 participants aged 65 and above will be randomly assigned to view one of four intervention types: celebrity endorsement PSA, community-based PSA, personal advice from a family member, or the control group. Method: A path analysis will be conducted to examine how the type of intervention, gender of the participant, and history of financial fraud, mediated through concerns and susceptibility to scams, impact the propensity to fall for a hypothetical scam …