Digital Commons Network^™

The Science Of Sound: Studying The Cognitive, Emotional, And Physiological Effects Of Frequency, Genre, And Music, Jett Yarborough

Senior Honors Theses

Music influences emotion, physiology, and cognition, yet little is known about how the frequency it is tuned to affects these influences. Prior research has shown that music tuned to 432 Hz can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and improve sleep. My colleagues and I conducted two studies to investigate this. Our research found that music tuned to 432 Hz promotes a significant increase in memory retention and induces a state of focus and relaxation. These results suggest that shifting from the standard tuning frequency of 440 Hz to 432 Hz could have a profoundly positive impact on our daily lives. …

Entrepreneurship Over The Business Cycle, Ryan Rudderham, Miyu Aoki

Annual Student Research Poster Session

During economic recessions, individuals face a challenging decision: whether to seek traditional employment or start their own business. While recessions are a poor time for entrepreneurship due to reduced consumer spending and business productivity, these periods also feature high unemployment, which makes finding wage work difficult. This project developed a theoretical framework to study entrepreneurship over the business cycle by introducing labor market frictions, creating a tractable yet realistic structure for occupational choice. Traditional macroeconomic models struggle to capture entrepreneurial decision-making across business cycles. As such, this project looked at labor market frictions in building a theoretical framework. Over the …

Hungry Minds: Analyzing The Impact Of Food Insecurity And Food Assistance Programs On Neurocognitive Development And Childhood Mental Health, Kayla A. Davenport

Senior Theses

Introduction: Food insecurity affects millions of children in the United States and is increasingly recognized as a significant risk factor for poor nutritional intake and adverse health outcomes. However, less is known about how the experience of food insecurity disrupts healthy development and well-being, particularly among American youth. This thesis had two aims: (1) to examine the relationship between household food insecurity and children’s neurocognitive and mental health outcomes and (2) to evaluate how major food assistance programs address, or fail to address, these developmental risks.

Methods: This thesis uses a mixed-methods approach, integrating a narrative literature review, a cross-sectional …

Assessing The Role Of Ocean Literacy In Liberia's Blue Economy : Pathway To Sustainable Blue Ocean Development In Liberia, Precious Tete Nah

Ocean Sustainability, Governance & Management Dissertations

Ocean literacy involves understanding the fundamental concepts of the ocean's functioning, leading to informed and responsible decisions about the ocean. This understanding is vital for developing responsible ocean citizenship and implementing measures to sustain the ocean, as it highlights the ocean's influence on humans and the impact of human activities on it. Using a qualitative research method with a purposive sampling approach, the research asks focus group representatives from New Kru Town and Westpoint, both closed- and open-ended questions, on the importance of ocean literacy, challenges, prospects, and recommendations to promote sustainable blue ocean development.

The results of the research …

Diffusion Of Innovation Of Port Decarbonization Measures : A Case Study Approach, Clint Rocky Mcculloch, Lucas Fernando Vaquero Roviriego

Port Management Dissertations

The dissertation is a study of how stakeholders diffuse innovation in port decarbonization strategies through a case study approach, with emphasis on the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) relating to the technical and operational measures in the developing regions. Port, being a critical hub in global supply chains, have to manage the increasing pressure of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in alignment with International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2023 GHG strategy as well as the Paris Agreement. However, there is a gap in empirical research, specifically in non-European regions like South America and the Caribbean, highlighting the need for insights from stakeholders’ …

A Better Great Plains: Bridging The Implementation Gap For A Better Future, David W. Sandahl

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Northern Great Plains is experiencing extensive native grassland loss and landscape degradation, jeopardizing both ecological integrity and the socio-economic systems that rely upon these ecosystems. In an early effort to lessen degradation, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) introduced the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) which generated ecosystem services benefits such as reduced soil erosion, improved water quality, and increased species diversity through the retirement of cropland and rangeland for 10- or 15-year contracts. However, CRP has not fully modernized alongside today’s agriculturalists and adoption remains shaped by an historically fraught socio-political context characterized by deep-seated mistrust between ranchers, …

Anterior Cingulate Cortex Connectivity And The Role In Neuroticism: A Diffusion-Weighted-Imaging-Based Investigation Of Limbic And Prefrontal Circuits., Jake Cox Ii

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Neuroticism is a trait which has been shown to significantly predict psychopathology. Investigating its neurobiological underpinnings may uncover a brain-based relationship that allows clinicians to conceptualize a shared predispositional factor across multiple psychopathologies, implicating treatment protocols. Inter-connectivity network and structural variation has been shown to be implicated in neuroticism, more specifically the frontoparietal network, default mode network, salience networks, and limbic networks. These networks tackle executive, salience, and emotional information, respectively. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a brain region nested between and functionally related to various networks stated above that are implicated in neuroticism. As such, it was hypothesized …

What Is The Relationship Between Success On The Limited X-Ray Machine Operator Exam And The First-Attempt Pass Rate On The National Registry Exam Among Radiologic Technology Students In Minnesota?, Britni Hardy

Education Doctorate Dissertations

This quantitative correlational study examined the relationship between success on the Limited X-Ray Machine Operator (LXMO) exam and first-attempt pass rates on the national registry exam among radiologic technology students in Minnesota. The radiologic technology field faces significant challenges, including a 14.9% national attrition rate, workforce shortages, and limited availability of clinical sites. This research explored whether LXMO certification could serve as an innovative approach to address these interrelated issues. Data were collected from the Minnesota Department of Health and the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, spanning 2000-2024, and identified n=24 students who had completed both exams. Results revealed that …

An Evaluation Of Reading Proficiency Examination College Completion Among Black Neurodiverse Women, Makayla J. Graham

Theses (2016-Present)

This study establishes the college completion experiences of Black neurodiverse women (n=53), a population historically rendered invisible in higher education research. Grounded in Dis/ability Critical Race Studies (DisCrit), Black Feminist Thought, the Black Feminist Disability Framework, and the Neurodiversity Paradigm, the research documents how intersectional identity, structural barriers, and mental health outcomes shape degree attainment. Data was collected through a mixed-methods online survey targeting this specific demographic. The findings demonstrate that college completion for this population is an act of resistance against racialized sexist ableism. Thematic analysis identified six central themes: Systemic Barriers in Higher Education, Intersectional Identity Burdens, Internal …

The Walking Moai Hypothesis: Archaeological Evidence, Experimental Validation, And Response To Critics, Carl P. Lipo, Terry L. Hunt

Anthropology Datasets

The transport of Rapa Nui's (Easter Island) monumental moai statues has been debated for over a century. Based on a systematic analysis of 962 moai, with a focus on 62 road statues, combined with 3D modeling and experimental trials, we demonstrate that these multi-ton megaliths were designed for transport vertically in a controlled "walking" motion facilitated by their carved shapes. Our evidence includes distinctive morphological features of road moai (wide, D-shaped bases and forward lean), archaeological road characteristics (4.5m wide, concave cross-sections), non-random breakage patterns, and successful experimental validation using a precisely-scaled 4.35 metric ton replica based on road …

Analysis Of The Status And Thematic Trends Of Ai For Science Research Abroad From 2015 To 2024, Fangyuan Wang, Huiting Xu, Jinghua Xue

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance] This paper analyzes the relevant literature in the field of AI for Science（AI4S）in the WoS core database from 2015 to 2024, and sorts out the research status and development trends in this field, aiming to provide forward-looking insights for the application of AI technology in scientific research.

[Method/process] This paper combines bibliometric analysis with the BERTopic model to analyze the publication trends, publishing countries, core authors, and topic identification and development trends in the field of AI4S.

[Result/conclusion] Through bibliometric analysis, this paper reveals the exponential growth trend of AI4S-related literature, and finds that China ranks first in the …

Construction Of China's Online Platform Information Value Evaluation System, Shuyue Fang, Yuan Sun, Yuwei Ye, Liling Xia

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance] This paper aims to explore the construction of the information value evaluation system of online platforms in China, so as to provide theoretical support and practical guidance for the information management of online platforms.

[Method/process] This paper firstly explores the connotation and dimension of the information value of the online platforms, and uses the analytic hierarchy process to distribute the weight, then,obtains the comprehensive evaluation results of the information value of each online platform through the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method.

[Result/discussion] Through the comprehensive evaluation of the information interaction platforms, the multilateral trading platforms and the complementary innovation platform, …

Information Provision And Search Frictions: Evidence From The Taxi Industry In Singapore, Sumit Agarwal, Shih-Fen Cheng, Jussi Keppo, Long Wang, Yang Yang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Search frictions and misallocation are common in decentralized transportation markets. Using novel trip-level data of taxis in Singapore, this paper examines the impactof real-time demand information at airport terminals on search frictions. The information reduces taxi supply misallocation, increasing deadheading speed by 16.3% and decreasing deadheading time by 10.77%, benefiting both passengers and drivers. It raises daily earnings by $3.70 USD and adds 6.2 minutes of operational time per airport-trip taxi. Spatial spillovers are primarily observed among drivers in adjacentdistricts. Taxis from the Budget Terminal and drivers with fewer prior airport pickups benefit more from this information.

A Data-Driven Framework For Optimal Retail Store Location, Ming Hui Tan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This study develops a data-driven framework for optimal retail store location planning that integrates road network analysis, mobility data and optimization techniques. By addressing the limitations of traditional approaches that rely on outdated census data and manual site selection, this research offers a scalable and adaptable solution for retail expansion in diverse urban environments. Chapters 1 and 2 establish the foundational context and theoretical underpinnings of this research. Chapter 1 introduces the research problem and motivation, highlighting the limitations of existing approaches and defining three key research objectives: automating candidate site identification, improving footfall estimation, and developing a scalable multi-site …

The Anchor: October 2025, Hope College

The Anchor: 2025

The Anchor began in 1887 and was first issued weekly in 1914. Covering national and campus news alike, Hope College’s student-run newspaper has grown over the years to encompass over two-dozen editors, reporters, and staff. For much of The Anchor's history, the latest issue was distributed across campus each Wednesday throughout the academic school year (with few exceptions). In recent years The Anchor moved to monthly print issues and a more frequently updated website. The Anchor is now published in print twice per academic semester. Occasionally, the volume and/or issue numbering is irregular.

Chemistry And Biochemistry Affiliated Publications: Snapshot Of The Research Publications 2019-2024., Jeremy J. Smith, Lutishoor Salisbury

University Libraries Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report highlights the chemistry and biochemistry faculty publications for the period 2019-2024. It includes tables identifying the types of publications, the characteristics of the authors, inter-departmental and external cooperation, summary of the citations of the publications, and the JCR ranking of the journals in which they published.

Examining The City Of Philadelphia’S Proposition Bill #250768 “Stop Trashing Our Air Act” By Addressing Waste Management And Environmental Justice Challenges In Chester City, Pennsylvania And The Philadelphia Region, Dylan Wascavage

Student Publications

This paper offers a policy analysis of the City of Philadelphia’s "Stop Trashing Our Air Act" by summarizing the reasoning for the bill's call to action, its legislative background, identifying key players and their strategies, and how these strategies reflect philosophies of environmental governance and the policy cycle. It seeks to inform local community members and policymakers of the implications of this bill, to highlight the lack of state and federal intervention on this issue, and to address the environmental justice and pollution concerns of the Covanta waste incinerator in Chester City and its neighboring communities. It also aims to …

2025 October, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for October of 2025.

Weak Identification Of Long Memory With Implications For Volatility Modeling;, Jia Li, Peter C. B. Phillips, Shuping Shi, Jun Yu

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper explores implications of weak identification in common ‘long memory’ and recent ‘rough’ approaches to modeling volatility dynamics of financial assets. We unveil an asymptotic near-observational equivalence between a long memory model with weak autoregressive dynamics and a rough model with a near-unit autoregressive root. Standard methods struggle to distinguish them, and conventional asymptotics are invalid. We propose an identification-robust approach to construct confidence sets that reveal the uncertainty and aid inference. Empirical studies based on realized volatility and trading volume often fail to statistically reject either model, thereby providing evidence of their potential coexistence.

Unpacking Singapore's Leasehold Relativity Table: An Empirical And Legal Analysis, Koon Shing Kwong, Jing Rong Goh, Seng Wei, Edward Ti

Research Collection School Of Economics

In Singapore, most land is state-owned, with the state generally issuing leasehold estates via state leases of not more than 99 years1, depending on the intended land use. Naturally, the value of a leasehold estate, which erodes over time as the lease approaches the end of its term, is a key component of the premium charged for lease renewals, or the tax imposed for permission given in relation to a development that would increase the value of the land. By law, the state valuation of leasehold land is prescribed by a leasehold relativity table colloquially known as ‘Bala’s Curve’ or …

Wildfire Emergency Response And Evacuation Framework Using Drones: Phase I, Hovannes Kulhandjian

Mineta Transportation Institute

Wildfires are escalating in frequency and severity due to climate change, posing increasing threats to human life, infrastructure,and ecosystems. Traditional wildfire management systems struggle to respond effectively to rapidly evolving fire conditions. This research presents a novel, AI-powered Wildfire Emergency Response and Evacuation Framework that integrates autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, AKA “drones”), multi-sensor data fusion, and machine learning (ML) for real-time fire detection, evacuation planning, and search and rescue (SAR) operations. Central to the system is the Dynamic Wildfire Response Algorithm (DWRA), a hybrid decision-making framework combining AI-driven techniques including reinforcement learning (RL), genetic algorithms (GA), and deep learning …

Parent Perspectives On Contemporary Adolescent Concerns, Allyson Worthy

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescence is a critical developmental period that marks the transition between childhood and adulthood. Psychopathology is known to emerge during this time, in which many internalizing and externalizing disorders have their onset. The assessment of adolescent psychopathology involves use of questionnaire measures to obtain perspectives from the adolescent themselves, their parents, and their teachers. Parents have been found to be especially important informants of adolescent functioning. With new challenges that arise for present-day adolescents (e.g., social media use), parents can provide insight into the different areas that need to be evaluated when assessing domains of contemporary adolescents’ development and psychopathology. …

Juxtaposing Approaches To Risk-Based Ai Governance In Different ‘Rights’ Contexts: A Comparative Analysis Between Singapore And The Eu, Jane Loo, Mark Findlay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Comparative analysis of European and certain Asian approaches to governance often degenerates into simplistic dichotomies based on universal human rights assumptions. This chapter rejects such dualities, ill-informed by theory and historical reflection. The emerging argument is founded on a historical realist approach to theorising difference. Assisted by Polanyi’s double movement, the detailed substantive comparison is preceded by considerations of how recent trends in governing AI have uniformly adopted a countermovement against the dis-embedding of data and technology from the social leading to a risk/responsibility paradigm. From here, a more nuanced reflection of AI governance approaches in the EU and Singapore …

Early Signs The Eu Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism Is Reshaping Eu-India Steel Trade, Gian Luca Vriz, Theodor Florian Cojoianu, Carolyn Fischer, Luca Taschini

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This study examines early signals of the EU CBAM's impact on iron and steel exporters from India by integrating firm-level export data with third-party estimates of manufacturers' emissions and production. Changes in trade flows and pricing during the CBAM reporting phase indicate that high-emission-intensity firms have decreased both their average unit prices and shipment sizes to the EU, while low-emission-intensity firms have not changed shipment behavior and may have benefited from increasing prices. Such supply chain adjustments are in line with EU policy intentions, creating opportunities for low-emission producers while reducing reliance on high-emission suppliers to the EU.

Hlcg: A Hierarchical Lane-Changing Gaming Decision Model For Heterogeneous Traffic Flow On Two-Lane Highways, Tianyi Wang, Chong He, Hao Li, Yixuan Li, Yiming Xu, Yangyang Wang, Junfeng Jiao

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Discretionary lane-changing behavior is one of the most common highway operations, which seriously affects traffic efficiency and safety. Nowadays, connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) are advancing rapidly, though not yet fully widespread. As a result, a mixed traffic environment with traditional human-driven vehicles (HDVs) and CAVs will persist for the foreseeable future. To achieve effective automatic lane-changing maneuvers, it’s necessary to propose a lane-changing decision model for heterogeneous traffic flow on two-lane highways. This paper firstly extends longitudinal car-following models based on the intelligent driver model and lateral lane-changing models using quintic polynomial curves to accommodate heterogeneous traffic flow, and …

Studying Topic Evolution Based On Bertopic Model And Semantic Function, Jiabin Qu, Mengyang Wang

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance] Topic evolution analysis can help researchers quickly grasp the research hotspots and development trends of a discipline. However, existing topic models often overlook the semantic functions and structures of texts during topic extraction, making it difficult to reveal the deeper patterns of disciplinary development. This paper proposes an integrated framework for topic evolution analysis that combines the BERTopic model with semantic functions, aiming to enrich and improve the methodological system of topic evolution research.

[Method/process] Firstly, the BERTopic model is used to extract topics, obtaining the“Topic-Word”distribution. Next, a discourse parsing tool analyzes abstracts into five semantic function segments, resulting …

Cwu's Electronic Waste Management: A Success Story In Sustainable Practice, Srijita Gurung

Journal of the Symposium of University Research and Creative Expression

Project Mentor(s): Susan Rivera, PhD; Kevin Lomax

Purpose: This research examines how Central Washington University (CWU) manages electronic waste (e-waste) to promote economic, environmental, and equitable sustainability practices. In February 2024, Computer Support Services (CSS) started a computer reconciliation project, which is vital due to the Windows 10 operating system going end of life after October 14, 2025, and no longer receiving software support. This project tracks and documents the life of electronic assets, with a focus on the role of Surplus and IT Asset Disposal (ITAD) companies. Method: The primary research methods involve interviews, and online research of active …

Innovation Within Sustainable Technologies: The Future Of Energy Conserving Hardware In Data Centers, Brooke Cruz

Journal of the Symposium of University Research and Creative Expression

Project Mentor(s): Susan Rivera, PhD

The US is confronting a growing energy demand crisis, with analysts projecting a 2.4% rise in data center energy consumption by 2030. Data centers are major energy consumers, with primary usage concentrated in IT equipment and extensive cooling systems. While Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) remains the leading metric for assessing energy efficiency, it is limited to assessing total facility energy and IT energy use without accounting for environmental and social impacts. Supplementary metrics of data center energy consumption include Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) and Carbon Usage Effectiveness (CUE), which measure water use and carbon emissions, …

Investigating The Market Dynamics Of Aeroponically Cultivated Products With Delay, Pulak Kundu, Uzzwal Kumar Mallick

Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Simulation with Applications

Aeroponically grown potatoes offer higher yields and year-round production but often face delayed market entry due to high setup costs, technical barriers, and logistical challenges. A delay-based mathematical model has been newly proposed in this study to analyze the dynamics of demand, supply, and pricing for aeroponically grown products. The model’s existence, stability, and sensitivity have been investigated analytically, and numerical simulations have been carried out using the Runge-Kutta 4th order method with the dde23 solver. Findings reveal that market stability is maintained when delays are below seven years, but delays beyond this threshold lead to persistent fluctuations in price, …

Near Real-Time Monitoring Reveals Extensive Recent Forest Disturbance In Ghana’S Protected Areas, Luofan Dong, Xiaojing Tang, Foster Mensah, Bashara Ahmed Abubakari, Kelsee H. Bratley, Pontus Olofsson, Curtis E. Woodcock

Faculty Scholarship

The Protected Areas (PAs) in Ghana play a critical role in preserving the abundant biodiversity of the West Africa Green Belt. But recent changes in policies and regulations have facilitated logging and mining activities, which have accelerated forest disturbances. While there is a consensus that PAs are undergoing destructive change, the extent, rate, and locations of forest disturbances are undocumented. In this study, we applied the fusion near real-time (FNRT) algorithm that utilizes Landsat, Sentinel-1, and Sentinel-2 data and sampling to monitor forests in the PAs of Ghana. The results reveal that 704.74 (±177.24) km2 of forest in the PAs …