Digital Commons Network^™

The Burden Of Artificiality: Always The Servant, Never The Patron, Alia Biswas

Scripps Senior Theses

I examine three robots in Science Fiction, Data from the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, David from the movie A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, and Deckard from the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to examine how they are analogous to marginalized bodies. I analyze how the marginalization of robots works to disorient robots so their labor can be extracted, as I focus through their embodiment of a happy object, and how their desire is directed towards the narrative of the good life, the myth that a happy life is achieved through adhering to heteronormativity. I use heteronormativity as …

Esg Scores As A Measure Of Risk: The Relationship Between Environmental, Social, And Corporate Governance Ratings And The Financial Performance Of U.S. Oil And Gas Companies, Lauren Kim

Scripps Senior Theses

This study investigates the association between ESG (environmental, social, corporate governance) scores on the financial performance of U.S. oil and gas companies, an industry facing significant ESG-related pressures. ESG scores evaluate a firm’s environmental impacts, social responsibility, and corporate governance practices and can be used as a form of evaluating a firm’s risk mitigation efforts. However, there is not sufficient evidence to conclude that there exists a relationship, positive or negative, between ESG scores and firm performance in this industry. Overall, the findings of this study highlight the growing interest in ESG investing and is useful for investors and firms …

Interpersonal Emotions As Emergent Phenomena: Social Neuroscience Beyond Western Cultural Constructions, Kaitlyn Penchina

Scripps Senior Theses

Because science as it exists today is a cultural construction of the West, studies of neuroscience have often been limited by Western perspectives. In particular, the Western proclivity towards individualism has led to a field of neuroscience which has historically focused on studying single individuals, as opposed to social or collective neuroscience. For the most part, it has just been assumed that collective phenomena such as interpersonal emotions must be able to be reduced in terms of individual phenomena such as individual emotions. However, closer review reveals that interpersonal emotions have emergent properties that individual emotions alone do not account …

Overzealous: The Harm Caused By Parental And Administrative Censorship Of Books In An Intellectually Free Education, Tyler Engel

Outstanding Gateway Papers

Books and their ideas are such a fundamental part of our learning culture. Despite this fact, many books, some of our best books, have been banned in schools and communities across the world for the controversial, uncomfortable, necessary ideas they contain. Parents, school administration, and state legislatures often go to great lengths to police these ideas within the classroom, limiting what teachers can actually teach within their classrooms and the ideas that students come into contact with. This practice is harmful, and we as a country need to normalize the reading of banned books so that students can engage diverse …

Prairie Roots Run Deep: A Geologically Grounded History Of Elk Horn, Iowa, Warren Watson

The Bridge

Clay Township is located in the southeast corner of Shelby County, Iowa. It is made up of thirty-six one-mile square sections. The top tier of sections one through six are somewhat larger due to a surveying correction. It was one of the last townships in Shelby County to be settled. The first settlers were drawn to the northeast corner of Shelby County in the late 1840s and early 1850s. Once a Dane got a foothold in Clay Township in the 1860s, the area became populated quickly. It was eventually settled by the largest contingent of Danes in America. This is …

Jutland Goes Global (But Not Haywire): An Autobiographical View Of Danish Business Culture, Poul Houe

The Bridge

This essay—or review article, if you will—continues where my presentation at the October 2013 DAHS Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, left off.1 Much like its precursor, the present text is about innovation originating from Thy (and other regions of Jutland), but unlike the earlier piece, which dealt with three innovators ranging from the early to late nineteenth century and from spiritual to material domains of culture, the following discussion will be about more recent achievements by one individual in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Moreover, the window on Danish culture at large—its spiritual dimension and Danishness not least—that …

Beyond The Toolbox: Values-Based Models Of Mediation Practice, Robert A. Baruch Bush

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article argues that mediators are following distinct models of practice that are significantly different from each other, and that each model is itself internally coherent and integrated. In other words, within each model the mediator’s purpose, practices, and premises are all consistent and congruent; and when comparing each model to the others, these three levels are not only different but incompatible. Yet, although these models and their differences are recognized in the literature and identifiable in practice, many mediators and policymakers do not clearly acknowledge them; even more, they are often discounted and ignored. For example, proposals have been …

From Smallpox To Covid-19: Social And Legal Responses To Vaccinations And Vaccine Mandates, Janet L. Dolgin

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Religious Freedom And The Business Corporation, Ronald J. Colombo

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

This book chapter examines the issue of corporate religious liberty in four parts. Part 1 provides a brief overview of the history of the business corporation in the United States, with a focus on conceptualisations of its nature. Part 2 discusses religious liberty jurisprudence in the United States in general, and Part 3 discusses corporate assertions of religious liberty in particular. Part 4 points out the cognitive dissonance of a society that simultaneously embraces a robust understanding of corporate social responsibility yet an enervated appreciation of corporate religious liberty rights.

Wireless Investors & Apathy Obsolescence, Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci, Christina M. Sautter

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article discusses how a subgenre of retail investors makes investors' apathy obsolete. In prior work, we dub retail investors who rely on technology and online communications in their investing and corporate governance endeavors "wireless investors." By applying game theory, this Article discusses how wireless investors' global-scale online interactions allow them to circulate information and coordinate, obliterating collective action problems.

Textbook Affordability Initiatives And Open Educational Resources: Complementary Or Competing Approaches To A Persistent Problem?, Anne Shelley, Rachel E. Scott

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This presentation investigates library support for textbook affordability initiatives and Open Educational Resources (OER) to consider the relative opportunities and limitations of both approaches. The literature has shown that the cost of textbooks—which has increased far beyond the rate of inflation—can be an obstacle to student success, especially for students from underrepresented groups. By sharing findings from published literature and results from focus groups and interviews conducted with teaching faculty, the speakers highlight both the incentives faculty have to collaborate with librarians to address the increasing costs of assigned materials as well as the challenges they face in adopting an …

Wikipedia Pages For Underrepresented Archivists: Creating Representation Through An Saa Foundation Grant-Funded Documentation Project, Stephanie Collier, April Anderson-Zorn

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

In spring 2019, university archivist April Anderson-Zorn and special formats cataloger Eric Willey, both at Illinois State University (ISU), submitted a grant request to the Society of American Archivists (SAA) Foundation. The team requested funds to hire an ISU graduate student to create content for Wikipedia pages for underrepresented archivists. The grant aimed to fill a content gap on the site by including the biographies of female, Black, LGBTQ+, and other underrepresented archivists to highlight their accomplishments in the profession. With the help of graduate student Stephanie Collier, the project surpassed its original goal of fifteen pages, with over forty …

Privately-Owned Versus Shared Automated Vehicle: The Roles Of Utilitarian And Hedonic Beliefs, Fatemeh Nazari, Yellitza Soto, Mohamadhossein Noruzoliaee

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Transportation systems will be likely transformed by the emergence of automated vehicles (AVs) promising for safe, convenient, and efficient mobility, especially if used in shared systems (shared AV or SAV). However, the potential tendency is observed towards owning AV as a private asset rather than using SAV. This calls for a research on investigating individuals’ attitude towards AV in comparison with SAV to recognize the barriers to the public’s tendency towards SAV. To do so, the present study proposes a modeling framework based on the theories in behavioral psychology to explain individuals’ preference for owning AV over using SAV, built …

Harnessing The Potential Of Fibrous Polyester Composites Meant For Bioactive Medical Devices, Graciela Morales, Heriberto Rodríguez-Tobías, Victoria Padilla-Gainza, Karen Lozano, Daniel Grande

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Fibrous-based composite polyester mats have gained importance in the biomedical area due to their morphological characteristics and mechanical performance. These materials can be modified by incorporating different inorganic micro- or nano-particles, thus leading to promising potential applications as medical devices with antimicrobial and/or bioactive properties. In this regard, this chapter reports a compilation of different studies related to the development of sub-micron fibers based on two important polyesters for biomedical use, namely poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and poly(lactic acid). Studies focus on fibers developed through hydrodynamic techniques, namely electrospinning, electrospraying, and centrifugal spinning. The incorporation of zinc oxide or hydroxyapatite on the polyester-based …

Validated Assessment Tools For Screen Media Use: A Systematic Review, Oriana Perez, Tatyana Garza, Olivia Hindera, Alicia Beltran, Salma M Musaad, Tracey Dibbs, Anu Singh, Shria Chug, Amy Sisson, Anil Kumar Vadathya, Tom Baranowski, Teresia M O'Connor

Library Staff Publications

OBJECTIVE: Accurate measurement of adult and child screen media use are needed to robustly assess its impact on health outcomes. Our objective was to systematically review screen media use measurement tools that have been validated against an objective "gold standard" tool.

METHODS: The search strategy was initially conducted in Medline Ovid and translated to Embase, Web of Science, PsychInfo and Cochrane. A modified natural language search was conducted in Google Scholar and IEEE. The initial search was conducted in March 2021, and an updated search was conducted in June 2022. Additional studies were included from the references. Studies had to …

Creating Museum Curriculum: Enslaved People’S Contributions To Textile And Apparel Production C. 1775-1865, Stephanie Neilitz

Open Access Master's Theses

The United States continues to address the effects of institutional racism and microaggressions aimed towards Black Americans as a direct result of the kidnapping enslavement of African people since 1619 combined with the conservative backlash against any teaching materials honestly representing this legacy. The aim of this study is to create museum curriculum to assist in teaching students about enslaved people’s contributions to textile production circa 1775 to 1865 using Culturally Responsive Teaching Pedagogy (CRP). Primary source documents were collected and analyzed for inclusion. Current museum professionals were interviewed on best practices for teaching about difficult subjects and how interpretation …

Intrinsic And Extrinsic Sensing For Health Monitoring Of O-Ring Seals, James Michael Morris

Open Access Master's Theses

The purpose of the thesis was to establish a methodology for designing and implementing an intrinsic sensing approach to monitor the health of polymeric seals. The experimental design and modeling presented within was the basis for optical sensing of polymers, although the quantification of properties and results will depend on the polymer used. The optical properties of translucent polymers were investigated as a function of plasma-exposure time, and the optical property changes were used for sensing. Light intensity was calculated theoretically and experimentally verified for two translucent polymers across the visible spectrum (400 - 700 nm) at different incident angles.

Historical And Technical Analysis Of A Baltimore Album Quilt Top, Susan E. Day

Open Access Master's Theses

Almost 200 years after their creation, quilts in the Baltimore Album style continue to fascinate scholars and collectors. They encompass the most intricate of appliqué designs accomplished with sophisticated skills. Their designers remain little-known. A previously unresearched and unfinished Baltimore Album Quilt top is described and analyzed. It is compared to three other historic Baltimore Album Quilts from museum collections, all inscribed and dated between 1845 and 1850, all originating from northern Baltimore County, Maryland, and all interrelated through designs or inscriptions.

Research questions address the maker(s) of the top, the identity and circumstances of the intended recipient, and the …

Assessing Well-Being Impacts Of Sargassum Events In Puerto Rico, Patricia Valentin

Open Access Master's Theses

Since 2011, Sargassum events have become larger and more recurrent in Puerto Rico and appear to have come to stay. While some studies have described economic and ecological impacts on the archipelago, studies of Sargassum impact on human well-being are lacking. However, in the context of Puerto Rico, only a few studies have been conducted in terms of general impacts of sargassum events and its management. Puerto Rico, like most territories of the region, lacks an efficient strategy for sargassum management. Currently, only one set of protocols or guidelines has been produced since sargassum accumulations have become an issue for …

Green Nation: State Forestry And Its Failures In The Atlantic Pyrenees, 1827-1848, Timothy R. Jarvis

Open Access Master's Theses

This thesis argues that state forestry programs in nineteenth-century France failed to produce adequate conservation systems, resulting in the devastation of the natural world. After the revolutionary era, a highly centralized and technocratic state attempted to solve old environmental problems with modernized solutions. This tension between old and new ways of thinking reached a watershed moment during the middle of the nineteenth century, when Romantic and Enlightenment worldviews clashed within the environmental theater of state forestry. This confrontation radically transformed how the French perceived and interacted with nature. Concepts such as radical empiricism, biological evolution, and natural theology became cultural …

Transition-Denial And Structural Adjustment: Causation And Culpability In The Cuban Economy, José Gabilondo

FIU Law Review

In 2020, Cuba implemented the Tarea Ordenamiento (Tarea), the most significant economic reform since the construction of the socialist economy after the Revolution. Signaling an eclectic brand of Cuban socialism, the Tarea clears away three decades of tried and failed economic doctrines, drawing a new fiscal border around state enterprises, nodding to market realities, and preparing the island for greater insertion into the world economy. While the political economy of post-Castro Cuba has changed in this way, the United States continues to subject the island to an unprecedented program of unilateral sanctions, universally condemned as a breach of human rights, …

The Ethical Implications Of Dall-E: Opportunities And Challenges, Kai-Qing Zhou, Hatem Nabus

Mesopotamian Journal of Computer Science

Artificial intelligence (AI) images, like those produced by DALL-E, have seen explosive growth in the past several years and have the potential to disrupt numerous markets. While the technology offers exciting opportunities for creativity and innovation, it also raises important ethical considerations that must be addressed. These ethical implications include issues related to bias and discrimination, privacy, job displacement, and unintended consequences. To mitigate these challenges, a multi-disciplinary approach is needed, including the development of effective regulations and governance frameworks, the creation of unbiased algorithms, responsible data management practices, and educational and training programs. Additionally, encouraging ethical discussions and debates …

Machine Learning Application On Employee ‎Promotion, Muhannad Ilwani, Ghalia Nassreddine, Joumana Younis

Mesopotamian Journal of Computer Science

Any company's most valuable asset, its workforce, is its employees. As a result, the company's primary goal should be to develop an excellent strategy for supporting and investing in its employees and staff by providing the best training and development. Employee Promotion denotes the advancement of an employee's rank. It raises the salary, position, duties, and benefits. It is a part of the job that propels employees to the highest commitment and loyalty to their organizations. Employee morale and loyalty are two critical components of any successful business. Employee promotion is the key to improving employee performance and engagement. It …

Solidarity Tourism: A Pathway To Revitalising The Health Of Vulnerable War-Affected Populations?, Jun Wen, Fangli Hu, Danni Zheng, Ian Phau, Metin Kozak, Haifeng Hou, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The struggles of war are felt by all who occupy an affected region (and beyond), irrespective of whether they are in active combat. This experience has physical effects (e.g. injury, illness, malnutrition, disability, sexual violence, and/or death) and emotional impacts (e.g. posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety) [1-3]. The terror associated with war disrupts lives and relationships, leaving individuals, families, and communities distressed. Due to such immediate and long-term adverse outcomes, war represents a highly destructive and enduring public health emergency [4]. . . .

Mitigating Implicit Bias And Promoting Compassionate Behavior In Public Health/Healthcare Professionals: Implications For Treatment Outcomes, Lon J. Van Winkle, Shane L. Rogers, Marta J. Brooks, Bianca B. Calderon, Nicole Michels

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Partly because it is unconscious, managing implicit bias in public health/healthcare remains intractable. Hence, administrators, practitioners, and their students unknowingly discriminate against others especially including socioeconomically disadvantaged people in the US and elsewhere. . . .

Commentary: A Novel And Effective Ecg Method To Differentiate Right From Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Arrhythmias: Angle-Corrected V2s, Zhuoqiao He, Ming Liu, Xuerui Tan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This commentary builds on the recently published original paper of Qiu et al. (1). The most common origin of premature ventricular complexes and ventricular tachycardias of patients in the absence of structural heart disease is the right and left ventricular outflow tracts (RVOT/LVOT). Catheter ablation (CA) has been an effective method for outflow tract ventricular arrhythmias (OTVAs) (2). It is necessary to predict the origin of OTVAs before CA for choosing the procedural strategy, reducing complications, and saving the operation time (3, 4). Qiu et al. presented a novel electrocardiogram (ECG) algorithm, “cardiac rotation-corrected” angle-corrected V2S (hereafter, V2S angle), to …

Men And Women Differ In Their Interest And Willingness To Participate In Exercise And Sports Science Research, James L. Nuzzo, Robert O. Deaner

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Unequal proportions of male and female participants in exercise research might be attributed, in part, to differences in interest and willingness to participate. We tested if men and women are equally interested and willing to undergo exercise research procedures and if they consider different factors when deciding to participate. Two samples completed an online survey. Sample 1 (129 men, 227 women) responded to advertisements on social media and survey-sharing websites. Sample 2 (155 men, 504 women) was comprised of undergraduate psychology students. In both samples, men were significantly more interested to learn their muscle mass amount, running speed, jump height, …

Occurrence Of High-Risk Clonal Lineages St58, St69, St224, And St410 Among Extended-Spectrum-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia Coli Isolated From Healthy Free-Range Chickens (Gallus Gallus Domesticus) In A Rural Region In Tunisia, Saloua Benlabidi, Anis Raddaoui, Sana Lengliz, Sarah Cheriet, Paul Hynds, Wafa Achour, Taoufik Ghrairi, Mohamed Salah Abbassi Salah Abbassi

Articles

Antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli isolates have emerged in various ecologic compartments and evolved to spread globally. We sought to (1.) investigate the occurrence of ESBL-producing E. coli (ESBL-Ec) in feces from free-range chickens in a rural region and (2.) characterize the genetic background of antimicrobial resistance and the genetic relatedness of collected isolates. Ninety-five feces swabs from free-range chickens associated with two households (House 1/House 2) in a rural region in northern Tunisia were collected. Samples were screened to recover ESBL-Ec, and collected isolates were characterized for phenotype/genotype of antimicrobial resistance, integrons, and molecular typing (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus …

Fostering Spatial Ability Development In And For Authentic Stem Learning, Caiwei Zhu, Chloe Oi-Ying Leung, Eleni Lagoudaki, Mariana Velho, Natalia Segura-Caballero, Dietsje Jolles, Gavin Duffy, Gunter Maresch, Marianna Pagkratidou, Remke Klapwijk

Articles

Empirical interdisciplinary research has explored the role of spatial ability in STEM learning and achievement. While most of this research indicates that fostering spatial thinking in educational contexts has the potential to positively impact students’ enrollment and performance in STEM subjects, there is less agreement on the best approach to do so. This article provides an overview of various types of effective spatial interventions and practices in formal or informal educational contexts, including targeted training of STEM-relevant spatial skills, spatialized curricula embedded in schools, integrated STEM practices addressing students’ use of spatial skills, and spatial activities in informal STEM education. …

An Exploration Of Institutional And Personal Barriers To Online Academic Engagement At A Brazilian University, Cinthia Bittencourt Spricigo, Bárbara Maria Camilotti, Charles R. Graham, Ruth Baptista

Faculty Publications

The recent global pandemic has raised institutional awareness around the world concerning the importance of having high quality online learning options for students. Learner engagement is often correlated with quality outcomes such as student academic success and student satisfaction. Learner engagement is commonly thought of as having three important dimensions: affective engagement, behavioral engagement, and cognitive engagement (ACE framework). Engagement is also enabled or limited by facilitators/barriers. Three important categories of facilitators/barriers are learner characteristics, personal environment, and course environment. Elements in each of these three areas enable or are barriers to students fully engaging in a course. This research …