Digital Commons Network^™

A Mixed Methods Exploration Of Occupational Therapy Pratice And Multiple Sclerosis Specialization, Dana Alghadban

Theses and Dissertations--Rehabilitation Sciences

The aim of this dissertation is to increase the body of research of how occupational therapists can address multiple sclerosis rehabilitation through occupational therapy services. Multiple sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease that creates challenges for individuals to engage in meaningful occupations and significantly affects many areas of their lives. Occupational therapists play a role in the rehabilitation process for people with multiple sclerosis by providing occupation-focused interventions that may improve the health and well-being of clients living with the disease. As a result of the unpredictability of symptoms experienced by this population, individualized approaches to addressing participation and occupational performance …

Hydrogen Law And Policy Initiatives In The United States, Joel B. Eisen

Law Faculty Publications

The article discusses key US federal developments in hydrogen policy, including tax credits and significant funding for hydrogen hubs. Despite hydrogen's potential for decarbonization, establishing a hydrogen economy in the US requires overcoming production challenges and addressing legal, technological, and economic hurdles. Concerns persist regarding public acceptance and effectiveness in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with energy justice goals.

Zircon Luminescence Dating Re-Visited, C. Schmidt, T. Halter, P.R. Hanson, A. Ulianov, B. Putlitz, G. E. King, S. Kreutzer

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Media Conglomeration, Local News, And Capital Market Consequences, Travis Dyer, Mark Lang, Jun Oh

Faculty Publications

We examine the effect of news media consolidation on local business coverage and its consequences for firms, investors, and capital markets. Using television transcripts, we find a substantial drop in coverage of local firms following the consolidation of local television stations associated with Sinclair acquisitions. Local information search, institutional portfolio local bias, and overall retail trading decrease for firms in treated geographic areas. Results are most pronounced for small firms, for stations with higher ex ante viewership, and for stations with greater reductions in local coverage. Our results provide insight into the consequences of media consolidation for local business coverage, …

Divergent Responses Of Nitrogen-Species Loadings To Future Climate Change In The Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Zihao Bian, Shufen Pan, Raymond G. Najjar, Marjorie A.M. Friedrichs, Eileen E. Hofmann, Maria Herrmann, Kyle E. Hinson, Pierre St.-Laurent, Hanqin Tian

CCPO Publications

Study region: Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Study focus: Climate plays a critical role in regulating N loading from terrestrial ecosystems to coastal waters and further affecting the health and functioning of coastal ecosystems. However, the sensitivities of riverine exports of different N species to climate change have rarely been investigated. This study examines the response of riverine exports of ammonia (NH₄⁺), nitrate (NO₃^-), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), and particulate organic nitrogen (PON) to future changes in precipitation and temperature. A suite of climate forcings was used to drive a processbased terrestrial-aquatic model, DLEM (Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model), …

Infrastructural (Dis)Entitlement: Tactics Of Dispossession On The Critical Minerals Frontier, Dayna Nadine Scott

Articles & Book Chapters

In Ontario’s far north, settler state authorities and extractive firms are engaged in coordinated tactics to gain ground amid a polarization in the positions of Indigenous leadership. Alongside a surging resistance, we also witness a resigned acceptance of critical minerals mining by some First Nations. Drawing on years of community engaged research, I detail here the contemporary tactics of “infrastructural (dis)entitlement:” in this dynamic, infrastructural needs are both denied and fulfilled to differential effect. Infrastructural disentitlement is passive; it is not necessarily deliberate, nor is it politically or institutionally organized. But infrastructural entitlement is strategic and aggressive: Indigenous prosperity and …

Factors Influencing Household Travel Behavior And Trip Distances In Florida: A Rural Vs. Urban Perspective, Kadeem Lafargue

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates disparities in travel behaviors between rural and urban populations in the United States, with a specific focus on Florida. Leveraging data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), the study examines demographic factors such as age, income, and household size, and their influence on travel patterns. By employing statistical methods including Poisson and negative binomial regression models, the research explores two key variables: the frequency of trips made per day and the average trip distance in miles. These models are particularly effective in handling overdispersion in count data, ensuring a robust analysis of travel behaviors across …

The Intersection Of Asset Management And Geographic Information Systems For University Facilities Maintenance, Andrew Westerlund Beland

Masters in GIS Practicum Reports

This project describes a proof of concept for developing a digital asset management system dashboard for water backflow assemblies at Portland State University (PSU) using a modified ESRI ArcGIS Online backflow solution. Asset management is crucial for optimizing the lifecycle of tangible assets, which ensures cost-effective operational efficiency and regulatory compliance. PSU manages over 250 backflow assemblies spread across the 50-acre campus and has traditionally relied on manual processes, which can lead to inefficiencies and potential transcription errors.

The system links spatial data with asset attributes for backflow devices, enabling field staff to update inspection results directly from mobile devices. …

Annual Security Report For Calendar Year 2023, Illinois State University Police Department

Clery Act Annual Security Report

Illinois State University Police Department Annual Security Report

Effective Public Health Communication In A Post-Covid-19 America: Lessons From Behavioral Science, Molly J. Walker Wilson

Lewis & Clark Law Review

As we emerge from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are still reeling from the loss of life, the financial fallout, and the deep divide that continues to characterize our social and political institutions. Public health experts who were tasked with communicating facts and advice to the American public faced a daunting challenge, particularly because three distinct groups of Americans received messages differently. One group of Americans was receptive to scientific findings and amenable to taking recommended precautions. A second group was skeptical about the safety and efficacy of available vaccines, and genuinely confused or suspicious about the source …

Knowledge Commons Past, Present, And Future, Michael J. Madison

Lewis & Clark Law Review

The project now known as Governing Knowledge Commons, or GKC, was launched more than 15 years ago on the intuition that skepticism of intellectual property law and information exclusivity was grounded in anecdote and ideology rather than in empiricism. Structured, systematic, empirical research on mechanisms of knowledge sharing was needed. GKC aimed to help scholars produce it. Over multiple books, case studies, and other work, the scope of GKC has expanded considerably, from innovation to governance; from invention and creativity to data, privacy, and markets; and from social dilemmas focused on things to governance strategies directed to communities and collectives. …

Networked To Work?: An Analysis Of A Community College Workforce Development Program, Cynthia Finley, Kim E. Bullington, Mitchell Williams, David Ayers

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Barriers to education and training can have a generational impact on socioeconomic status and economic development. Post-traditional students have been shown to experience a variety of barriers to education and family sustaining employment. Social capital has been shown to help alleviate some of the barriers for students resulting in stronger economic outcomes, such job retention, and higher wages.

The purpose of this case study was to determine if the Network2Work model at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) can affect outcomes for students from low socio-economic backgrounds by comparing Network2Work outcomes to non-Network2Work noncredit industry training outcomes. The research compared outcome …

Bruen's Enforcement Puzzle: Unearthing And Adjudicating The Historical Enforcement Record In Second Amendment Cases, Andrew Willinger

Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen brings historical complexity to the fore by instituting a history-focused test for the Second Amendment that demands analogues from the Founding or Reconstruction eras to support modern gun regulations. The majority opinion in Bruen considers, in multiple places, how certain historical gun regulations may have been enforced. In each instance, the Court suggests that evidence of racially disparate enforcement of a historical law is relevant to whether that law is part of the American historical tradition and an appropriate analogue. Historical enforcement data appear to …

U.S. Public Perceptions Of The Sensitivity Of Brain Data, Shenyang Huang, Umika Paul, Shikhar Gupta, Karan Desai, Melinda Guo, Jennifer Jung, Beatrice Capestany, William D. Krenzer, Dylan Stonecipher, Nita A. Farahany

Faculty Scholarship

As we approach an era of potentially widespread consumer neurotechnology, scholars and organizations worldwide have started to raise concerns about the data privacy issues these devices will present. Notably absent in these discussions is empirical evidence about how the public perceives that same information. This article presents the results of a nationwide survey on public perceptions of brain data, to inform discussions of law and policy regarding brain data governance. The survey reveals that the public may perceive certain brain data as less sensitive than other ‘private’ information, like social security numbers, but more sensitive than some ‘public’ information, like …

Factors That Lead To The Adoption Of Alternative Energy Options In Developing Nations, Anna Bukina

Theses

Environmental degradation and climate change are pressing issues nowadays. While developed nations have been improving their current energy trends by implementing alternative energy options, developing nations are falling behind and still significantly contributing to the degradation of the planet by emitting a significant amount of carbon emissions. The present study investigated the driving forces behind the deployment of renewable energy sources in developing nations. The methods of this study included utilizing data from multiple datasets on energy use worldwide for the year 2017 to create an original data set with randomly selected thirty developing countries. Regression analysis was conducted to …

A “War” Over Lobster And Whales: The Issue-Attention Cycle, Media Discourse, And Political Ecology Of Right Whale Science And Conservation In Six Us Newspapers, Marcus Reamer, Catherine Macdonald, Julia Wester, Russell Fielding, Meryl Shriver-Rice

Honors College Faculty Publications

News organizations and journalists are important and influential actors in environmental politics. Their reporting on social and environmental issues often follows issue-attention cycles (IACs) that emphasize drama and problematization to maintain public interest. This study examined nearly 13 years of news coverage to understand the media discourse about the Critically Endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW) and its conservation. Content analysis and critical discourse analysis were used to analyze 356 texts published in six large US newspapers between January 1, 2010 and March 15, 2023. NARW conservation and management received increased public attention and an IAC began in 2017 after …

Incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge In Integrated Science In Junior Secondary School Curriculum, Charles Oando Opole

Master of Education

Indigenous knowledge, developed over generations through direct interaction with the environment, offers unique perspectives on ecological systems, resource management, and sustainable practices. Integrating this rich knowledge into the science curriculum acknowledges traditional knowledge's cultural diversity and relevance, fostering a more comprehensive understanding of scientific phenomena, and encouraging collaboration between diverse knowledge systems. This study sought to explore incorporating traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) into the integrated science curriculum in junior secondary schools in Kenya, focusing on the Mbita sub-county, Homabay County. Utilizing a qualitative approach and a case study design, the study was conducted in five junior secondary schools. The findings …

Exploring Coping Strategies Employed By Headteachers In Managing Administrative Challenges In Public Junior Secondary Schools: A Case Study Of Selected Junior Secondary Schools In Rarieda Sub County In Kenya., Steve Biko Abudho

Master of Education

Junior secondary schools in kenya serve as crucial intermediaries between primary and secondary education, facilitating the transition of students from a foundational to a more specialized curriculum. Despite their significance, they face multifaceted administrative challenges that impede their effective operation and the successful implementation of the competency-based curriculum. Research that has examined the coping strategies these administrators employ to effectively handle the multiple difficulties encountered in their roles is scanty. This qualitative study therefore sought to delve into administrative challenges faced by the headteachers of Junior secondary schools in Rarieda sub- county in kenya and the coping mechanisms and strategies …

Voter Approval Of Bond Referendums: The Role Of Bond Amount And Ballot Characteristics, Andrew Bechard, Corey Lang, Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics Faculty Publications

Municipal and state governments are often constitutionally bound to ask voters to approve new government debt through voting on bond referendums. Generally, politicians expect voters to balk at higher-cost bonds and be more willing to approve lower-cost bonds. However, there is minimal research on how the amount of a bond affects voter support. We implement a survey experiment that presents respondents with hypothetical ballots, in which the cost of proposed bonds, the number of bonds on the ballot, and the order in which they are presented, are all randomized. Our results suggest that support is not responsive to the amount …

Focusing The View: Improved Methods For Assessing Viewshed Impacts Of Onshore Wind Turbines, Luran Dong, Corey Lang, Jason R. Parent

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics Faculty Publications

Onshore wind turbine capacity continues to grow and will only accelerate, though siting can be challenging given community opposition. We apply the hedonic valuation method with residential property sales data to assess nearby residents’ willingness to pay to avoid having views of turbines from their property. In doing so, we aim to improve methods of assessing viewshed impacts for turbines and other amenities and disamenities that have a visual component. Our recommended viewshed approach uses a Digital Surface Model (DSM), which accounts for trees and buildings that obstruct views. For comparison, we also create viewsheds based on bare-earth Digital Elevation …

Beyond Medical Tourism: Pressured Exits And Global Health Justice, Medha D. Makhlouf

Faculty Scholarly Works

Too often, people living in the United States are compelled to take extreme measures to get the medical care they need. Most often, due to the cost, they delay or go without care. They also decline to fill prescriptions or take less medication than prescribed. Many rack up enormous debts to health care providers and other lenders. Others stand in long lines for free clinics, or they spend hours filling out applications for hospital financial assistance programs and gathering copious documentation to support them. Some people seek care from alternative providers or traditional healers because of cost concerns, while others …

Prosecuting Police, Guyora Binder, Anthony O'Rourke, Rick Su

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

Prosecutors face criticism for prosecuting too many minority members and too few police. Recently, some reformers have won prosecutorial elections by pledging to change these priorities. Yet scholars have identified two impediments to police prosecutions. First, county prosecutors often answer to suburban voters indifferent to the excesses of city police. Second, prosecutors depend on those police to investigate their cases and to endorse them as effective. This Article argues that the influence of residents and police on prosecutorial decisions depends on the political geography of a prosecutor’s office. As a result, whether a prosecutor’s office is “city-based,” “regional,” or “state-appointed” …

Forbidden Purposes: A New Path For Limiting Criminalization, Raff Donelson

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

Activists and scholars have often complained that the American criminal justice system makes choices about criminalization and sentences based on nefarious reasons. For instance, critics have claimed that criminalization and sentencing decisions are made to provide cheap prison labor to the government or private industry, to boost the private prison industry, to offer employment in rural communities in the form of jobs managing correctional facilities, or to empower police to harass undesirables and remove them from public spaces. These accusations are very alarming, and the evidence may not confirm activists’ worst suspicions. But, supposing the extraordinary evidence could be adduced, …

The Development Of A Well-Being Environment And Age-Friendly Communities Assessment Criteria Using The Analytic Hierarchy Process : A Case Of Thailand, Sujitra Jiravanichkul, Sarin Pinich, Atch Sreshthaputra, Trirat Jarutach

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

Assessment tools that promote well-being, widely used internationally, often focus on general populations, and lack specific indicators for older individuals, whose environmental needs differ from the general population. This paper presents a comprehensive approach to reviewing and selecting indicators necessary for creating community environments that enhance not only the well-being of people in general but also age-friendliness. The approach aligns with international standards while catering to the specific needs of Thailand. A methodology was employed to identify minimum standard indicators, carefully selected by a panel of 15 qualified experts from various fields. Subsequently, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique was …

Comparative Analysis Of Form And Compass Schools In Feng Shui Architecture, Yu Peng Huang, Pat Seeumpornroj

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

This study examines the relationship between different approaches to Feng Shui architecture, beginning with the origin of Feng Shui architecture in the Zhou and Qin Dynasties and the influence of Confucianism and Daoism. We then compare the Form and Compass Schools of Feng Shui architecture, providing insights into the design principles and spatial form analysis of traditional courtyard houses in Chaoshan and Beijing, China. This study emphasizes the need for a comprehensive understanding of Confucianist and Daoist principles in architectural practices and identifies their design criteria, safety factors, and sustainability aspects. DepthmapX software was used to analyze spaces of social …

Bs Public Health: Emergency Management & Disaster Preparedness To Baas Emergency Management, Public Health

Program Revisions/Additions

No abstract provided.

Legendrian Torus And Cable Links, Jennifer Dalton,, John B. Etnyre, Lisa Traynor

Mathematics Faculty Research and Scholarship

We give a classification of Legendrian torus links. Along the way, we give the first classification of infinite families of Legendrian links where some smooth symmetries of the link cannot be realized by Legendrian isotopies. We also give the first family of links that are non-destabilizable but do not have maximal Thurston-Bennequin invariant and observe a curious distribution of Legendrian torus knots that can be realized as the components of a Legendrian torus link. This classification of Legendrian torus links leads to a classification of transversal torus links.

We also give a classification of Legendrian and transversal cable links of …

Land For Whom? Diversity, Land Trusts, And Farmers And Gardeners From Marginalized Backgrounds In New England, U.S., Julie C. Keller, Blake Harrison, Corey Lang

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics Faculty Publications

Land trusts in the U.S. play an important role in preventing the loss of farmland to development. Farmers seeking affordable land may benefit from these conservation efforts. Yet the distribution of these benefits across farmer groups is unclear. This study asks: To what extent are land trusts meeting the needs of farmers and gardeners from marginalized backgrounds? Interviews with land trust staff and focus groups with marginalized farmers and gardeners in New England, USA reveal discrepancies in how diversity and land access are discussed. Access to adequate, affordable land was a serious concern among farmers and gardeners, yet few land …

"We Don’T Need No Ordination": Analysis Of The Discourse On Women’S Ordination In Latvian Online Media From 1999 To 2022, Emīls Zavelis, Sofija Anna Kozlova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This paper analyzes the discourse on women's ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (ELCL) as represented in Latvian online media from 1999 to 2022. The study combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies to examine the argumentative strategies employed by different discourse producers. The findings reveal significant differences in the use of gender equality concepts and other argumentative patterns between those in favor and those against women's ordination. These differences can be attributed to the distinct sociocultural contexts and epistemic grounds of the ELCL and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia Worldwide (ELCLW). The paper highlights the need for a …

Relationships Between Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon Pyrrhonota) And Feather Coloration, Morphological Characteristics, And Colony Size, Sonja M. Brandt

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Environmental stressors such as drought and roadways can strongly affect breeding birds. Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon Pyrrhonota) are aerial insectivores that experience mortality from car collisions, because they often nest and hunt under bridges and road culverts. Individual traits that may convey social information, such as body condition, or feather coloration, might be associated with better coping around cars and other environmental stressors. Few studies have investigated relationships between coloration and other environmental stressors, such as water loss due to drought near the colony and foraging areas. Colony size can be heavily affected by various environmental factors such as water level …