Digital Commons Network^™

Biophobia And Pet Ownership: Can Having A Pet Mitigate Our Fear And Aversion Towards Nature?, Alexia Barrable

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

Biophobia, which we defined as fear, disgust, or aversion toward natural environments or organisms, has received little empirical attention when compared to biophilia, despite its implications for human and planetary wellbeing. This mixed-methods study explores the relationship between pet ownership, biophobia, and nature connectedness among 373 English- speaking adults. Quantitative findings reveal that (M = 26.4) exhibit significantly lower levels of biophobia than non-pet owners (M = 30.1; U = 5179, Z = -2.95, p = .002, R = 0.27), although no significant differences in nature connectedness were found across pet ownership (U = 7033, Z = 0.31, p = …

Book Review Matthew Pearl’S Save Our Souls: The True Story Of A Castaway Family, Treachery, And Murder (2025). Ny: Harpercollins, Editorial Board

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

Like many works of the fiction genre Robinsonade (castaway drama and/or comedy on a deserted island or distant planet), Matthew Pearl’s well-researched narrative written in an authoritative archival prose, describes the actual fate of the Wandering Minstrel shipwreck and its survivors in 1887 in the Midway Atoll.

Interview With Dr. James Paruk, Editorial Board

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

Dr. Paruk is an associate professor in the Biology Department at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, in Standish, ME. He is a senior scientist at the Biodiversity Research Institute’s Loon Center for Conservation.

American Letters: H. L. Mencken, Editorial Board

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

American Letters: H. L. Mencken. From Prejudices (Fourth Series). 1924 NY: Alfred A Knopf XI. On The Nature of Man (1, pgs. 197, 198), The Animal That Thinks.

American Letters: Will Cuppy, Editorial Board

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

American Letters: Will Cuppy. From How to Become Extinct. 1941/1983 Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. How to Become Extinct (pgs. 102, 103) The Dodo

Bonding With Earth: Hyperbole, Metaphor, Or Fanciful Teleology?, George Conesa

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

At a mere glance, the notion that humans could (should strive for?) bond emotionally with an entire planet, Earth, sounds hyperbolic at best and psychologically unsound at worst. For although humans might be motivated to act in ways that pass for “bonding,” perhaps assisted by intentions and sentiments to care for a whole planet, the question remains: Which notion of Earth are they really investing all their emotions in? Important to psychologists would be to inquire whether incomplete, idealized, oversimplified, or fantastic notions of “Earth,” or bonding, turn out to be transference-love-like, platonic, overidealized forms of affect, which seldom develop …

Ptsd Symptoms Moderate Predictors Of Psychophysiological Arousal During Fear Inhibition: Evidence From A Fear, Reward, And Neutral Discrimination Task, Jacklynn M. Fitzgerald, E. Kate Webb, Kaley Davis, Meghan Bennett, Tristan Benjamin, Boiana Pegau, Susan Sangha

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

The ability to distinguish between threatening, rewarding, and neutral cues is adaptative and crucial for survival. However, individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often show poor knowledge of cue contingencies and heightened fear responses even in the presence of cues that signify safety, potentially due to atypical perceptions of neutral cues. We investigated whether perceiving neutral cues as more rewarding or threatening influences conditioned inhibition of fear and whether PTSD symptoms moderate this relationship. Trauma-exposed adults (N = 84; 64 % female; 76 % non-Hispanic white) completed a Fear, Reward, and Neutral Discrimination (FRND) Task involving geometric shapes paired with …

Setd2 Suppresses Tumorigenesis In A Krasg12c-Driven Lung Cancer Model, And Its Catalytic Activity Is Regulated By Histone Acetylation, Ricardo J Mack, Natasha M Flores, Geoffrey C Fox, Hanyang Dong, Metehan Cebeci, Simone Hausmann, Tourkian Chasan, Jill M Dowen, Brian D Strahl, Pawel K Mazur, Or Gozani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Histone H3 trimethylation at lysine 36 (H3K36me3) is a key chromatin modification that regulates fundamental physiological and pathological processes. In humans, SETD2 is the only known enzyme that catalyzes H3K36me3 in somatic cells and is implicated in tumor suppression across multiple cancer types. While there is considerable crosstalk between the SETD2-H3K36me3 axis and other epigenetic modifications, much remains to be understood. Here, we show that Setd2 functions as a potent tumor suppressor in a KRASG12C-driven lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) mouse model, and that acetylation enhances SETD2 in vitro methylation of H3K36 on nucleosome substrates. In vivo, Setd2 ablation accelerates lethality in …

Ndls Communicator: Week Of 09.15.25, Notre Dame Law School

NDLS Communicator

The Latest News

• Notre Dame Law School welcomes four new clinical faculty members for 2025-26

Faculty Briefs

• Mary Ellen O'Connell
• Haley Proctor
• Carter Snead
• Derek Muller
• Rick Garnett
• Judith Fox
• Nicole Garnett

ND Law in the News

• A judge vacated the conviction of Jason Hubbell and ordered a new trial to be held in October, largely due to the investigative work of the Exoneration Justice Clinic.
• The Dean's Initiative for Leadership and Scholarly Excellence was featured in The Indiana Lawyer and Inside Indiana Business.
• Dean Marcus Cole was mentioned in The Observer's coverage of changes to Notre Dame's Moreau First-Year …

Misandry And Men’S Equity In Selected Novels By Female Authors, Omar Abbas Sallal

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

This study aims to shed light on the concept of misandry in selected novels by Octavia E Butler and Margaret Atwood. Several previous studies dealt with the concept of misogyny in detail and depth, so it became necessary to present a different point of view. This study reached the following results, analysing the female and male characters to accurately determine the concept of misandry. This study gives a different model of female novelists’ novels to inform the reader of the existence of two sides of female writers, and the novelist Suanne Laqueur was taken as a counter example to the …

Modern Zombies As Subaltern In Max Brooks’S World War Z: An Oral History Of The Zombie War (2006), Hamza Alwan Jaber, Azhar Noori Fejer

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

Max Brooks’s World War Z (2006) has made many contributions to the zombie genre, particularly in making it an international plague. With key situations occurring in the Middle East, which in the Christian tradition will be the location of the “End of Days,” the Apocalypse, the Armageddon at the Megiddo. While Brooks was not the first to assign infectious disease/plague/epidemiology as the cause of zombies, he emphasized that explanation for the 21st-century culture that has been rife with fears of disease and pandemics, from Ebola, Bird flu, etc. This study aims to show the image of the modern zombie as …

Searching For Meaning In A Chaotic World: An Analysis Of Tina Howe’S Birth And After Birth, Ali Qasim Radhee, Sabah Atallah Khalifa Ali

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

This paper deals with Tina Howe’s play Birth and After Birth as an absurd work. The aim is to harbor on meaning out of the chaotic life of the characters in the play. Topics like motherhood, archetypes, domestic abuse and social bias are discussed in this paper. The implementations of these topics help in shedding light on the motives behind the characters’ actions and consequently reach out to a better understanding of their behaviors and those of the American people in general.

Howe’s work reflects the traditional life of a stereotypical American family during the 1970s, a life that is …

Chimes: September 15, 2025, Calvin University

Chimes

A historical moment: Calvin hosts first-ever football game on campus by Zach Kern & Hendrik Beelen

From 40 to 62: Honors Scholars' biggest cohort yet by Sarah Sparling

Riding the Rapid: Explaining the Wave Card price increase by Ian Tjoelker

She's "complicated": Jane Austin film festival marks the author's 250th birthday by Ellery Johnson

Strength in spirit: The faith-fueled fitness journey of Macy Gerig by Ella Vanden Berg

Native Plant Sale aims to build biodiversity and relationships by Maya Oeverman

Formalizing Latin American Perspectivism: A Neutrosophic Multiperspectivism Model, Maikel Y. Leyva Vázquez, Florentin Smarandache

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Directed N-Superhypergraphs Incorporating Bipolar Fuzzy Information: A Multi-Tier Framework For Modeling Bipolar Uncertainty In Complex Networks, Takaaki Fujita, Florentin Smarandache

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Inclusive Experiences In Pre-Professional Practices Of The Online Early Childhood Education Program At Milagro State University Using Plithogenic Statistics., Marylin Figueroa Cruz, María Elena Ron Vargas

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

A Retrospective Cohort Study Of Valproate And Infertility In Men With Epilepsy Or Bipolar Disorder Using International Health Data, Lance Watkins

Peninsula Medical School

Valproate is highly effective at treating epilepsy and bipolar disorder. It faces prescribing restrictions in men due to concerns it causes testicular dysfunction and infertility. These mostly stem from animal models – the human evidence is limited and conflicting. We report the largest ever retrospective cohort study of infertility in men with epilepsy or bipolar disorder, using real-world healthcare data from TriNetX. 91,917 of the men are exposed to valproate, and 535,803 unexposed. Cohorts are propensity score matched for a comprehensive set of baseline covariates, and survival analysis is undertaken using Cox-proportional hazards models. No significant difference is seen between …

Transcultural Competence And Empathy In Language Education: Imagining The Unimaginable, Michiko Uryu

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The 2007 MLA report offered guidelines and competencies for foreign language majors at American universities in the age of globalization. The notion of translingual and transcultural competence suggests that today’s foreign language education is not merely a matter of language acquisition, but humanistic learning. The ultimate goal for foreign language learners should be to gain alternative ways of seeing the world, namely, “imagining the unimaginable” (Ozick, 1987). This underscores the central importance of empathy in foreign language education. Yet the true challenge lies in how to assess such an abstract concept. Even eighteen years since its initial publication, the report …

Alpiscorpius Huyukensis Sp. N., An Unexpected New Species From Sultan Mountains, Konya Province, Turkey (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae), Ersen A. Yağmur, Halil İ. Yaylı

Euscorpius

A new scorpion species, Alpiscorpius huyukensis sp. n., is described from the western foothills of the Sultan Mountains, Konya Province, in the Aegean Region of western Turkey, based on morphological characters. The species is assigned to the genus Alpiscorpius Gantenbein et al., 1999, due to the presence of three trichobothria in the em series on the external surface of the pedipalp patella. A. huyukensis sp. n. can be readily distinguished from its all congeners by its yellowish-orange or greyish-orange body and yellow metasomal coloration, the fifth metasomal segment bearing distinct ventrolateral carinae, the presence of six trichobothria in the …

Hematologic And Serum Biochemical Reference Intervals For Formosan Sika Deer (Cervus Nippon Taiouanus) From A Semi-Free-Ranging Population In Taiwan, Chen-Wei Wang, Ke-Lun Chen, Hung-Yi Wu, Chia-Ying Lin

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

The Formosan sika deer (Cervus nippon taiouanus), an endemic Taiwanese subspecies, holds a pivotal role in local conservation. This study addresses a significant knowledge gap by establishing population-specific reference intervals (RIs) for this species, as existing RIs are based on limited captive populations and may not accurately reflect the health of semi-free-ranging cohorts. We analyzed 632 sampling events from 232 healthy adult deer within Kenting National Park over 12 years (2013–2024). This study adhered to ASVCP guidelines, establishing instrument-specific RIs and employing linear mixed-effects models (LMMs) to evaluate the complex interactions among analytical instruments, sex, and body weight. …

A Comparative Study Of Cities To Develop An Assessment Framework For Climate-Resilient Cities, Aya Mohamed Elsawaf, Ayman G. Abdeltawab, Engi Ibrahem El-Darwish, Walaa Abou El-Haggag Mehanna

Journal of Engineering Research

As climate change intensifies, urban areas face increasing hazards from extreme weather events such as rising sea levels, heat waves, and heavy rainfall. Resilient cities—those developed to absorb, recover, and adapt to these shocks—are crucial in protecting residents and infrastructure. This paper explores the concept of urban resilience, highlighting its multifaceted aspect, including recovery, adaptability, and transformation. It focuses on how to solve these climate change challenges by implementing resilience strategies and practices that achieve a number of criteria and indicators to be a climate-resilient city. A collection of global frameworks for measuring resilience in general is discussed in addition …

The Role Of Artificial Intelligence In Changing The Traditional Design Form Of Children's Museums: Towards Integrating Artificial Intelligence Technologies In Architectural Design Education., Nevine Ismail Mahmoud, Amira Fawzy Helmy Almaz, Heba Jahin

Journal of Engineering Research

Children's museums are crucial for their educational and entertainment value, but they also need to adapt to technological advancements to maintain their appeal, especially for older children. The design of these museums should vary between permanent and mobile spaces to maximize their benefits in different areas. Interactive exhibits in children's museums can bridge the gap between traditional and modern education, appealing to a wider age range, and adapting to changing educational needs in different communities by offering a mix of permanent and mobile museums.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the design process by enhancing efficiency and creativity. It helps architects …

A Framework For The Role Of Vegetation Selection In Enhancing Educational Outdoor Spaces Through Ai Technology., Amira Mohamed, Mirette A. Esmat, Amira Mahrous Dr

Journal of Engineering Research

Well-designed outdoor spaces are increasingly recognised as critical components of environmental sustainability and community building within higher education institutions. Among the most influential elements in shaping these spaces is the strategic selection of vegetation, which must balance aesthetics, functionality, ecological value, and long-term maintenance. However, traditional plant selection methods remain time-consuming, labour-intensive, and often dependent on subjective judgement, posing significant challenges for landscape architects and campus planners. This paper explores the application of artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative solution to enhance the plant selection process in educational outdoor environments. It introduces a comprehensive AI-driven framework that integrates key variables—including …

Sustainability Of Islamic Architecture And Integration Of Renewable Energy. Case Study Of Bait Al-Suhaimi , Historic Cairo, Ola Samy Alhinawy, Ahmed M. Essa2, Reham R. Abu Zekry

Journal of Engineering Research

Energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions are among the world's most pressing global problems, which have a significant impact on the global climate. The emergence of renewable and clean energy has shown a trend to convert buildings into zero energy buildings (NZEB) The concept of "buildings as power stations" (BAPS) has been shown, which means that buildings do not consume electricity that generates an unclean card, and they help generate, store and use electricity. As energy saving, the use of renewable and clean energy is one of the most important elements of urban sustainability. It has emerged in three …

Comparative Evaluation Of Estimation Techniques For Purchasing Power Parity In African Countries Using The Country-Product-Dummy Regression Framework, Rokibat Adeola Tijani, Taiwo Abideen Lasisi, Dahud Kehinde Shangodoyin, Olasunkanmi James Oladapo

Al-Bahir

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is a popular macroeconomic analysis metric used to compare economic productivity and standards of living between countries. This study examines the estimation of PPP within the International Comparison Program (ICP) at Basic Heading (BH) level stage and leverages on the data from the 2011 ICP round. Focusing on five BHs out of 12 BHs across 50 Africa countries, to empirically evaluate the validity of the classical Ordinary Least Square (OLS) assumptions in the estimation of Country Product Dummy (CPD) regressions. Given the widespread use of OLS for BH level PPP computation, a rigorous examination of these …

Assessment Of Radiological Risk Hazard Indices For Diverse Environmental And Biological Samples: A Comprehensive Review, Israa K. Ahmed, Sabah S. Farhan, Jamal M. Rzaij

Al-Bahir

Radiological risk assessment is pivotal for safeguarding human health and ecosystems amid expanding radiation applications in technology and medicine. This review systematically evaluates the efficacy of hazard indices like the Annual Effective Dose Equivalent (AEDE) and Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk (ELCR) across environmental (soil, water) and biological (tissues, crops) samples, addressing critical gaps in comparative methodologies, a PRISMA-guided systematic. Literature review was conducted across Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science, analyzing more than 100 peer-reviewed studies (2010–2024) that met the inclusion criteria: English-language publications, multi-index comparisons, and empirical validations. Exclusion criteria removed non-peer-reviewed works and studies focusing on a single …

Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonism Of Vamorolone: Evidence From Lionheart And Vision-Dmd Clinical Trials, Ana De Vera, Paula R. Clemens, Utkarsh J. Dang, Catherine Dutreix, Ekaterina Gresko, Michela Guglieri, Laura Hagerty, Shabir Hasham, Jesse Damsker, Yetrib Hathout, Aki Linden, Anders Berglund, Rebecca Tobin, Karim Wahbi, Eric P. Hoffman

Pharmacy Faculty Scholarship

The effect of vamorolone, the first dissociative corticosteroid for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), at the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) was investigated in the Phase 1 mechanistic LIONHEART study and using serum samples from boys with DMD in the pivotal VISION-DMD trial. In LIONHEART, 30 healthy adult males were randomized 1:1:1 to vamorolone 20 mg/kg, eplerenone 200 mg, or no treatment arms. A fludrocortisone challenge was administered between –9 h and 24 h after treatment. The LIONHEART primary outcome was urinary Na+/K+ ratio; additional outcomes were pharmacokinetics, urine Na+ and K+ concentrations, and safety. In VISION-DMD, boys with DMD aged 4–7 years …

Aphasia In South Asian Languages (Asal) Project: A Protocol Of Connected Speech Tasks For Investigating Cross-Linguistic Grammatical Profiles In Aphasia For South Asian Languages, Arpita Bose, Sakshi Bhatia, Lakshmi Venkatesh, Sayantani Banerjee, Gurujegan Murugesan, Sunila John, Sakshi Upadhyay, Manaswita Dutta, Mythili Menon, Danielle Fahey, Multiple Additional Authors

Speech and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

Languages vary in their syntactic (e.g. word order in sentences), lexical (e.g. presence of specific word classes), and morphological (e.g. inflectional or derivational forms of words) properties. This cross-linguistic variation in language typology influences the manifestation of agrammatic symptoms. However, most theoretical models of agrammatism are based on English and a few European languages, limiting their generalizability. This narrow focus neglects the rich syntactic, lexical and morphological variations available in languages globally. Clinically, the lack of language-specific characteristics of agrammatic impairments limits translational potential for precise and improved diagnosis. The Aphasia in South Asian Languages (ASAL) project addresses this …

On Conversation, Its Modes, Pleasures, And Perils, Stephanie Ross

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

My goal is to explore the pleasures and perils of conversation. After acknowledging some insights from speech act theory and pragmatics, I turn to Paul Grice’s account of conversation as cooperative. I offer some proposals about what makes conversants well-suited and their exchanges pleasant and successful, examine conversational style, contrast in-person with online communication, and close by examining some practices that can undermine conversational exchange. I suggest that imbalances of power and the phenomenon of being talked at are especially destructive.

Books And Media

Appalachia

Reviews of: The Lions of Winter, by Ty Gagne; 109° Below, a film directed by Nick Martini; Losing the Garden, by Laura Waterman; Ditch Memory, by Todd Davis; Shinrin-Yoku, by Marcyn Del Clements; You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World, edited by Ada Limón.