Digital Commons Network^™

Melodramatic Joy In Ibrahim Nasrallah’S Trilogy Of The Bells, Adam V. Spanos

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This essay argues that absurdist humor, so often theorized as a challenge to metaphysical and identitarian claims, in fact supports such claims within the context of anticolonial nationalist melodrama. In his Trilogy of the Bells [2019], Palestinian writer Ibrahim Nasrallah uses the conventions of melodrama to make an epistemological claim specific to Palestinian experience. Confronting a regime that has been largely successful in determining the internationally accepted common sense about the conflict, Nasrallah aims to present the external world with a narrative of Palestinian history, experience, and aspirations. The Manichean distinctions, spectacular displays of pathos, and manifestations of suppressed secrets …

Developing Culturally Responsive Curriculum For Educators Working With Special Needs Learners In The United States, Ginikachi Ifenatuora

Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural & International Education Plan II Graduate Projects

None

Ai-Infused Educational Technology For Continuous Waste Management Learning: An Environmental Legislative-Guided Llm Enhanced Approach, Qiming Sun, I-Han Hsiao

Computer Science and Engineering

We present Waste Genie+ (WG+), an AI-infused web-based educational technology to improve sustainability awareness and waste management skills. WG+ utilizes Large Language Models (LLMs) to transform complex environmental regulations and waste management information into accessible and digestible content, enabling learning in the complex, legislative-involved sustainability field. WG+ features AI-infused content, interactive quizzes, and various sustainability awareness simulations (i.e., waste classification scanner, virtual carbon credit tracker, carbon dioxide emission converter). We used LLM chain-of-thought reasoning to implement a systematic prompt-based evaluation of the decomposed legislative content quality. A 10-day user study with 10 participants was designed and conducted to evaluate the …

What Happened To The Creative In The Creative Curriculum?, Lacey Peters, Mark K. Nagasawa, Maria Mavrides Calderon, Abigail Kerlin, Helen Frazier, Beth Ferholt, Erica Clarke Yardy, Margie Brickley, Alisa Algava

Straus Institute for Thriving Children & Families

This empirically-grounded commentary questions the basis for New York City Public Schools’ (NYCPS) adoption of the Teaching Strategies products—the Creative Curriculum (CC) and Teaching Strategies GOLD—as the mandated curriculum and assessment systems for early childhood education (ECE) programs administered by the New York City Public Schools. In an analysis shaped by our hybrid positionalities as early childhood educators, parents, policy makers, and researchers, we argue that this decision is a local case of neoliberalism’s simultaneous narrowing of educational quality and a transfer of public funding into private hands under the guise of the free market. Our commentary, …

The Effect Of Transformer Based Pre-Trained Language Models On Biomedical Relation Extractions, Eman Saad, Sherif Kishk, Amr Ali-Eldin, Ahmed I. Saleh

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Biomedical relation extraction represents a critical advancement in healthcare research. As the volume of biomedical publications continues to grow exponentially, efficient extraction of entity relationships has become essential for accelerating knowledge discovery, drug development, and precision medicine initiatives. The field has evolved from focusing on simple binary relations, such as Protein-Protein Interactions (PPI), which are fundamental to understanding cellular processes and therapeutic development, to addressing more complex multi-class classification challenges like Drug-Drug Interactions (DDI) and Chemical-Protein Interactions (CPI).Pre-trained language models have become the cornerstone of modern approaches of extracting biomedical relations. Models like BioBERT, PubMedBERT, and SciBERT, along with general-purpose …

Higher Blood Lipid Levels After The Transition To Menopause In Two Forager-Horticulturalist Populations, M. J. Getz, J. E. Aronoff, C. L. Jenkins, S. Ghafoor, J. Vazquez, N. T. Appel, M. Gatz, Daniel K. Cummings, Paul L. Hooper, B. Beheim, K. H. Buetow, C. E. Finch, G. S. Thomas, J. Stieglitz, M. Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, B. C. Trumble

ESI Publications

Background: Reproduction affects health and longevity among females across the life course. While significant focus has been devoted to the role of menarche, menopause remains understudied. Most menopause research is conducted in industrialized populations, where the risk of cardiovascular diseases increases progressively during the menopausal transition.

Methodology: Weworked with the Tsimane, Indigenous Bolivian forager-farmers with physically active lifestyles, and the Moseten, genetically and culturally related horticulturalists experiencing greater market integration. We assessed relationships between menopause status and lipid biomarkers (HDL, LDL, non-HDL, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and apolipoprotein-B). Using linear mixed-effects models, in an all-age sample of n = …

Improving Multilingual Competence In Higher Education: An Integrated Framework For Parallel Learning Of Two Foreign Languages, Aiym Kontek, Albina Dossanova, Galiya Kulzhanbekova

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: The study aims to create a comprehensive framework for the effective organization of parallel teaching of two foreign languages in higher education in Kazakhstan, accounting for linguistic, psychological, didactic, and technological aspects.

Methods: We used theoretical (modeling, analysis, and generalization) and empirical methods (pedagogical experiment, testing, questionnaires, and methods of mathematical statistics) in the research. An original structural and content model of parallel learning was developed, including interrelated blocks for the integrated formation of speech activity skills and a lexico–grammatical base in each of the languages. The effectiveness of the proposed model was confirmed during the pedagogical experiment, which …

Family Caregivers’ Perceptions Of Quality Of Dementia Self-Care In Wakiso District, Uganda, Martha Sajatovic, Kylie Meyer

Faculty Scholarship

INTRODUCTION: In Sub-Saharan Africa, most people with dementia are cared for in the home setting (dementia self-care) with hardly any support from the formal health and social care system. The study explored family caregivers' perceptions of quality of dementia self-care. METHODS: A descriptive-exploratory qualitative study design was used. Data were collected through four focus group discussions with 48 family caregivers of older people with dementia, recruited from four villages of the Wakiso district in Uganda. RESULTS: Five themes emerged: (1) patience and understanding; (2) maintaining hygiene and cleanliness; (3) constant supervision and safety precautions; (4) personalized care by understanding individual …

Benefits And Impact Of Global And Bilingual Education: Dual Master’S Degree In Spanish Language And Culture For Educators, Diana Meza, Felix Wang, Yenisei Montes De Oca

International Journal on Responsibility

The dual master’s degree program in Spanish Language and Culture (SLC) for educators represents a pioneering initiative, emphasizing internationalization and global education through collaboration between James Madison University (JMU) and the University of Salamanca (USAL). This program addresses the escalating demand for bilingual education and the growing population of Spanish speakers in the educational landscape of the United States. The SLC program highlights educators’ responsibility to engage with and promote cultural and linguistic diversity by supporting bilingualism and cultural literacy in diverse communities where Spanish is widely used, particularly in regions where Spanish-speaking populations are marginalized. The program offers the …

Straddling The Boundary Of Misleading Information Group: Exploring The Association Between Network Brokerage And Morality Expressions, Yiqi Li, Marina Mitiaeva, Ximeng Deng, Una Joh, Yafei Zhang

iSchool - All Scholarship

Existing misleading information studies mostly focus on either the message content or social network structures, overlooking the association between the content and structural factors. This research examines the role of brokers, the key network actors straddling between misleading and true/regular information groups. Content-wise, morality expressions are examined, which signal social media users’ expressions toward what is right and wrong. This research provides insights into the understudied relationship between network brokerage and moral expressions and identifies connections between moral foundation and network brokerage theories. Findings suggest that binding morality (i.e., authority and loyalty) is dominant among network brokers. Practical strategies are …

I, As In We, Cj Maruyama

Dissertations and Theses

I, as in We is a hybrid collection of poems, essays, fictional letters, documents, and photographs through which the author revisits ancestors and explores their multiracial roots. Drawing on stories, interviews and research grounded in the Japanese American experience, the collection develops a call-and-response polyvocality that spans generations and geographies. In its use of white space, form experimentation, and tonal shifts, the work confronts the fluid, often ambiguous boundaries that shape identity. The compiled written and visual materials evolve into an original document--one that reaches toward heritage, belonging, and truth.

W-Rag: Weakly Supervised Dense Retrieval In Rag For Open-Domain Question Answering, Jinming Nian, Zhiyuan Peng, Qifan Wang, Yi Fang

Computer Science and Engineering

In knowledge-intensive tasks such as open-domain question answering (OpenQA), large language models (LLMs) often struggle to generate factual answers, relying solely on their internal (parametric) knowledge. To address this limitation, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems enhance LLMs by retrieving relevant information from external sources, thereby positioning the retriever as a pivotal component. Although dense retrieval demonstrates state-of-the-art performance, its training poses challenges due to the scarcity of ground-truth evidence, largely attributed to the high costs of human annotation. In this paper, we propose W-RAG, a method that draws weak training signals from the downstream task (such as OpenQA) of an LLM, …

Using Artificial Intelligence To Improve Customer Engagement: User Experience With Chatbot Technology, Aicha Zemmouri, Salma Choufari

Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in Emerging Markets

This study examines the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on improving customer loyalty through the use of chatbot technology, with a specific focus on the user experience of Moroccan consumers. The increasing integration of AI into customer service, especially through chatbots, represents a significant shift in how companies interact with their customers. Given Morocco’s growing digitalization and the strategic importance of customer loyalty, it is critical to understand how consumers perceive and interact with these technologies. To achieve this, the study used a qualitative research method of semi-structured interviews to investigate consumers’ perceptions, interaction behaviours, and challenges with chatbot usage. …

Personalized Emoji Prediction Framework Using Personality, Emotion, And User Preferences, Mariam Lotfy Gaafar

Theses and Dissertations

Emoji prediction plays a vital role in digital communication by enriching text with personality, individual style, and emotional tone. However, existing frameworks primarily rely on user-generated text combined with statistical or language models, often overlooking the importance of individual user traits and contextual information. Recent research highlights that integrating user-specific features, such as historical usage patterns and emotional context, can significantly improve emoji prediction accuracy. Building on these insights, we propose a comprehensive emoji prediction framework that incorporates user history, personality traits, and real-time emotional context. We leverage the Pan17 corpus, which contains a sufficient number of posts per user, …

What Drives Weight Status Among Female University Students? A Machine Learning Analysis Of Sociodemographic, Dietary, And Lifestyle Determinants, Radwan Qasrawi, Abir Ajab, Leila Cheikh Ismail, Ayesha Al Dhaheri, Sharifa Alblooshi, Razan Abu Ghoush, Stephanny Vicuna Polo, Malak Amro, Suliman Thwib, Ghada Issa, Haleama Al Sabbah

All Works

Background: Obesity and underweight are increasingly common among young adult women, often resulting from complex interactions between diet, lifestyle, and socioeconomic factors. This study addresses that gap by applying machine learning to a wide range of behavioral, dietary, and demographic data. The main research question asks: What are the key factors influencing weight status among female university students, and how accurately can machine learning models identify them? We hypothesize that different factors are significantly associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity, and that machine learning can reliably detect these patterns. The aim is to identify the strongest predictors and support more …

Beyond Translating Cultures: Organizational Cultural Brokering And Latin@/E/X Community Resilience After The "Mobile Home Parks" Fire, Christine Atalie Da Rosa

Dissertations and Theses

As wildfires increase in frequency and severity in rural communities, disaster management agencies are seeking to collaborate with community-based organizations (CBOs) working with rural, low-income Latin@/e/x communities to build wildfire resilience. This qualitative case study examines the critical role of CBOs rooted in their local, predominately low-income Latin@/e/x communities as cultural brokers in supporting Latin@/e/x wildfire survivors following the 2020 "Mobile Home Parks" Fire in a rural county in Oregon. Drawing from 23 semi-structured interviews, three focus groups, a review of relevant documents, and participant observations, the research investigates how Latin@/e/x CBOs navigated the complex cultural landscape between wildfire survivors …

¿Quién Es Responsable? (Who Is Responsible?): Different Framings About The Responsibility To Maintain Bilingualism In The United States, Heidy Sarabia, Diana Perez Valverde

International Journal on Responsibility

This study explores the perspectives of Chicanx/Latinx educational practitioners on the importance of maintaining bilingualism and the strategies employed by individuals and institutions to achieve this goal. Through oral histories, Chicanx/Latinx educational practitioners discussed the individual responsibility of preserving the Spanish language within families and the limitations of individualized strategies. They highlighted the need for institutional support through bilingual education programs, which foster linguistic diversity and cultural pride. Bilingual education programs were identified as key institutional spaces that foster cultural and linguistic pride, promote positive ethnic and racial identity development, and create a sense of belonging for students and their …

Evaluating Counseling Skills Through Language Style Matching: A Computer-Aided Text Analysis Of Suicide And General Counseling Transcripts, Chung-Fan Ni, Justin Jacques, Charles Silber, Cass Dykeman

Journal of Technology in Counselor Education and Supervision

This pilot study applies Computer-Aided Text Analysis (CATA) to examine Language Style Matching (LSM) in counseling transcripts, offering a novel metric for counselor education and supervision. Analyzing 50 suicide-focused and 100 general counseling sessions using LIWC-22 software, we found high LSM scores in both contexts (suicide-focused: M = 0.906; general: M = 0.903). Bayesian analysis provided moderate evidence (BF01 = 5.048) in support of the null hypothesis, indicating no significant difference between the two session types. The consistently high LSM suggests counselors effectively build strong alliances and align with client goals across topics. LSM analysis provides an objective measure of …

Rapid Increase In Size Of Wedge-Tailed Shearwater Ardenna Pacifica Colony Following Rat Eradication, Danielle Z. Keys, Robert W. Bullock, Clare Keating, Pierre A. Pistorius

Marine Ornithology

Invasive mammalian predators have devastating effects on seabird nesting colonies. A census was conducted on breeding Wedge-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna pacifica in 2016 and 2021 on D’Arros Island, Seychelles, which has been rat-free since 2003. Results were compared with an earlier population estimate to assess population growth following the rat eradication. Compared to counts in 2009, we estimated a 10-fold increase in breeding population size, with 2768 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2424–3112) and 2406 (95% CI 2143–2667) breeding pairs in 2016 and 2021, respectively. While the estimated increase is partly attributable to differences in the timing of the conducted census between …

Real-Time Context-Aware Assistance For Non-Native Language Speakers, Jaime Guajardo, Sriratana (Daowz) Sutasirisap

Defensive Publications Series

When two or more non-native language speakers or learners converse, they may often encounter words or grammatical structures they do not understand. In the absence of a native speaker, learners tend to pause their conversation to look up unfamiliar words in a dictionary, causing disruption to their conversation flow. This disclosure describes techniques that assist non-native language speakers or learners during real-time conversations without disrupting conversational flow. With user permission, an ongoing conversation is analyzed in real time by a large language model (LLM) based language assistant to identify non-idiomatic speech and grammar, vocabulary, and/or pronunciation errors. When a user …

Carbon Sequestration Potential Of Urban Tree Species: A Case Study From Porbandar, India, Himanshu Vandariya, Jay Ulva, Kunal N. Odedra, Jenish Bamaniya, B. A. Jadeja Dr.

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Urban ecosystems are integral to climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration. This study quantifies the carbon sequestration potential of 40 tree species at M.D. Science College, Porbandar, Gujarat, employing non-destructive methodologies. Key biometric parameters, including height, diameter at breast height (DBH), and biomass, were analysed to estimate carbon storage and CO₂ sequestration. The dataset reveals significant inter-species variations, with Ficus benghalensis leading in sequestration capacity, storing 1221.08 kg of carbon and sequestering 4476.84 kg of CO₂ per tree annually. Conversely, low biomass species such as Ziziphus mauritiana exhibit limited sequestration rates, highlighting a broad spectrum of ecological roles. tatistical analyses …

Tailoring Hiv/Aids Communication To The Cultural Contexts Of The Borana Pastoral Community In Ethiopia, Dano Olana, Sabihah Moola

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The HIV/AIDS health communication approach in sub-Saharan Africa has often overlooked sociocultural specificities. The current approach follows a generalist notion that does not consider the specific contextual domains accordingly. Similarly, the cultural appropriateness of HIV/AIDS health communication among the Borana pastoral community in Ethiopia is not clear. In this study, we aimed to explore whether HIV/AIDS communication among the Borana pastoral community was tailored to the cultural contexts of the community. A qualitative case study was used to unpack the cultural communication contexts for HIV/AIDS. We collected data using three methods, namely, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and document analysis …

Positive Social Emotional Influences Experienced By College-Educated Black Men During Their K–12 Education In U.S. Public Schools, Lyzanethia Howard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although negative experiences and unfair factors in the K–12 educational experiences of Black males are well-researched, very little research is found on the positive contributions toward their educational success. As some Black males successfully complete K–12 schooling and advance to the college level, it is imperative to understand the factors that positively contributed to their educational advancement. Guided by Yosso’s theory of community cultural wealth, this basic qualitative study explored six aspects of cultural capital—the aspirational, familial, linguistic, resistant, navigational, and social capital—that contributed to the educational success and advancement of Black males during their journeys through the U.S. K–12 …

Using Confidence Scores To Improve Eyes-Free Detection Of Speech Recognition Errors, Sadia Nowrin, Keith Vertanen

Michigan Tech Publications

Conversational systems rely heavily on speech recognition to interpret and respond to user commands and queries. Despite progress on speech recognition accuracy, errors may still sometimes occur and can significantly affect the end-user utility of such systems. While visual feedback can help detect errors, it may not always be practical, especially for people who are blind or low-vision. In this study, we investigate ways to improve error detection by manipulating the audio output of the transcribed text based on the recognizer's confidence level in its result. Our findings show that selectively slowing down the audio when the recognizer exhibited uncertainty …

The Prevalence And Correlates Of Aberrant Opioid-Related Behaviours Among Patients With Sickle Cell Disease In Oman: A Cross-Sectional Study, Abdullah Al Abulsalam, Khawla Al Kindi, Abdullah Al Ghailani, Hamed Al Sinawi, Naser Al Balushi, Salam Al Kindi, Sathiya P. Murthi, Amal Al Fahdi, Mohammed Al Alawi

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of aberrant opioid-related behaviours (AORB) among patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) in Oman and identify associated risk factors. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman from June to December 2022. Patients with SCD aging 18–65 years old were included and clinically observed for more than 3 months. The Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM) was used to evaluate AORB with scores of ≥9 indicating high risk. Demographic and clinical data were collected. The association between AORB and clinical-demographic variables was examined using the Chi-square test. …

איהה תעה The Hebrew Bible And Its Role In Daniel 12:1 A Diachronic And Synchronic Study On The Semantics Of Narrative And Prophetic Temporality, Araica Roger David Ruiz.

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is a dissertation abstract.

The Clarity And Obscurity Of Inspired Writings: A Historical Survey From Late Antiquity To Early Nineteenth- Century America, Denis Kaiser

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

Throughout Christian history, pastors, scholars, and church leaders have discussed whether, or to what extent, Scripture is clear or obscure. This article surveys the views on the clarity and obscurity of Scripture as advocated by Christian writers in five eras from late antiquity to early nineteenth-century America. Writers in the Protestant tradition have generally objected to the common notions among Roman Catholics that Scripture is obscure, consists of a four-fold sense, and that normative teaching authority is in the hands of the magisterium. Lutheran, Reformed, and Pietist scholars have generally emphasized the importance of having an educated clergy that understands …

The Literary Unity Of Luke-Acts And Authorial Intent In Acts, Boubakar Sanou

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

While some scholars have suggested that any investigation of the Gospel of Luke and Acts must include the question of their literary unity, others have focused on the purpose for which Acts was written. Since authorial intent should greatly inform the interpretation of a written work, the quest for the authorial and literary unity of Luke and Acts is inseparable from the quest for the author’s intent in writing Acts. This article argues that while the various proposals for the purpose of Acts should be considered as complementary rather than mutually exclusive, Acts 1:8 clearly appears as the interpretative key …

Tantalizing Fragments Of A Larger Linguistic Tapestry: Exploring Nala Lambë, Mago/Magol, And The Dunlendish Languages In Tolkien's World-Building, Andrew Higgins

Journal of Tolkien Research

In this paper I pluck three leaves from my current research on Tolkien’s Tree of Middle-earth language invention - – Nala Lambë, Mago/Magol, and Dunlendish (also known as the Dunland Tongue). These lesser-known languages, despite their incomplete nature or "orphaned" status, underscore Tolkien's unwavering commitment to linguistic realism and the integral role of language in his sub-creation and world-building. They exist as both individual enigmatic leafs as well part of much larger tree of Tolkien’s linguistic world-building.

Exploring Coaching Leadership Behaviours In Strength And Conditioning Coaching: Preferences Of Ncaa Division I And Ii Collegiate Student-Athletes Based On Task Variability, Severiano Tiberi, Jeremy Moody, Steve Cooper, George Jennings, Joseph I. Esformes

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

This study aimed to explore collegiate student-athletesˈ preferences of coaching leadership behaviours in strength and conditioning coaching and evaluate differences between the student-athletesˈ preferences of behaviours based on task variability. In total 145 National Collegiate Athletic Association student-athletes (closed sports athletes = 51, open sports athletes = 94) completed an electronic questionnaire involving the athletesˈ preference version of the Revised Leadership Scale for Strength and Conditioning. Results revealed that the most favoured behaviour was ˈtraining and instructionˈ, whilst the least favoured was ˈautocraticˈ. Similar results were observed for closed and open sports groups, though closed sports athletes preferred ˈtraining and …