Digital Commons Network^™

Empowering Adolescent Females: A Psychological Approach To Sexual Education, Paola Rausseo

Scripps Senior Theses

Adolescence is a pivotal stage of self-discovery, yet many young women lack the tools and knowledge to navigate sexual health confidently. This study implements an intervention rooted in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Social Learning Theory (SLT) to enhance empowerment, self-advocacy, and boundary-setting in adolescent females aged 13–16. The program’s structure incorporates skill-based activities, including role-playing and action planning, to equip participants with practical tools and a safe space to practice these skills. This approach emphasizes addressing psychological and social factors influencing sexual decision-making and seeks to bridge gaps in traditional sexual education. Participants will be recruited from six randomly …

The Association Between Obstetric Violence And Postpartum Depression Among Latina Women In The United States: An Integrative Review, Natalia Alameda

Scripps Senior Theses

Obstetric violence, a structural form of gender-based violence, involves abuse, mistreatment, or neglect by healthcare providers during obstetric care. It is often associated with childbirth trauma and may result in physical and psychological harm to mothers and children, including postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is a major depressive episode occurring during pregnancy or within four weeks following delivery. While these concepts are often studied independently, few studies examine their intersection, particularly among Latina women in the United States. To address this gap, an integrative literature review was conducted to explore the association between obstetric violence and postpartum depression among Latina women. …

Let's Talk About Sex: Investigating Radical Feminist Theories On Prostitution In The United States, Anna E. Peterson

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper explores the feminist debates surrounding prostitution through an analysis of Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin’s abolitionist theories, juxtaposed with critiques from Wendy Brown, Janet Halley, Susie Bright, and Marxist feminist abolitionist Esperanza Fonseca. The text examines the systemic forces of patriarchy and capitalism that commodify women’s bodies and the challenges of legislative approaches to the sex trade. While MacKinnon and Dworkin identify the structural inequalities underpinning prostitution, their legislative proposals often fail to address the stigma and systemic conditions that perpetuate the marginalization of prostituted people. Critics like Brown and Halley highlight the limitations of punitive measures, calling …

Sense Of Belonging And Perceptions Of Learning In An Introductory College Course, Ellen Wang

Scripps Senior Theses

A sense of belonging (SB) – the feeling of deep connection with social groups, places, and experiences – has been described as a fundamental, pervasive need among humans (Allen et al., 2021; Baumeister & Leary, 1995). SB, and lack thereof, predicts myriad mental, physical, social, and economic outcomes. Belonging is a complex, multidimensional concept with a breadth of research across disciplines. It has been applied to school contexts in association with academic and psychosocial outcomes. The researcher partnered with an undergraduate course at The Claremont Colleges, and administered electronic surveys at two time points of the course. Students' sense of …

Bright-Lines In Sentencing: A Legal And Moral Case Against Juvenile Life-Without-Parole, Mckenzie Reily Isaac

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper criticizes the Supreme Court of the United States for its holding in Jones v. Mississippi (2021): the Eighth Amendment does not require a sentencing authority to find that a juvenile is "permanently incorrigible" before it may impose a sentence of life-without-parole. This ruling circumvents stare decisis as it undermines the substantive protections established in Miller v. Alabama (2012) and Montgomery v. Louisiana (2016), while purporting to preserve them. Not only is circumvention of stare decisis a failure of the Court's judicial duty, it is also a profound moral failure. This paper deploys Ronald Dworkin's law as integrity to …

Punishing Violence, Shima Baradaran Baughman

American University Law Review

The American criminal justice system doles out the harshest punishments in the world. It is infamous for its protracted criminal sentences and prodigious criminal code. But what most scholars and policymakers overlook is that the United States punishes only a fraction of the total serious crime that occurs in the country—including violent crime.

Approximately twenty million serious crimes occur in America each year, but only about half of these are reported to police. Of those reported, the police make arrests for an average of only twenty percent of serious crimes, and only ten percent of arrests result in a conviction. …

College Courts: Administrative Abuse Of Title Ix And Its Consequences, Noah Bloomberg

MC Law Review

This article examines the contentious application of Title IX in addressing campus sexual assault, tracing its evolution through recent presidential administrations. Initially designed to combat sex-based discrimination in education, Title IX has been expansively interpreted to regulate university adjudication of sexual violence cases. Policies introduced during the Obama administration mandated quasi-judicial procedures, sparking debates over fairness and due process, while Trump-era reforms shifted focus toward protecting the rights of accused students, prompting criticism from victims' advocates. The article argues that these approaches have overstepped Title IX's intended purpose, burdening universities and creating systemic challenges for survivors and the accused alike. …

Leveraging Artificial Intelligent For Optimized Crop Production: An Ann-Based Approach, Yahya Layth Khaleel, Fadya A. Habeeb, Mustafa Abdulfattah Habeeb, Fatimah N. Ameen

Mesopotamian Journal of Computer Science

To incite modern day crop production and ensure sustainability, exact crop recommendations are key to the process. This study pays significant attention to the need for the use of big data tools in studies involving comprehensive data sets that contain information on soil and other environmental characteristics. The set of data used in this research includes Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium content coordinated with Temperature, Humidity, pH Value, and Rainfall. Knowing these factors is to make a favorable decision about improving agricultural products yield, availability and management of the resources, as well as general well-being of the crops. Specialized advisory on …

Models Of Machine Learning To Diagnose Chronic Kidney Disease Using A  Weka-Based Classifier, Shaymaa Adnan Abdulrahman, Sameerah Faris Khlebis

Mesopotamian Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

In the present day, humans are confronted with a variety of diseases as a result of their lifestyle and the current environmental conditions. Therefore, it is crucial to identify and predict these diseases in their early phases in order to prevent their severe manifestations. Manually identifying maladies is a challenging task for physicians on a regular basis. Predicting chronic illnesses is the aim of this article. This goal is applicable through a state-of-the-art approach to classification correctly identifies people with chronic illnesses. Predicting maladies is also a difficult endeavor. Therefore, disease prediction is significantly influenced by data mining. To get …

Artificial Intelligence-Powered Robotic Technology For Transforming Palliative Care, Adebo Thomas, Asiku Denis, Wamusi Robert, Simon Peter Kabiito, Zaward Morish, Aziku Samuel, Malik Sallam, Ioannis Adamopoulos

Mesopotamian Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Palliative care seeks to improve the quality of life of patients with life-threatening illnesses by addressing their physical, emotional, and psychological needs. However, global challenges such as workforce shortages, limited access to specialized care, and inconsistent care quality demand innovative solutions. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered robotics offer transformative potential to overcome these barriers and strengthen palliative care delivery. This study explores how AI-driven robotic technologies support palliative care through applications in symptom monitoring, clinical decision-making, emotional companionship, and personalized care planning. It reviews cutting-edge robotic systems, including assistive, companion, diagnostic, nursing, procedural, service, and rehabilitation robots. Enabled by machine …

Heartbeat Sound Classification Using Mel-Spectrogram And Cnn Optimized By Frilled Lizard Algorithm For Cardiovascular Disease Detection, Ahmed T. Alhasani, Zainab H. Albakaa, Shahad A. Alabidi, Osamah Qasim Abd Zaid Gburi, Ammar Kadi, Irina Potoroko

Mesopotamian Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the predominant cause of mortality globally, underscoring the critical necessity for prompt and precise diagnostic techniques.  This paper introduces an innovative machine learning framework for categorizing heartbeat sounds into four classifications—normal, murmur, additional heart sound, and artifact—utilizing audio recordings from the PhysioNet/CinC Challenge 2016 dataset.  The methodology employs Mel-Spectrograms and Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCCs) for feature extraction, converting raw heart sound data into comprehensive time-frequency representations.  A Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is utilized for classification, with its hyperparameters refined by the recently developed Frilled Lizard Optimization (FLO) method, a bio-inspired metaheuristic that emulates the …

Adaboost-Based Classification For Bone Sarcoma Outcome Prediction: A Comparative Machine Learning Approach, El-Sayed M. El-Kenawy, Ahmed Mohamed Zaki, Marwa M. Eid

Mesopotamian Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Bone sarcomas represent aggressive malignancies with complex clinical presentations where traditional prognostic methods often lack precision in predicting patient outcomes. This study developed and validated machine learning models for predicting bone sarcoma patient outcomes using a comprehensive dataset from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center spanning 2010-2020, comparing multiple algorithms including AdaBoost, Logistic Regression, Ridge Classifier, Quadratic Discriminant Analysis, and Linear Discriminant Analysis. AdaBoost demonstrated superior performance with 0.84 accuracy, 0.875 sensitivity, 0.7955 specificity, 0.8448 precision, 0.8333 negative predictive value, and 0.8596 F1 score, outperforming other algorithms which achieved 0.83 accuracy and 0.8496 F1 score. Statistical analysis confirmed significant differences between …

Translating Acceptability To Sustained Delivery: Clinician And Manager Perspectives On Implementing Modified Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy In An Early-Supported Discharge Rehabilitation Service, Ashan Weerakkody, Erin Godecke, Barby Singer

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Modified constraint-induced movement therapy (mCIMT) improves upper limb (UL) function after stroke. Despite up to one-third of stroke survivors being eligible, clinical uptake remains poor. To address this, a multi-modal behaviour change intervention was implemented across a large seven-site early-supported discharge (ESD) rehabilitation service. This study investigated the acceptability of mCIMT implementation within this ESD service and identified adaptations required for sustained delivery.

Methods: This qualitative study was nested within a mixed-methods process evaluation of mCIMT implementation. Four focus groups (n = 24) comprising therapists (two groups), therapy assistants (one group), and allied health managers (one group) were conducted. …

Authors' Biographies

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Psychological Reactance Theory And Tax Evasion Intentions, Diana Falsetta, Brian C. Spilker

Faculty Publications

This study experimentally examines how tax administration service inefficiencies in the form of tax return processing delays from paper-filed tax returns indirectly affect taxpayer tax evasion intentions through taxpayers’ psychological reactance to the delay. We further consider whether this indirect effect is different when the taxpayer willingly chooses to paper file their tax return versus when the taxpayer is forced to do so. Consistent with Psychological Reactance Theory (PRT), we find that when taxpayers receive delayed refunds, they experience psychological reactance (e.g., anger and frustration with the tax administration) that increases their tax evasion intentions. Further, we find that the …

Instructional Designer Perspectives On The Pursuit Of Quality In Online Course Design, Jason K. Mcdonald, Stephen C. Yanchar

Faculty Publications

In this qualitative study we investigated the experiences of instructional designers as they sought to build quality into online courses. Through semi-structured interviews, we explored what enabled and hindered their pursuit of quality, how they experienced their efforts in this regard, what mattered to them, and complexities that accompanied this pursuit. Our analysis of participant experiences suggested four themes: (1) connections between quality and designers’ ability to act autonomously; (2) connections between quality and collaborative, team-based relationships; (3) ambivalence due to tensions between autonomy and collaboration; and (4) ways of coping with limits on autonomy and collaboration. We conclude our …

Caring To Care: Nurturing Icu Healthcare Professionals' Wellbeing For Enhanced Patient Safety, Emilio Rodriguez-Ruiz, Martina Maria Cornelia Van Mol, Joseph Maria Latour, Kristina Fuest

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Healthcare professionals working in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) care for patients suffering from a critical illness and their relatives. Working within a team of people with different personalities, competencies, and specialties, with constraints and demands might contribute to a working environment that is prone to conflicts and disagreements. This highlights that the ICU is a stressful place that can threaten healthcare professionals' wellbeing. This article aims to address the concept of wellbeing by describing how the stressful ICU work-environment threatens the wellbeing of health professionals and discussing how this situation jeopardizes patient safety. To promote wellbeing, it is imperative …

Epistolary Technologies Of Separation And Archives Of Emotion, James Daybell

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Multi-Modal Framework For Autism Severity Assessment Using Spatio-Temporal Graph Transformers, Kush Gupta, Amir Aly, Emmanuel Ifeachor

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) remains challenging, as it often relies on subjective evaluations and traditional methods using fMRI data. This paper proposes an innovative multi-modal framework that leverages spatiotemporal graph transformers to assess ASD severity using skeletal and optical flow data from the MMASD dataset. Our approach captures movement synchronization between children with ASD and therapists during play therapy interventions. The framework integrates a spatial encoder, a temporal transformer, and an I3D network for comprehensive motion analysis. Through this multi-modal approach, we aim to deliver reliable ASD severity scores, enhancing diagnostic accuracy and offering a scalable, robust alternative to …

Developing An Artificial Intelligence Framework For Identifying Fusion Blood-Based Biomarkers In Alzheimer's Disease, Ali H. Al-Nuaimi, Mohammed Kamal Nsaif, Shaymaa Al-Juboori

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is an irreversible neurological disorder, a major cause of disability among the elderly, with no effective therapeutic options currently available. It is an asymp-tomatic disease in the prodromal stages and begins many years before clinical appearances. Early diagnosis of AD allows patients to obtain appropriate healthcare assistance, accelerating the development of new medications. A biomarker that evaluates the alterations in the brain cells produced by AD in its preliminary periods might be significant for its early identification. Blood-based biomarkers (BBBMs) facilitate the early detection of AD. The BBBMs detection procedure is cost-efficient and minimally invasive. The aim …

Artificial Intelligence Powered System For Epilepsy Detection Using Eeg Biomarkers, Ali H. Al-Nuaimi, Shaymaa Al-Juboori

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

One of the most prevalent neurological disorders is epilepsy. Epileptic seizures can occurrepeatedly in people with the condition for no recognisable reason. The diagnostic methodsdependent on EEG are promising. EEG has uncovered the dynamic functioning of all brain areasthroughout time. Its low cost, non-invasiveness, and simply make it crucial for clinicalevaluations of brain function. Integrating multiple EEG biomarkers as a compound biomarkercould provide a high performance that may accelerate the diagnosis speeds. Artificial intelligencetechniques such as machine learning and deep learning provide a significant result in healthcareapplications. Logistic Regression (LR), Naive Bayes (NB), and Neural Network (NN) wereevaluated using a …

Keynote: New Myths For New Realities: Being 'Up And Doing' In Plymouth, Angela Piccini, Sefryn Penrose

School of Art, Design and Architecture

In this talk, Sefryn Penrose and Angela Piccini discuss projects they've developed as 37 Looe Street Gallery and as arts and heritage consultancy Bureau for the Contemporary and Historic (ButCH). From swanning down the Tamar to the sea to devising and running Gullfest to working as consultants contributing strategy, policy, education, interpretation, and evaluation work for coastal organisations, Sef and Angela are committed to blurring boundaries between creative practice and professional heritage practice as joint forms of world-building. In response to the symposium's focus, Sef and Angela will highlight the importance of working with change and 'loss' through myth, humour …

The Impact Of Film Factors On Destination Image And Travel Intention: A Comparative Study Between Vietnamese And Korean Film Industry, Gavin Northey, Hoa Hong Pham, Colette Gallagher, Steve D’Alessandro, Phan Thi Minh Thu, Quan Ha Minh Tran, Trang Thị Thùy Dương

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Film tourism represents a growing opportunity for destination marketers, yet limited research examines how specific filmic components within a film’s dramatic architecture influence destination image and travel intention. This study addresses this gap through a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design comprising three phases. First, a pre-test (n = 360) using exploratory factor analysis identified and validated four film components: plot, culture and tradition, scenery, and humanism. Second, a between-subjects quasi-experimental study with Vietnamese viewers (n = 792) employed partial least squares structural equation modeling to test how Korean versus Vietnamese films differentially influence domestic and international travel intentions. Third, semi-structured interviews …

Elizabeth Usher Memorial Lecture 2024: Speech-Language Pathology Practice In Aboriginal Spaces: A Journey Of Learning And Unlearning, Elizabeth Armstrong

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In this paper I describe learnings gained from 15 years collaboration with Aboriginal colleagues in Australia, in endeavours to improve rehabilitation services for Aboriginal people with brain injury and their families. Colleagues include Aboriginal researchers, clinicians, and people with communication and other disorders associated with brain injury and their families. My research journey in this field has been made possible through the work, mentoring, and support of these colleagues who introduced me to Aboriginal ways of knowing, being, and doing. My journey has involved challenging and un-learning some widely accepted Western tenets of speech-language pathology practice in order to explore …

When The Going Gets Tough, Who Gets Going? Relational Embeddedness, Institutional Support And Entrepreneurial Continuance: Evidence From China's Small Business Owners, Tenghao Zhang, Pi Shen Seet, Janice Redmond, Jalleh Sharafizad

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose – This study investigates how relational embeddedness and perceived institutional support influence entrepreneurs' intention to keep entrepreneurial ventures going in an emerging transition economy, China, during a major disruption, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach – We surveyed 295 small business owners in China during its second COVID-19 wave. Covariance-based Structural Equation Modelling (CB-SEM) was used to evaluate the model. Findings – The study found that relational embeddedness and perceived institutional support both significantly influenced their intention for entrepreneurial continuance (IEC) through the mediating effects of the three Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) determinants. It also found that relational …

Digital Playgrounds: Irish Tweens' Media Literacies In The Context Of Social Media Content Creators, Fardus Sultan

Doctoral

Children under 12 are avid social media users. Of these, tweens, children aged 9 to 12, are currently the age group most likely to engage in independent social media content consumption. One of their favourite online activities is watching content produced by social media influencers and content creators, collectively referred to here as social media creators. The popularity of social media creators has grown exponentially in recent times. Considered trusted, relatable and authentic, they produce content that resonates with audiences. Consequently, their messages often possess greater persuasive power, making them a popular choice for advertisers. Creators seamlessly blend commercial messaging …

Driving Impactful Change: Entrepreneurial Insights For Social Responsibility In The Irish Context, Anna Zherdeva, Deirdre Mcquillan, Lucia Morales

Articles

Today’s volatile situation at the global level, provoked by a significant rise in Economic and Political Uncertainty, emerged as an answer on countries attempts to manage the climate change crisis, armed conflicts, the rising cost of living, a growing divide between the more prosperous Global North and the poorest Global South that are reflected on the emergence of multifaceted, multiple and long-lasting crises. During periods of heightened instability and economic uncertainty, businesses struggle to build trusting relationships with stakeholders as they seek to reduce costs. Additionally, companies seek deep engagement as they confront the costs associated with sustainability challenges and …

A Framework For Tailored Organisational Cyber Security Training, Zinnar Ghasem

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Zinnar Ahmed Ghasem A framework for tailored organisational cyber security training AbstractSociety is increasingly becoming dependent on cyberspace; in such it is becoming an integral part of every-day life of most people in both work and home context. This dependency spans across individuals, businesses, and organisations including governments who are relying on cyberspace for various services, ranging from email to social networking, and from cloud computing to ecommerce and financial automated process and transactions. These services are vulnerable and face sophisticated cyber threats, risks and attacks, and potentially can result in financial losses and compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability …

Metamorphosis: An Evaluation Of The Adaptation And Re-Use Potential Of Suburban Housing For Older Homeowners, Michelle Moore

Masters

Ireland’s population is ageing at a rate that is more than twice the EU average. Public policy in Ireland aims to support older persons to age-in-place. Over 80% of older adults in Ireland live in an owner-occupied home, following many decades of public policy promoting home ownership as the tenure of choice. Limited research has been undertaken on the housing adaptation options that could result in privately-owned homes being made more suitable for the evolving needs of the rapidly ageing demographic. This thesis addresses the hypothesis that, with the provision of an appropriate suite of enablers, older homeowners can be …

Meditation Techniques And Their Relationship To Psychotic-Like And Mystical Experiences, Timothy Palmer

School of Psychology Theses

Meditation practice has been associated with benefits but also adverse experiences from anxiety to psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and even psychosis. The overarching aim was to identify how different types of meditation techniques (varying in bodily focus) differentially relate to psychotic-like experiences and cognitive abilities, including interoceptive awareness, affective awareness and decision-making. For this, I conducted two correlational studies and an intervention study.Different systems have been proposed for classifying meditation techniques. Nash et al’s (2013) approach categorises techniques by goal: Null Directed Methods (NDM), which aim for an “empty” state; Cognitive Directed Methods (CDM), aimed at an enhanced cognitive state; and …