Digital Commons Network^™

Digital Battlegrounds: The Power Dynamics And Governance Of Contemporary Platforms, Richard A. Hunt, David M. Townsend, Joseph J. Simpson, Robert Nugent, Maximilian Stallkamp, Esin Bozdag

International Business and Entrepreneurship Faculty Publications

The ubiquity of digital platforms is undeniable, as is their transactional efficiency and world-flattening possibilities. Yet, these platforms are contested battlegrounds where stakeholder power struggles reflect and influence broader societal turbulence. In the emerging era, alongside the blinding speed and global reach of the gig economy are looming specters of rentier capitalism, digiserfdom, misinformation, data exploitation, digital addiction, and near-ungovernable algorithmic agents. To date, scholarly focus on digital platforms has been on their transactional features and impacts, dimensionalizing governance mechanisms as emanating from old economy conceptions of bottom-up or top-down checks and balances, or incentives and efficiencies. These emphases, while …

Play’S The Thing: How Do Occupational Therapy Programs Teach About The Occupation Of Play?, Lisa Raymond-Tolan

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Engaging in play constitutes a fundamental theoretical concept and skill set emphasized in occupational therapy (OT) education. According to the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), play is a key occupation and a core context for development and learning. However, there is a paucity of evidence about if and how entry-level OT programs are effectively teaching students about play as a central occupation, and the demands of OT education can make it difficult for OT students to observe children in real life play during their didactic coursework, particularly in unstructured play environments. This pilot descriptive study surveyed 59 pediatric faculty, program …

Understanding And The Perceived Value Of Contemporary Pain Neuroscience Education Among Occupational Therapy Students, Sue E. Curfman, Elicia Dunn Cruz, Diana A. Harrison, Will J. Best, Kathryn Schmidt

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Chronic pain is a leading cause of global disability, yet occupational therapy education often lacks sufficient coverage of multidisciplinary pain management approaches. The purposes of this study were to 1) determine the level of understanding of contemporary pain neuroscience in occupational therapy doctoral (OTD) students; 2) evaluate the effectiveness of instructional techniques to improve their knowledge of contemporary pain neuroscience; and 3) explore their perceptions of pain neuroscience and its implications for their future roles. This pre-post test within-subject experimental design study, involving 39 OTD students, assessed the impact and perceptions of a two-hour pain education module. The revised Neurophysiology …

Understanding The Role Of Pluralistic Ignorance In Biodiversity Conservation: A Research Agenda, Sandra J. Geiger, Hirotaka Imada, Carya Maharja, Nattavudh Powdthavee, Valeria Vitale, Lei Zhang, Claudio D. Rosa, Zenith N. C. Delabrida, Kristian S. Nielsen, Franz Essl, Mathew P. White

School of Psychology

Most people believe that biodiversity loss is human-caused, yet they may not realize how many others share this belief. Such collective misperceptions—known as pluralistic ignorance—may hinder individual and system changes required to address biodiversity loss. At the same time, reducing pluralistic ignorance may promote positive change. In this Perspective, we provide a brief overview of existing work on pluralistic ignorance about environmental topics and propose an agenda for impactful pluralistic ignorance research in the biodiversity domain. We highlight several research gaps and offer recommendations, including (a) investigating different forms of pluralistic ignorance, (b) improving our understanding of consequences and determinants, …

The Use Of Tele-Music Interventions In Supportive Cancer Care: A Systematic Review, Lore Mertens, Laura Tack, Tom Boterberg, Jörg Fachner, Leonardo Muller-Rodriguez, Marte Vandeweyer, Sofie Demasure, Marianne Hanssens, Tine Loyson, Laurence Goethals, Isabelle Kindts, Hannelore Denys, Patricia Schofield, Mohammad Najlah, Philip R. Debruyne

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Objectives: This systematic review seeks to provide an in-depth overview of current research on tele-music interventions in supportive cancer care and identifies key areas where further research is warranted. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted across four electronic databases (Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and PubMed) without any data restrictions and according to the PRISMA guidelines. The primary outcome measure was the effect of tele-music interventions on psychosocial functioning. Results: Of the 2.043 articles initially identified, nine studies met the inclusion criteria and were selected for qualitative analysis. Among the music interventions, considerable variation was observed regarding delivery format and …

Synergistic Or Siloed? Communicative Practices In Dual-Earner Parents' Boundary Navigation And Implications For Gendered Work-Family Experiences, Jasmine Kelland, Laura Radcliffe, Grace Williams, Jo Gregory-Chialton

Plymouth Business School

It is well established that in contemporary Western society, work and family (WF) are often navigated by both members of a parenting couple. However, existing understandings regarding the communicative processes by which both parents navigate, and relationally co-construct WF boundaries together, remain somewhat of a theoretical blind spot. This study provides insights into the relational communicative practices that coupled, heterosexual parents engage in when navigating WF boundaries. Our couple-level data collected during the UK Covid-19 lockdown period, in which both parents simultaneously experienced boundary disruption, explore the communicative practices or ‘tactics’ engaged in to relationally navigate boundaries in this context. …

Hydrological Repair And Invasive Grass Removal Restore Rhizophora Racemosa Mangrove Communities In West Africa, Claudia M Agraz Hernández, Ebénézer Houndjinou, Jordan E Reyes Castellanos, Carlos A. Chan Keb, Juan Osti Saénz1, Julio C. Chávez Barrera, Janique Etienne, Romain L Glèlè Kakaï, Robert Puschendorf

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Mangrove ecosystems face significant threats from climate change and human activities. In West Benin, the invasive grass Paspalum vaginatum disrupts sedimentation and hydrology, creating anoxic conditions and nutrient imbalances. To address this, we implemented a cost-effective restoration strategy focused on hydrological repair, engaging local communities to excavate 26 artificial channels and clear 19 existing ones, restoring tidal flow to 30 ha of degraded mangrove forest. Of this, 20 ha were planted with Rhizophora racemosa propagules, while 10 ha remained unplanted due to unsuitable micro-topographic conditions. This intervention, costing $1394.3 USD per hectare, adjusted sediment levels to match natural micro-topography, enabling …

Exploring Public Support For Prison Labor, Omar Morris

Honors College Theses

Prison labor has long been a central component of the U.S. correctional system, evolving from early penitentiary models to contemporary labor practices that remain legally sanctioned under the Thirteenth Amendment. This study examines the historical development, key legislation, and modern realities of prison labor, emphasizing its economic, ethical, and rehabilitative implications. Using survey data from a nationally representative sample, the study assesses public attitudes toward mandatory prison work, fair wages for incarcerated individuals, and financial obligations such as medical copays and communication fees. Findings reveal that while the public generally supports prison labor, opinions diverge on compensation and economic burdens …

Transgenerational Plasticity Research: Challenges And Opportunities, Caitlin Mcandry, Alastair J. Wilson, Peter A. Cotton, Manuela Truebano

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Transgenerational plasticity (TGP) is a type of non-genetic inheritance whereby one generation's environment affects a subsequent generation's phenotype. It can influence the persistence of organisms in stressful climatic conditions through allowing rapid phenotypic change. TGP has been proposed to have the potential to alter an organism's response to selective forces or buffer their effects, yet the interaction of these two processes is neither well understood nor often accounted for via appropriate experimental design. The rapid expansion of TGP research in recent years has led to a lack of clarity surrounding terminology for different phenomena, sometimes undermining the interpretation of research. …

Frances E. W. Harper, “We Are All Bound Up Together” (10 May 1866), Garth Pauley

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Frances Harper’s address at the 1866 National Woman’s Rights Convention was a visionary speech on civil rights, citizenship, and civic identity. In it, Harper skillfully negotiated the context of nineteenth-century reform politics while remaining true to her vision. The message of her speech was grounded in both her experience as a Black woman and her theological convictions. A close reading of the speech shows that key elements—including its signature line—have been misunderstood and unappreciated.

Microbial Mats In Dinosaur Ichnocoenoses, Nora Noffke, Paul C. Murphey, Roger C. Buntin, Martin G. Lockley

OES Faculty Publications

Until now, the significance of microbial mats in preservation of dinosaur tracks and in reconstructing the palaeoenvironment in which dinosaurs roamed was rarely studied. Dinosaur tracks are commonly found close to ancient aquatic bodies where moist sediment had once allowed footstep registration. At such sites, epibenthic or endobenthic microbial mats may have developed as well and may have led to exquisite track preservation. Microbial mats in coastal, lacustrine or flood plain environments cause ‘microbially induced sedimentary structures—MISS’, which are micobialites found in sandy or evaporitic settings. The microbial structures record environmental parameters including meteorological conditions that existed at the time …

Mired In Meyer'S Mischief A Century After Fabrication Of Constitutional Parents' Rights, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

The seminal Supreme Court decisions Meyer v. Nebraska and Pierce v. Society of Sisters, now commemorated on their centenary anniversary, are odd doctrinal ducks. They are both still routinely cited as the foundation for ascribing to persons on whom the state has conferred legal parent status a right under the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. (According to Westlaw, judicial citation count for Meyer now nears 3000, and secondary-source citations have surpassed 7000.) It is a constitutional right to force states to confer on them greater legal power than the state is otherwise inclined to …

Characterization And Optimization Of Sand And Tung Oil-Based Resins For Binder-Jet 3d Printing, Daniel I. Ajiola

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Binder-jet 3D printing as a transformative technology in additive manufacturing, offers the ability to fabricate complex structures with diverse materials. This thesis investigates the use of a sustainable tung oil-based resin to create composites, exploring the potential for an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic binders.

The aim of this research is to develop and characterize a bio-based resin formulation, using tung oil as the primary binder, for application in binder-jet 3D printing with sand as the reinforcement. The resin formulation was prepared by combining tung oil, n-butyl methacrylate, divinylbenzene, and di-tert-butyl peroxide in precise proportions, ensuring a balanced mixture that supports …

Insider Threat Agent: A Behavioral Based Zero Trust Access Control Using Machine Learning Agent, Michael Fojude

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Hybrid work, cloud adoption, and freely available AI‑enabled attack tools have exposed critical weaknesses in perimeter‑centric security. Current breach reports attribute more than one‑third of incidents to insider misuse or credential compromise, yet many organizations still depend on static Role‑ or Attribute‑Based Access Control that neither verifies intent continuously nor adapts to subtle behavioral change. This research addresses that gap by designing and validating a behavioral based Zero Trust Access Control (ZTAC) Agent. A five‑year enterprise log Dataset was extracted and cleansed to establish a high‑fidelity baseline of normal user behavior. Feature engineering captured temporal regularity (login sequence, session duration), …

Synthesis And Characterization Of A Biobased Polymer From Tung Oil And Pine Rosin & Characterization Of Polyhydroxybutyrate., Arijanet P. Osumah

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis presents two independents but thematically aligned research projects focused on the development and evaluation of sustainable polymers. The first involves the synthesis and characterization of a biobased polymer derived from tung oil and pine rosin. Tung oil, which is a triglyceride was chemically modified to produce tung oil diglyceride (TDG), which subsequently reacted with abietic acid-rich pine rosin to yield tung oil abietate (TOA), a biobased monomer. The TOA monomer was polymerized with butyl methacrylate (BMA) and divinylbenzene (DVB) using di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP) as a thermal initiator. The resulting polymer was thoroughly characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy …

When They See Us: The Lived Experiences Of Bglo Members At A Pwi, Brittany Harris-Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation explored the lived experiences of members of Black Greek-Letter Organizations (BGLOs) at a predominantly White institution (PWI) in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic. BGLOs have historically served as critical spaces for leadership development, cultural expression, and community support. However, within PWIs, these organizations often encounter systemic barriers related to visibility, funding, and institutional engagement.

The purpose of this study was to center the voices of BGLO alumni who graduated between 2020 and 2024 to better understand how they navigated their membership experiences during a time of social, institutional, and cultural transition. Using a qualitative research design, …

The Line: Ai And The Future Of Personhood By James Boyle: Reviewed By Hannah Drayson, Hannah Drayson

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Intertidal Encounters: Centre For Sustainable Practice In The Arts Quarterly, Sarah Blissett, James Jordan Johnson, Cherry Truluck, Anastasia (A) Alevtin, Monstera Deliciosa, Arbonauts, Sam Hodge, Olga (F) Koroleva

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Intertidal Encounters ask: what are the stories cast up by intertidal being/s and how do they come to matter?

The Wind In The Willows Effect: Does Age Affect Human Versus Animal Faux Pas Recognition?, Gray Atherton, Lucy Robinson, Lucie Guy-Smith, Liam Cross

School of Psychology

Children’s literature is rife with anthropomorphic or non-human characters that may be used as a scaffold to teach children about theory of mind (ToM) or the ways in which people think or feel about the social world. In this study, 107 typically developing U.K. school children in Years 1, 3, and 5 (5–10 years of age) completed a human and anthropomorphic ToM test that tested their understanding of faux pas. Specifically, children from these three age groups were given a human version of 20 faux pas stories and an identical animal version of the same stories 1 week apart (with …

Measuring Variation In Gaze Following Across Communities, Ages, And Individuals: A Showcase Of Tango-Cc (Task For Assessing Individual Differences In Gaze Understanding-Open-Cross-Cultural), Julia Christin Prein, Florian M. Bednarski, Ardain Dzabatou, Michael C. Frank, Annette M.E. Henderson, Josefine Kalbitz, Patricia Kanngiesser, Dilara Keşşafoğlu, Bahar Köymen, Maira V. Manrique-Hernandez, Shirley Magazi, Lizbeth Mújica-Manrique, Julia Ohlendorf, Damilola Olaoba, Wesley R. Pieters, Sarah Pope-Caldwell, Umay Sen, Katie Slocombe, Robert Z. Sparks, Roman Stengelin, Jahnavi Sunderarajan, Kirsten Sutherland, Florence Tusiime, Wilson Vieira, Zhen Zhang, Yufei Zong, Daniel B.M. Haun, Manuel Bohn

School of Psychology

Cross-cultural studies are crucial for investigating the cultural variability and universality of cognitive developmental processes. However, cross-cultural assessment tools in cognition across languages and communities are limited. In this article, we describe a gaze-following task designed to measure basic social cognition across individuals, ages, and communities (the Task for Assessing iNdividual differences in Gaze understanding-Open-Cross-Cultural; TANGO-CC). The task was developed and psychometrically assessed in one cultural setting and, with input of local collaborators, adapted for cross-cultural data collection. Minimal language demands and the web-app implementation allow fast and easy contextual adaptations to each community. TANGO-CC captures individual- and community-level variation …

Consensus-Based Research Priorities For Post-Collision Care In The Western Cape Province Of South Africa, Naseef Abdullah, Tim Nutbeam, Colleen J. Saunders, Craig Wylie, Nigel Lang, Willem Stassen

Peninsula Medical School

Introduction: Road traffic injuries constitute a significant global health burden, causing 1.3 million deaths and 50million injuries annually, with 92 % of fatalities occurring in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despitethis disproportionate impact, research priorities in post-collision care often reflect high-income country contexts,creating a critical misalignment between evidence generation and contextual realities in LMICs.Methods: This mixed-methods study employed a three-phase approach to identify research priorities for postcollision care in the Western Cape, South Africa. Phase 1 consisted of a comprehensive literature review toidentify preliminary thematic areas and research questions. Phase 2 involved a stakeholder engagement workshop using modified nominal group techniques …

Shedding Light To The Rights To Light In England And Wales: The Need For Reform, Goodtime Okara

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

The right to light is unarguably a right that could hinder the development of the servient land. Owing to the possibility of granting a mandatory injunction when breached, this right could lead to extra costs and delays in the efficient development of the servient land by real property developers, even when the dominant tenement does not wish to enjoy the right. Hence, this paper critically reflects on rights to light in England and Wales to determine the impact of this right on the servient land. It explores the direction of travel across the Courts – by briefly examining rights to …

An Immanent Postfoundational Methodology For Researching The Violent Trans-Sections Of Ableism, Classism And Sexism, Elizabeth Done, Cara Baer

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper charts the unfolding of a small-scale qualitative study, presented at institutional ethical approval stage as drawing on posthumanist theorising and seeking to (re)configure the concept of intersectionality, and focusing on the lived experience of postgraduate students of lower socio-economic status with disabilities. The self-selected sample comprised six women, three of whom volunteered accounts of sexual violence that complicated their experiences of dis-ability and class, and highlighted the complexity of their lived experience of intersectionality. We describe a research process in which interviewing became intra-viewing, lived experience came to be understood through Deleuzian and Deleuzo-guattarian concepts and intersectionality became …

Sexual Communication Patterns Of Heterosexual-Identified Men Who Have Sex With Men, Travis R. Scheadler, Megan W. Rowe, Salem Rao, Oliver W.J. Beer, Tyrone J. Curtis, Sandra Kwan, Shih Ju Claire Lung, Adam Busch, Daniel Vandervoort, Paul A. Shuper, Andrew D. Eaton

School of Health Professions

The sexual communication patterns that comprise how heterosexual men with concordance between identity and behavior navigate their sexual encounters with women are well-established. Some heterosexual men experience discordance between their sexual identities and behaviors and may have unique practices of sexual communication, but this has not been studied. Knowledge of their sexual communication practices is an important step toward understanding and improving their sexual experiences. Therefore, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 heterosexual-identified men who have sex with men to learn more about their sexual communication strategies. Three themes were identified through interpretative phenomenological analysis: meeting sex partners, clear communication …

From Myriad To Moderna: The Modern (Bio)Pharmaceutical Company, Ana Santos Rutschman

Faculty Publications

This Article examines the emergence of two modern pharmaceutical companies: Myriad and Moderna. After providing a brief background on each company, this Article contrasts them across the following areas: the technologies they have brought to market; their location; their start-up stages and the role that venture capital played in catalyzing their evolution from start-ups to large corporate structures; their relationships with other entities in the private sector, in academia and in the public sector; and their intellectual property and licensing strategies.

Palynology, Landscape And Land Use: Retrospect, Prospect And Research Agendas, Ralph Fyfe, Kevin Edwards, Laura Scoble

More Faculty of Science and Engineering Research

This paper provides a context for the use of anthropogenic palynology in the study of landscape and land use. Retrospective considerations indicate a history to current trends and inform future developments. Recent and prospective studies secure palynology as an essential element in archaeological and related environmental research. It is stressed that palynology is an inherently spatio-temporal discipline that can use concepts such as landscape or habitat heterogeneity as a future framework. This may be possible if recent advances in quantification of local vegetation cover, for example the use of model-based correction approaches within the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm, are more widely …

The Ten Commandments In Louisiana Public Schools: A Study In The Survival Of Establishment Clause Norms, Ira C. Lupu, Robert W. Tuttle

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In June 2024, Louisiana enacted legislation requiring the prominent posting of the Ten Commandments on the wall of every public-school classroom. In Roake v. Brumley, a federal district court decided that the requirement violated the Establishment Clause. Judge DeGravelles’s lengthy opinion followed the Supreme Court’s 1980 decision in Stone v. Graham, which invalidated a highly similar Kentucky law. In late June 2025, in an opinion by Judge Ramirez, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court in every significant respect. Texas recently enacted similar legislation, now under the cloud of Roake v. Brumley.

In this …

To Predict The Post-Chevron World, You Must Understand The Pre-Chevron World And Then Add Extreme Political Polarity, Richard J. Pierce Jr

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In this contribution to a symposium on the Supreme Court’s opinion in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, Professor Pierce explains how the Court has created a legal environment that will lead to many serious problems. He provides a roadmap to avoid that result.

Standing, Randall S. Abate

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Chapter 4 explores the intricacies of the legal principle of standing, its role in climate litigation, and how it impacts the ability of parties to bring climate change-related lawsuits to trial. The author discusses interpretations of standing across different jurisdictions, such as the United States, New Zealand, and countries in Europe, and explains how these interpretations can either impede or facilitate climate litigation. He distils emerging best practice from this analysis, providing an insightful guide for future climate lawsuits. The author then identifies emerging best practice in interpreting standing rules in a flexible manner, thus allowing a broader range of …

Compensation Under The Microscope: Connecticut, Jeffrey Gutman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

With the exception of the District of Columbia, Connecticut has paid exonerees the highest annual amount of compensation for wrongful convictions in the country, almost four times the national average. Perhaps in part because of this, Connecticut is one of a few states that has attempted to limit the scope and generosity of its statute. It, however, later backpedaled on some of those limits.

Then, in a burst of activity in early January 2025, the Connecticut Claims Commissioner cleared a backlog of pending cases, awarding more than $36 million in compensation. The Connecticut statute has thus had three lives, having …