Digital Commons Network^™

The Complex And Multifaceted Nature Of Social Media: Perspectives From Young Adolescents, Parents And Experts, Cindy Branch-Smith, Diarmuid Hurley, Nasim Salehi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: This study explores the complex and multifaceted nature of social media use among young adolescents, drawing on the perspectives of young adolescents, parents and experts. It examines both the benefits and risks of social media and associated implications for adolescent mental health, self-development and social relationships. Methodology: A qualitative, interpretive design was utilised, using interviews across three stakeholder groups, with data analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings: The analysis identified a range of perceived opportunities, benefits and challenges associated with adolescent social media engagement. Participants highlighted its role in fostering connection, education and self-expression, alongside significant risks, including cyberbullying, …

Insights Into Site Fidelity Of A Low-Density Dugong Population Using Small-Drone Imagery And Photo-Identification, Roxana Newman, Ashwag Asseri, William David Paterson, Deni Porej, Harry Clark, Mishari Alghrair, Winston Cowie, David Charles Wells, Amanda Jane Hodgson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The feasibility of using unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs, ‘drones’) to collect high-resolution still and video imagery of dugongs (Dugong dugon) for photo-identification (photo-ID) in the Sindalah Archipelago, NEOM (area ~ 84 km²), within the northeast Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, was evaluated during opportunistic marine megafauna searches. Drone searches were conducted whenever possible over one year (January 2024 to January 2025). A total of 48 dugong observations were made during 91 days of drone flights, covering a cumulative distance of 5,962 km of flying. Of these, 35 (72.9%) were repeat sightings (range = 2 to 8 resights) of nine …

Love Letters To The Self: Building Heart Skills Through Positive Autoethnography, Madalena Grobbelaar, Elizabeth Reid Boyd

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This article is an enquiry between two educators, one from social science and the other from counselling psychology, exploring how Positive Autoethnography can be applied in both teaching and therapeutic contexts. An exploration by co-founders of #Love@ECU, a research initiative at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Western Australia, the piece investigates the intersection of emotional learning and educational practice through the emerging framework of Heart Skills, an original format currently used in teaching interpersonal skills at ECU. It integrates personal narrative, embodied experience and emotional insight to consider how student growth and resilience can be cultivated. Central to this exploration …

Periodontitis During Pregnancy: The Effect On The Gut Microbiome And Intestinal Inflammation, Richard Bright, G. Macowan, Keyuan Tian, Tracy Fitzsimmons, Rebecca L. Wilson, Claire T. Roberts, Claus T. Christophersen, Peter M. Bartold, Stephen P. Kidd, Peter S. Zilm

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Periodontitis has been epidemiologically associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, but causality remains difficult to establish in humans due to confounding factors. This study uses a controlled murine model to examine the effects of experimentally induced periodontitis on the composition of the gut microbiota and gastrointestinal inflammation during pregnancy. Methods: Periodontitis was induced in pregnant BALB/c mice via oral inoculation with Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum before conception (n = 20 per group). Pregnancy outcomes, gut histology, systemic inflammatory markers, and microbiome composition, assessed by 16S rRNA sequencing, were evaluated at gestational Day 18. Results: Periodontitis was confirmed by significant …

Photocatalytic Degradation Of Cephalexin, Amoxicillin, And Phenol Red Using A Green-Synthesized Folic Acid–Zno–Bi2o3 Nanoporous System, M. Sarani, Haghighi, P. Tamaddon, A. Najafidoust, P. Faghani-Eskandarkolaei, N. Sattarahmady

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The persistent presence of pharmaceutical pollutants like amoxicillin (AMX) and cephalexin (CPX), and industrial dyes such as phenol red (PR) in wastewater poses serious ecological and public health risks, including antibiotic resistance. It necessitates efficient and low-cost remediation technologies. Photocatalysts employing innovative and engineered nanomaterials such as bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures exhibit considerable potential for eliminating pollutants. This study focused on the photodegradation of AMX, CPX, and PR utilizing green-synthesized folic acid–ZnO–Bi2O3 nanoparticles (F-Zn-Bi NPs) under visible light irradiation. Characterization of the synthesized photocatalyst was conducted using various techniques of powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), field emission …

Persistence Of Contested Value Cocreation Practices, Kim Feddema, Kaisa Koskela-Huotari, Paul Harrigan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The climate crisis and other global challenges make it clear that not only are new value cocreation practices (VCPs) needed, but some current VCPs must be discontinued. Prior service literature assumes that VCPs can be disrupted by reforming the institutions that govern them. However, empirical observations show that VCPs may persist even when targeted by institutional work, and recent organizational research points to contested practices that continue to be enacted even when challenged or criticized. To understand this phenomenon in value cocreation, we conducted an embedded case study of exotic pet-keeping—a set of VCPs that continue despite intervention efforts. Our …

Focused Ultrasound-Enhanced Nose-To-Brain Delivery Of A Therapeutic Antibody In A Large-Animal Model, Siaka Fadera, Cristian Antonio Wieczorek Villas Boas, Yimei Yue, Zhaoning Gu, Jinyun Yuan, Debolina De, Buck E Rogers, Arash Nazeri, Hong Chen

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Oculomics And Ai: The Eye As A Biomarker For Health Span, Joy Le Yi Wong, Rajendra S Apte, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

As the world's population ages, the focus of healthcare is shifting from extending life span to promoting health span. There is an unmet need to identify sensitive and reliable markers of health span through more cost-effective and non-invasive methods, to enable early and effective intervention on modifiable aging factors. The eye offers a unique window into systemic health, providing direct visualization of the body's vascular and neural health. This review presents an overview of how various ocular structures can serve as biomarkers of health span-drawing on insights from ocular imaging, metabolomics, and proteomics, with evidence from basic science, animal models, …

Gendered Resistance: Women’S Strategies Against Military Dictatorships, Argentina And Chile, Maricarmen Canales-Moreno

Publications and Research

This article compares the Madres de Plaza de Mayo in Argentina and the Agrupación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos (AFDD) in Chile to examine how women transformed their identities as mothers, wives, and daughters into strategies of political resistance under military dictatorship. It argues that maternal imagery, public mourning, and the transformation of private grief into collective defiance enabled women-led human rights organizations to challenge authoritarian regimes while strategically drawing on gender roles those regimes sought to enforce. The article traces the emergence of both organizations, their occupation of public space, hunger strikes, legal action, and engagement with international human …

Developing Indicators For Measuring The Sustainability Of Hotels, Reem Mohamed Abdalla Eltoum, S. Mostafa Rasoolimanesh, Joaquim Dias Soeiro, Mohsen Marjani

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The aim of this study is to develop a comprehensive set of indicators for monitoring and measuring sustainability in the hotel industry in Malaysia. It gives special attention to the environmental, social, resiliene and economic dimensions. This study applies the Delphi method by interviewing three key stakeholder groups—hotel managers, academicians, and hotel staff—in two rounds, in order to assess and validate indicators identified from the literature. Findings reveal demonstrate a strong attention to indicators associated with environmental sustainability, especially those which relates to waste management, consumption of energy and water and recycling which amounts to 51% of participants view. Further, …

Trust-Aware Algorithms For Stackelberg Ground Vehicle Routing, Doris Evelyn Meredith Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite decades of research focused on reducing ground vehicle traffic congestion, urban traffic networks worldwide continue to experience traffic flows that lead to increased network travel times, largely resulting from the routing decisions of individual vehicles. To address this challenge, this work leverages a Stackelberg game framework to model the interaction between a vehicle agent and a routing authority as a leader–follower game, in which the routing authority proposes routing interventions to which the agent responds. This research contributes to existing traffic mitigation literature by exploring the role of trust in route decision-making and providing trust-aware algorithms that influence vehicle …

Relationships Between Smartphone Use, Mental Health, And Personality, Christina M. Frederick, Gabriel Fredrich

Publications

The present study examined how patterns of smartphone use relate to mental health and personality variables. Ninety-four individuals reported information from their iPhones on pick-ups and screen time, as well as completing a measure of depression, anxiety and stress, and a short personality test. Higher numbers of iPhone pick-ups related to lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, but also to lower levels of emotional stability. Greater phone usage may correlate with mental health concerns but also raises new questions about how smart phone use patterns might help to lessen feelings of anxiety, depression or stress in users. This study …

Demographic Impact And Diagnostic Evaluation Of Mycoplasma Ovipneumoniae In Bighorn Sheep Of The Pine Ridge Badlands, Jeffrey Tillery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovi) decimates bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) populations through acute die-offs followed by years or decades of failed lamb recruitment. Test-and-remove management has emerged as the primary intervention to restore population growth, and this thesis quantifies the demographic costs of endemic M. ovi infection and evaluates the diagnostic tools upon which this strategy depends. I quantified vital rates across five bighorn sheep subherds (four infected, one uninfected) on the Pine Ridge Reservation (2023–2025), supplemented by pre-outbreak data (2017–2018) from the North Unit of Badlands National Park. Infected subherds declined (λ = 0.965, 95% CrI: 0.813–1.039) while the uninfected …

Production Of Fungal Biomass And Crude Chitin From Cheese Whey: Effects Of Whey Type And Lactose Hydrolysis On Aspergillus Niger And Trichoderma Reesei, Anye Catharine Nora Drum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chitin is a biodegradable and biocompatible biopolymer with broad applications in the food, biomedical, pharmaceutical, and packaging industries. Conventional chitin production from crustacean shells is associated with seasonal availability, intensive chemical processing, and environmental concerns, creating interest in more sustainable alternatives. Filamentous fungi represent a promising source of chitin because of their rapid growth and ability to utilize low cost agro-industrial residues. This study evaluated the feasibility of producing fungal biomass and crude chitin from cheese whey through submerged fermentation while investigating the effects of whey type and enzymatic lactose hydrolysis on fungal growth, substrate utilization, and wastewater remediation. Aspergillus …

Plant-Insect Interactions In Great Plains Restoration And Invasion Ecology, Joseph H. Cammarano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prairie ecosystem loss and invasive plant species are major ecological problems in the Great Plains. Plant-insect interactions have important consequences for both the restoration of prairie ecosystems and management of invasive plant species. Pollinating insects are vital to the sustainability of prairie ecosystems, and herbivorous insects can provide biological control of invasive plant species. Understanding how restoration strategies may influence potential pollinator communities can have important consequences for restoration sustainability and success and understanding how biological control strategies may help manage invasive plant populations can also help land managers reach restoration and conservation goals. In Ch. 2, I sought to …

Primary Avian Tracheal Cell Models For The Isolation Of Emerging Avian Metapneumovirus Strains, Tricia Serrao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) subgroups A and B in the United States poultry industry has created an urgent need for standardized, host-specific diagnostic platforms. Historically, reliance on continuous, multi-species cell lines has limited the primary isolation of field strains and introduced potential adaptation artifacts. To address these challenges, this research first established and characterized a reproducible primary cell culture system derived from the tracheal tissues of 1-day-old turkey poults. This system was maintained in an optimized DMEM/F-12 formulation supplemented with 5% FBS, EGF, and ITS, with early-passage cultures achieving 90% confluence within 24 to 48 hours. Morphological and …

The Fate And Removal Of E. Coli Across Liquid And Sludge Treatment Stages In An Activated -Sludge Water Resource Recovery Facility, Shrawan Tandukar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluates the fate and removal efficiency of Escherichia coli (E. coli) across both liquid and sludge treatment processes at a full-scale activated sludge water resource recovery facility (WRRF) in Brookings, South Dakota. Understanding pathogen reduction within wastewater treatment systems is critical for protecting public health and ensuring regulatory compliance, particularly in facilities practicing water reuse and biosolids management. Liquid and sludge samples were collected from multiple treatment stages between January and July 2025 and analyzed using the IDEXX Colilert Quanti-Tray 2000 method. This study quantifies E. coli concentrations throughout the treatment train to assess removal performance and identify …

The Influence Of Controlled Intake And Anabolic Implant Timing On Growth Performance And Carcass Traits In Feedlot Ruminants, Justin J. Delver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation was to evaluate how previous plane of nutrition and anabolic implant timing interact to influence growth performance, composition of growth, and the carcass characteristics in ruminants. Three experiments were conducted using cattle and sheep models to determine the metabolic adaptations driving compensatory growth. In experiment 1, yearling beef steers (n = 192) were fed ad libitum for 141 days (ADLIB) or restricted to 92% of ad libitum intake for 56 (RES56) or 86 (RES86) days followed by realimentation. Cumulative dry matter intake (DMI) was reduced in both restricted groups (P = 0.002) with no difference …

Effect Of Increasing Potency Of Steroidal Implants In Beef Steers At Weaning From Dry-Lot To Finish, Weston Joseph Peschel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The receiving phase is a stressful transition period in beef production. Newly weaned cattle are offered low-energy, high-forage diets promoting lean tissue and bone development prior to the finishing phase. Steroidal implants containing trenbolone acetate (TBA) and estradiol benzoate (EB) enhance lean gain. Aggressive early implant exposure has been shown to negatively impact intramuscular fat deposition. This two-part study evaluated the initial and carryover effects of increasing doses of combined TBA and EB weaning implants on growth performance, serum metabolites, and carcass traits. In Exp. 1, newly weaned Charolais × Red Angus crossbred beef steers [n = 240 initially; body …

Evaluating The Potential Of Genomic Selection For Grain Yield And Yield Component Traits In South Dakota Winter Wheat, Dante Koupal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a major cereal crop worldwide, but recent gains in grain yield (GY) have not kept pace with projected demand. GY is a highly quantitative trait with low heritability that requires multi-year, multi-location phenotyping, limiting selection efficiency. Targeting higher heritability yield component traits, such as kernel size and weight, and incorporating them into the genomic selection (GS) pipeline has the potential to accelerate genetic gain for GY. The objectives of this study were to (i) understand the relationship between GY and the kernel-size traits, including thousand kernel weight (TKW), kernel length (KL), kernel width (KW), and …

Butting Heads With Respiratory Disease: Post-Epizootic Demography And Movement-Driven Spillover Risk In A Badland’S Bighorn Sheep (Ovis Canadensis) Meta-Population, Sean P. Ryder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Respiratory disease caused by Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae is among the most significant threats to bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) conservation in North America. In July 2021, contact between bighorn sheep rams and domestic sheep north of Badlands National Park (BADL), South Dakota, USA introduced M. ovipneumoniae into the Badlands bighorn sheep meta-population, triggering an epizootic that reduced the population by approximately 80%. I evaluated the post-outbreak status of this population through two complementary studies conducted from 2023 to 2025. In Chapter 1, I quantified disease prevalence, adult survival, lamb recruitment, and population growth rate (λ) using serial quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) …

Investigation Of Perennial Clover Living Mulch And Reduced Tillage Effects On Weed Suppression, Crop Metrics, And Yield Of Organic Cabbage And Sweet Corn In The Northern Great Plains, Kristina Harms

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vegetable farmers often face weed management and soil health challenges, such as nitrate leaching, soil compaction, and top-soil loss. Sustainable agriculture is a forefront of innovation compared to conventional agriculture. Living mulches, non-cash crops grown alongside cash crops, have demonstrated weed suppression and impact on the promotion of sustainable agriculture. Yet studies have not evaluated established living mulch systems on cash crop quality and yield. This study conducted in 2023, 2024, and 2025 at SDSU Southeast Research Farm, Beresford, SD, USA evaluates the impact of established ‘Dynamite’ red clover (Trifolium pratense), ‘Domino’ white clover (T. repens), and ‘Aberlasting’ white × …

Production, Characterization, And Diagnostic Application Of Monoclonal Antibodies Against The N-Protein Of Avian Metapneumovirus Subgroup B, Ravi Gupta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) is a respiratory pathogen that causes Turkey Rhinotracheitis (TRT) in turkeys and Swollen Head Syndrome (SHS) in chickens. The infection leads to facial swelling, nasal discharge, reduced egg production, and poor growth. This virus is classified into four subgroups: aMPV-A, B, C, and D, with two other novel subgroups, in which aMPV-A, B, and C are most prevalent in the commercial flocks. In early 2024, aMPV-A and B outbreaks have been reported in the US, resulting in severe economic losses. An economic assessment estimates around $112 million in losses in Minnesota and up to $434 million in …

Accountability For Lawyers And Lawyer-Bashers: Reflections On Wendel's Canceling Lawyers, David Luban

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article is part of a symposium on W. Bradley Wendel’s Canceling Lawyers: Case Studies of Accountability, Toleration, and Regret. I agree with Wendel’s two fundamental claims: first, and contrary to the reigning conception, lawyers can be held accountable for choosing to represent a particular client (assuming they have a choice), and therefore that they cannot use their professional role as a “magic shield or force field” (Wendel’s term) to deflect all criticism. Second, however, there is also an ethics of blaming, and critics who blame lawyers irresponsibly can themselves be blamed. One of Wendel’s examples is lawyers who …

Creation And The Republican Revival, William M. Treanor

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Gordon Wood's classic book Creation of the American Republic has long influenced legal thought and originalist scholarship in particular. It played a central role in the Republican Revival movement, an effort by leading scholars such as Cass Sunstein and Frank Michelman to recover a progressive originalism at the same time as conservative originalism was starting to shape constitutional jurisprudence. But, while the Republican Revival nominally relied on Wood, it misread central elements of his book - his concept of virtue and his belief that republicanism had largely been displaced at the time of the drafting of the Constitution.

The time …

Friends In Niche Places: An Examination Of Anole Abundance And Habitat Use In An Urban Environment Using Point Transect Distance Sampling, Ethan Gau

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Lizards in the genus anolis occupy a wide range of ecological niches, often sharing the same environment due to niche partitioning. In central Florida, the main species of anoles found are the native A. carolinensis and the invasive A. sagrei, two generalist anole species that partition into trunk-crown and trunk-ground niches in each other’s presences respectively. I surveyed the UCF main campus using Apollo Circle as the border for my study area, and I used point sampling to estimate the population abundance and density, while also collecting data on perch substrate, height, and canopy coverage. Population estimates for A. …

Effect Of Plant-Based Vs. Standard American Diet On Cardiovascular Parameters In College Students, Timothy J. Horanic

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study examines how adherence to different dietary patterns—specifically a plant-based diet compared to the standard American diet—can influence physiological indicators tied to cardiovascular health, including heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure (BP), and heart rate (HR). Among these markers, HRV is considered especially sensitive to autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulation and may offer earlier insight into physiological stress or dysfunction than HR or BP alone. Although nutritional habits are widely believed to impact heart health, few investigations have focused on how specific long-term diets affect autonomic and cardiovascular metrics in healthy, college-aged adults. This study aims to investigate if …

Convergencias Y Divergencias: Un Estudio Comparativo De Lenguas Y Literaturas Española Y Portuguesa En España Durante La Temprana Edad Moderna Europea, Eduardo A. Rodrigues D'Abruzzo

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study examines the literary and linguistic relationships between Spain and Portugal during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries through literary works and their translations. A period characterized by the Iberian Union, vernacularization, and the consolidation of early modern literary systems. It explores the interaction of Spanish and Portuguese texts within a shared yet asymmetrical cultural space shaped by translation, genre adaptation, and hierarchies of linguistic prestige. The research employs comparative textual analysis grounded in historical sociolinguistics, philology, and translation studies. Key works analyzed include Alfonso X’s historiography, Francisco Rodrigues Lobo’s Corte na aldeia and its Spanish translation, and Luís de …

To Print A Remake: An Analysis Of Hollywood Remakes And Their Cultural Value, Connor F. Seaton

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In recent years, audiences and movie critics have expressed concern that Hollywood’s growing reliance on remakes, sequels, franchises, and similar adaptations has led to a broader worry that originality is fading from modern cinema and that the industry is instead focused on using adaptations to maximize profits. Although adaptation is often seen as a commercially driven framework for reproducing existing intellectual property in a new media format, this thesis argues that it should be recognized as an autonomous cultural category with its own artistic, historical, and social significance and merit. By analyzing adaptation scholarship and reviewing its complex historical development, …

The Role Of The Amygdala In Huntington Disease-Associated Aggression, Luis Torres

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Huntington disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by a trinucleotide CAG expansion in the huntingtin gene (HTT). HD is characterized by motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms that significantly impact patient and caregiver quality of life. Psychiatric symptoms, including depression, anxiety, and irritability, are common manifestations of HD and can emerge years before the onset is clinically diagnosed. Aggression is a common and challenging psychiatric symptom in HD, often misunderstood and associated with caregiver stress, early institutionalization, and reduced quality of life. Despite its clinical impact, aggression in HD lacks effective, targeted treatment options. Similar to HD …