Digital Commons Network^™

Immersive Experience Design In Contemporary Theme Parks: A Case Study Of Universal Epic Universe, Roi Andre F. Ramos

Experience Industry Management

The evolution of contemporary theme parks has increasingly centered on large-scale immersive environments designed to transport guests into cohesive narrative worlds. The purpose of this study was to examine the immersive design practices utilized at Universal Epic Universe. A case study was conducted to evaluate five themed lands, four attractions, and four queue environments using a researcher-developed observational instrument. The results of this study determined that Epic Universe effectively sustains immersion through architectural enclosure, intellectual property-based world-building, sensory layering, and interactive technologies that increase guest agency. The park demonstrates a cohesive “self-contained land” model that minimizes negative cues and extends …

Reimagining The Laguna Lake Driving Range, Audrey Bonifacio, Jessica Rice

City and Regional Planning

The Laguna Lake Municipal Golf Course is located in San Luis Obispo, California, and is operated by the city. Recently, the community, city staff, and the City Council have begun a conversation regarding the use of the golf course. To explore the different uses, this senior project presents four alternative developments for a selected area of the golf course. These four uses include enhancing the existing driving range, a sports facility, a children’s center, and a senior living community. To assess these alternatives, the project explores current urban planning theories, development trends, and case studies for each use. Through this …

Molecular Landscape In Limb Anomalies: Diagnostic Yield And New Candidate Genes., Akram Mokhtari, Jade Charbonneau, Valancy Miranda, Khadijé Jizi, Marie-Ange Delrue, Patricia Egerszegi, Isabelle Thiffault, Philippe M. Campeau

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Congenital limb anomalies remain without an etiological diagnosis in up to 65% of patients. To help close this gap, we describe the genetic diagnostic outcomes of a large cohort. Patients whose primary indication for genetic consultation was a limb anomaly were included from 2014 to 2024. Demographic, investigation, and diagnostic information were extracted, described, and compared. One hundred and thirty-two patients were included in the final cohort, with an average molecular diagnostic yield of 36%. The most common conditions were polydactyly (24%) and radial anomalies (19%). Fifty percent had syndromic features. Seven (5%) patients underwent chromosomal microarray (CMA) only, 81 …

Molecular And Regional Characterization Of Colorectal Polyps: Insights From Proteomics, Phosphoproteomics, And Immune Profiling., Thomas M. Attard, Shawn D. St Peter, Alexander Kats, Doug R. Lagemann, Caitlin E. Lawson, Badal C. Roy, Kafayat Yusuf, Lisa Harvey, Payel Bhanja, Rishi Man Chugh, Subhrajit Saha, Michael P. Washburn, Shahid Umar

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is an inherited predisposition to colorectal cancer and characterized by profuse colorectal adenomas starting from the second decade of life. Regional (left vs. right) differences in the colonic microbiologic and immunologic microenvironment may impact adenoma evolution but are poorly understood. We aimed to characterize regional molecular, microbial, DNA damage, and immune differences in pediatric FAP polyps to test the hypothesis that polyps in pediatric FAP exhibit distinct regional and molecular features that contribute to differential growth and genomic instability.

METHODS: Colonic polyps and adjacent non-polyp mucosa were harvested from pediatric FAP patients undergoing colonoscopy. Tandem …

Against The Drafter: An Empirical And Theoretical Analysis Of The Doctrine Of Contra Proferentem, Farshad Ghodoosi, Tal Kastner

Fordham Law Review

Contra proferentem, the enduring maxim that directs courts to interpret an ambiguity in a contract against its drafter, appears simple on its face. Although it might be best known as a fundamental principle of insurance law, contra proferentem figures in courts’ interpretation of a range of contract types. As an interpretive rule of thumb that parties can easily override with a simple contract provision, the doctrine and its boilerplate antidote seem to offer a straightforward means to facilitate private ordering—a central goal of contract law.

However, neither courts’ application of the doctrine in case law nor contract drafters’ treatment …

Postcolonial Ecocriticism And The Recovery Of Hope: Okri, Dangarembga, And The Spiritual, John C. Hawley

English

This essay stages a comparative ecocritical reading of African and transnational texts—Cajetan Iheka’s Naturalizing Africa, Ben Okri’s Every Leaf a Hallelujah, Tsitsi Dangarembga’s This Mournable Body, Greg Sarris’s Becoming Story, and Karen Armstrong’s Sacred Nature—to examine how narrative re-situates the human within more-than-human worlds. Drawing on Iheka’s “aesthetics of proximity,” postcolonial theory, and critical posthumanism, it contrasts Okri’s hopeful, child-centered fable of multispecies reciprocity with Dangarembga’s portrayal of “slow violence,” psychic dispossession, and eco-touristic commodification in neoliberal Zimbabwe. Indigenous and spiritual frameworks in Sarris and Armstrong further disclose ancient precedents for posthuman ethics, foregrounding humility, …

March 2026, Office Of Research

Research Update

No abstract provided.

Launch Skills: Virtual Career Camp Connects Rural Youth To Diverse Career Pathways, Caroline Homan, Meagan Hoffman

Journal of Youth Development

Rural youth often encounter persistent barriers in career and workforce readiness, including limited access to career exploration resources, mentorship, and post-secondary exposure, challenges that are compounded by geographic isolation and higher rates of rural poverty. To address these gaps, this manuscript describes the development and implementation of Launch Skills, a virtual career camp designed to broaden rural youths’ awareness of career pathways within food, agriculture, natural resources management, and human sciences (FANH). Grounded in Positive Youth Development principles, Launch Skills was collaboratively developed by North Dakota State University Extension and South Dakota State University Extension to provide flexible, accessible, and …

Epanorama March 2026, Southern Adventist University

Panorama Parent Newsletter

This digital issue of Panorama includes an article about a Southern student winning a branding contest for the City of Collegedale, BCU Night, ADDY Awards, and the CFA Challenge.

From Doctrine To Practice: Shūrā-Centred Islamic Ethics For Sustainable Ecological Solutions, Fatima Dhanani, Cecilee Glaus Jones

Abdou Filali-Ansary Occasional Paper Series

This paper examines how Islamic ethics, when translated into lived practice, generate both moral frameworks and scalable solutions to pressing ecological challenges. Focusing on shūrā, tawḥīd, khilāfa, and taʿaddudiyya, and drawing on case studies of Stewardship Canada and the Aga Khan University’s Carbon Management Tool, the authors show how Islamic values move beyond doctrinal abstraction to guide institutional decision-making, programme design, and community engagement. More than treating ethics as fixed theological propositions, they frame them as negotiated, context-sensitive processes that align with ecological resilience, distributive justice, and economic viability.

Grounded in shūrā …

Key Predictors Of Postpartum Depression And Anxiety Symptoms Among Mothers In Kilifi, Kenya: A Machine Learning Approach, Faith Benson, Rachel Odhiambo, Willie Brink, Anthony Ngugi, Akbar Waljee, Eileen Weinheimer-Haus, Cheryl Moyer, Ji Zhu, Amina Abubakar

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background:

The burden of maternal postpartum depression and anxiety is disproportionately high in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), yet the use of advanced analytical methods to capture the complex interplay of variables influencing these conditions remains underexplored.

Objective:

To apply machine learning (ML) methods to predict depressive and anxiety symptoms in postpartum mothers and to identify key and actionable predictors.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study included 1,995 biological mothers of singleton infants aged 0–6 months, using survey data collected between March 2023 and March 2024 in Kaloleni and Rabai sub-counties, Kilifi County, Kenya, within the Kaloleni–Rabai Health and Demographic Surveillance …

Learning Gendered Speech: How Media Exposure Shapes American Learners’ Perceptions Of Japanese Pronouns, Emma Bell, David Raymond

Research Papers and Posters from ASCL 60.20: Languages and Scripts of Gender, Class, and Nation

Language choices play an integral part in an individual’s identity, especially in how they are perceived by others. Further, the context under which an individual learns a language has a major influence on their language choices. This influence is particularly significant in Japanese: a language that is often described as having clearly defined “masculine” and “feminine” speech styles. The following research is a study on how beginner Japanese language learners’ pedagogical and environmental backgrounds affect their perception of gendered pronouns. An online survey was conducted to compare perceptions of the appropriateness of various pronouns across gendered contexts between beginner learners …

Native Chinese Speakers’ Perspective On Foreign Speakers Of Their Language, Veronika Šímová, Jack Inglis

Research Papers and Posters from ASCL 60.20: Languages and Scripts of Gender, Class, and Nation

As previous research suggests, native speakers of Chinese may hold unfair perceptions of non-native learners of their language. This might lead to a belief among Chinese native speakers that non-Asians cannot speak Chinese fluently or at a native level. This is a potentially harmful assumption that has implications affecting new learners, experienced learners, and future learners. Existing research on the topic has shown that ethnically Chinese L2 speakers of Mandarin are often perceived more positively than non-Asian L2 speakers. Other scholars have shown the perceived relationships between looking Chinese and speaking Chinese, as well as assumptions that Asians should speak …

Same Film, Different Story: Cross-Cultural Adaptation Of Movie Titles In Thai And Cantonese Markets, Krittin Hirunchupong, Yi Gao

Research Papers and Posters from ASCL 60.20: Languages and Scripts of Gender, Class, and Nation

Movie title translations play a significant role in cross-cultural marketing and interpersonal communication among audiences. Due to cultural differences and naming conventions, English titles are often adapted creatively in Asian contexts for informative, aesthetic and commercial purposes. Diverse translation strategies share organic relations with Glocalization trends, indicating the degree of cultural openness in international discourse. This study combines media analysis that investigates translation strategy trends in top rated films in Thailand and Hong Kong with survey data on bilingual audiences’ interaction with title backtranslations. Both quantitative and qualitative data reflect that Thai and Cantonese film titles shape audience expectations and …

Sacbe 1 And Classic Maya Urban Culture, Traci Ardren, Scott R. Hutson, Travis W. Stanton, Patrick Rohrer, Justin P. Lowry

Anthropology Faculty Publications

One of the most significant engineering accomplishments of Maya civilization is Sacbe 1, a raised road connecting the ancient urban centers of Yaxuna and Coba. Using new lidar data in concert with excavation, epigraphic inscriptions, and landscape reconnaissance, we show that settlement and an urban experience emanated westward from Coba along the sacbe. The leaders of Coba - in particular, an ambitious seventh-century queen - used the sacbe to expand the political and cultural influence of their dynasty into the center of the peninsula while securing territory and resources. Gaps in the sacbe, precise delineation of its many curves, and …

Trends In Health-Based Drinking Water Violations For Coliform Bacteria In The United States, Amber Lyon-Colbert, Kshipra Sharma

Public Health Faculty Publications

This research seeks to determine whether health-based drinking water violations for total coliforms have increased since the Revised Total Coliform Bacteria Rule established in 2013 and fully implemented in 2016 by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water Act; as well as determine the geographic regions, states and territories in the United States with the highest number of health-based Total Coliform Rule and Revised Total Coliform Rule violations. We obtained data for drinking water violations involving total coliform bacteria from the Safe Drinking Water Information System for 2000-2019 and trend analysis was completed by state, region, water source, …

Knights Of Guinevere, Knights Of Terrace, Abigail Hyacinthe Woelk

Gateway Reader- Individual Papers

• The Problem: The researcher addresses a gap in media criticism regarding Dana Terrace's animated series Knights of Guinevere, arguing that critics like Rosa Perez over-emphasize the show's jabs at Disney while neglecting its broader allegorical critiques of corporate pollution and capitalist labor practices.

• The Method: The study analyzes the pilot episode of Knights of Guinevere by evaluating its framing, character design, and setting alongside a comparative critique of Rosa Perez's 2025 article "This Animated Sci-Fi Series Fires a Shot at Disney".

• Quantitative Finding: The core text references specific timestamps from the 2025 pilot episode, including the introduction of narrative …

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Ferroptosis As A Pathological Driver In Niemann-Pick Disease Type C, Kayla Linda Sanchez

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Niemann–Pick Disease Type C (NPC) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disease characterized by selective cell vulnerability, particularly affecting cerebellar anterior Purkinje neurons. These neurons exhibit a distinctive pattern of degeneration due to the loss of NPC1 and/or NPC2 protein function, progressively extending towards posterior cerebellar regions. Historically, research has described NPC as a disorder of intracellular cholesterol handling; however, cholesterol-lowering therapies have not effectively prevented neurological deterioration, and the mechanisms underlying selective neuronal vulnerability remain unclear. Ferroptosis, previously referred to as oxytosis, is a regulated form of cell death driver by iron-induced lipid peroxidation. It has been implicated in several neurodegenerative …

Reconstructing The "Best Interests" Inquiry In Termination Of Parental Rights Cases: Setting The Threshold At "Affirmative Need", Vivek Sankaran, Timothy Pinto

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

Evolution Of Execution: The Introduction Of Nitrogen Hypoxia In Death Penalty Methodology, And The Need For Statutory Scientific Review, Madeline Ostrander

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Modern Sisyphus Blows Leaves: Attitudes And Impacts Regarding Leaf Litter Removal On A Suburban Campus, A. C. Nony, M. R. Mcclung, M. L. Reid

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Leaf litter habitat disruption in suburban spaces stems from the prevalence of “lawn culture,” that is, the accepted societal norm that land immediately surrounding humans or meant for human recreational use should be clean, tidy, controlled, and aesthetically pleasing, above other considerations. When leaf litter on residential and recreational lawns is cleared, it removes vital habitat for organisms of several taxa, especially species that rely on litter as a moisture and temperature-controlled substrate for overwintering. We administered an opinion survey to students, staff, and faculty at Hendrix College, a highly residential and suburban campus in Conway, Arkansas, to assess views …

Courts Of Indian Offenses, Courts Of Indian Resistance, Alexandra Fay

Michigan Law Review

In the late nineteenth century, the Department of the Interior created the Courts of Indian Offenses with the express goal of eliminating elements of Native culture through the coercive power of criminal law. The courts stood on dubious constitutional grounds, were almost universally replaced by tribal courts in the twentieth century, and have been widely derided as crude assimilationist tools.

This Article examines the Courts of Indian Offenses to study how law and legal institutions operate as sites of colonial struggle. The Courts of Indian Offenses were formally created to criminalize Native culture. In practice, they were more complicated. Native …

Riverbend Ranch Mixed-Use Development Project, Anthony James Sousa

City and Regional Planning

This senior project is a proposed mixed-use development project in the City of Visalia, California. The scope of work includes site analysis and site plan development formatted in a comprehensive development package. This project aims to set a precedent for future development in the City of Visalia by increasing density to meet housing requirements and incorporating various urban agricultural uses to reconnect the urban and rural relationship. Additionally, the project includes a literature review on urban agriculture to explain its role in planning practice.

To Hunt Or Not To Hunt: Is It That Simple For Female Hunters?, Hayley Nash Jackson, Lauren Redmore, Christopher A. Cheek, Jennifer Zavaleta Cheek

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Natural resource agencies and researchers have often focused efforts to reduce the constraints women face in hunting. However, many women continue to hunt despite these barriers, suggesting a need to understand the complex decisions they make. This study explores the decision space that women navigate despite logistical, cultural, and personal constraints. This mixed method study used free lists (n = 50) and semi-structured interviews (n = 22) to identify the most salient decisions women make to go hunting. These included decisions about gear, household responsibilities, hunting partners, land access, and pre-planning. Interviews revealed how women strategically make decisions to navigate …

Situation Mouse All Floxed Up: Exploring Phenotypic Abnormalities In Bdnf Floxed Mice, Marissa A. Burkman

All NMU Master's Theses

Animal research is a contentious topic in both the scientific and general communities.  It is essential that our animal models accurately and predictably depict intended phenotypes, necessitating careful colony monitoring and maintenance.  Volunteer animal staff in the Ottem Laboratory became concerned when mice with LoxP sites flanking the BDNF gene depicted anxiety-like behaviors such as aggression, difficulty handling, and increased agitation.  Though many studies have noted behavioral and phenotypic abnormalities related to large gene inserts, few have noted abnormalities with small gene inserts such as the 34 bp LoxP site.  Brandt (2018) performed a three-stage behavioral protocol on these mice …

Time-Dependent Amplification Of Growth Rates In A Plankton-Oxygen Model, Rapha Coutin

Master's Theses

Near-bottom hypoxia occurs when dissolved oxygen levels drop to a level that is harmful to marine biology, creating biological dead zones along the ocean floor. Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the percentage of coastal, near-bottom, hypoxic water, with the average in 2021 nearly double that of the average from 2009 to 2018 and about twenty-eight times the average from 1950 to 1980. Recent literature has linked this increase in oceanic hypoxia to the increase in upwelling-favorable winds caused by climate change. Upwelling brings low-oxygen, nutrient-rich water up to the surface, leading to plankton blooms and mass consumption …

Toxic Immortality: Rethinking Decline And Plastics With Lucretius, Jessica Croteau

Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship

Much of contemporary environmental thought operates within paradigms of conservation, sustainability, and resilience—frameworks that assume the goal of ecological politics must be to prevent loss, preserve stability, and mitigate decline. However, these frameworks inadequately address cases where persistence and abundance, rather than disappearance, are the source of harm. By contrast, this article argues that an ecological ethic oriented toward decline, unbecoming, and decomposition reveals an alternative set of political and material stakes: not the conservation of things but their proper dissolution. Drawing from the materialist philosophy of Lucretius, the article critiques the prevailing assumption that endurance is inherently beneficial, highlighting …

Elevating The Underrepresented And Marginalized Using Experiences In Stem (Lumens): A Stem Diversity And Inclusion Initiative, Robert Cobb Jr, Paula E. Faulkner, Deiadra Modlin, Obinna Chiekezi, Victoria Cobbold, Madison Beaudoin

Journal of Research Initiatives

The study offered a 5-week summer immersion program to address the shortage of students from underrepresented populations enrolling in degree programs and seeking careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The study also addressed the importance of offering summer immersion programs to close the achievement gap. A quantitative descriptive design was used to gather data from participants related to STEM lessons during the program. Gender, grade level, and race served as the demographic variables. The study included 21 secondary students in grades 9–12. Pre- and post-tests assessed participants' knowledge gain regarding STEM lessons. Data analyzed with SPSS version 29 …

Madwoman Makings: The Modern Girl As An Object Of Fear And Fascination In Unno Jūza’S "Mrs. Hirumi's Refrigeration Bag", Eliza Joy Mortimer

University Honors Theses

This thesis argues that Unno Jūza's 1937 short story "Mrs. Hirumi's Refrigeration Bag" uses the sensational tropes of deviant detective fiction to both stage and interrogate interwar Japanese anxieties around gender, science, and modernity. Focusing on the figure of Mrs. Hirumi—a scientifically empowered and sexually assertive female plastic surgeon who dismembers and cryogenically preserves her husband—the author reads her as a radical iteration of the Japanese Modern Girl character. By drawing on scholarship on deviant detective fiction, imperial modernity, and Kazue Harada's concept of (re)productivity, this thesis demonstrates how the short story both reproduces misogynistic criminological discourse and unsettles heteronormative …

Effect Of Dental Treatments On Reduction Of Preterm Birth: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Camille Thomas, Shakil Ahmed, Vincenzo Berghella, Romina Brignardello-Petersen, Mohamed El-Rabbany, Catherine Devion, Stefania Ronzoni

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVE: Periodontal disease is associated with increased risk of preterm birth. Effective management during pregnancy may reduce preterm birth, though clinical trial evidence has been inconsistent. This study aimed to assess whether treating dental disease during pregnancy reduces preterm birth.

DATA SOURCES: A systematic search was performed of EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and trial registries up to December 2023 and re-run in January 2025.

STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) enrolling pregnant persons with any dental disease randomized to receive dental treatment vs no treatment were included. No language restriction was applied.

STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS METHODS: Data …