Digital Commons Network^™

Virtual Patient Technology Enabled The Reconstruction Of Craniofacial Hard And Soft Tissues Through The Integration And Superimposition Of Multimodal Dental Imaging Datasets, Hsin-Hua Chou, Kuo‑Ning Ho, Takashi Saito, Wei-Chun Lin

Journal of Dental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Recurrent Maxillary Medication-Related Osteonecrosis Of The Jaw With Maxillary Sinusitis In An Edentulous Patient: A Possible Bidirectional Relationship, Wun-Ting Lin, Yu-Nung Lee, Yu-Fen Yen, Ken-Chung Chen

Journal of Dental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Synergistic Removal Of Microplastic Fibres: Integrating Chitosan Coagulation In Hybrid Water Pre-Treatment Systems, Jayasuriya Arachchilage Nimesha Thathsarani

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Microplastic fibres (MPFs) are the most prevalent form of microplastics detected in the influents of water and wastewater treatment plants. Owing to their elongated shape and low density, MPFs frequently evade removal even during tertiary processes such as membrane filtration. Enhancing pretreatment, particularly through cost-effective coagulation-flocculation can reduce the treatment burden on downstream systems. However, conventional inorganic coagulants often necessitate high dosages and can leave residual ions, posing environmental concerns.

As a sustainable alternative, the use of environmentally friendly coagulants such as Chitosan has gained attention for MPF removal. While Chitosan exhibits favourable qualities, its practical application is hindered by …

Integrated Incubators: A Novel Framework For Technology-Based Creative Arts Education, Brad Phelps Nisbet

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis investigates the development and impact of an educational framework designed to bridge the gap between academia and industry within the media and entertainment sector. It addresses the prevalent "skills mismatch" where graduates often lack the specific technical competencies, foundational knowledge, practical experience, or soft skills required for entry-level positions in a rapidly evolving landscape influenced by advancements like virtual production, real-time VFX, immersive media, and Al. Grounded in both theoretical and practical insights, the framework aims to foster student creativity, technical proficiency, industry readiness, transferable skills, and adaptability, prioritising a transformative, student-centric learning experience.

The research employed a …

Study Of Fire Regimes In Southwestern Australia Using Geospatial Techniques, Ana Do Carmo Carvalho

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The Northern Jarrah Forest in Southwestern Australia (SWA), part of a global biodiversity hotspot, is home to fire-sensitive tree species such as marri (Corymbia calophylla) and jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata). As climate change intensifies drought and extreme fire events, understanding the drivers of fire severity is increasingly critical. This thesis analyses fire regimes within the Mundaring drinking water catchment to better understand the spatiotemporal complexity of fire severity in relation to fire history and environmental factors.

The thesis commences with a review of three Fire History Databases (FHDs) used in SWA, highlighting significant inconsistencies and data gaps across time and space. …

An Investigation Into The Mechanisms, Barriers, Degree And Sphere Of Risk Influence In Corporate Security, Nicola Lockhart

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigates the sphere of corporate security risk influence within organisations, addressing the conceptual and practical ambiguity surrounding the activity’s capacity to shape organisational decisions, behaviours, and risk priorities. While corporate security’s protective role is widely recognised, its broader organisational risk influence remains under-theorised. The study defines the sphere of risk influence as the range of organisational stakeholders and environments with which the corporate security activity interacts, and within which it may engage, persuade, and mobilise action. This sphere is analytically constituted through the intersection of three dimensions: the mechanisms through which influence is attempted, the barriers that constrain …

Getting Ready Right: The Impact And Influence Of The University Appointed Supervisor, Madlen Griffiths

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Initial Teacher Education professional experience is a valued component of teacher education courses, where preservice teachers can practise applying what they have learned at university in classroom settings. Key to these experiences are supervisors, who are employed by the university and support these aspiring teachers during their professional experiences. This supervisory role is complex, underrated, under-theorised and under researched. Consequently, this research sought to address this shortfall through an investigation into the perspectives of two of the major stakeholders in these experiences: the preservice teachers and the supervisors.

Adopting a social constructivist methodology, this research examined the stakeholders’ perceptions of …

The Experience Of Homelessness Among Older Adults In Bhutan - A Narrative Inquiry Study, Phuntsho Om

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

A shift in the demographics of homelessness started to occur in the 1900s, with a significant increase in the number of middle-aged or elderly men and women being recognised as a part of the homeless population. The rising urgent global concern of homelessness of older adults necessitates a deeper understanding of the lived experience and holistic well-being of these marginalised adults. This thesis aimed to explore the phenomenon of homelessness of older adults in Bhutan, which is an often neglected topic in both national and international gerontological research.

Employing narrative inquiry within the constructivist approach as articulated by Pino Gravidia …

Understanding Climate Change And Wellbeing Through Bhutan's Pursuit Of Gross National Happiness, Tashi Dorji

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Climate change has evolved into one of the biggest global challenges of the twenty first century reshaping ecological systems and social conditions with wide-ranging implications for human wellbeing. Bhutan offers a distinct context to explore interactions between climate change and wellbeing as it remains guided by its wellbeing-centred development philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH). At the same time, it remains highly vulnerable to climate change despite being the only carbon negative country in the world. Nonetheless, the intersections between climate change and GNH have not been systematically explored.

This research aims to explore the relationship between climate change and …

Psychometric Properties Of The Digital Psychological Competence Scale For University Students In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, Mona Saad Falih Alamri

University of Tabuk Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences

Higher education has undergone a rapid digital transformation, requiring students to navigate technology-rich learning environments that demand integrated cognitive and psychological competencies. This study aimed to develop and validate a Psychodigital Competence Scale for university students in the western region of Saudi Arabia, using a sample of 523 students. The initial version included 21 items, which were revised through expert judgment (agreement >= 80%) to produce a final 16-item, four-factor scale. Construct validity was assessed using a pilot sample, and Pearson correlations demonstrated statistically significant item-scale relationships at the 0.05 and 0.01 levels. Reliability indicators showed significant split-half reliability (p < 0.01) and a high Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.908). Exploratory factor analysis supported data suitability (KMO = 0.85, Bartlett's test p < 0.01, determinant = 0.011), and confirmatory factor analysis validated the four-factor model. These findings confirm strong psychometric properties, establishing the scale as a reliable tool for psychological and educational research.

Play-Based Learning In Private International Preschools In Cairo: Teachers' Perspectives, Kesha L. Stovall

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how play-based learning is practiced and contextualized in private, international preschools in Cairo, Egypt through the perspective of teachers. It calls upon both historical and contemporary theories of play and play pedagogies ranging from the times of Plato and Al-Farabi to the 21st century with Montessori and Dewey. Using a contemporary theory of play presented by Stuart Lester and Wendy Russell as a guiding framework, it examines how play and play-based learning are implemented, shaped and even challenged in a Cairene context. These contexts include sociocultural factors such as parents’ expectations and aspirations, institutional barriers, teacher development …

Shared Stories, Diverse Settings: A Podcast Analysis Of Stakeholder Experiences In Rural, Remote, And International Professional Experience, Marnie Harris, Narelle Lemon

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study explores the experiences and perspectives of individuals involved in rural, remote, and international professional experience, with a particular focus on the support provided to pre-service teachers. Drawing on data generated through a series of in-depth podcast interviews, the research foregrounds the relational and contextual dimensions of teacher preparation across rural, remote, and international settings. Rural and remote communities face ongoing challenges in attracting and retaining teachers; therefore, this study explored the vital role that partnerships and supportive networks play in preparing pre-service teachers to succeed in these and other unfamiliar professional experience contexts. Through thematic analysis, the research …

Health Truth To Power: Professional Collaboration To Bolster Trust Against Misinformation, William M. Sage, Keegan D. Warren

Faculty Scholarship

This Article is about health, leaving aside more general challenges to shared civic information today. The Article begins by surveying the principal challenges for health information in post-pandemic, arguably post-truth America, and then describes briefly the sources and limits of medical professional authority. Noting the double-edged sword of free speech guarantees under the U.S. Constitution, the Article continues by commenting on speaking truth to government, to industry, and to the crowd. Next, the Article considers the physicians’ role in speaking truth to power from the perspective of standard medical professional ethics and identity, comparing it to that of lawyers. Finally, …

Moral Progress In Legal Doctrine, Philip Petrov

Faculty Scholarship

This article integrates the concept of moral progress – here, moral improvement in the thinking and behavior of individuals over time – into the study of legal doctrine. The article first presents a naturalistic account of what moral progress is and describes three of its most historically and analytically important forms: (1) moral circle expansion, (2) moral domain expansion, and (3) increasing sensitivity to proportionality. The article then analyzes three historical developments in U.S. tort law that qualify as instances of moral progress: (1) the partial demise of the “suicide rule” beginning around the 1980s (according to …

Equal Justice & Generative Ai, Milan R. Markovic

Faculty Scholarship

The United States has long suffered from unequal access to justice, with countless low-and middle-income Americans forced to navigate the legal system alone. Recently, prominent judges, lawyers, and scholars have seized on generative AI as a potential corrective. These techno-optimists maintain that ChatGPT and other large language models can demystify the law and address unmet legal needs. Chief Justice John Roberts has proclaimed that AI-based tools "have the welcome potential to smooth out any mismatch between available resources and urgent needs in our court system."

Although AI will be an increasingly important source of legal assistance for underserved populations, the …

Limited Site-Specific Blue Carbon Recovery Following Tropical Seagrass Restoration In Thailand, Ratchanee Kaewsrikhaw, Milica Stankovic, Pere Masqué, Mathew A. Vanderklift, Tipamat Upanoi, Anchana Prathep

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Seagrass restoration is gaining popularity as a nature-based method for climate change mitigation, owing to its effectiveness in capturing and storing organic carbon (Corg). However, demonstrating blue carbon additionality — defined as a measurable increase in carbon stocks directly attributable to restoration activities — remains challenging. This research assessed sedimentary Corg stocks and carbon accumulation rates in restored tropical seagrass meadows throughout Thailand. Despite successful restoration at multiple sites, sediment analysis showed little Corg accumulation, low Corg and organic matter content, with non-significant differences among restored seagrass areas, patchy natural meadows, and nearby bare sand areas. Limited sediment accumulation was …

Psychological Needs And Wellbeing In Community Music Education For Young People Experiencing Challenging Life Circumstances, Jason Goopy, Stephanie Macarthur

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Improving the wellbeing of young people is an international priority. Community music education programs (CMEPs) are increasingly recognized as an empowering environment for participants to learn healthy life strategies in addition to music. This qualitative case study used the theoretical lens of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to investigate how a CMEP in regional Australia satisfied the psychological needs and enhanced the wellbeing of adolescents and young adults experiencing challenging life circumstances. The CMEP offered free afternoon programs where learning music, particularly songwriting, was used as a transformative resource to engage youth in formal life education. Entry to the program was available …

Trade Policy Measures And Quality Infrastructure In The Ecowas: Investigating The Inclusiveness Of The Intra-Regional Agri-Food Trade, Olayinka Idowu Kareem, Christine Wieck

Journal of African Trade

The preponderance and heterogeneous trade policy measures and quality infrastructure deficiency impact agri-food trade inclusiveness in the ECOWAS. Moreover, the inappropriate activities of some border institutions such as harassment (especially for women), graft and different charges made trading along illegal trade corridors inevitable which thereby enhances the nefarious rent-seeking activities. Furthermore, the knowledge frontier in this area is extended with the exploration and exposition of the issue of trade-related quality infrastructure. Hence, this study determines the consequences of the trade policy measures and quality infrastructure on intra-regional agri-food trade inclusiveness in the ECOWAS with a consideration of the impact on …

Edge-Aware Ris-Assisted Dynamic Channel Allocation With Lightweight Llm Decision Agent For Interference Mitigation In Low-Altitude Remote Sensing Networks, Safiya Nasser Al-Jaradi, Mohammad Kamrul Hasan, Nabeel Al-Qirim, Shayla Islam, Muhammad Attique Khan, Rashid A. Saeed, Hashim Elshafie, Bishwajeet Kumar Pandey, Khairul Akram Zainol Ariffin

All Works

Low-altitude remote sensing networks are increasingly important for applications, such as environmental monitoring, disaster response, infrastructure inspection, and real-time sensing services. However, when many sensing nodes share limited spectrum resources, severe cochannel interference can degrade communication reliability and delay sensing-data delivery. This challenge becomes more critical in edge-enabled deployments, where control decisions must be made under strict latency, memory, and computational constraints. To address this issue, this article proposes a large language model (LLM)-enhanced edge-aware lightweight reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-assisted dynamic channel allocation (EL-RIS-DCA) framework for interference mitigation in dense low-altitude remote sensing networks. The novelty of the proposed framework …

Lightweight Tinyml-Enhanced Task Offloading In Vanets For Next-Generation Intelligent Transportation Systems, Muhammad Ali, Tariq Qayyum, Asadullah Tariq, Zouheir Trabelsi, Irfan Ud Din, Shabir Ahmed

All Works

Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) face resource constraints, high node mobility, and stringent latency requirements, especially in safety-critical applications such as collision avoidance, path planning, and emergency braking. Task offloading to nearby vehicles or Roadside Units (RSUs) mitigates local computational limits, but dynamic conditions, unreliable nodes, and rapid topology changes complicate dependable node selection. This paper proposes a Tiny Machine Learning (TinyML)-enhanced, credibility-based task offloading framework for real-time decision-making in vehicular networks. RSUs evaluate vehicle reliability through a three-component Credibility Assessment Module: a Task Assignment Component that distributes lightweight test tasks and filters unreliable nodes via TinyML inference; a Verification …

Optimized Hybrid Beamforming For Ris-Assisted Multi-User Mimo In 6g Mmwave Networks: A Low-Complexity Approach To Spectral Efficiency And Interference Mitigation, Safiya Nasser Al-Jaradi, Mohammad Kamrul Hasan, Nabeel Al-Qirim, Shayla Islam, Thippa Reddy Gadekallu, Hana Mujlid, Hashim Elshafie, Rashid A. Saeed

All Works

The joint optimization of hybrid beamforming and reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) phase shifts in multi-user millimeter-wave (mmWave) MIMO systems is a challenging problem, mainly due to high computational complexity and the lack of adaptive interference management. Existing approaches typically rely on fixed Zero-Forcing (ZF) or Maximum-Ratio Transmission (MRT) designs or require iterative optimization with high overhead, limiting their practical use in dense 6G environments. To overcome these challenges, this research proposes a RIS-Aided Adaptive Zero-Forcing and Maximum-Ratio Transmission Hybrid Precoding (RA-ZMHP) framework for 6G mmWave multi-user MIMO systems. The main novelty of the method lies in an adaptive ZF–MRT mixing …

Integrative Machine Learning Of Genetic And Lifestyle Factors For Personalized Skin Health, Yassine Benachour, Lina Maloukh, Barbara Geusens

All Works

Objective: To develop an AI framework that combines genetic, phenotypic, and lifestyle data for profiling skin-health patterns and generating hypothesis-supporting summaries for potential decision support. Methods and procedures: A dataset of 5,254 individuals integrates six genes (FLG, AQP3, MMP-1, MMP-3, SOD2, GPX), six phenotype severities, and 20+ lifestyle factors. Mutation burden and interactions are tested by ANOVA. K-modes clustering identifies four interpretable dermatological profiles within the cohort and is embedded in leakage-free nested cross-validation (train-only selection; test labels from training centroids). Subtypes are predicted from genetics plus lifestyle using an XGBoost (XGB) classifier; explainability uses gain, permutation importance, and SHAP …

Cyber Behaviors And Well-Being In Emerging Adults: Patterns, Determinants, And Gender Differences, Areej Elsayary, Juan Calmaestra, Mercedes Gómez-López

All Works

Technological advances have reshaped the ways in which young people interact, giving rise to a complex digital landscape with implications for their well-being. Despite the growing body of research on cyber behaviors, their potential for both positive and negative well-being outcomes is not yet fully understood, nor is the role of gender in shaping these relationships. The present study aimed to explore the relationship between online moral disengagement, problematic internet use, online disinhibition, and cyberbullying dimensions and emotional, social, and psychological well-being among 671 emerging adults, as well as to examine the potential moderator role of gender. The results revealed …

“Be Only A Man": Authority, Dependency, And Masculinity In Geniza Letters Of Mothers To Their Sons, Oded Zinger

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

One of the most exciting discoveries among the Cairo Geniza, a rich trove of ancient manuscripts discovered in the Ben Ezra Synagogue at Fustat (Old Cairo), is women’s letters. Up until the early modern period, we have no text written by a Jewish woman preserved in traditional channels of transmission—that is, manuscripts copied by scribes and preserved in libraries or personal collections. Yet the Geniza documents preserve over two hundred letters written by women in different languages and spanning several centuries. Twenty-nine of these letters are from mothers to sons. Letters from mothers to sons have some distinctive characteristics when …

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal Of Gender And Sexuality 61.2 (2026)

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Per My Last Email: Analyzing Social & Emotional Cues In Digital Workplace Communication, Lauren Hunt

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

As virtual work arrangements expand and email becomes an increasingly central workplace communication tool, the function of virtual communication norms provide valuable insight into workplace email dynamics. This study draws from social information processing theory, expectancy violations theory, and channel expansion theory to model how behavioral and linguistic features associated with virtual communication norms shape email perceptions and downstream conflict. The present research examines key communication features from real workplace email threads. Specifically, I extracted response time, sentiment, and linguistic mimicry (e.g., text length, word use), using Natural Language Processing techniques. Data was collected from 461 participants, resulting in 245 …

The Influence Of Social Connectedness And Adverse Childhood Experiences: Understanding Motivation To Change In Early Substance Use Disorder Recovery, Adam M. Daniel

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Substance use disorder is a significant issue facing society today. As the rate of individuals with substance use disorders continues to rise, so too does the need of the counseling profession to explore further the ways to best support this population. The purpose of this study was to explore two specific variables for their impact on motivation to change for individuals in early recovery: social connectedness and adverse childhood experiences. Grounded in the Process-Person-Context-Time model, this study focused on the ways in which an individual’s motivation to change in early sobriety relates to their sense of connectedness to their family …

Exploring Vocal Fatigue In Female Singers, Cory M. Pinto

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Vocal fatigue is a complex issue that may signal underlying vocal pathology or exist independently, especially among professional voice users such as singers, whose high vocal demands make them particularly susceptible. This dissertation investigates vocal fatigue in young adult female singers using both objective and subjective voice assessment measures during a novel vocal loading task. Key research questions addressed in this dissertation are as follows: (1) Which voice assessment measures demonstrate significant change over time in response to vocal loading? (2) which Participant Profile Characteristics most accurately predict changes in perceived vocal fatigue severity? (3) In what ways do symptom …

The Effect Of Provider Diversity On Racial Health Disparities: Evidence From The Military, Michael Frakes, Jonathan Gruber

Faculty Scholarship

We assess the relationship between the racial diversity of medical providers and racial health disparities in the use of preventive care and in patient outcomes. We use unique data from the Military Health System, where we observe providers as patients so that we can identify their race, and where moves across bases change exposure to provider race in a plausibly exogenous fashion. We consider patients with four chronic, deadly, but manageable illnesses, where the relationship with the provider may have the most direct impact on health. We find striking evidence that provider racial diversity leads to reduced disparities in maintenance …

The Eighth Amendment And Prison Staff-To-Sentenced Prisoner Sexual Violence, Matthew Lyskawa

Faculty Scholarship

In this Article, I provide the first comprehensive account of lower federal courts’ Eighth Amendment prison conditions jurisprudence regarding prison staff-to-sentenced prisoner sexual violence. I show that lower federal courts are systematically misunderstanding and misapplying Supreme Court case law in this context. The result is that sexually victimized prisoners must meet extremely burdensome doctrinal standards unique to sexual violence claims. Lower federal courts would faithfully follow Supreme Court precedent if they applied the excessive force standard to sexual assault claims and the conditions of confinement standard to sexual harassment claims. However, a faithful application of Supreme Court case law does …