Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Chronic Nicotine Exposure On Dopamine-Mediated Reinforcement Learning And Striatal Neurotransmission, Srishti Bose

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Tobacco is one of the most widely used substances across the United States; tobacco consumption is linked with several diseases and is one of the leading causes of preventable death in the country. Nicotine is the active substrate found in tobacco products, acting as a stimulant, which reinforces continued use. The introduction of tobacco-free options such as e-cigarettes and oral pouches has driven an increase in nicotine exposure across the population, especially in young adults. Acute nicotine use induces neuroadaptations in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system, which mediates reinforcement learning and addiction, that potentiates reward-related neurotransmission. Furthermore, there are clinical studies …

Retrieval Information From Working Memory: The Output Gating Framework Perspective And Its Underlying Processes, Chen Tiferet-Dweck

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Working memory (WM) keeps information accessible and available for further processing. However, not all the information we maintain in WM is behaviorally relevant at any given moment. To act effectively, we must dynamically control which memory representations are accessed to support ongoing goal-directed behavior. While the mechanisms underlying the selection of single items from WM access are comparatively well-studied, less is known about the principles governing multi-item access. Existing models of WM access imply that selecting multiple items should take longer and be more error-prone than single-item access. Yet, paradoxically, prior studies have shown that retrieving all items in WM …

New York City Women’S Experiences With Perinatal Depression Inquiries, Diagnosis, And Treatment Initiation, Caterina Pisciotta

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Perinatal depression represents a significant public health concern, yet many women who experience depression symptoms during the perinatal period (either during pregnancy and/or after birth) do not receive treatment. Initiatives, such as ThriveNYC, were designed to address these gaps by screening and treating perinatal women for maternal depression, integrating screening into routine perinatal care and strengthening pathways to treatment. Using representative survey data collected between 2016 and 2021 via the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), this study examined trends in perinatal depression inquiries (a proxy for “screening”) and postpartum diagnosis, as well as …

Towards Identifying Fear And Safety Network States Across Sex, Rhonda Kolaric

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a trauma- and stressor-related disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 5-6% in men, and 10-12% in women (National Center for PTSD). Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a highly prevalent anxiety- and depression-related psychiatric disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 1-2% in men, and 3-4% in women (National Institutes of Health). Both of these disorders disproportionately affect women. A hallmark feature of both disorders is the maladaptive generalization of fear, in which defensive responses extend beyond the original traumatic or threatening stimulus to neutral or unrelated cues. This overgeneralization can become debilitating, disrupting cognitive, emotional, and …

Parenthood And Re-Appraisal Of Childhood Maltreatment, Gayathri Cheran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Child maltreatment is associated with poorer physical and mental health outcomes across the lifespan.  Individuals’ appraisals of childhood maltreatment have important implications for these outcomes.  Appraisal is shaped by biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors, each of which undergoes change in parenthood.  Parenthood may prompt re-appraisal of childhood maltreatment in that being a parent evokes one’s experience of being parented.

Hypotheses: (1) Re-appraisal will be more likely in parents than non-parents.  In parents, re-appraisal will be more likely among: (2) primiparous parents, (3) parents with offspring of the same sex, and (4) parents who experienced maltreatment older in childhood (at …

Opportunities For Learning Through Object Exploration During Early Physical Therapy: Physical Therapists’ And Caregivers’ Assistance And Interference Behaviors, Michele Goncalves Maia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Early physical therapy (EPT) for infants with motor delays has traditionally emphasized motor milestone acquisition, yet growing evidence indicates that motor and cognitive development are fundamentally interconnected. Grounded in embodied cognition and developmental cascade theories, this dissertation conceptualized object exploration as a primary mechanism through which infants learn during EPT and examined how intervention approaches and adult behaviors shape opportunities for object exploration. Using retrospective analyses of video-recorded EPT sessions, two studies investigated how intervention approaches and adult behaviors influence infants' opportunities to learn through object exploration. Study 1 compared object exploration in the START-Play (SP) intervention and Usual Care …

Scrolling Through Stress: Physiological Stress Recovery Shapes Risk For Problematic Social Media Use In Young Adults With Depressive Symptoms, Abigail Findley

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Depression is among the most consistent correlates of problematic social media use (PSMU), yet how depressive symptoms confer this risk, and for whom, remains poorly understood. The present study examined whether stress regulation explains the link between depressive symptoms and PSMU in young adults, testing specifically whether stress recovery acts as a mechanism linking the two or as a vulnerability that determines for whom they are linked, and whether distress tolerance (DT) shapes these pathways. Participants (N = 77) were young adults (18–25) with elevated depressive symptoms. Following the Trier Social Stress Test, participants completed a 15-minute social media …

The Development And Piloting Of A Novel Client-Rated Trans And Gender Expansive Clinical Competence Scale For Mental Health Providers, Karen Abraham

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Transgender and gender expansive individuals (TGEI) are people who encompass a broad and comprehensive set of experiences of gender diverse individuals and identities that exist both within and beyond a binary framework. In the United States, the Williams Institute identified a proportion of 0.5% of American adults identifying as transgender (Herman et al., 2022). TGE samples report poorer physical and mental health than their cisgender counterparts across the lifespan (Rastogi et al., 2025; Reisner et al., 2015; Reisner, Poteat, et al., 2016). Health disparities of TGEI relative to their non-TGE counterparts can be seen in the prevalence of mood disorders …

Bimodal-Bilingual Advantage: Neural Patterns Of Asl Interpreters During Narrative Encoding, Gina F. Piersanti Gioe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Interpreters display superior executive functions when compared to non-interpreters in tasks of working memory and attentional control. Sign Language Interpreters work simultaneously between two language modalities, though little is known about how regular engagement in communication of high cognitive demand shapes their cognition. Oscillatory activity in the brain has been mapped to functions of cognition. Specifically, parietal alpha activity is linked to attention control and frontal theta activity to memory processes. This study uses both behavioral measures, narrative recall accuracy, and EEG recording of neural oscillations to compare 12 professional American Sign Language Interpreters to 12 Non-Interpreter controls. Participants were …

Behind The Score: The Influence Of Neighborhood Policy Contexts On New York Regents Exam Performance Across New York City Public High Schools, Philip J. Kovacevic

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study used a two-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) to test whether New York City neighborhood zoning and land-use characteristics independently predict school-level performance on the New York State Regents Examinations, after controlling for school demographic and organizational characteristics, and Regents mean scores, both drawn from the NYC DOE's Regents Exam Results file (NYC Public Schools InfoHub, 2024). Using NYC Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output (PLUTO) 2025 data, a Neighborhood Educational Quality (NEQ) index was built for each of the city’s 42 community districts by combining the commercial floor area ratio (CommFAR) and the proportion of lots zoned residential …

Curated Spaces: Cognition By Design, Sydney Harvey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Curated Spaces: Cognition by Design” is a dissertation that considers the connection between designed spaces and cognition. This work combines philosophy of mind and aesthetics. The dissertation introduces the term “Curated Cognition”, which builds on the concept of situated cognition ( Brooks, 1991; Odling-Smee, Laland, and Feldman,  2003;  Sterelny, 2010; Krueger, 2015; Colombetti, 2020 ). The dissertation argues that the environment is essential to cognition, and all environments are curated; therefore, the way we think, feel, and act is curated as well. Some non-human animals may inhabit worlds that are not curated. For example, an octopus may find shelter in …

Discomfort Avoidance And Desire For Normality Are Decision-Making Drivers Of Footwear Choice In Underserved Communities At Risk Of Diabetic Foot Ulcer, Krithika Anil, Neeraj Sharma, Sonal Patel, Jess Bailey, Catherine Smith, Sally Abey, Kayce Allcock, Richard Collings, Joanne Paton

School of Health Professions

BackgroundDiabetes-related foot ulceration (DFU) is a serious complication that can lead to lower limb amputation or death. Custom-made footwear is a key preventative strategy, yet adherence to use is often low. The factors influencing decision-making for footwear use remain unclear, particularly among underserved groups such as people from low socioeconomic and South Asian backgrounds. This study aimed to identify the psychological mechanisms underlying footwear choice and adherence in people with diabetes from low socioeconomic and South Asian populations.MethodsThis study used a qualitative approach conducted in two parts. Part 1 explored footwear-related experiences using one-to-one interviews informed by the COM-B model …

Exploring Factors Affecting The Use Of Blended Diets For Children And Young People In Health, Education And Social Care Settings In The Uk: The Protocol For A Realist Mixed Methods Study, Gemma Phillips, Jane Coad, Mary Hickson, Joseph C. Manning

School of Health Professions

Background Enteral tube feeding provides supplementary or alternative nutrition for individuals who cannot meet their nutritional needs orally and remains essential for a number of children and young people with complex health needs. Commercial formula remains standard practice in the UK, although increasing numbers of children and their families are choosing a blended diet and reporting significant physical and social benefits. However, support for families in using blended diets varies across health, education and social settings in the UK. Aim To explore factors affecting the use of blended diets in health, education and social care settings. Methods This sequential mixed …

How Do Ai Service Agents Impact Tourists’ Pro-Environmental Behavior? The Effects Of Childlike Anthropomorphism And Moral Disengagement, Lujun Su, Liqin Gong, Yinghua Huang, Xuehuan He

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Drawing on moral disengagement theory, this research examines how service provider type shapes tourists' pro-environmental behavior. Across five studies including four scenario-based experiments and a field experiment, we show that AI service agents, compared with human service providers, tend to reduce tourists' pro-environmental intentions and behaviors. Moral disengagement serves as the psychological mechanism underlying this effect, such that AI service agents increase tourists' moral disengagement, which in turn weakens their pro-environmental behavior. We further show that childlike anthropomorphism attenuates this process by reducing moral disengagement: with childlike anthropomorphic AI tourists’ pro-environmental responses are comparable to their responses to human service …

Parents' Views On Family Care At A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit — A Qualitative Study, Linea Grothe Larsen, Suzanne Forsyth Herling, Sanne Allermann Beck, Anne Brødsgaard, Jos M. Latour, Rikke Louise Stenkjaer

School of Nursing and Midwifery

PurposeThe current study aims to explore parents' views on family care at a neonatal intensive care unit.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative exploratory study with a descriptive approach based on open-ended written narrative responses from the Danish version of EMpowerment of PArents in The Intensive Care—Neonatology questionnaire. The study was conducted at a Danish level IV NICU working with family-centred care and family integrated care. The data was analysed using inductive content analysis by Graneheim and Lundman. The Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist was followed.Main FindingsIn total, 311/727 parents responded to the distributed questionnaire. Of those, 210 responded to the open-ended …

How Conditions Within Immigration Removal Centres In The United Kingdom Affect The Mental Wellbeing Of Detainees: A Scoping Review, Niamh Gallagher, Tristan Price, Matthew Griggs

Peninsula Medical School

BackgroundImmigration Removal Centres (IRCs) are used to detain people for immigration control by the UK government. This scoping review aims to examine the experiences of detainees within UK IRCs, specifically how conditions within them, including the regime, affect their mental wellbeing.MethodsThe Joanna Briggs Institute guideline for scoping reviews was followed. Six bibliographic databases and additional grey literature sources were searched for quantitative and qualitative evidence. Descriptive analyses and quality assessments were conducted.ResultsFifteen research studies and nine pieces of grey literature were included, comprising a total of 1353 participants and 11 IRCs. The majority of data was qualitative in methodology and …

Whose Neighbourhood: A Study Of Early Challenges And Opportunities In Delivering Pride In Place, Katharine Willis, Kasper De Graaf

School of Art, Design and Architecture

’Whose neighbourhood?‘ examines the early challenges and opportunities in delivering the Government’s Pride in Place programme and asks what is needed to turn the devolution of funding into genuine community power.Pride in Place provides 284 neighbourhoods across the UK with up to £20 million each in funding and support over ten years, with local communities intended to play the leading role in deciding how that investment is used. The report welcomes the scale, duration and community-led ambition of the programme, but finds that there remains a significant gap between that ambition and the practical capability needed to deliver it — …

Investigating How Personal Values Shape Tourism Experiences: A Case Study Of The Irish National Stud And Gardens, Amy Monahan, Ann T. Conway

International Journal of Tour Guiding and Visitor Attraction Research

This Paper explores the relationship between personal values and tourism experiences  that are  satisfying. A case study of the Irish National Stud and Gardens was undertaken in order to explore this concept. Interviews were conducted to investigate how qualities of the attraction appealed to the visitors’ personal values, thereby enhancing the overall visitor experience. A set of personal values were identified which were specific to the destination. The research demonstrated how an understanding of personal values can assist attractions with various aspects of their operations, with context specific recommendations provided at the end. This approach was taken was taken to …

Exploring The Backgrounds, Experiences, Motivations, And Development Of School-Based Wheelchair Sport Coaches, Deborah Shapiro, Scott Douglas, Jp Barfield, Laurie A. Malone

Journal of Coach Development

Coaching in adapted sport is a complex and demanding practice that requires both specialized technical expertise and a deep understanding of disability. This study explored the motivations, backgrounds, and developmental pathways of interscholastic school-based wheelchair sport coaches. We examined how coaches are introduced to wheelchair sport coaching, their initial and ongoing development, and their perspectives on effective coaching and training practices. A total of 17 coaches (10 men, 7 women) with 1 to 17 years of experience in wheelchair sports coaching from 7 interscholastic wheelchair sports teams participated in one 60-minute mini focus group discussion and responded to a set …

Ukrainian Theology, War, And Human Transformation: Reflections On The International Conference ‘Transfiguration: Tradition And Eschatology, Vladyslav Fulmes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

On June 11, 2026, the Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy (Lutsk, Ukraine) hosted the international theological conference “Transfiguration: Tradition and Eschatology”, bringing together scholars, clergy, philosophers, chaplains, psychologists, and researchers from several countries. This report examines the conference’s principal theological and interdisciplinary themes, including deification, eschatology, ecclesiology, ecological responsibility, pastoral care, military and medical chaplaincy, digital technologies, and the Church’s response to war and post-war reconstruction.

Basic Trends In The Contemporary Development Of State-Church Relations In Ukraine: A Sociological Perspective, Oleksandr Sagan, Galyna Sagan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Based on an analysis of research from sociological centers and institutes consistently operating in Ukraine, the authors present a comprehensive overview of the main trends occurring within the realm of state-church and inter-church relations. Specifically, the article addresses the trends in the self-identification of Orthodox believers in Ukraine, the dynamics of which sociologists have tracked since the beginning of the twenty-first century, as well as the changes unfolding in inter-Orthodox relations following the 2022 full-scale invasion. Crucial to this analysis is the highlighted inconsistency of state institutions in implementing the new law, Про захист конституційного ладу у сфері діяльності релігійних …

Practical Aspects Of Religious Social Work In Modern Ukraine, Inna Vladislavivna Kovalchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This work analyzes the current state and specifics of the activity of religious organizations in the social sphere of Ukraine. Special attention is paid to the transformation of religious social work in the conditions of a full-scale war, where religious communities have become key agents of humanitarian, psychological and spiritual assistance. The article examines the mechanisms of interaction between the church, the state and non-governmental organizations in solving social problems. The findings are based on the practical experiences of those working with internally displaced persons (IDPs), veterans, large families, and individuals facing difficult life circumstances. Unique methods of denominational assistance …

The Church’S Social Vocation In World War I And Postwar Recovery: Theodor Zöckler’S Pastoral Ministry In Stanislaviv And Its Relevance For Contemporary Ukraine, Liudmyla Tymchuk, Yurii Klonovskyi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines Theodor Zöckler’s pastoral ministry in Stanislaviv during the First World War and the difficult years of postwar reconstruction, and assesses the relevance of that experience for churches in contemporary Ukraine. Drawing on archival records, institutional reports, church periodicals, correspondence, and historical scholarship, the study analyzes how Zöckler combined spiritual care with evacuation, humanitarian relief, medical service, child protection, education, vocational training, and institutional advocacy. Historical-genetic, problem-chronological, hermeneutic, and comparative methods are used to reconstruct the transformation of his ministry under conditions of occupation, forced displacement, political transition, and economic collapse. The findings show that Zöckler’s response moved …

Solidarity In Action: Social Service Of Caritas Organizations In Ukraine In Wartime, Andrii Marchenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article is devoted to the analysis of the activities of Caritas charitable organizations in Ukraine, which are affiliated with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Caritas Ukraine) and the Roman Catholic Church (Caritas-Spes Ukraine), in the realities of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Particular attention is focused on considering how the fundamental ideas of Christian love, mercy, common good, and solidarity are embodied in the various practices of humanitarian, spiritual, and other support that these institutions provide to different categories of the population of Ukraine, especially those who have suffered from the destructive consequences of the war. Types of such support include, …

Consciousness Under Dual Pressure: Colonial Diglossia, Orthodox Missionary Activity, And Islamic Cultural Resilience In Late Imperial Kazakhstan, Aigerim Aliaskar

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines the relationship between religious identity, language, and educational experience in the context of the Russian Empire’s educational and Orthodox missionary policies in the Kazakh Steppe during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The primary objective of the study is to analyze the spiritual-cognitive resilience of traditional Islamic educational institutions in response to the policy of Orthodoxization and Russification implemented by the tsarist administration through the system of Nikolai Ilminsky. The author examines the phenomenon of colonial diglossia which emerged during this period, wherein Russian-Christian texts were increasingly elevated as the administrative "High-variant," while the Kazakh-Turkic identity, …

From Humanitarian Aid To “Counterrevolution”: Foreign Assistance To Pentecostals In Soviet Ukraine And Its Criminalization By The Gpu–Nkvd, 1932–1935, Oleksandr Korotaiev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines foreign assistance to Pentecostal communities in the Ukrainian SSR and the mechanisms of its criminalization by Soviet state security agencies in 1932–1935. Drawing on GPU–NKVD criminal investigation files, secret police reports, party-state documentation, personal correspondence, and memoir sources, the study reconstructs transnational channels of humanitarian support, practices of resource distribution, and the transformation of survival strategies into objects of political repression.

Particular attention is devoted to two distinct models of foreign assistance. The Odessa case demonstrates a centralized system connected to the former leadership of the All-Ukrainian Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith and transnational Pentecostal networks …

Note-Taking Is Not Universally Applicable, Chloe Tomasetta

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Chloe is a communications major who lives in Braintree, Massachusetts. Chloe wrote this essay in her Composition II course because she “genuinely wanted to explore the typed versus handwritten notes debate.” She said that researching this essay “gave me clarity in my preferred note-taking method,” and she adds: “I hope this essay can be helpful for students who struggle to take notes or choose a note-taking method.” Chloe loves spending time outside, as it “allows me to hear my own thoughts, which can provide clarity in my otherwise chaotic life.”

Nota Bene: A Study On Latin And Its Influence, Ashley Kim

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Ashley is a psychology major currently living in Natick, Massachusetts. Ashley took Latin at her high school in Georgia, where she found it to be “one of the most insightful and unique courses I had ever taken.” She was disheartened that her Latin teacher had to struggle to find students to fill her class, and she wrote this paper with that teacher in mind to share “the message of Latin’s intrinsic benefits.” Ashley says that writing is very important for her, and she says “there can be great significance in small moments, and instead of letting those moments slip by, …

Volume 9 (2026) Climate And Responsibility

International Journal on Responsibility

This issue focuses on the various ways responsibility affects environmental justice. Specifically, this volume urges us to think about how societal and individual (in)action influences ecological crises and what informs this behavior, with a specific focus on religious and Indigenous beliefs and values.

Approaching Well-Being Through The Research Lens: How Hca Healthcare Colleagues Are Building Healthy Work And Learning Environments, Gregory Guldner, Allison Woodall, Deepinder Bal, Jennifer Larkin, Cynthia Borum, Sunny Hull, Annette Edens, Lisa H. Moore, Elaine K. Miller, Harold Gomez Acevedo, Katia M. Lugo Enriquez, Noor Judge, Yanie Oliva, Pablo E. Ramirez Caraballo, Faraz Jaffer, Prerna S. Sharma, Daniel Heller, Siddarth Kathuria, Nathaniel Banet, Orlando Nieves-Lugo, Adrienne Madison, Lily Martin, Oliwier Dziadkowiec

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

At the heart of our commitment to the care and improvement of human life are the physicians who dedicate themselves to delivering exceptional care. To support not only our physicians’ professional excellence but also to foster personal fulfillment, HCA Healthcare partnered with Claremont Graduate University to establish the Physician Wellness Research Lab (PWR Lab). In his new role as the Vice President of Academic Affairs for Graduate Medical Education (GME), Dr Guldner led a nationwide search to establish and implement a new approach to well-being. At HCA Healthcare, we believe that true flourishing requires transforming the work and learning environment …