Digital Commons Network^™

Can We Ever Arrive At A Conclusive Interpretation Of Scripture?, Jarrod Julian Lee

Obsculta

The Church today is highly fragmented, with thousands of denominations. Unsurprisingly, there is much disagreement on how to interpret Scripture, even within the Catholic Church. This piece examines if an objectively right answer on how to interpret Scripture is possible, focusing on the Gospels, especially Luke’s, and three candidates that can play such an arbitration role between competing interpretations – historical truth, experts and the author’s intention. While no conclusive answer can be obtained, radical skepticism is not an inevitability; the broad parameter that is our community’s intuitions can play a ‘loose’ arbitration role.

Cloning, Expression, And Characterization Of Collagen Galactosyltransferases From Human, Sponge, And Sea Walnut, Jeong Seon Kim, Tingfei Chen, Botao Zhang, Tristin M. Miller, Marisa E. Gilliam, Houfu Guo

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Collagen is an extracellular matrix protein conserved across animals and viruses, with its function regulated by post-translational modifications of lysine residues. Specifically, certain lysine residues in collagen are hydroxylated to form hydroxylysine, which serves as an attachment site for hydroxylysine-linked glycosylation. This glycosylation process is initiated by collagen galactosyltransferases from the GT25 family, also known as GLT25D or COLGALT proteins. Despite their biological importance, efficient methods for expressing and isolating GLT25Ds have yet to be fully developed, and the biochemical mechanisms underlying their function still need to be better understood. To address this, we performed sequence alignment and phylogenetic analyses …

On The Wax: How Prosecutors Weaponize Rap Lyrics At Trial, Jasmine Ross

City University of New York Law Review

In the last few years news headlines have been filled with stories of high-profile trials in which celebrity rappers like Young Thug, Tekashi 6ix9ine (now “6IX9INE”) and Bobby Shmurda have been confronted by prosecutors with lyrics they wrote. Of course, the use of rap lyrics in these trials is no accident. Since the 1990s criminal defendants who happen to pen rap lyrics are increasingly likely to have their lyrics admitted against them at trial. This is happening all over the country—in federal and state courts—at every stage of criminal proceedings. This Note will focus on the use of rap lyrics …

Graduate School: Graduate School Policies And Processes (2025-2026)

Academic Affairs – Policy Library

No abstract provided.

The Ill-Fated History Of Animal Protection Laws: Why Congress Must Create An Animal Protection Agency, Melissa Baines

Animal Law Review

Over the years, the United States Congress has passed several federal laws with the intention of protecting animals from being subjected to inhumane treatment by humans. Such laws have great potential to create positive change for animals, but all of these laws have been delegated to inappropriate government agencies for oversight and enforcement. It is time to finally remove the impossible task placed upon these federal agencies—who have been asked to carry out their own stated mandates while also promulgating rules that effectuate animal protection laws in conflict with those same mandates—by creating a federal Animal Protection Agency with the …

Front Matter

Animal Law Review

Front Matter contains Title Page, Masthead and Table of Contents for Animal Law Review Volume 31, Issue 1.

A Market-Based Approach To Effective Slaughterhouse Line Speed Regulation, Kailey Mcneal

Animal Law Review

The nature of animal agriculture in the United States is heavily industrialized and profit-centered. Industrial animal agriculture maximizes profits and production by employing low-wage workers to do significant loads of labor. Slaughterhouses’ implementation of faster line speeds reflects this tactic. As the industry continues to increase line speeds to boost profits, workers, animals, and the environment continue to face augmented risks to their health and safety. Nonetheless, slaughterhouse line speeds at the federal level remain largely un- and under-regulated. The current federal regulatory scheme is unduly influenced by industry interests, prioritizes profit over safety, and lacks effective enforcement mechanisms. Through …

Leaving Pawprints On Our Hearts: Bystander Recovery For Witnessing The Negligent Killing Of A Companion Animal, John G. Browning

Animal Law Review

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly all (97%) Americans with companion animals consider their “furbabies” to be members of the family. This is reflected in a number of other areas, from state and federal laws re-garding emergency management that recognize four-legged members of the family unit to divorce and custody laws in multiple states that require courts to treat companion animals not as property, but as family members. Soci-ologists and psychologists have also documented the expanding recognition of the “multispecies family.” However, the majority of states’ laws still view companion animals as chattel property, even as more and more …

Perceptions Of Plant-Based Meat And Cultured Meat Within The Northern Great Plains Region, Donald Chase Stehly

Dissertations and Theses

Conventional meat consumption derived from livestock farming is one of the leading causes of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation on our planet. Substituting conventional meat products with “meat alternatives” such as plant-based meat or cultured meat would drastically decrease greenhouse gas emissions, reduce land and water pollution, and decrease land and water usage. However, it is necessary to first gauge how people feel about eating plant-based meat and cultured meat before it is possible to discern the magnitude of environmental benefits that occur with a significant dietary change such as this. By administering a questionnaire to over 400 participants …

Writing And Publishing Scientific Articles: Course Workbook, Editing Services, Research Medical Library (Formerly Scientific Publications)

Writing and Publishing Scientific Articles: Course Workbook

No abstract provided.

Development Of Supervised Machine Learning-Based Life-Cycle Cost Estimation And Prediction Models For Comparative Sewer System Rehabilitation Using Open-Cut And Trenchless Cured-In-Place Pipe Methods, Gayatri R. Thakre

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Aging wastewater infrastructure in the United States demands renewal strategies that balance cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and minimal social disruption. Conventional open-cut pipeline installation (OCPI) involves extensive excavation and restoration, whereas trenchless alternatives such as Cured-in-Place Pipe (CIPP) Renewal Technology offer reduced surface disturbance and environmental impacts. However, existing studies primarily focus on Construction Costs (CC), neglecting integrated life-cycle evaluations that also account for Environmental Costs (EC) and Social Costs (SC).

The primary objectives of this research are to develop supervised machine-learning (ML) models to estimate and predict CC in 2025 US dollars (USD) per linear foot of OCPI and CIPP Renewal …

Chk2 Sustains Mitotic Plk1 Activity To Promote Proper Chromosome Segregation, Elizabeth Maureen Black

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) protects against genome instability by ensuring timely and accurate mitotic cell division, and its activity is tightly regulated throughout the cell cycle. Although the pathways that initially activate PLK1 in G2 are well-characterized, the factors that directly regulate mitotic PLK1 remain poorly understood. Here, I identify that human PLK1 activity is sustained by the DNA damage response kinase Checkpoint kinase 2 (Chk2) in mitosis. Chk2 directly phosphorylates PLK1 T210, a residue on its T-loop whose phosphorylation is essential for full PLK1 kinase activity. Loss of Chk2-dependent PLK1 activity causes increased mitotic errors, including chromosome misalignment, chromosome …

Intestinal Mast Cell Control Of Behavioral And Oral Anaphylactic Responses, Nathaniel Dale Bachtel

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Organisms are challenged on a day-to-day basis with the decision of what, when and how much of a given food source to eat. These fundamental decisions require sensory mechanisms that evaluate the relative quantities of desired nutrients and harmful toxins present in each food source and integration of these factors with the current organismal state. In mammals, this sensing is accomplished by a diverse array of cells types, including epithelial cells, neurons, and immune cells which communicate the value of ingested food with the brain. Moreover, the immune system can store memory of past harm a given food source was …

2025 Crummer Truist Portfolio, Cole Cecconi, Esperanza Dickson Reyes, Gustavo Fernandez, Conner Jones, Michael Kozinski, Emily Quezada, Cristian Ramos, Polina Vlasova

Crummer Truist Portfolios

SunTrust (now Truist) endowed this portfolio to provide scholarships for future Crummer students and to give current students a practical, hands-on learning opportunity. This year, we are pleased to be able to disburse $50,000 to be used for scholarships. We are extremely grateful for this generous investment in higher education. We have all learned a great deal from this experience and the responsibility of managing real money. Our first challenge is to establish a portfolio position that takes advantage of economic opportunities while avoiding unnecessary risk and conforming to the Crummer Truist Investment Policy Statement (IPS). We are also tasked …

Not Forgotten: Mission To Women Amid Global Crisis, Sue Russell, Rochelle Scheuermann, Amanda L. Allen

Heritage Material

No abstract provided.

Criterion, Volume 43, 2025, Loyola Marymount University English Department

Criterion

Faculty Advisor: Michelle Bitting

Co-Editor-in-Chiefs: Taylor Crowell & Eriana Muñoz

Here, There: Jewish Identities In The South Through The Lens Of Food, Charles George Pappas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the role that place performs in the creation of different Jewish identities in the South through the study of foodways practices. The first chapter provides a historical background of Jewish foodways and an analysis of two Jewish cookbooks and their recipes. These texts act as historical markers of the similarities and differences between varying diasporas across space and time and show how these elements impact Jewish culinary practices. Chapter two is centered around an oral history conducted with Jewish chef Laurence Faber and the places that have shaped his approach to the food served at his Knoxville …

Teaching About The Michigan Pbb Disaster, Jessica Zaker

The Great Lakes Social Studies Journal

None

Something Different Like Us: A Children's Book Project, Isabella B. Gonzalez

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this project is to write and begin illustrating a children’s book. The end goal is to complete the full script, finish rough sketches of the entire book, fully illustrate the cover and first two pages, and present the project in the form of an exhibition.

This story follows three little chicks (Dixie, Charlotte, and Phoebe) around a small farmyard as they encounter a new type of animal, a family of rabbits. For the majority of the book, the chicks fear the newcomers since they look so different. The sisters judge, avoid, and suppose the worst of the …

Exploring Gratitude Journaling In 12-Step Recovery: Effects On Attitudes, Affect, And Cravings: A Pilot Study, Susan Elizabeth Hann Doyle

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This study explored the emotional and attitudinal effects of gratitude journaling exercises among 12-step program attendees for substance use disorders (SUDs) and behavioral addictions. A total of 152 participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group, which completed Seligman’s “Three Good Things” exercise and a structured gratitude journal, or a control group, which engaged in a neutral journaling task. Emotional states were assessed using the positive and negative affect schedule-short form (PANAS-SF), while cravings were monitored with the Penn alcohol craving scale (PACS) to ensure the interventions did not exacerbate participants’ alcohol cravings. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant reductions …

World As Other, World As Self: Beyond Dualism In Environmental Narratives, Tamara Wallace Ramirez

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Stories of place matter to the way we live with the Earth. A dualistic perspective that pits "culture" against "nature" enables environmental degradation on small and large scales. Conversely, understanding humans and nonhumans as entwined allows us to think and act differently with our planetary community. This view entails integrating the "self" and the "other." Instead of being antithetical to the other, the self arises through engagement with others, human and nonhuman. Understanding our mutuality with others while respecting their alterity and agency fosters caring and dedication. Our sense of connection with the more-than-human world inspires our compassion. However, such …

Once Upon Another Time: Retelling Fairy Tales & Legends With Inclusive Identities For Modern Young Adult Audiences, Hailey Drapcho

Honors Theses

This thesis explores how modern young adult (YA) fairy tale retellings can act as interventionist works as part of the mythopoeic YA fantasy sub-genre, where they enfold traditionally excluded identities into the archetypal role of the fairy tale female protagonist who is expected to embody an idealized form of girlhood. Fairy tales have a profound impact on self-image and how individuals create expectations of their role in the world. By fracturing the archetypes maintaining restrictive and exclusionary expectations, mythopoeic YA fairy tale retellings affirm the young adult girl to embrace her own individual identity and determine her role in the …

In The Kingdom Of The Thunder Dragon: Happiness, History, And Environment In A Changing Bhutan, Betsy Bolton

English Literature Faculty Works

Landlocked, mountainous, and surrounded by global giants India and China, Bhutan has provided remarkable leadership on both climate action and human happiness, despite its pre-2023 status as a least-developed nation. Bhutan was the first country to be internationally recognized as carbon neutral; it is also the birthplace of “Gross National Happiness” (GNH), a pointed alternative to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a means of measuring the success of national policies in promoting citizens’ wellbeing. Yet Bhutan has also been a site of ethnic conflict, with roughly tens of thousands people displaced into refugee camps in the 1990s and eventually resettled …

The Story Of North Atlantic Right Whales, Sydney Haas

Theses & ETDs

North Atlantic right whales are classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In this project, an ArcGIS StoryMap was made so that the problems facing this species and the possible solutions to these problems could be communicated to a wide audience. A StoryMap is a tool that can creatively display narrative text, graphics, and maps. This StoryMap is an accumulation of data, information, statistics, policies, maps, and technological solutions surrounding North Atlantic Right Whale conservation. Scientific research and communication, whether it be through policies or education, must work together for a real impact to be …

Puerto Rico’S Grand Wyndham Hotel Río Mar, The Methods They Use To Protect Leatherback Sea Turtle Nests, And My Own Findings On These Nests, Christopher Thillet

Theses & ETDs

For a very long time, leatherback sea turtles have been harmed in many ways by ecological damage caused by humans, especially their nests. Despite this, it is also humans who have been trying their best to undo these wrongs by working to protect the environment around the areas they have constructed. This thesis serves as a reflection that will provide information on what leatherback sea turtles are and the many things that are harming them worldwide, as well as the information that the hotels of Puerto Rico have collected to help further the study surrounding the many effects that people …

Osa-Diff: An Origin Sampling Based Adversarial Attack Using Diffusion Models, Shayan Jalalipour, Banafsheh Rekabdar

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Diffusion models are becoming an increasingly popular emerging technology, however their use in adversarial attacks remains a scarcely explored topic. We show that diffusion models can be used to create end-to-end hidden adversarial perturbations with high rate of success, and propose a novel diffusion based adversarial attack that allows for substantially faster training time (through improved convergence on high quality images) and with substantially less computational overhead than typical diffusion model training

Profiling Bile Acids In The Stools Of Humans And Animal Models Of Cystic Fibrosis, Melissa M. Carmichael

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is associated with dysbiosis of the gut microbiome, alterations in intestinal mucus production, aberrant bile acid (BA) metabolism, fat malabsorption, and chronic inflammation. As little is known about BAs in CF, we performed both comprehensive and targeted BA profiling in stool of children with or without CF. Our results reveal that select BA species and metabolites are significantly different between children with CF (cwCF) and healthy controls. There is also a trend towards higher primary cBA and total BA levels for cwCF. Matched bacterial metagenomic analyses showed no change in a-diversity between groups in our small cohort, …

How To Elevate Your Note-Taking Skills, Alexander Cho

ENGS 15.11: Design and Education

One of the most crucial skills a student can have is effective and efficient note-taking abilities. Therefore, this interactive lesson transforms note-taking from a passive recording activity into an active learning strategy. Through discussions, activities, and reflections, students will understand the importance of note-taking, then learn techniques to take better notes before, during, and after class. Afterwards, we will dive into 4 different note-taking methods and students will be able to adapt these techniques to different content types, and develop personalized systems for review.

Mahjouba Initiative Ebike Charging In Morocco, Margaret Atkins, Christian Hudanich, Justin Kim, Lane Myshrall

ENGS 89/90 Reports

The Mahjouba Initiative, led by artist Eric van Hove, merges Moroccan craftsmanship with modern engineering to develop locally sourced, sustainably produced e-bikes for rural communities. A team from Dartmouth College’s ENGS 90 conducted a feasibility analysis of a scalable, affordable e-bike charging station for deployment in Tissint, Tata, Morocco, where transportation infrastructure limitations hinder economic development. This analysis supports a battery-swapping pilot as a crucial step in advancing the Mahjouba Initiative’s mission to develop domestically powered transportation. The proposed charging station includes on-grid and off-grid (solar-powered) options, ensuring flexible deployment based on available energy infrastructure. Key design considerations include charging …

Pulse Electrothermal De-Icing Air Source Heat Pumps For More Efficient Residential Renewable Energy Systems, Madeleine Carr, Abby Hughes, Thea Kunzle, Justin Sapun

ENGS 89/90 Reports

Air source heat pumps (ASHPs) are increasingly being adopted as energy-efficient alternatives to traditional oil and gas furnaces for heating and cooling homes. However, in colder climates, these systems often face significant challenges due to frequent icing on the outdoor condenser fins during winter months. This icing condition drastically hinders performance by reducing efficiency, leading to higher energy consumption and increased operational costs. In the most common conventional defrosting method, the reversing valve sends refrigerant from the indoor space to the outdoor unit to melt the ice, effectively cooling the room. This defrosting process is both energy intensive and intermittently …