Digital Commons Network^™

Barriers Of Animal Assisted Therapy, Taylor Blanchard, Amy Lyons-Brown

Spring 2026 OTD Capstone Symposium

This study employs a mixed-methods design, integrating online surveys, semi-structured interviews, and clinical observations to examine the use of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) within occupational therapy practice. The primary objectives are to characterize the demographics of occupational therapists and therapy animals engaged in AAT, identify barriers to its implementation, and evaluate the resources currently available to support practitioner knowledge and competency. By addressing these areas, the study seeks to clarify existing gaps in education and practice, with the broader goal of strengthening the evidence base and enhancing the accessibility, consistency, and impact of AAT in occupational therapy.

Solvability For Couple Nonlinear Elliptic Partial Differential Equations, Ahmed A. Muhsen, Jamil A. Ali Al-Hawasy

Baghdad Science Journal

As it famous the solvability of any mathematical problem play an important rule for many investigators whose interested about the numerical solution for such mathematical problems because it gives them the green light about the ability to solve such problems numerically, besides to give the green light for solving numerically many real life problems in various field of sciences; like the physics, medicine, astronomy, chemistry, biology, different branch of engineering and many other fields. For this reason, this work is devoted to studying the solvability (in infinite dimension) of a couple of nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations (CNLEPDEs) with four …

Analysis For Predicting Surface Temperature And Combustion Of Heavy-Duty, Pre-Chamber-Enabled, Hydrogen Engines, Tony Spezia

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Hydrogen as an alternative fuel shows great promise to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy duty engines. However, the challenge for hydrogen engines is that hydrogen has very different combustion properties compared to conventional hydrocarbon fuels. Hydrogen has very high flame speeds, very low ignition energy, and very wide flammability limit. These properties result in hydrogen engines being prone to abnormal combustion. Abnormal combustion makes hydrogen engines difficult to control or can cause catastrophic damage to the engine, so it is important to avoid conditions where abnormal combustion occurs. Hot spots along the combustion chamber walls are often the …

Competition And Community In Marx’S Alienation Theory: Addressing 21st Century Social Isolation Through A Laclauian Lens, Brett J. Zimmerman

Theses

Capitalism reorients human priorities by necessitating socio-economic competition and tying the preeminent priority of survival to the rate at which one accumulates material resources. The orientation of wage as the only means to survival has replaced the need for the working class to form tribes, build inter-group solidarity, and engage in their communities, resulting in a less fulfilling society. Marx is traditionally conceptualized as a political or economic thinker, and while much of his political and economic thought will be useful supplementary material, in Section I, I will be viewing Marx through a more interpersonal lens. The section will take …

An Etruscan Life And Death: 2025 Findings From The Valle Gianni Archaeological Site, Skye Mccord

Exceptional Scholarship & Artistry

The site of Valle Gianni, part of The Northwest Bolsena Archaeological Project, is located on the northwest lakefront of Lake Bolsena, and harbors many Roman and Etruscan archaeological findings dating back to the late Iron Age. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the cultural traditions of the Etruscans, their place in the wider Mediterranean during the late Iron Age into Classical antiquity, and the changes to both physical landscapes and cultural landscapes after their conquest by the Romans. The site of Valle Gianni acts as a case study in the dynamics of colonization and the repurposing of sacred …

Raman Spectroscopy And Optical Properties Of Ceo2:Al2O3 Nanocomposites Synthesized By Pulsed Laser Deposition, Alaa Nazar Abd Algaffar, Noha H. Harb, Sabah N. Mazhir

Baghdad Science Journal

This study investigated the effects of laser energy on the phase-change mechanism, optical properties, and structure of CeO₂:Al₂O₃ nanoparticles synthesized via pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The study employed Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The process techniques were compared at different laser pulse intensities (530, 730, and 930 mJ). Porous silicon (PS) substrates have been created using the photoelectrochemical etching of n-type silicon. The XRD results for CeO₂:Al₂O₃ nanoparticles indicated a polycrystalline cubic phase. Raman spectroscopy of CeO …

Memory Processes In Older Adults With Hearling, Camryn L. Kirkham

AuD Capstone Projects - Communication Sciences and Disorders

Emerging research has shown links between hearing loss in older adults and memory declines; however, findings remain mixed. The present study examined differences in memory performance between older adults with hearing loss and normal-hearing peers, as well as associations between hearing ability and memory. An exploratory analysis of associations between high-frequency hearing ability and memory performance was also conducted. Participants included 38 older adults with hearing loss (n=20) and normal hearing (n=18) who completed audiologic testing and memory tasks assessing working, semantic, and episodic memory. Contrary to expectations, no significant group differences in memory performance were observed between the hearing …

Libraries And Librarians Get After Participatory Science, Catherine Wong, Megan Bresnahan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Geographical And Anatomical Microbiome Variation In Invasive Green Iguanas (Iguana Iguana), Amanda A. Diaz

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

The common green iguana (Iguana iguana) was introduced to South Florida in 1965 and has since been an especially pernicious threat both environmentally and economically. This highly invasive species is also expanding in range and populations at an astonishing rate. Understanding how this reptile is able to adapt and thrive in novel environments is of imperative need in order to begin managing their disruptive populations. Notwithstanding their negative impacts and significance, the microbiome of wild populations has not yet been characterized. Here, using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, this study is the first to characterize the microbiome composition …

“I Hope This Letter Finds You Well,”: The Good Life Through Letters 1940s-1980s, Taylor Koet

Comm-entary

Taylor is majoring in History and Law 3+3 major with a double major in Philosophy, from Long Beach, CA. She loves to bake and try new coffee and boba spots.

This piece explores the importance of stationery and letter writing in maintaining family connection across distance and time. This essay uses the Sinclair family papers which show how letters from Clayton Sinclair junior and Clayton the third preserved relationships, personal growth, and created a tangible record of their family history. Ultimately this piece argues that even as technology has changed, handwritten letters represent effort, emotion, and a main connection as …

Prediction Of Antidiabetic Activity Of Swietenia Mahagoni Compounds Through Pparγ Activation: Machine Learning And Molecular Docking Analysis, Weri Veranita, Siti Nurbaya

Indonesian Journal of Medical Chemistry and Bioinformatics

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder requiring long-term therapy, yet current synthetic PPARγ agonists like thiazolidinediones are often associated with serious adverse effects. Therefore, identifying natural alternatives from sources such as Swietenia mahagoni is essential to provide effective therapy with potentially lower toxicity profiles. This study employed an in silico machine learning approach using SkelSpheres descriptors to predict the IC₅₀ values of compounds derived from the seeds of Swietenia mahagoni against PPARγ, followed by molecular docking validation using Molegro Virtual Docker (MVD). The predictive model for PPARγ agonists demonstrated acceptable validity (R²-test = 0.5308; accuracy = 84.01%). …

Construction Of China’S Marine Protected Area System In 15th Five-Year Plan, Ke Duan, Danhong Chen, Keqiang Li, Limin Han, Zhengyan Liu, Dongliang Lu, Xiulin Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The establishment of the marine protected area (MPA) system constitutes a critical component of the national initiative to comprehensively advance the development of a nature reserve system centered on national parks. This study explores on domestic and international development trends from aspects such as conservation strategies, international policies, high seas protection, and development trends. It also sorts out and analyzes the construction status of marine protected area systems in China and the United States. Centering on issues in China related to spatial layout, management systems, policies and laws, scientific research support, high seas governance, and land-sea management, the study puts …

Perverse Tax Incentives And The Destruction Of Creative Works, Luke Maher

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Gathering Places: Indigenous Resources, Economies, And Diplomacy In The Northeastern Great Plains, 1650 – 1806 Ce, Matthew D. Busch

History Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Centuries before European arrival in the Great Plains region of North America, Indigenous exchange networks connected people within the continental interior to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Gulf Coast. Throughout this vast Native Space, Indigenous peoples sought new resources and opportunities to create sustainable and successful lifeways by harnessing the spiritual, economic, and political power of place as they journeyed across the landscape.

The Coteau des Prairies centrally located between the Missouri, Mississippi, and Hudson's Bay watersheds within the Northeastern Great Plains represents a unique place of power. This imposing glacially modified landscape characterized by numerous lakes, fertile …

Sleep Disturbance Trajectories In Critically Ill Children Post-Icu Discharge: A Longitudinal Observational Study, Wenchao Wang, Xiaorui Fan, Yuxia Yang, Jos M. Latour, Guoping Lu, Ying Gu

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Background/Objectives: Sleep disturbances have an impact on children’s physical and psychological development, yet little is known about the changes and factors influencing sleep after PICU discharge. To explore the trajectory of changes in sleep quality of critically ill children and to identify factors affecting sleep quality three months after Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) discharge. Methods: A longitudinal observation study was conducted between November 2022 and November 2023 at a tertiary children’s hospital. The Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) was used at six time points: PICU-admission (T0), 1 week (T1), 2 weeks (T2), 1 month (T3), 2 months (T4), and …

Approximate Solution And Simulation For Fractional Burger Equation With Two Initial Conditions, Huda Emad Aldeen Jameel, Fatimah Ahmed Shihab, Saad Naji Al-Azzawi

Baghdad Science Journal

This paper considers the nonlinear homogeneous fractional Burger's equation as a type of nonlinear fractional partial differential equations (FPDE). Our goal in this paper is to show that an initial value problem (IVP) can be modified with a second initial condition when (α ∈ ( 1,2 ]) as the velocity of the movement, and the obtained solution agrees with the nature of the wave with space and time for the problem. The Caputo fractional derivative is used in all the fractional derivatives. Also, the algorithm of the Laplace transform decomposition method (LTDM) for fractional PDEs is presented. The approximate solution …

Evaluating The Nuclear Structure Of Some Calcium Mirror Nuclei, Sukaina Falah Hassan, Ban Sabah Hameed

Baghdad Science Journal

In this study, we calculated the binding energy of nuclei, which holds atomic nuclei together, by utilizing electron scattering transformations in the shell model to explore the nuclear structure for proton-rich pairs of mirror nuclei: ³⁴Ca-³⁴Si, ⁰Ca-³⁵P, ³⁶Ca-³⁶S, and ³⁷Ca-³⁷Cl. The proton envelope that surrounds the proton-rich nucleus explains why the nucleus charge and its mirror image have different radii. The wave functions for single particles were adopted from the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approximation and Wood-Saxon potential to compute the mirror radii, mirror charge radii, and skin thickness for protons …

Study The Effect Of Isospin Dependence And Short-Range Correlations By Using Contact Formalism Through Inclusive Nuclear Structure For 20Ne And 24Mg Nuclei, Farah Faris Kaddoori, Ghaith N. Flaiyh

Baghdad Science Journal

Pair densities and their related correlation functions play a crucial role in capturing the complex many-body interactions within nuclear systems. This study focuses on how spin and isospin specifically influence nuclear charge density distributions. Using the folding model, the charge density is derived through an effective two-body density approach that incorporates both short-range correlations (SRC’s) and tensor correlations (TC’s), while also accounting for spin- and isospin-dependent forces. Calculations were carried out for the elastic electron scattering form factors, F(q), and the root-mean-square (RMS) charge radii, ⟨r²⟩¹ᐟ², of the ²⁰Ne and ²⁴Mg nuclei. The study also examined inelastic longitudinal electron …

Vascular Responses To Hand Posture Are Preserved Despite Acute Endothelial Dysfunction: Insights From Pulse Wave Velocity And Finger-To-Finger Timing, Zain Al-Abideen Falah Ali, Fezaa Shalal Neda, Bassam Talib Al-Gailani

Baghdad Science Journal

Limb posture alters hydrostatic pressure and vascular tone through mechanical and reflex pathways, but the contribution of endothelial function remains uncertain. To determine whether vascular responses to hand elevation and dependency persist during transient endothelial dysfunction induced by ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI), eighteen healthy adults (9 males, 9 females) underwent ECG-gated pulse recordings at three hand positions: heart level (H-0°), 90° below (H-90°), and 50° above (H+50°), before and after IRI. Primary outcomes were pulse wave velocity (PWV) and finger-to-finger pulse arrival-time difference (f–f ΔT); secondary outcomes were wrist mean blood pressure (MBP), heart rate (HR), and ΔPWV/ΔBP slope. The result …

A Power Log-Logistic Modified Weibull Distribution: Model, Properties And A Simulation, Jumana A. Altawil

Baghdad Science Journal

This paper deals with a new model called the power log-logistic modified Weibull distribution (PLLoGMWD) using the power transformation method, which can be regarded as an extension of the distribution introduced by Broderick O. Oluyede et al. Several significant statistical properties of the power log-logistic modified Weibull distribution are computed, including reliability, hazard rate functions, reverse hazard function, rth moment, characteristic function, Renyi entropy, conditional moments, and the reliability stress strength model. The distribution function, density function, hazard rate function and reliability of the new model have several interesting properties, which are illustrated in the graphs of each function. The …

Video Summarization Based On The Difference In Statistical Histograms Of Fuzzy Clustering Features, Ekhlas Falih Naser

Baghdad Science Journal

The quantity of video footage produced has skyrocketed in the last several years. The enormous increase in video content creates issues with content management. Video and image processing technologies need to receive greater attention to handle the increasing number of videos on the internet and to extract reliable information from them. Video summaries offer concise and streamlined depictions of the content of a video stream. This research aimed to build a methodology for video summarization utilizing the difference in the histogram of video frames using three stages. Frames were elicited from the video, and then SIFT detectors were utilized in …

Infinitely Many Hidden Attractors In A Simple Six-Term Chaotic 2-Torus Snap System With A Line Of Equilibria, Sarbast Hussein Mikaeel, Irfan Ahmad, Rizgar H. Salih

Baghdad Science Journal

Chaotic systems with simple structures and controllable dynamics are highly desirable for practical applications, including secure communications, signal processing, and nonlinear control. However, most existing systems are too complex or lack flexibility in controlling signal amplitude and polarity. In this study, a simple chaotic snap system is considered that has a line of equilibria and is composed of six algebraic terms, with a single quadratic nonlinearity. In some regions of parameter space, a chaotic attractor coexists with a line equilibrium or with a limit cycle of period-2. The basin boundary of a limit cycle and chaotic attractor is smooth. Additionally, …

Astrocyte Circadian Regulation In Neurodegeneration: In Vivo Bmal1 Occupancy Mapping Using Macs-Calling Cards, India Reiss

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Astrocytes maintain neuronal homeostasis through cellular programs that are frequently disrupted early in neurodegenerative disease, many of which are regulated by the circadian clock. The core clock transcription factor BMAL1 is required for normal astrocyte function, yet whether its regulatory activity is altered during neurodegeneration remains unclear. BMAL1 expression changes in disease are often inconsistent, suggesting that transcription factor binding, rather than expression, may be a more informative readout of BMAL1 function. We used a Cln3Δex7/8 model of neurodegeneration, which exhibits early astrocyte dysfunction prior to widespread neuronal loss, to test whether degenerative pathology reprograms BMAL1 binding in astrocytes. We …

Judging Requires Judgment, Justin Driver

Duke Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Ndls Communicator: Week Of 04.20.26, Notre Dame Law School

NDLS Communicator

The Latest News

• Notre Dame Law School hosted the annual Champions for Justice Public Interest Recognition Ceremony
• Notre Dame Law School hosted its second Affinity Alumni Weekend
• Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic filed an amicus brief on behalf of Associate Professor of Law Rev. Patrick Reidy, C.S.C. in St. Philip Neri Catholic Church v. Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission.
• The Notre Dame Law School Program on Church, State & Society has awarded 2026 summer fellowships to Steph Luiz, Christian Baldari, Angela Rauch, and Paul Sheehan

Student News

• Matilda Koduh, 2L
• Grace Yeo, 2L
• Steven …

The Prospector, April 20, 2026, Utep Student Publications

The Prospector

No abstract provided.

Cosmopolitical Trans-Temporalities: Relational Landscapes, Shamanism And Indigenous Futurism In Southeast Asia, Ivan Tacey

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

In Southeast Asia, Indigenous worlds have long been shaped through entanglements with outsiders. But how do such relations intersect with shamanic, place-making, and mythopoetic practices? This paper explores how the cosmopolitical engagements of the Batek of Malaysia unsettle colonial mappings of land, history, and identity, while creating space to contest environmental degradation, economic marginalisation, and political exclusion. It traces how origin myths are tied to land claims, how animist imaginations echo pre-colonial and colonial encounters, and how cosmopolitical practices appropriate foreign imagery and transform traumatic histories. Rather than viewing Indigenous actors as locked in the past–or cosmopolitics as a clash …

First, Do No Trend: Aligning Parenteral Lipid Therapy With Physiology And Evidence In Neonates, Parvesh Mohan Garg, Srinivas Bolisetty, Camilia R Martin, Muralidhar H Premkumar

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Lipid injectable emulsions (ILE) are essential components of parenteral nutrition in neonatal intensive care units. Over the past two decades, the expanded availability of ILE has led to rapid changes in clinical practice, largely driven by concerns about intestinal failure–associated liver disease. Despite these evolving trends, the evidence supporting one ILE over another remains limited and nuanced. Importantly, no currently available ILE replicates the intrauterine supply of critical long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, both of which decline postnatally regardless of emulsion type. Neonates requiring ILE represent a heterogeneous population of preterm and term infants, with …

Too Small To See: Microplastics, Nanoplastics, And Their Growing Reach, Andrew Rowan Dphil, Kathleen Rowan

WellBeing News

Microplastics and nanoplastics are increasingly recognized as pervasive environmental contaminants formed through the breakdown of larger plastic materials or produced at microscopic scales. These particles are now widely distributed across air, water, and soil, entering food systems and living organisms, including humans and animals. Their small size allows them to travel easily through ecosystems and potentially cross biological barriers, raising concerns about accumulation and long-term exposure. While scientific understanding of their full impacts is still developing, the article emphasizes their growing reach and the potential risks they pose to environmental integrity and health. This emerging issue highlights the need for …

Beyond Left And Right: The Politics Of Animal Welfare, Andrew Rowan Dphil

WellBeing News

The article from WellBeing International examines how animal welfare transcends traditional political divisions, arguing that it cannot be neatly categorized within left–right ideology but instead reflects a complex interplay of ethical perspectives, economic interests, cultural values, and institutional actors. It highlights how debates over the treatment of animals intersect with broader societal concerns, including regulation, market forces, and public attitudes, and suggests that meaningful progress depends on cooperation across political and sectoral boundaries. By reframing animal welfare as a shared political and moral issue rather than a partisan one, the piece underscores the need for more integrated and pragmatic approaches …