Digital Commons Network^™

What It Means To Have Meaning: Ai’S Poetic Appropriation Of The Human Imagination, Samuel Louis Spencer

Masters Theses

This thesis is an exploration of human imagination and creativity as it pertains to poetry. With the rise of “intelligent” machines, it is the duty of scholars, thinkers, philosophers, and artists to gauge the ethics of using robots to create art, create information, and create in general. With that in mind, this thesis aims to distinguish the definitions of natural and artificial intelligence. This distinction is at the heart of what makes poetry inherently human. AI poses a threat to poetry and the act of artistic expression. Additionally, AI poses a threat to the human imagination. The aim of the …

Penerapan Doktrin Fair Use Pada Penayangan Cuplikan Film Tanpa Izin Dalam Video Ulasan Film Pada Platform Youtube Di Indonesia, Fadhilah Pijar Ash Shiddiq

Technology and Economics Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Tissue Depth, Captive Bolt Penetration Force And Energy, And Potential For Bolt-Thalamus Contact In Cadaver Heads From Physically Castrated Market Barrows And Immunocastrated Boars, Emma M. Hamilton, Karly N. Anderson, Ashlynn A. Kirk, Katherine D. Bishop, Joseph Joseph Shakal, Kurt D. Vogel

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The main objective of this study was to describe tissue thicknesses of cadaver heads from physically castrated market barrows (PC MARKET BARROWS) and immunocastrated boars (IC BOARS) at the frontal penetrating captive bolt (PCB) placement. Other objectives were to describe differences in bolt force and energy requirements to penetrate and describe potential for bolt-thalamus contact. Forty-four heads were obtained from PC MARKET BARROWS (n = 22) and IC BOARS (n = 22) of similar age and size that were rendered insensible with CO₂. Mean HCW was 117.32 ± 3.52 kg. Snout to poll distance (cm) and …

New Perspectives: How A Dancefloor Of Paradigms Can Save The World, Gill R. Hall

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This paper explores how the consciousness of Indigenous peoples can facilitate the development of new paradigms to address global issues like climate change and adaptation to global warming. It explores how Indigenous and Western notions of consciousness differ and cannot be reconciled in contemporary models of consciousness without colonising Indigenous ways of knowing. It differentiates maternal and patriarchal consciousnesses and contrasts the body/heart pathway found in many Indigenous cultures with the mental field activity of the Western psyche. Using the concept of a multi-paradigmatic dancefloor, I propose a new model for developing global thinking on complex problems, inviting academics and …

A Case Study On How Hbcus Use Social Media To Reduce Uncertainty Of Covid-19, Kelsey Anne-Gabrielle Armstrong

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This case study aims to understand how HBCUs use social media to deliver crisis communication messages to students about COVID-19 and how the HBCU culture impacts student perspectives. The theory guiding this study is uncertainty reduction theory (Berger & Calabrese, 1974), as it explains the communication strategies used to reduce uncertainty during a crisis. Data collection was conducted using semi-structured interviews and content analysis. Data analysis strategies included deductive and inductive coding and directed content analysis. The study results provide insight into how the HBCU culture impacts the perspective of an HBCUs response to COVID-19 and overall crisis communication messaging …

Weak Organizational Culture In Higher Education Leads To Unmet Organizational Goals, Jennifer Willard Matthews

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative case study explores the perception of weak organizational culture at one institution of higher education and the influence of weak culture on attaining organizational goals. The general problem addresses a weak organizational culture where department leaders operate independently of organizational policies and procedures, resulting in the inability to reach organizational goals. The study included fifteen survey responses from faculty and staff, two follow-up interviews, two observations of university-sponsored group activities, and current data from the 2021 Work and Well-Being Survey conducted by the American Psychological Association. Themes emerged from collected data and existing literature allowing the researcher to …

Creating Talent: The Effect Of Environment On The Development Of Musical Skill, Nathan Jeffrey Herfindahl

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite literature investigating the effects of ecology on student development, very little research has been conducted concerning the influence of the adolescent living environment on the development of musical skills related to music performance. Gaining a clear understanding of adolescent environmental factors' influence on musical skill development will afford more students the opportunity to participate in music education and performance. Through a qualitative research approach, this study aims to investigate the effect of adolescent living environment on musical skill development by interviewing eight professional opera singers. In exploring the findings from this research, similarities in adolescent living environment have been …

Adverse Childhood Experiences In The Yoruba Tribe/Ethnic Group Of Nigerians Living In America: A Phenomenological Exploration, Patricia O. Akinrogunde

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental phenomenological study examined the lived adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) of the Yoruba tribe of Nigerians living in America. The study setting was virtual through Microsoft Teams sampling members of a local church in central Maryland with a population of about 95% of Nigerians from the Yoruba tribe. The trauma from ACEs and cultural factors that may have contributed to the participants’ negative adulthood aggressive behavior was explored in this study. Behavioral constructivism and social constructivism theories guided this study and provided insight into the factors contributing to the experiences of Nigerians from the Yoruba tribe with childhood trauma. …

Complementary And Integrative Therapies Available For Treating Veterans With Ptsd: An Integrative Review, Kelly Ann Greene

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

PTSD is described as the resulting from exposure to threatened or real injury, death, or sexual violence. Its symptoms have four different clusters: avoidance, re-experiencing, hyperarousal, and negative alterations in mood. PTSD is a widespread diagnosis among U.S. military veterans. This is a way of daily life for many veterans, and not all therapy is successful. The Veterans Health Administration (VA) recognizes that conventional therapy is not always appropriate for each veteran with PTSD. The VA has developed the Whole Health approach, which represents a move toward more person-driven health care, which the VA characterizes as proactive, patient driven, and …

Perceived Differences Between Religious And Corporate Leaders In Terms Of Modes Of Power, Self-Efficacy, And Self-Leadership, Martin Wesley Kaufmann

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

According to Martin Luther’s doctrine of vocation, although the church is not a business, leaders require spiritual wisdom that is likened to Jesus’ parable about counting the cost before building a tower (Button, 2016). This strongly implies that church leaders can improve the vocational efficacy of the institution by utilizing sustainable organizational models that are embodied in the constructs of self-leadership, modes of power, and self-efficacy. The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to examine the difference between religious leaders and corporate leaders in terms of modes of power, self-efficacy, and self-leadership, as perceived by members of Northwest protestant …

Seasonal Top-Down Effects Of Fish On Benthic Macroinvertebrates And Periphyton In A Coldwater Michigan Stream, Travis John Ellens

Masters Theses

Fish can have strong top-down effects on their prey through both direct predation and non-consumptive effects in streams. We conducted manipulative field experiments to test the strength of fish predation on benthic macroinvertebrates at the patch scale in Stegman Creek. Stegman Creek is a small (0.39 m³/s at baseflow), groundwater-fed stream in western Michigan with abundant mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdii) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) acting as benthic predators. We hypothesized that fish predation decreases macroinvertebrate density, thereby increasing periphyton biomass through a reduction in density of grazing macroinvertebrates. We placed paired predator-exclusion cages …

Enhancing Human Key Point Identification: A Comparative Study Of High-Resolution Vicon Dataset And Coco Dataset Using Bpnet, Bibash Lama

Masters Theses

Accurately identifying human key points is crucial for various applications, including activity recognition, pose estimation, and gait analysis. This study presents a high-resolution dataset created using the VICON motion capture system and three differently oriented 2D cameras, that can be used to train different neural networks for estimating the 2D key joint positions of the person from the 2D images or videos. The participants in the study included 25 healthy adults (17 males and 8 females) performing normal gait movements for about 2 to 3 seconds. The VICON system captured 3D ground truth data, while the three 2D cameras collected …

Covid-19’S Impact On Dry Bulk Shipping Market : Time Series Analysis Method, Qin Liang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Reasons For The Success Of Colonial Pennsylvania Farmers, Mark V. Durfee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examines the many reasons for the success of farmers in colonial Pennsylvania relative to farmers in the other British North American colonial regions. The timeline focuses on Swedish, Finnish, and Dutch farmers already in the Delaware Valley since 1636 and British and German immigrants to colonial Pennsylvania who arrived between 1682 and 1760. The first chapter examines the plans William Penn implemented before the arrival of his fellow Quaker brethren in 1682. The government designed and implemented by Penn, gave new colonists certain freedoms and legal guarantees. In the second chapter, the study examines Penn’s land distribution policy …

2023-08-24, Board Of Regents, Murray State University

Board of Regents Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Bioaccumulation Of Non-Essential Trace Elements Detected In Women's Follicular Fluid, Urine, And Plasma Is Associated With Poor Reproductive Outcomes Following Single Euploid Embryo Transfer: A Pilot Study, Andrea Palomar, Roberto Gonzalez-Martin, Alicia Quiñonero, Nuria Pellicer, Rocio Fernandez-Saavedra, Isabel Rucandio, Rodolfo Fernandez-Martinez, Estefania Conde-Vilda, Alberto J. Quejido, Caroline Zuckerman, Christine Whitehead, Richard T. Scott, Francisco Dominguez

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty Papers

This study aims to determine the association of non-essential trace elements present in follicular fluid, plasma, and urine with reproductive outcomes of women undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (PGT-A) and single frozen euploid embryo transfer (SET/FET). This single-center, prospective cohort study included sixty women undergoing ICSI with PGT-A and SET/FET between 2018 and 2019. Urine, plasma and follicular fluid samples were collected on the vaginal oocyte retrieval day to simultaneously quantify ten non-essential trace elements (i.e., Ba, Sr, Rb, Sn, Ti, Pb, Cd, Hg, Sb, and As). We found several associations between the levels of …

Sero-Epidemiology Of Rotavirus Gastroenteritis In Children In Ilorin, Kwara State, Omosigho Omoruyi Pius, Izevbuwa Osazee Ekundayo, Saheed Ibrahim Damilare

Journal of Bioresource Management

Rotavirus is responsible for the most severe dehydrating diarrhea among young children due to gastroenteritis. In this study, we aimed to ascertain the occurrence of childhood gastroenteritis caused by Rotavirus among infants and young children who are younger than 5 years of age in Ilorin, Kwara State and determined the risk factors posing the challenges to be susceptible to diarrhea associated with rotavirus in Ilorin, Kwara State. Diarrhea stool samples were collected from children who passed watery stools, who met predetermined inclusion criteria and who presented at the study hospitals Viz: General Hospital and Specialist Hospital Alagbado and Children Specialist …

How Will The Future Of The Dubai Virtual Commercial City Reshape The Policing Sector?, Shamma Ghanimi Mohammad Al Marri

Theses

The uncertainty of lack of policing involvement increases the worries and concerns and lack of trust of the potential virtual residents of Dubai Virtual Commercial City. The purpose of this research is to mitigate and minimize virtual crimes and expand safety and security in the virtual world. Using various future foresight tools to bring new solutions and recommendations to support law enforcement to ensure proactive policing in the virtual world. The results of the study show a clear correlation between the lack of rules and regulations and new emerging virtual crimes. Moreover, it also showcases the recent international effort by …

Sudden Vision Loss Heralding Covid-19-Associated Aspergillosis. Report Of 2 Cases, Tamara R. Vrabec, David R. Anderson, Priyal K. Shaw, Tatyana Milman

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

Purpose

To describe clinical, radiographic, laboratory and cytopathologic findings in 2 patients who developed vision loss due to endogenous aspergillus endophthalmitis during hospitalization for COVID-19 pneumonia.

Observations

Two unvaccinated sexagenarian male smokers lost vision within one month of contracting COVID-19 pneumonia. Initially, both received high dose steroids, nasal cannula oxygen and remdesivir. Immunomodulators tocilizumab or baricitinib were added during week 2 in case 1 and 2 respectively. Upon presentation after discharge from a post-COVID rehabilitation unit, visual acuities were light perception and hand motion. In both cases, inpatient blood and ocular fluid cultures were negative, serum 1,3-beta-D-glucan was positive, and …

One Font Doesn’T Fit All: The Influence Of Digital Text Personalization On Comprehension In Child And Adolescent Readers, Shannon M. Sheppard, Susanne L. Nobles, Anton Palma, Sophie Kajfez, Marjorie Jordan, Kathy Crowley, Sofie Beier

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

Reading comprehension is an essential skill. It is unclear whether and to what degree typography and font personalization may impact reading comprehension in younger readers. With advancements in technology, it is now feasible to personalize digital reading formats in general technology tools, but this feature is not yet available for many educational tools. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of character width and inter-letter spacing on reading speed and comprehension. We enrolled 94 children (kindergarten–8th grade) and compared performance with six font variations on a word-level semantic decision task (Experiment 1) and a passage-level comprehension task (Experiment 2). …

Morphometric Analysis And Biochemical Estimation Of Wild Shrimps (Family: Penaeidae) Found In Coastal Waters Of Pakistan, Noor Us Saher, Syeda Hadiqa Noor

Journal of Bioresource Management

The world recognition of Seafood nutritional value for human consumption remain consistent throughout the time. Different informations and aspects have been studied and considered and generated various data sets but limited informations found about the biochemical concentration of various fishery species caught in the Pakistan. Therefore, the recent study design to evaluate the proximate levels of components in the edible component (flesh) of commercial shrimp species were studied. Four shrimp species; Fenneropenaeus indicus, Metapenaeopsis stridulans, Metapenaeus stebbingi, and Parapenaeopsis stylifera were selected for the assessment of proximate composition. The selected shrimp species were collected from the fishery catch of Korangi …

An Abductive Argument For Christianity Being The Best Source For Morality, Michael Stephen Christopher

Masters Theses

This thesis begins by presenting questions on morality, its source, its means, as well as questions on which type of morality seems best for humanity. The thesis discusses subjective morality, objective morality, and the foundations for both subjective morality and objective morality. Further, some problems and some solutions are offered in discerning which type of morality ought to be lived. Through the portion related to subjective morality, relativism is intertwined and authors, like J. L. Mackie, Paul Brockelman, and Richard Rorty are mentioned. Later, an atheistic version of objective morality via Sam Harris’s The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine …

Health Sciences Instructor Self-Efficacy And Professional Development Experiences: A Phenomenological Study, Melanie Elizabeth Castle

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study aimed to understand the lowered self-efficacy of higher education health sciences faculty at the community college two-year degree level due to deficient professional development in a Mid-Atlantic state. The central research question guiding this study was: What are the professional development experiences of higher education health sciences faculty that affect self-efficacy? The theory guiding this study was Bandura’s social cognitive theory, as it focuses on the behavior determinant of self-efficacy of the participants. A hermeneutic phenomenological methodology was used for this qualitative research design. Criterion sampling was used to interview fourteen faculty individually, followed …

Human Health Risk Assessment Of Some Heavy Metals In Eme River, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria, Emeka Donald Anyanwu, Onyinyechi Gladys Adetunji, Paschal Emeka Etusim, Solomon Nnanna Umeham

Journal of Bioresource Management

This study evaluated the health risk of some heavy metals in Eme River, Umuahia. The study conducted in 6 stations was between December 2017 and November 2018. The non-carcinogenic method that involves determination of chronic daily intake (CDI), hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) was applied in the assessment of ingestion, dermal and incidental ingestion exposures. Iron, lead and cadmium exceeded their limits and warranted risk assessment. The heavy metals’ CDI values for the three routes were lower than their respective reference doses except for cadmium (ingestion route). Except for cadmium (ingestion), the hazard quotients also recorded values lower …

Characterization Of Nacl Stress In Young Bismarckia Palm (Bismarckia Nobilis), Muhammad Afzal Naeem, Iqra Hanif, Midrar Ullah, Muhammad Hassaan Khan, Tahmina Nazish

Journal of Bioresource Management

Salinity is a major problem caused by the accretion of excess salts composites in the form of ions like sodium (Na⁺), potassium (K⁺), calcium (Ca²⁺), magnesium (Mg²⁺) and chloride (Cl^-). The possible out-turns of the salinity on the morphology; physiology and biochemical variables of bismarckia palm (Bismarckia nobilis) were investigated in this study. The seedlings of bismarckia palm were grown in pots and periodically irrigated with various concentrations of NaCl solution to assess the various biological variables at the regular intervals. The experiment was performed by following the …

Nutritional Profile And Health Benefits Of Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni: An Updated Review, Ishrat Fatima, Mubashrah Munir, Sehrish Sadia, Akash Tariq, Rahmatullah Qureshi

Journal of Bioresource Management

Aim of this comprehensive review is to document the up-dated data about pharmaceutical potential of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni with special focus on its antioxidant activity. A total of 184 research articles were reviewed and five research engines were used to collect the data. The S. rebaudiana (Asteraceae) is indigenous to South America, now cultivated in many countries worldwide to be used as a natural bio-sweetener. Various nutritionally and medically important bioactive compounds such as diterpene glycosides, fatty acids, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, anthraquinones, phenolics, flavonoids, carbohydrates, carotenoids, steroids, polysaccharides and other phytochemicals constitute chemical composition of Stevia. Owing to the …

Effect Of Age At Injury On Neuroinflammatory Response, Microstructural Outcomes, And Function Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Sydney J. Oswalt Reitz

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant public health concern. Elderly individuals are more likely to be hospitalized and die from a TBI than younger victims, and experience worse outcomes along a series of clinical and functional endpoints. Studies exploring the mechanisms responsible for these outcome disparities are limited. As aging has been demonstrated to enhance baseline neuroinflammatory profile and is associated with synaptopathic neurodegenerative conditions linked to TBI, this thesis study sought to better characterize the relationship between aging-related neuroinflammation, microstructural—including synaptic—endpoints, and functional outcome following TBI. To this end, mice were subjected to diffuse and focal experimental brain …

Inter-Areal Communication In Posterior Parietal Cortex Supporting Eye-Hand And Bimanual Coordination, Jung Uk Kang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Understanding inter-areal communication is crucial for systems neuroscience. Much of the processing in the brain involves communication between different areas. Sensory areas must send information to motor areas, and motor areas must communicate with each other if different body parts are to be coordinated. For example, coordinating movements of the two arms likely requires interactions between motor areas in the two hemispheres. We therefore hypothesize that bimanual and eye-hand coordination relies on interhemispheric communication, and the most direct path for information exchange between the two hemispheres is through the corpus callosum. By reversibly blocking the callosal pathways connecting the left …

"We Just Have To Trust The People In White Lab Coats": Analyzing Distrust In Vaccine Hesitant Comments On The Hhs Nondiscrimination In Health Programs And Activities Proposed Rule, Hima Bindu Lakshmi Vedantham

Dissertations and Theses

Vaccine attitudes provide a valuable site for analyzing trust relations on both interpersonal and institutional levels. This study is a content analysis of public comments submitted from August through October 2022 in response to a proposed rule issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which sought to strengthen non-discrimination protections in healthcare programs. Specifically, it examines the role of distrust in shaping and reinforcing vaccine hesitant beliefs, experiences, and healthcare decisions. The five themes identified in the study illustrate a breakdown in trust in pharmaceutical companies, government actors, and healthcare providers, reflecting broader social patterns. In the …

August 24, 2023, James Madison University

The Breeze, 2020-

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.