Digital Commons Network^™

L'Impuissance De La Représentation : Sur La Possibilité De La Représentation Du Terrorisme, Youtian Sun

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I attempt to explore the possibility of representing terrorism in literature by analyzing four literary works: Paris (1898), La Condition Humaine (1933), Nada (1973), and Khalil (2018). These four works depict four different stages of the development of terrorism from the late 19th century to the 21st century. I will use these literary works to analyze the relationship between terrorism and capitalist modernity.

The Potential Of Polysemy In Video Games: A Case Study Of Elden Ring, Ryan Vanderhoof

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Researchers have defined polysemy as a concept used to describe a word that can carry multiple different meanings depending on the context in which it is being used. This concept has also been applied to media in the way that film producers employ it within trailers and teasers, letting viewers interpret what is to come, in order to drive excitement and anticipation. In this paper, I explore the potential for polysemy within video games by taking a look into the 2022 game of the year, Elden Ring because it employs several different endings, leaving people with different interpretations of its …

Post-Partum Deprssion: An Educational Intervention For Nursing Staff In A Rural Hospital Obstetrics, Tonya Jewell

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a type of depression that has occurred in women during pregnancy or after the delivery of a child. In the United States, approximately 13.2% of postpartum women were diagnosed with postpartum depression. Research indicated that early identification of PPD led to the best outcomes for postpartum mothers. Routine postpartum depression education and screening for postpartum depression did not exist in the perinatal unit at a Southeast Georgia rural hospital. Lack of nursing knowledge and skill were two barriers identified to screening patients for PPD and providing discharge education. The study provided an educational intervention to provide …

Public Good And Common Ground: Writing Democratic Engagement Into Community-Campus Partnerships, Deanna Fracul

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on identifying essential characteristics of initiatives that build cooperative relationships and solidarity to advance democratically engaged community-campus partnerships. As such, it involves understanding the conditions that undermine these relationships, the critical practices that strengthen them, and the role of community engagement professionals in facilitating them. Fundamentally, this research is interested in explicating what worked and did not within Leon Ford's Voices Project@Duquesne University, an after-school mentoring program that evolved into a community-engaged writing initiative and dialogic space. This qualitative research project utilizes modified appreciative inquiry questions. Emerging from organizational studies, appreciative inquiry is an asset-based approach to …

Akan Traditional Religion And Catholicism In Dialogue: Envisaging A Paradigm Shift In The Theology Of Marriage In Postmodern Ghana, Daniel Adjei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The changing phases of religions, cultures, and world history in postmodernity call on the Catholic tradition to be religiously and culturally interreligious. The identity and mission of the Church can no longer be defined in a Eurocentric, triumphalist, or exclusivist term as in colonial times. As the Church expands to new religio-cultural and socio-political territories, the theological principles of dialogue, interculturality, listening, and inculturation must guide her mission. This dissertation, tracing the historical, cultural, and theological development of interreligious and cultural dialogue in the Catholic Church, argues that the Catholic Church of Ghana must engage religious and cultural diversity with …

Goemai/Ankwei Religiosity: Understanding Indigenous Divinity In Relation To Christianity, Edward Muge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Postcolonial/decolonial thinking developed in response to modernity’s colonial logic that glorified and universalized the Western locus of enunciation, subjectivity, and history. The prioritization of Western epistemology, hierarchization of being based on race, gender, and religion, and the universalization of Western Christian religion relegated all other modes of being, knowing, and accessing the Divine to the periphery. For a long time, indigenous people have accepted the Western linear worldview that makes them the exemplars of the whites (Euro-Americans) in their primordial state of Western history and development. The goal of the Western colonial matrix of power is the subsumption of …

The Cart Before The Horse?: A Phenomenological Study Of The Perspectives And Experiences Of Maker Education Supervisors In Independent Schools (9-12), Jesse Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decade, makerspaces have increased in popularity all over the globe (Lou & Peek, 2016) and their addition continues to be a popular trend in the K-12 educational space. In the K-12 environment, the decision to implement a makerspace frequently consists of finding, repurposing, or building a suitable space, and outfitting it with the latest technology trends with the anticipation that ‘if you build it, they will come.’ As a director of a makerspace, my experience is that integrating curriculum across disciplines, or creating pedagogical goals for the makerspace, frequently becomes a priority after the space is designed …

Restorative Playscape Design: A Phenomenological Approach To Designing Playscapes, Jennifer Bradley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation outlines the development of a phenomenological and restorative approach to playscape design. Restorative Playscape (RPD) is a phenomenologically based approach to designing children’s play environments that involves a process of attending to, noticing, and uncovering natural affordances for play and development, and making enhancements to the environment so that the affordances can experienced in their full potential and capacity to support children’s growth and development. The restorative approach involves the application of three phenomenological methods to identify the affordances of the outdoor play environment: 1) Child Guided Walks- to explore the affective and relational dimension of children’s experience …

The Change In Representation Of Women In Perfume Advertisements With Respect To Power, Rasika More

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gender portrayals in advertising have been examined extensively in the last six decades and remain an important topic. Certain brands have taken the initiative of destabilizing patriarchal norms entrenched in society by supporting modern trends and initiatives through various brand/product campaigns and advertisements that support the fluidity in power and representation. The present study navigates the changes in the representation of women in perfume advertisements that have taken place in the advertising world in the past two decades to see if women are shown to possess a sense of power with their head held high and strong posture, compared to …

Do Integrated Circuits Make For An Integrated Supply Chain? A Network Analysis Of Trade Flows, Noah Martens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Integrated circuits (colloquially referred to as chips) are an increasingly critical commodity experiencing continuous and substantial rises in demand. These increases in demand recently resulted in shortages. This paper seeks to understand the market for chips and construct a framework by which a network analysis of trade flows can evaluate concentration in the international market for a particular product category. Leveraging this framework and proposing a new model, I evaluate the level and nature of concentration in the chips sector, as well as two key inputs to the manufacturing process, silicon and chip fabricators. I find moderate-to-high levels of concentration …

Reducing Barriers To Reporting Campus Sexual Victimization: Exploration Of Gender Microaggressions, Campus Climate, Institutional Betrayal And Institutional Courage, Rebecca Ellsworth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine college cis-women’s experiences with gender microaggressions and perceptions of campus climate, institutional betrayal, and institutional courage, how those experiences and perceptions are related, and how each predicts college students’ likelihood of reporting sexual assault to the University. College cis-women (n = 483; 84.3% White) at a private predominantly-White Catholic university in the northeastern United States completed a 153-item survey, the data from which was analyzed using descriptive statistics, t tests, Pearson correlations, and linear regressions.

Gender microaggressions were found to be prevalent at the University, with perpetration by peers more common …

Neil Postman's Loving Resistance Fighter: A Philosophy Of Communication In The Age Of Technopoly, Ryan Mccullough

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project walks the work of Neil Postman (1931-2003) into the philosophy of communication. Traditional conceptions of Neil Postman’s body of work position his ideas within the traditions of media ecology, general semantics, or, more broadly, as a form of media studies and criticism. In addition, others label Postman’s work, especially in Technopoly (1992), as pessimistic, deterministic, and/or imbibed with Luddite tendencies. This project articulates a different view and contends that Postman’s scholarship, in particular his articulation of the loving resistance fighter in the final chapter of Technopoly, is committed to resisting the nefarious forces embedded in both technology …

The Semiotic Use Of Emojis In Marketing Communication, Naif Albarzan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the emergence of social media as the primary tool for communication in social and business settings, research on effectiveness of communication using of emojis is limited. This project seeks to bridge the gap in understanding the effectiveness of the use of emojis in marketing communication. In particular, the dissertation will focus on an interpretive exploration of the use of emojis in marketing communication as a semiotic that supports persuasion.

The Persuasive Use Of Public Relations In Saudi Arabia 2030 Vision, Talal Alqahtani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the nations that has recommitted to rebranding in modern times, capitalizing on public relations as persuasion techniques. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through their Vision 2030 endeavors towards attaining a revamped economy that will attract foreign investors, rebrand the nation and establish mutually beneficial relations between the Kingdom and its domestic and international publics. Vision 2030 was officially coined in 2016 by then then Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). Vision 2030 is anchored around three primary pillars: developing a vibrant society; secondly, establishing a thriving economy, and developing an ambitious …

The Integration Of Catholic Mission And Ethics In Contributing To A Good Death, Noah Dimas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Catholic healthcare ethics exists within a morality that is under regular heavy scrutiny. This is furthered by the healthcare space itself becoming more secular as the greater society itself moves beyond the religious origins of healthcare. However, this does not have to be relegated to a negative. Rather, this can become a strong call to action for Catholic healthcare to rally together and advocate for itself in the wider healthcare space. This is especially true as these challenges to the Catholic moral-ethical framework begin to question the presence of both Catholic and religious healthcare as whole. These challenges, if left …

Exploring The Effects Of Psychosocial Factors And Relationships To Postpartum Depression Symptoms Among Iranian Immigrant Women Living In Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study, Monica Gola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Immigrant women’s health garners attention as migration creates changes in social networks and parenting needs. The effect of psychosocial factors, such as maternal self-efficacy, measured by ability to manage parenting responsibilities, social support and cultural postpartum practices on postpartum depression symptoms are not well known in Canadian immigrant women. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive survey design guided by Bandura’s Reciprocal Determinism was used to explore the relationships between psychosocial factors including: maternal self-efficacy, social support, cultural postpartum practices; and symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD) among recent Iranian immigrant women living in Canada. Results: A total of 114 participants completed the …

The Ethics Of Governance Of Data Analytics In Healthcare, Andrew Harrington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent literature and studies on data governance usually focus on data ethics and governance from a specific country or industry, which has been mostly business, without considering the larger global impact that is affected. Data is a worldwide asset; thus, its implications and considerations should be viewed as such. Hence, this dissertation attempts to incorporate this view by weaving together topics in healthcare, such as the blending of finance and delivery, data governance at the micro and macro levels, data analytics in healthcare, ethics of AI and information management, and technology’s impact on end-of-life practices. Through highlighting these areas of …

The Rhetoric Of Integrated Marketing Communication (Imc) Approaches To Marketing Sporting Events, Mohammed Almughaiseeb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effective communicative capabilities of integrated marketing communication (IMC)

programs demand the expansion of their application to include sporting events. Sporting events, specifically the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, have proven to have effective communication capabilities that can be used to influence the perceptions of target audiences. Creating positive perceptions of a sporting event can help achieve promotional, political, economic, and cultural gains, among others. Achieving desired goals requires preparing a comprehensive and persuasive IMC plan. The communication and marketing capabilities possessed by IMC programs have not been sufficiently studied in the context of marketing sporting events. Therefore, …

3d Scanning And Characterization Of Skin Lesions, Amir Rastegar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Skin lesions, including burn wounds, are characterized by several key physical properties including the size, shape, and coloration of the wound. Assessing the state of the wound is critical to ensure the best chance of patient recovery. Initial assessments are typically done with visual inspection, which, given human eyes, is subjective and non-repeatable.

In this study, we investigated the feasibility of characterizing skin wound properties, such as surface area, based on the 3D model obtained with an iOS device, aiming for providing more accurate skin wound assessment than conventional 2D imaging based assessment. Since 2D images lack depth data, they …

Introducing A Trauma-Informed Care Model To Address Racial Disparities In Perinatal Outcomes Among African American Women, Mariah K. White

Honors College Theses

Racial disparities in maternal and infant health have remained an issue within the United States despite efforts to advance and improve our health system. Most maternal deaths are preventable, especially with early and adequate maternal care. Infant mortality occurs for several reasons, but inadequate care usage increases the risk for adverse outcomes. Prenatal care usage within the United States has been inadequate for numerous years, most commonly among African American women, despite its known benefit. Low prenatal care usage among African American women can be attributed to community barriers, social injustices, trauma, discrimination, and health care mistrust. Trauma is common …

User Error: Regulatory Failures To Properly Address Technological Issues In Business And Taxation, Nicholas Robinson

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Technological changes in business, both in how business is conducted and the services it may provide, have demonstrated failures by regulatory bodies to accurately address and properly understand these issues. From the Wayfair decision on sales tax, to California’s Assembly Bill 5 distorting the definition of “employee,” to President Reagan legislating computer fraud based on a White House viewing of WarGames, executives, legislatures, and courts have relied on a forced approach to understanding and regulating technology: doing is better than understanding. The approach has relied on two false assumptions: (i) technological advancements are only different methods of conventional business; ride …

Social Media Platforms' Reckoning: The Harmful Impact Of Tiktok's Algorithm On People Of Color, Melany Amarikwa

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Social media platforms have become an integral part of our daily lives. The growing societal reliance on these social platforms calls for a greater understanding of how they impact and engage with people of color. TikTok's innovative use of recommendation algorithms has disrupted the social media industry. This Article exposes the harm people of color face on TikTok using Professor Anita L. Allen's "Black Opticon" framework. Further, it uncovers instances of discriminatory predation and exclusion on the platform and expands the framework to distinguish between discrimination platforms perpetuate actively (platform predation) and passively (private predation). Due to a lack of …

Social Connectedness As Experienced By Black Christian Women At A Predominantly White University, Halle Christina Miller

Honors Theses

This study examines the lived experiences of Black women attending a predominantly white Christian university and explores how they navigate social connection and belonging in this context, highlighting identity relevant experiences and intersectionality in layered identities. Literature demonstrates, social connection and belonging is an important aspect of well-being. This study serves to advance or extend theories relating to social connection and belonging by examining in particular the role that identity plays in belonging, specifically considering intersectionality and layered identities. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the researcher conducted in-depth interviews with three Black women who were currently enrolled in the university. …

Partitions Of R^N With Maximal Seclusion And Their Applications To Reproducible Computation, Jason Vander Woude

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

We introduce and investigate a natural problem regarding unit cube tilings/partitions of Euclidean space and also consider broad generalizations of this problem. The problem fits well within a historical context of similar problems and also has applications to the study of reproducibility in randomized computation.

Given $k\in\mathbb{N}$ and $\epsilon\in(0,\infty)$, we define a $(k,\epsilon)$-secluded unit cube partition of $\mathbb{R}^{d}$ to be a unit cube partition of $\mathbb{R}^{d}$ such that for every point $\vec{p}\in\R^d$, the closed $\ell_{\infty}$ $\epsilon$-ball around $\vec{p}$ intersects at most $k$ cubes. The problem is to construct such partitions for each dimension $d$ with the primary goal of minimizing …

Shared Decision Making In Self-Care Management And Health Outcomes Of Adolescents And Young Adults With Sickle Cell Disease, Judith M. Odityo

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Background: Shared decision making (SDM) is a model of care with a potential to guide disease self-care management and promote optimal health outcomes in adolescents and young adults (AYA) with sickle cell disease (SCD).

Aims: To identify the perceived involvement of AYA with SCD in the SDM process and examine its association with self-care management and health outcomes.

Methods: Data were collected from a major sickle cell center. Using a cross-sectional design, participants completed surveys and data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, multiple linear regression, and correlational statistics.

Results: Participants (N=25) were on average age 22.72 (SD …

Endothelial To Mesenchymal Transition In Human And Murine Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Pulmonary Hypertension, Jamie L. Gilley

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Background: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is one of the most complex congenital disorders, characterized by pulmonary hypertension and hypoplasia. CDH-associated pulmonary hypertension (CDH-PH) features devastating morbidity and mortality (25-30%) among neonates. An unmet need is determining the mechanisms triggering CDH-PH to save infants and improve their quality of life. Prior data suggest abnormal remodeling of the pulmonary vascular extracellular matrix, presumed to be driven by endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT), hinders postnatal vasodilation and limits efficacy of anti-PH therapy in CDH. Although abnormal vascular development and remodeling are known CDH traits, there is limited data on the role of EndoMT in CDH-PH. …

2023 Undergraduate And Graduate Commencement, Lindenwood University

Commencement Programs

Lindenwood University Commencement program.

Biologically Important Areas Ii For Cetaceans Within U.S. And Adjacent Waters - Gulf Of Alaska Region, Lauren A. Wild, Heather Riley, Heidi C. Pearson, Christine M. Gabriele, Janet L. Neilson, Andy Szabo, John Moran, Janice M. Straley, Sarah Deland

Faculty, Staff, and Students

We delineated and scored Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) for cetacean species in the Gulf of Alaska region. BIAs represent areas and times in which cetaceans are known to concentrate for activities related to reproduction, feeding, and migration, and also the known ranges of small and resident populations. This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)-led effort uses structured expert elicitation principles to build upon the first version of NOAA’s BIAs for cetaceans. Supporting evidence for these BIAs came from aerial-, land-, and vessel-based surveys; satellite-tagging data; passive acoustic monitoring; Indigenous knowledge; photo-identification data; and/or prey studies. A total of 20 BIAs …

“On Aslan’S Side”: Divine Sovereignty And Evil In The Fiction Of C. S. Lewis, Hannah Dubois

Honors College Theses

This thesis will explore C.S. Lewis’ theology of supernatural providence as depicted in Perelandra, the Silver Chair, and Till We Have Faces. Each novel involves characters who doubt the existence of divine involvement in their life. Lewis repeatedly describes the supernatural as intruding upon the mundane, closely resembling his account of encountering and converting to the Christian God. All three novels feature characters who come to doubt their sanity when in contact with spiritual beings, introducing a darker element to Lewis’ view of supernatural orchestration particularly in light of Lewis’ experience with mental illness. While fiction is an argumentative device …

Gold 2023 Update: Implications For Clinical Practice, Diana R. Tamondong-Lachica, Neil Skolnik, John R. Hurst, Nathaniel Marchetti, Adrian Paul J. Rabe, Maria Montes De Oca, Bartolome R. Celli

Abington Jefferson Health Papers

In 2022, over 3 million people died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the global burden of the disease is expected to increase over the coming decades. Recommendations for the treatment and management of patients with COPD are published by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, and updated annually with scientific evidence-based recommendations. The 2023 updates, published in November 2022, contain key changes to recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of COPD that are anticipated to have a significant impact on clinical practice for patients with COPD. Updates to how COPD is defined and diagnosed, including the expansion …