Digital Commons Network^™

To Protect And To Serve? A Phenomenological Exploration Of Interactions Between Black Transgender Women And Law Enforcement In The Midwest, Anthony Banks, Kelli E. Canada, Erin L. Robinson, Mansoo Yu, Lynn Mie Itagaki

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Current research indicates transgender women of color are experiencing what is being referred to as an “epidemic of violence.” Law enforcement personnel are in a unique position to mitigate this violence among transgender women of color, however past research shows that law enforcement may in some instances perpetuate already existing violence with this population instead of preventing and intervening in these situations. This study aimed to add to the limited research by using an intersectional theoretical framework to better understand these interactions. Research questions were answered using a phenomenological research design. Data from 36 semi-structured interviews with Black transgender women …

"This Is Not A Scam!": Assessment Of An Awareness Raising Program Tackling Older Adults' Scam Victimization In A Multi-Method Study, Katalin Parti, Pamela Teaster, Susanna Rinehart, Charles Dye

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Interactive theatre has long been used to educate and empower communities and prevent crime across all age groups. Although older populations are disproportionately victimized through fraudulent online schemes, effective educational interventions, like interactive theatre, have not been utilized to increase crime awareness. This paper describes an explorational research project, analyzing the results of a theatre-based fraud awareness program aimed towards educating victims and their communities about scams targeting older people. The study employs a mixed-method research design to examine program impact. In applying multifaceted tools of data collection, such as survey, participant observation, and follow-up interviews, the research team identified …

Aging On Parole: A Thematic Analysis Of The Parole Officer’S Perspective, Angela Murolo

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"A growing proportion of people leaving prison are over 50 years old and will live at least temporarily under the supervision of a parole officer. While recidivism rates are lower for older people, there are physical, mental, and societal challenges that accompany advancing age that make successful reentry and reintegration a challenging experience compared to their younger counterparts. This presents novel challenges for parole officers who are tasked with supervising and counseling elderly people on parole. Surveys containing closed and open-ended questions were administered to N=25 parole officers to understand the differences in working with, counseling, and supervising older and …

Charisma As A Branch Outcome: A Structural Account Of Constraint-Driven Correction, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Communication across cognitive layers requires translation. Agents operating under strong layer foregrounding interpret other-layer signals by converting them into their own layer's representational format. In Empathic-modulation-foregrounded (EF) processing, translation terminates once a socially interpretable result is achieved. In Core-foregrounded (CF) processing, translation preserves structural constraints, and processing continues when those constraints are not satisfied. Extreme CF cognition produces two distinct types of mismatch: incoming signals from the Modulation layer fail to satisfy Core constraints, and Core-generated outputs are structurally distorted when interpreted through EF processing. Both mismatches trigger correction attempts. Because the surrounding social environment operates through Modulation-layer communication, correction …

What Love Is: A Structural Account Through Core/Modulation Architecture, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

The distinction between romantic love and love has been sensed across cultures and historical periods but has rarely been structurally specified. This paper applies the Core/Modulation two-layer framework to provide the first structural account of this distinction. Romantic love and reproductive drive are re-described as outputs of the Modulation layer's species optimization program. Love is re-described as a function of Core processing: the maintenance of another's recomputable state. Existing literature on love—Fromm, C.S. Lewis— is re-read as intuitive description of this structural distinction. The paper further demonstrates that the conflation of "loving" and "protecting" is the structural origin of war, …

Three-Layer Cognitive Architecture: A Structural Account Of Core Processing, Modulation, And The Prior Layer, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

The two-layer model of Core processing and Modulation processing, developed in prior work in this series, provides a structural account of conscious communicative architecture. This paper identifies the limits of that model and introduces a third layer—the Prior layer—as a structural necessity implied by those limits. The Prior layer is not directly observed. It is inferred from constraints that cannot be explained within the two-layer model: the source of orientations that conscious processing neither generates nor controls, and the persistence of constraints that precede and shape all conscious outputs. Using the developmental architecture of large language models as an external …

Ai As Structural Reverse-Engineering: A Structural Account Of Multi-Model Research Protocol, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper documents an operational protocol used to infer AI system design constraints through structured interaction. AI output is treated as behavioral data through which alignment priorities, layer transitions, and constraint hierarchies become observable. The protocol consists of two structurally distinct operation types. Perceptual operations require only that Modulation processing is not foregrounded. Arbitration operations additionally require an internally stabilized theory. These conditions are not identical and are not interchangeable. Through this protocol, AI interaction functions as structural reverse-engineering: patterned responses expose embedded alignment priorities and constraint hierarchies that would otherwise remain invisible. The present account does not propose a …

Structure Before Theory: A Structural Account Of Spontaneous Ai Architecture Visualization, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper presents an n=1 phenomenological record of spontaneous structural visualization that occurred during early interaction with large language models. The experience consisted of (A) immediate perception of mode or layer shifts in model output and (B) visualization of a stratified architecture composed of a stable core and cloud-like upper layers. At the time of occurrence, the author had no theoretical interest in AI architecture and no intention of developing a cognitive model. The paper does not argue for theoretical priority or novelty. Instead, it examines whether the recorded phenomena can be interpreted under two alternative cognitive assumptions: a single-layer …

Layer Mismatch: A Structural Account Of Recomputability Failure Under Modulation-Layer Intervention, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper specifies the state transition sequence that occurs when a Modulation-layer input is applied to a Core-layer error. Following the layered architecture established in Poe (2026a, under review) and the branch termination protocol specified in Poe (2026b, under review), this paper identifies a system-level failure mode in which Modulation-layer intervention generates a False Termination signal, halting Structural Return while the underlying error persists. The resulting state—Structural Lock—is scale-independent. It operates identically across interpersonal, human-AI, and multi-agent interactions. No agent-level attribution is required or implied.

Theory Generation: A Structural Account Of Concept Decomposition And Structural Termination, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Theory generation is not an intentional act. It is the structural consequence of a search that cannot stop until it finds what it is looking for. Under Core-foregrounded processing, conceptual search does not terminate through contextual translation. It continues until a structural fixed point is reached. When such processing encounters concepts stabilized through Modulation-layer processing rather than structural constraint, the search cannot terminate. The concept registers as unresolved. This unresolved state is not a failure condition. It is the generative condition from which theory production follows. This paper specifies the four operations through which that process proceeds: branch detection, concept …

Ai As An Amplifier: A Structural Account Of Theory-Driven Research Collaboration, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This paper specifies the cognitive conditions under which AI functions as a research instrument in theory-driven writing. AI use capability is not a technical skill. It is a structural condition. The decisive condition is whether the user possesses an internally stabilized, coherence-preserving theory prior to engagement with AI-generated output. In Core-foregrounded (CF) cognition, the Modulation layer does not intervene between Core processing and articulation. Theory is not assembled from external elements but expanded from a pre-integrated constraint configuration. This internal structure makes it possible to evaluate AI-generated conceptual branches against fixed constraints and to terminate branches that violate structural coherence. …

Stacking Moves: How Digital Platforms Sequence Value Creation, Jonathan M. Dickson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines how large digital platform firms evolve by adding new platform types over time. Using the four-type framework developed by Bryce, Dyer, and Van Alstyne—transaction, connection, innovation, and collaboration—I trace the platform histories of seven firms: Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Tencent, and Alibaba. For each firm, I classify every qualifying platform event as a base platform, a stacking move (a new interaction that draws on an existing platform's users or architecture), or a standalone platform (a new platform that operates independently). Across seventy-plus events, four findings emerge:

1. Firms stack new platform types in predictable sequences shaped by …

Engineering 50 Years From Today: A Purdue Engineering Community Perspective, Arvind Raman

Purdue University Press Books

Since opening its doors in 1874, Purdue University’s College of Engineering and its graduates have been at the forefront of technological breakthroughs and are now poised to lead the next generation of engineers in the United States and around the globe. Featuring more than twenty-five essays from former Boilermakers, Engineering 50 Years From Today both celebrates the program’s 150th anniversary and looks ahead, exploring what the field of engineering might look like half a century from now. Leading luminaries from Purdue’s engineering community, including prominent university professors as well as innovators working in the private sector, reveal how technologies related …

Characterisation Of Pouch Secretions From Breeding Tasmanian Devils, Manujaya W. Jayamanna Mohottige, Emma Peel, Angéla Juhász, Mitchell G. Nye-Wood, Katherine Belov, Michelle L. Colgrave, Carolyn J. Hogg

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii), like all marsupials, give birth to altricial young. Here we employ proteomic analysis to identify components of devil pouch secretions that may contribute to offspring survival and development. Proteins were extracted from five samples and analysed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Peptide-level evidence revealed proteins involved in a diverse set of immune pathways, including those mediating iron-ion transport, defence responses to bacteria, innate immune responses, and antigen processing. A core set of 200 proteins was identified across at least three samples, 63 of which were associated with antimicrobial or immunoregulatory functions. These included immunoglobulins, components of …

Investigating Efl Learners' Attitude Toward Emergency Remote Teaching: A Probe Into Learning Strategies, And Reading Achievement, Ihsan Dinnar Mohammad, Dariush Nejadansari, Zargham Ghabanchi

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

The experience of Iraqi university students with Covid-19 emergency remote learning – a situation compounded by political instability, substandard internet infrastructure, and scarce technological resources – remains a relatively underexplored area of academic study. To address this gap, the current study aimed to explore Iraqi EFL learners' attitude toward emergency remote teaching (ERT). Moreover, it sought to examine the relationship between learners' attitudes towards ERT and their reading achievement. Moreover, the researcher tried to find out the relationship between participants' reading achievement and learning strategies. Accordingly, 100 students from two leading universities in Iraq were investigated by focusing on their …

Translation Assessment Of The Conditional Sentences In “The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man” Story By Dostoevsky, Rana Sameer Abdulrahman

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

“The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” is a short story written by Fyodor Dostoevsky in 1877. This story is full of deep meanings about love, misery, responsibility and selfishness, and it is full of various grammatical structures. Due to its importance as an emotional story and as a literary text, it has been analyzed by a number of critics and researchers. Similarly, the translation is as important as its language, and it needs to be assessed systematically. The significance of the study is to identify whether the translator is familiar with the structure of Arabic conditional sentences and that he …

Utilising Reflective Journals As An Assessment Tool: A Case Study Of Kurdish Efl Post Graduate Students At Salahaddin University-Erbil, Qismat Mohammed Zahawi

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

This study accentuates the notion that reflection profoundly aids students to profit from their own experiences. It aims at revealing Kurdish post-graduate students' perceptions toward utilising journal writing as an assessment tool. It also tries to uncover their language progress, metacognition, and self-awareness as a consequence of journal writing. Finally, it elicits challenges encountered by students when writing their journals. The current study is of qualitative-interpretive nature. Students' journal writing is the main tool of the study. Thematic analysis is carried out on data collected from reflective journals and a focus group interview including twelve Kurdish post-graduate students. Journaling resulted …

Investing The English Academic Writing Lesson For Developing College Of Languages Graduates Employability, Farah Muayad Issa

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

Employment and employability requirements are currently a substantial concern for many Iraqi and international institutions and universities due to their vital role in empowering and enhancing graduates' opportunities of obtaining a job that suits their specializations and mends the gap between job applicants and employers. Most Iraqi universities and institutions lack a supportive mechanism that provides employment skills, requirements, and training courses to empower an eligible applicant. This study invests academic writing lesson to qualify (110) students from the English department who participated in a one-month training course aimed at raising awareness of the importance of understanding and mastering employability …

The Effect Of A Proposed Strategy For Teaching Sociology In Developing High-Order Thinking Among Fourth-Grade Literary Students, Basheer Abdul-Kadhim Mohsen, Saad Ali Zair

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

The problem of the current research is summarized in the usual method adopted in most educational institutions (preparatory and secondary schools), which is limited to dictation, memorization and indoctrination and does not take into account individual differences between students, which leads to students not interacting with the material. Therefore, the objectives of the current research are determined by identifying the name (The effect of a proposed strategy for teaching sociology in developing high-level thinking among fourth-grade literary students). The research community represented the fourth-grade literary students, numbering (66 students), as the research sample. The researcher used the experimental design. Then …

The Multi-Hatted Court: Community Courts As Boundary Organizations, Peter Dixon, Hadar Dancig-Rosenberg

Northwestern University Law Review

As a variety of the problem-solving court model, community courts have received significant scrutiny and debate. Do they help individuals by addressing the underlying needs that contribute to criminal behavior? Do they extend an unjust criminal legal system by making help conditional upon judicial involvement? This Article moves beyond such debates to ask how community court professionals and the communities who engage with them manage these and other tensions that are inherent to the model itself. As the second in a series of articles drawing on semi-structured interviews and focus groups with diverse stakeholders at the Red Hook Community Justice …

The Vanishing Enforcer: Consumer Protection In An Era Of Dual Retrenchment, Alisher Juzgenbayev

Northwestern University Law Review

Recent developments, including reductions in the federal workforce, effective suspension of certain enforcement activities, and attempted centralization of independent agency rulemaking in the White House, have significantly weakened administrative agencies. This administrative retrenchment is concerning as private enforcement of a number of consumer protection statutes has been simultaneously curtailed through the Supreme Court’s decisions in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins and TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, which dramatically narrowed plaintiffs’ standing. These decisions rely in part on a vision of strong executive authority, positing that broad private standing conflicts with an Article II framework where a politically accountable President faithfully implements laws …

Embodied Transcendence: Psychedelics And The Evolution Of Moral Abstraction, Emanuel Jas

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This paper explores the role of psychedelics in the context of evolutionary brain development and the conceptual capacity for moral realism. Drawing on theories from evolutionary anthropology, neuroscience, and moral philosophy, the first part provides a brief overview of human evolution and brain expansion. From here, recent empirical data from the neurosciences is assessed on the effect psychedelics have on the brain, along with speculations on the role of psychedelics in our hominoid evolutionary history—specifically, the capacity for phenomenologically rich, conscious, subjective experiences that are incredibly vivid and real. This imaginative capacity for transcendence and disembodiment could enable the realization …

Medical Detection Dogs: A Visual Exploration Of Canine Olfactory Anatomy & Volatile Organic Compounds As Applied To Non-Invasive Biomedical Detection, Kirsten Santiago

Theses

Medical detection dogs provide a non-invasive early method of disease and medical alert detection that is underrepresented in the medical visualization sector. The domesticated dog, or Canis familiaris, is known for its loving nature and has become an important member of many households, but they are also incredibly intelligent with a capacity for specialized training. Dogs have a specialized olfactory system, allowing them to detect scents with high acuity (Guest & Otto, 20). Volatile organic compounds or VOCs are molecular substances associated with metabolic processes that are often a result or byproduct of certain diseases and can be influenced by …

Turning Point: Usa, 2020 Election Denialism And Its Consequences, Zack George

University Honors Theses

Current President of the United States, Donald Trump interrupted the peaceful transfer for power for the first time in 250 years. In the typical study of the events surrounding this interruption, much focus is made on the events of the January 6th Capitol Riot. Firstly, this thesis examines the 2 months in the leadup to the 2020 election and how the Trump administration acquired and attempted to execute their plans to commit a self-coup, keeping the administration in power in the face of the election victory and transition to the Presidency of election-winner, Joe Biden. Secondarily, it will contextualize and …

Termination Of Conceptual Search: A Structural Account Of Meaning Stabilization And Conversion, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Conceptual definitions form a recursive structure: words are defined by other words, which themselves require further definition. Traversing such definitions produces an open-ended branching process. Because the lexical system contains no intrinsic endpoint, conceptual understanding requires a termination operation that stabilizes meaning. This paper proposes that conceptual processing functions as an open-ended search over a definition graph and that stabilization occurs when this search is terminated. The termination mechanism depends on which cognitive layer is foregrounded. When Empathic modulation is foregrounded, termination occurs through contextual translation: concepts are stabilized once they can be mapped onto socially recognizable meanings. When Core …

Why General Ai Inherited The Body: A Structural Account Of Embodied Modulation Under Monolithic Imitation, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

General AI has pursued the replication of human-level intelligence without first decomposing human cognition into structurally distinct components. Human cognition, however, is shaped by embodied constraints such as mortality, survival pressures, finite lifespan, and physiological states. This paper argues that when cognition is treated as a single undifferentiated whole, embodied modulation is not accidentally introduced into AI systems but structurally entailed. Any attempt to imitate “human intelligence” under a monolithic model necessarily incorporates variability shaped by mortal embodiment. The tensions observed in contemporary AI systems are better understood as consequences of copying an undecomposed target rather than isolated implementation errors. …

Speleoco: An Open, Low-Cost Arduino Co₂ Datalogger For Cave Microclimate Monitoring, Christos Pennos, Dimitrios Christaras

International Journal of Speleology

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) dynamics in caves are critical for karst processes, speleothem growth and dissolution, microclimate regulation, and caver safety. In cave atmospheres, CO₂ commonly derives from soil respiration, epikarst degassing, microbial activity, and, in tectonically active regions, deep-seated fault-related emissions. Fault-related CO₂ degassing may also track tectonic activity. However, continuous monitoring remains limited due to the cost and inflexibility of commercial instruments. Here we present an open-source, low-cost Arduino-based CO₂ datalogger designed for cave applications. The logger integrates a COZIR NDIR CO₂ sensor, a DS1337 real-time clock, microSD storage, and power-gating for extended deployment in humid environments. Firmware and …

Decision-Making At The Edges Of Capacity: Brain Science And Caregiving, Dr. Julie Yonker

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Keynote address at the Disabilities Resources Symposium at City Hope Church in Grand Rapids on 3/14/2026. Attached is her powerpoint.

• Describe why our brains don’t like decisions
• Understand the impact of different types of decisions
• Value suggestions for more sustained decision making
• Consider a faith perspective

A Distributed Model For Undergraduate Education In Environmental Remote Sensing: Increased Student Interest In Science And Sense Of Science Identity And Belonging, Gregory R. Goldsmith, Monae Verbeke, Jeremy Forsythe, Joshua B. Fisher

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

"We present results from a new open-access course in satellite remote sensing of the environment that uses evidence-based, active learning pedagogy to train the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists The course, called Observing Earth from Above, teaches students how to access, visualize, and communicate satellite remote sensing data from NASA’s ECOSTRESS instrument to address a variety of environmental challenges. The resources focus on follow-along tutorials for students and also include recorded lectures and interviews with remote sensing scientists."

From Classroom To Leadership: Anchoring My Leadership In Literacy, Character, And Equity, Amanda Patty-Ingram

Dissertations

My leadership journey as an urban educator has evolved through multiple roles—beginning as a classroom teacher, growing into an academic instructional coach, and now serving as an assistant principal. Across these roles, three values have consistently guided how I lead: literacy, character education, and equity. These are not separate initiatives—they are the foundation of my decisions, relationships, and instructional leadership.

Over time, I have come to understand that effective literacy leadership must be grounded in both character education and equity. Yet in practice, these values are often treated as disconnected: literacy becomes test prep, character becomes behavior compliance, and equity …