Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Fermented Soybean Products On The Human Gut Microbiome, Microbial Metabolism, And Host Physiology, Shannon Moncier

Biology Dissertations

Fermented soybean products (FSPs) contain soybean-derived substrates, fermentation-associated microorganisms, and bioactive compounds that may interact with the human gut microbiome and host physiology. However, despite the growing interest in FSPs, longitudinal human studies specifically evaluating traditional Korean-FSPs (K-FSPs), particularly among United States-based populations, remain limited. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of three K-FSPs, including Cheonggukjang, Gochujang, and Doenjang, on host physiological responses, gut microbial community structure, predicted microbial functional potential, and fecal butyrate responses in healthy adults. Three independent dietary intervention cohorts were conducted using FSP formulations produced either by traditional artisan methods (Product A) …

Neuromodulation Of Pain-Related Network Dynamics: Effects Of Electroconvulsive Stimulation On Local Field Potential Activity In A Formalin Pain Model, Diana A. Ibarra

Psychology Theses

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an established neuromodulatory intervention used to treat severe psychiatric conditions and is known to briefly affect memory function. Given that chronic pain affects millions and often leads to opioid dependence, ECT has been investigated to treat chronic pain. This study examined how electroconvulsive stimulation (ECS), the experimental equivalent of ECT used in animal models, alters or reduces pain-related brain neural activity associated with maladaptive pain-related memory circuit representations. The hypothesis is that ECS will disrupt or reduce neural activity associated with pain-related memory circuits, potentially revealing neural mechanisms that link pain and memory circuits through …

Examining The Effectiveness Of Icu Diaries In Reducing Post–Intensive Care Syndrome (Pics) Psychological Symptoms: A Rapid Review Of United States–Based Studies, Lananh Tran

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Background: The growing recognition of Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) has prompted investigation into interventions, such as ICU diaries, to mitigate the long-term psychological effects of PICS. Intensive care unit (ICU) diaries – journals written by clinicians and loved ones during an ICU admission – are a tool that can help patients reconstruct the events of their critical care experience. Entries in the diary may include clinical updates, explanation of treatments, and encouraging words from loved ones or staff. Previous research in European countries found ICU diaries may be effective in reducing psychological effects post ICU admission.

Research question: The aim …

The Anonymous Officer, Shawn E. Fields

Faculty Scholarship

(Forthcoming 2026) Masked, plainclothes immigration agents in unmarked vans have terrorized communities in Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and beyond. The indiscriminate violence committed by federal officers who at times appear indistinguishable from paramilitary units has forced immigrants into hiding and left lawmakers scrambling to address a growing and largely legal anonymity crisis in law enforcement. This Article explores the undertheorized implications of anonymous law enforcement, situating the rise of masked policing within a larger project of democratic retrogression and executive aggrandizement. Anonymity in policing and immigration enforcement frustrates core democratic norms of transparency, accountability, and legitimacy, providing the opacity needed …

Trump's War On Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion, Nancy C. Marcus

Faculty Scholarship

Among the many head-spinning developments that have occurred from the first days of President Trump’s second presidency are his attacks on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), including anti-DEI edicts targeting educational institutions. This article provides a chronology and analysis of the early 2025 Trump administration’s attacks on DEI targeting schools nationwide, the resulting harms, and responses thereto, including litigation. A discernible refrain in the early litigation challenging President Trump’s anti-DEI attacks targeting educational institutions across the country has been how those attacks cross a clear constitutional line: the prohibition of unconstitutionally obscure governmental mandates. At its core, the void-for-vagueness doctrine …

Rewards That Resonate- How Incentivized Online Reviews Shape Customer Loyalty And Review Outcomes, Sameeha Khizindar

Marketing Dissertations

In today’s competitive marketplace, online reviews have become a central feature of consumer decision-making and business strategy. Research consistently documents that online reviews have a positive impact on outcomes such as review volume and product sales, underscoring their critical role in shaping firm performance. However, the majority of consumers do not voluntarily write reviews, posing a challenge for companies that rely on user-generated content. To address this issue, companies often offer incentives to motivate customers to write reviews. Despite their widespread use, research on their impact remains limited. This dissertation is comprised of two essays that examine the impact of …

End-To-End Development And Experimental Validation Of A 1/10-Scale Autonomous Vehicle, Rikkin Pankaj Panchal

Electrical Engineering Theses

Autonomous vehicle development demands vast resources, making scaled down platforms a critical alternative for solving core algorithmic challenges. The primary contribution of this thesis is the end to end development and validation of a complete real time autonomous driving pipeline deployed on a one tenth scale vehicle. To streamline platform development, an AI assisted annotation framework automates dataset generation, significantly reducing manual labor while improving training data quality. The system perception stack features a reinforcement learning guided online multi camera calibration framework that enables adaptive surround view stitching without the need for offline recalibration. This is paired with robust lane …

Lunch Shaming And The Right To Privacy, Ira P. Robbins

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Lunch shaming is the practice of penalizing students who cannot afford to pay for their meals, resulting in them being denied food, served alternative meals, or publicly identified. The origins of lunch shaming can be traced to the financial pressures faced by school districts that struggle to balance tight budgets with the mandate to provide free or reduced-price meals to eligible students. Despite legislative efforts and advocacy campaigns aimed at mitigating the problems associated with lunch shaming, the practice persists, exacerbated by rising food costs and the expiration of pandemic-era food programs.

Many law journal and other articles have correctly …

Originalism As Disruption, Susan D. Carle

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This Article challenges the conventional understanding of originalism as a method that promotes unchanging constitutional meanings. Drawing on four and a half decades of experience since Attorney General Edwin Meese first championed originalism as a conservative project, this Article demonstrates that originalism has generally proven destabilizing rather than stabilizing to constitutional law. Landmark cases such as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, and Shelby County v. Holder show that the Supreme Court frequently deploys originalism when it seeks to upend settled constitutional doctrine, contradicting claims …

Mechanisms Of Vascular Acetylcholine Reactivity In Cardiac Hypertrophy: The Role Of Calcium Channels And Endothelial Pi3k/Akt/Enos Signaling In Rats, Rebwar Tahir Mohammed, Ismail Mustafa Maulood

Polytechnic Journal

Cardiac hypertrophy alters vascular function and promotes myocardial damage via oxidative stress and inflammation, with calcium channels and the PI3K/AKT/eNOS signalling pathway being pivotal in vascular reactivity. Nonetheless, their precise role in acetylcholine (ACh)-mediated vascular responses during hypertrophy remains little elucidated. The study aims to investigate calcium channel functions and endothelial PI3K/AKT/eNOS signalling in modulating vascular reactivity in a rat model of cardiac hypertrophy. Aortic rings from control and ISO-treated rats were mounted in organ baths. Cumulative ACh dose–response curves (DRC) were obtained at baseline and after preincubation with Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a nitric oxide synthase (NOS) blocker, PI3K …

Elevating Teacher Agency In School Decision-Making Through Trust-Building: Applying Appreciative Inquiry Within A Mixed Methods Action Research Framework, Alison S. Bellamy

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed methods action research (MMAR) study examined how Appreciative Inquiry–based professional learning influenced relational trust, teacher voice, and teacher agency in elementary school decision-making within New Hanover County Schools. Grounded in Teacher Agency Theory, Distributed Leadership Theory, and Appreciative Inquiry, the study addressed the gap between teachers’ perceptions of trust and their opportunities to influence school-level decisions. The study was conducted across three mid-quintile elementary schools using a concurrent QUAN–QUAL design. Quantitative data was collected through pre- and post-intervention relational trust surveys. Qualitative data included focus groups, participant reflections, field notes, and collaborative dialogue from two professional learning sessions …

Changepoint Analyses Confirms Global Tropical Cyclone Frequency Decline, Michael Wehner, Thomas Fisher, Norou Diawara, Robert Lund

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Changes in tropical cyclone frequencies as the climate warms is a topic of significant current debate [1, 2]. There is no accepted theory of how tropical cyclogenesis might respond to a warmer ocean-atmosphere system as multiple controlling factors exist [3–7]. Anthropogenic warming of surface ocean temperatures due to increased greenhouse gas concentrations [8] increases the potential for tropical cyclogenesis [9–11]; however, realized cyclogenesis also requires an initial local disturbance [12–16] to develop. Most multi-decadal tropical cyclone permitting climate models (i.e. resolutions of 15-50km) exhibit frequency decreases in warmer climates, despite the increase in tropical cyclogenesis potential [17–25]. In this paper, …

Pubh 2200g : Health Citizenship, Public Health

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cds 2000 : Introduction To Communication Disorders And Sciences, Cds

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cmn 4950 : Workplace Relationships, Communication And Journalism

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cds 2500 : Anatomy And Physiology Of The Speech, Language, Swallowing, And Hearing Mechanism, Cds

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cds 2100 : Phonetics And Phonological Development, Cds

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Ele 4775 : Language And Language Arts In Early Childhood, Teaching, Learning, And Foundations

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Csm 2050g : Introduction To Data Science, Mathematics And Computer Science

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Eng 3402 : Methods Of Teaching Literature & Reading In Middle And Secondary Schools, English

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cte 4923 : Work-Based Learning Techniques For Illinois Work-Based Learning Education, Teaching, Learning, And Foundations

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Nur 3608 : Nursing Informatics In Healthcare, Nursing

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Jou 3110 : Visual Journalism: Concepts & Techniques, Communication And Journalism

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cmn 3710g : Communicating Across Differences, Communication And Journalism

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cmn 4460 : Professional Development In Communication And Public Relations, Communication And Journalism

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cmn 3650 : Organizational Communication, Communication And Journalism

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cmn 2040 : Critical Analysis: Everybody's A Critic, Communication And Journalism

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Bus 1950 : Business Software Applications, Business

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Ksr 2860 : Teaching Health-Related Fitness, Ksr

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Ksr 4768 : Biomechanics Of Human Motion, Ksr

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.