Digital Commons Network^™

The Story Quilts Of Yvonne Wells, Tammera Race

The Southeastern Librarian

Stacy I. Morgan and Yvonne Thomas Wells

Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2024

ISBN: 9780817361389

360 pp. $60.00 (Pbk)

Sela News, Blake Denton

The Southeastern Librarian

No abstract provided.

Children Past Curfew: Surveillance, Resistance, And Childhood In Philippine Martial Law Children's Literature, Krisna Marie T. Balolong

Children's Literature (MA) Theses

This paper examines how two Philippine children's books depict state surveillance and its effects on a child's perspective of family, authority figures, and childhood. Through analysis of Augie Rivera's Isang Harding Papel and Sandra Nicole Roldan's At the School Gate, this project makes a connection between children's literature and surveillance studies, offering new framework to engage with children’s literature depicting authoritarian regimes and state violence, especially in cases where children were targets of their governments. Each book is examined by their representations of state surveillance during the Martial Law era of the Philippines, as well as each characters’ individual …

Art Of Medicine - 2026

The Art of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Implementing A Change Process To Support Respectful Communication In Newborn Units In Kenya: A Qualitative Study, Mwanamvua Boga, Peris Musitia, Dorothy Oluoch, Dyuti Sen, Hiza Dayo, Ane Haaland, Lisa Hinton, Jacinta Nzinga, Mike English, Sassy Molyneux

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background: In contexts of high workloads, resource shortages, and environmental inadequacies, neonatal nurses in many low- and middle-income countries face high levels of stress and burnout, as well as significant communication challenges. Advancing care in these ‘on the edge’ emotionally fraught contexts requires a multi-layered systems approac:, including context-sensitive courses that support respectful communication.

Methods: We share our learning from the implementation of a communication and emotional competence training process in two public hospital newborn units in Kenya. We adapted an existing course in collaboration with newborn unit nurse managers, with the aim of enhancing relationships among staff and …

Testing Practices And Applications Of Flywheel Resistance Technologies—Implications For Performance Assessment And Injuries From A Survey Study, Chung Wai, Mark Mal, Marco Beato, Kevin De Keijzer, Anthony Turner, Anthony Weldon, Chris Bishop

Department of Sport and Recreation

Mak, MCW, Beato, M, De Keijzer, K, Turner, A, Weldon, A, and Bishop, C. Testing practices and applications of flywheel resistance technologies—Implications for performance assessment and injuries from a survey study. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2026—This study explores current practices and applications associated with flywheel resistance technologies in performance assessment, asymmetry, and injury risk. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among sports scientists, strength and conditioning coaches, and medical professionals. The findings showed that monitoring and testing frequency among practitioners (n 5 42) are low, with 70% (n 5 29) conducting it less than once a month. Monitoring …

Heterologous Leadless Pacing: Resolution Of Pacemaker Syndrome Via Co-Implantation Of An Abbott Aveir Atrial Leadless Pacemaker With A Medtronic Micra Av, Badal Sojitra, Baylen Shoemaker, Shiv Gakhar, Vincent Sachs, Kun Xiang

West Florida Division GME Research Day 2026

No abstract provided.

Hca Florida Trinity Hospital Heart Failure Quality Improvement Project, Guillermo Gomez, Yuvedha Senthil, Ubaldo Gonzalez, Kero Hakim, Karo Hakim, Paras Shah, Dale Calixte, Chris Lane, Zach Sukin, Jordan Young

West Florida Division GME Research Day 2026

No abstract provided.

Is Seeing Still Believing? Comparing Deepfake Regulations In The U.S. And E.U., Sara Weitz

Emory International Law Review

The rapid advancement of deepfake technology has fundamentally altered the trustworthiness of audio and visual media. Deepfakes, synthetic media generated through artificial intelligence, can skew political discourse, manipulate elections, and disproportionately harm women through nonconsensual deepfake pornography. As these issues intensify, the law must provide adequate protections without stifling innovation and infringing on fundamental rights. This requires a careful balancing act.

This comment compares the emerging regulatory frameworks governing deepfakes and artificial intelligence in the United States and European Union. In the United States, constitutional constraints limit federal regulation, resulting in a fragmented patchwork of laws at the state level. …

Implementing A “Naloxone Hub With Many Spokes” Model In Kentucky: Partner Agency Perspectives On Implementation Strategies, Hannah K. Knudsen, Michael Goetz, Shaquita Andrews-Higgins, Sandra Back-Haddix, Olivia A. Davis, Patricia R. Freeman, Douglas R. Oyler, Sharon L. Walsh

Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

Background: Overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) is a vitally important evidence-based practice for addressing the ongoing opioid epidemic. During the HEALing Communities Study in Kentucky, OEND was dramatically scaled up in eight counties using a “hub with many spokes” model and multifaceted implementation strategies. This aim of this manuscript is to describe qualitative perspectives of partner organizations regarding the utility of the implementation strategies used to expand OEND.   Method: Twenty small-group and 24 individual qualitative interviews were conducted with staff from 44 agencies that implemented OEND through partnerships with the study team. Interviews were conducted 6–8 months after the …

What Race Means For Health Among Black Americans: How Microaggressions Shape Self-Efficacy And Readiness For Behavior Change, Amanda Lee Almond

Publications and Research

Objectives: Persistent racial disparities in cardiovascular health among Black Americans reflect not only structural inequities in the United States, but also the racialized meanings of cardiovascular disease reproduced through public and private health communication. Drawing on ecological systems theory, this research examines how beliefs linking race and cardiovascular disease are reinforced through routine clinical interactions and how these meanings shape health behavior change. Method: Across two experimental mixed-methods studies, a model integrating ecological, social–cognitive, and behavior-change frameworks was tested. In Study 1 (N = 374), health-message framing was experimentally manipulated to examine effects on self-efficacy and decisional balance while controlling …

Understanding Space Frontier Areas: Strategy In Cislunar Space And Beyond, Todd W. Pennington

INSS Strategic Perspectives

Space beyond geostationary Earth orbit, particularly cislunar space, is emerging as a strategically significant domain for national security, governance, and long-term competition. This paper introduces the concept of "Space Frontier Areas" to describe regions of space, including xGEO and the Earth–Moon system, where operations remain limited in scale but increasingly consequential. It argues that current strategic thinking about these areas is overly bipolar, framing activities as either near-term security concerns or long-term economic opportunities, thereby constraining nuanced policy choices. To address this limitation, the paper proposes an analytical framework organized around four strategic purposes—prestige, governance, security, and resources—that can be …

Evaluating Acupuncture As An Adjunct To Standard Ulcerative Colitis Therapy, Mia A. Ciotti

Scripps Senior Theses

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease characterized by recurring cycles of flare and remission that significantly affect patients’ quality of life. Standard allopathic treatment for UC centers on mesalamine, a 5-aminosalicylic acid drug that acts locally on the colon to reduce inflammation, but does not cure the disease entirely. Acupuncture, rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been proposed as an adjunct therapy for inflammatory conditions, yet its biomedical efficacy remains uncertain due to methodological limitations and insufficient controls of prior studies.

This study proposes a randomized, participant and assessor blinded clinical trial evaluating mesalamine, true acupuncture, sham …

The Genius Dilemma: Innovation Versus Antifraud In Stablecoin Regulation, Seth C. Oranburg

Scholarly Articles

The 2022 TerraUSD collapse, erasing $50 billion and exposing unregulated stablecoin risks in a $260 billion market, led Congress to enact the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act of 2025 (GENIUS Act). This statute exempts compliant payment stablecoins from the Securities Act's "security" definition, enforces strict reserve requirements, and creates a tailored private right of action-shifting authority from ex post Rule lob-5 litigation to ex ante prudential oversight while maintaining market discipline via calibrated remedies.

As the first doctrinal analysis of this landmark legislation, this Article contends GENIUS resolves regulatory fragmentation, optimizes risk allocation under uncertainty, and …

Strengthening Rural Health Care: A Scoping Review Of Nurse Recruitment And Retention Strategies, Kelley Arredondo, Laura Witte, Alexander Paterson-Roberts, Alexandra Caloudas, Matthew Vincenti, Bradley V Watts, Bronwyn Sutherland, Hilary Touchett

Library Staff Publications

Background: Despite nursing being the largest US health profession, only 16% of registered nurses (RNs) practice in rural areas, where health care access is limited. This significantly impacts rural residents, including over 2.7 million rural veterans receiving care at the Veterans Health Administration, leading to compromised health outcomes. Nurses are vital in primary care, improving coordination and management of chronic conditions.

Objectives: Identify recruitment and retention programs for rural nurses (licensed vocational nurses/licensed practical nurses and RNs), including strategy characteristics and location.

Research design: We conducted a scoping review of published and gray literature. Eligible studies targeted US rural nurse …

Effects Of Matched Freespace And Wall Damping On Stiffness Perception, Madeleine Toland, M Bourgeois, Emma Treadway

Engineering Faculty Research

Stiffness perception has previously been shown to be influenced by damping. This work addresses open questions about what damping conditions are best for enabling classification of virtual walls by their stiffness. Through a forced-choice classification experiment with 12 participants, we found that the highest mean classification performance (in terms of both information transfer and percent correct responses) occurred when freespace damping matched wall damping, rather than being higher or lower. However, statistically significant differences did not appear between the closest damping values employed, suggesting that the effects do not become pronounced until the damping is quite mismatched.

Anth 514 Method And Theory In Archaeology: Trash Talk Theory Exercise, Meghan Howey, Taylor K. Brown, Connor J. Lincoln, Brady Proctor

Spectrum

An Introduction by the Course Instructor, Dr. Meghan Howey, Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of New Hampshire

Reading the Room: A Comparative Archaeological Analysis of Dorm Waste by Taylor K. Brown

Life Ways of Devine 130 by Connor J. Lincoln

What We Waste: An Analysis of Trash from Two Archaeological Theories by Brady Proctor

Decreasing The Prevalence Of Hiv/Aids Misinformation And Stigma In South Africa, Matt Jasper

Spectrum

Misinformation about HIV/AIDS, an insidious disease spread by contact with infected blood, semen, vaginal fluid, or breast milk, persists in South Africa, a long-time epicenter for the pandemic. One of the largest contributors to the continuation and social harm associated with this disease is stigma. In a study that examined stigma towards HIV/AIDS in South Africa using surveys, 76% of people stated that people living with HIV (PLWHIV) experience stigma and are treated differently. Along with this, 45% of people reported that they were uncomfortable being around PLWHIV, and among those that have the disease, 73% believe that disclosing their …

Cultivating Creative Courage: How Metacognition And Choice Influence Risk-Taking In Secondary Visual Arts, Shea Meehan

Master of Education in Transformational Teaching and Learning

This action research project explored how embedding metacognitive reflection and elective levels of challenge into classroom routines influenced students’ willingness to take creative risks in a secondary visual arts classroom. Conducted in two high school graphic arts classes totaling 38 students, the study introduced daily reflection prompts, structured choice through a “Creative Risk Ladder” (Safe, Stretch, Bold), critique activities and opportunities for student voice and autonomy within open-ended creative projects. Data was collected through student surveys, daily reflections, observational field notes and student artifacts. Findings suggest that students were more willing to engage in creative risk-taking when projects felt personally …

Fostering Student Joy And Motivation For Reading, Meghann Mcdonald

Master of Education in Transformational Teaching and Learning

Noting the decline in students’ access to school library spaces, along with growing educator discourse surrounding declining youth reading enjoyment, the critical question emerged: What classroom strategies increase students’ motivation and enjoyment of reading? This classroom inquiry took place in a sixth-grade Humanities classroom of 21 students at a small Catholic school in North Seattle. Drawing from research surrounding aesthetic reading, reader identity, student agency, and reading community, the study investigated how an independent reading routine, student choice in text selection, and peer interactions around reading influenced students’ motivation and enjoyment of reading. Data was collected over a three-week period …

The Power Of Choice: Avoiding The Plight Of Sisyphus, Tauno Latvala

Master of Education in Transformational Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this study was to learn how to more effectively engage students in productive struggle and specifically how student feedback and choice could enhance their level of engagement and future achievement. This study was conducted over a 2-week period between April 17 and May 1. Students were given a pre-survey, followed with 3 assignments with options of problem sets to solve that had varied levels of challenge, and then finalized with a post-survey. Among the results were that there was diversity of reasoning as to why they made their choices, there were students who chose to do multiple …

Character Kinetics: An Interactive, Immersive Installation On The Mindfulness Of Asemic Writing, Danielle S. Desmarteau

Scripps Senior Theses

Character kinetics is an installation art piece that explores how writing asemically (without language) can ease the body and mind into the present moment, allowing one to focus on the material and movement of mark-making. Throughout the semester, I held workshops where participants were invited to scribble it out, to express their thoughts and surroundings without needing to make sense in the context of language. The resulting pieces were transformed into sculptural paper forms suspended in air, creating an interactive three-dimensional space inviting viewers to analyze the infinite possibility of interpretation within asemic symbolism.

Emptiness Is Enlightenment: Two Interpretations Of Nāgārjuna's Middle Way As Buddhist Soteriology, Isabella R. Sullivan

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis investigates the soteriological implications of Nāgārjuna’s doctrine of emptiness (śūnyatā) as presented in the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (MMK), or Root Verses of the Middle Way. While Nāgārjuna’s radical denial of intrinsic existence (svabhāva) is widely recognized as a masterful critique of metaphysics, modern scholarship remains divided on whether this "right view" can sufficiently ground the Buddhist Path to Liberation. This project centers on a comparative analysis of two prominent modern interpretations: Jay Garfield’s semantic anti-dualism and Giuseppe Ferraro’s anti-metaphysical realism.

The inquiry evaluates these perspectives against the doctrinal frameworks of the Four Noble Truths, dependent …

Clonal Expansion Of Cytotoxic Cd8⁺ T Cells In Lecanemab-Associated Aria, Lance A. Johnson, Kai Saito, Akhil V. Pallerla, Jessica L. Funnell, Ashley R. Ezzo, Chelsea M. Song, Douglas A. Harrison, Noah J. Norton, Lauren C. Moore, Linda J. Van Eldik, David W. Fardo, Greg E. Cooper, Josh M. Morganti

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) are the principal safety concern limiting anti-amyloid therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, yet their biology remains unclear. Here we show, through multi-omic profiling of peripheral blood from three ARIA+ patients and matched controls, that ARIA is associated with coordinated reprogramming of CD8 + T cells. CD8+ effector memory (TEM) and terminally differentiated (TEMRA) subsets were expanded, clonally enriched, and transcriptionally primed for cytotoxicity and vascular trafficking. Transcription factor inference and metabolomics converged on glycolytic reprogramming favoring short-lived effector function. Ligand-receptor modeling revealed enhanced monocyte-to-T cell signaling through antigen presentation, adhesion, and chemokine axes, while integration with a …

Developing A Community-Driven, Locally Sourced Medically Tailored Meal Model: A Pilot Linking Healthcare, Farmers, And Patients, Julie Brown, Ashton Potter, Leandra Forman, Jairus J. Rossi, Anna Cason, Christa Mayfield, Alison Gustafson

Dietetics and Human Nutrition Faculty Publications

Background: Food is Medicine (FIM) programs improve health outcomes by integrating nutrition interventions into healthcare delivery, yet gaps remain in community partner capacity and local food system integration. This program aimed to build community capacity to develop a locally sourced, medically tailored meal (MTM) model connecting farmers, healthcare providers, and patients. Methods: Meals were developed by a registered dietitian following American Heart Association (AHA) Heart-Check and MyPlate nutrition standards. Recipes were adapted for freezing, scaled for production, and sourced from 26 central Kentucky farms. Eligible participants with hypertension or type 2 diabetes (T2D) were referred through the Food as Health …

Library Advisory Council 2025-2026 End Of Academic Year Report, Central Washington University

Library Advisory Council for CWU Libraries

Library Advisory Council 

2025-2026 

End of Academic Year Report 

Infringement Through Imitation: Ai Chatbots And The Characters They Infringe, Isabella Herrera

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Chatbots that purport to embody the personas of copyrighted characters are poised to be a central issue for the IP legal field and the entertainment industry. In September of 2025, Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Character.AI, a leader in the “character” chatbots market, demanding removal of numerous chatbots that were reportedly based on characters from Disney franchises like Star Wars, Marvel, and the Pixar films. Character.AI allegedly removed all infringing characters, however it remains unclear whether character chatbots platforms are required to do so under IP law. This Note addresses the issue of copyright infringement for character chatbots and …

Broadening The Fetal Alcohol Paradigm: Bdnf Methylation As A Link Between Paternal Alcohol Use And Offspring Neurodevelopmental Deficits, Caitlin E. Muñoz

Scripps Senior Theses

Developmental effects of fetal alcohol exposure are extensively documented as a consequence of maternal gestational alcohol consumption. However, similar consequences of paternal alcohol consumption remain understudied. This proposed pilot study will examine preconception paternal alcohol consumption within its capacity to induce heritable epigenetic modifications in sperm, such that offspring are susceptible to adverse in utero neurodevelopment and neonatal neurobehavioral outcomes. Specifically, it will examine DNA methylation patterns along the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) exon IV promoter in paternal spermatozoa. BDNF exon IV is considered a key locus in neurogenesis regulation, synaptic plasticity, and cortical development. It is hypothesized that BDNF …

Collegial Support As A Key Component Of Beginning Special Education Teacher Retention, Olivia A. Brammer

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reviews current studies to examine how collegial support is a key component of beginning special education teacher retention through classroom and instructional support, observations and coaching, and emotional and mental health support. The literature shows that across rural and urban school districts in the United States, colleagues and their support play an important role in the retention of beginning special education teachers. The thesis also points to the need for further research on mentorship and induction programs for beginning special education teachers as they navigate their unique roles. While the results show the impact of collegial support on …

Finding Meaning And Value In Old Age, Jane Nell Morgan

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project addressed finding meaning and value in old age. The research conducted explored barriers to achieving meaning and value and how to overcome those obstacles. The research specifically focused on senior adults who reside in a Christian-based assisted living home located in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. In response to this problem, the researcher studied the lives of three older biblical characters, Jacob, the author of Psalm 71, and Anna, and reviewed relevant literature on barriers senior citizens face today. In addition, research included the damaging effects older adults face when they fail to find meaning in their lives and …