Digital Commons Network^™

Stem Cell-Derived Developmental Models For Translational Evaluation Of Disease And Therapy, Maria B. Paredes-Espinosa

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Human development as well as congenital and adult diseases emerge from coordinated interactions among multiple cell types, regulatory programs, and tissue compartments that remain largely unresolved. Conventional simple lineage-restricted in vitro systems poorly capture this complexity. My dissertation uses human stem cell-derived developmental models to study human cardiac morphogenesis and heart diseases and application of a networked neuron platform to explore senescence-associated neurodegeneration impact on Alzheimer’s neurons.

Elongating multi-lineage organized cardiac (EMLOC) gastruloids are a synthetic embryology model that co-generates contractile cardiomyocyte populations alongside mesenchymal, endothelial, epicardial-like, neural crest-associated, and neuronal cells within a shared in vitro developmental environment. Single-cell …

K-3 Literacy Teachers’ Sensemaking Of Early Literacy Policies In New York State: A Survey Study, Abigail Ferris

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Teachers must have opportunities to engage deeply in sensemaking during periods of major literacy reform, as unclear expectations can limit their ability to implement policy with fidelity. Using a cross-sectional survey design, this study explored K-3 literacy teachers’ perceptions, awareness, and factors related to their sensemaking of three science of reading literacy policies and initiatives in New York State. Findings suggested varying levels of awareness of the three literacy policies and initiatives, with teachers reporting that policy messages were communicated primarily through top-down structures, such as principals and literacy coaches within their organizations. Participants drew on personal, organizational, and external …

Viral Diversification And Host-Specific Fitness Of Powassan, Heartland, And Bourbon Viruses In New York State, Rachel E. Lange

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation reports important progress for our understanding of emerging and re-emerging tick-borne viruses circulating in North America including Powassan, Deer Tick, Heartland, and Bourbon viruses. Chapter 2 describes important tools for these viruses including multiplex assays for viral and bacterial pathogens in field-collected ticks and mammals, development of full genome sequencing assays and bioinformatic pipelines for evolutionary analysis, and establishment of tick-specific tools for viral isolation and characterization. Chapter 3 focuses on the disease focality of Deer Tick virus, reporting transovarial transmission in nature in Ixodes scapularis for the first time, further evidence to incriminate shrews as potential Deer …

Schelling & Spinoza, Michael Vater

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

Schelling is notorious for having a fluid vision of systematic philosophy and its methods. In an age where philosophy is expected to result in one or two books, not years of discussions with students and colleagues--and certainly not a distillation of one’s way of life--Schelling’s thought has been called protean or restless, or in Hegel’s snarky verdict “an education pursued in public.” The same could be said of Socrates. But there is a truth in these comments; it is difficult to find in fifty-six years of publications, addresses and abandoned manuscripts the single argument that is Schelling’s philosophy. What provokes …

Imagining Genomics And Population Health In 2050: Anticipating Future Research, Policy, And Governance Needs, Bartha Maria Knoppers, Yann Joly, Ma Apos N H Zawati, Habiba Alsafar, Jeffrey C Barrett, Laura Blackburn, Brian Hon-Yin Chung, Martina C Cornel, Edward S Dove, David Glazer, Calvin Wai-Loon Ho, Muin J Khoury, Anna C F Lewis, Anneke Lucassen, Peter F R Mills, Colin Mitchell, Nicola Mulder, Ainsley J Newson, Anthony Ng, Paul D P Pharoah, Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, Megan C Roberts, Saskia C Sanderson, Jeffrey M Skopek, Ron Zimmern, Eric M Meslin

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Taking Scale Seriously In Technology Law, Mark P. Mckenna, Woodrow Hartzog

Faculty Scholarship

Issues of scale—the relationship between the amount of an activity and its associated costs and benefits—permeate discussions around law and technologies. Indeed, it’s not much of an exaggeration to say that scale is the reason for most technology regulation.

But it’s not always clear how lawmakers and judges conceptualize “scale” when approaching questions around automated technologies. Scale is often used intuitively, just to mean “more.” But scale is not always just about more—scale can introduce new harms and benefits along different dimensions, not simply costs or efficiencies of greater magnitude.

In this Article, we argue for a more sustained interrogation …

The Missing Constitutional Law Of Executive Conditions, Nicole Huberfeld, Matthew B. Lawrence

Faculty Scholarship

This Article contributes to development of the constitutional law of executive conditions. Courts are wrestling with the constitutionality of federal efforts to encourage what the federal government cannot mandate—speech on particular subjects, participation in cooperative federalism programs, and so on—but have failed to appreciate an important distinction. Binding statutory conditions articulated by Congress or an executive branch delegee (statutory conditions) and non-binding executive conditions articulated by executive branch actors engaged in regulation by deal (executive conditions) are different in constitutionally salient ways that can and should inform the development of workable doctrine. Yet courts, advocates, and scholars have only begun …

Five Lessons From Ken Kersch’S Conservatives And The Constitution For The Present Moment, James E. Fleming, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny, a New York Times bestseller, has the subtitle, “Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.” Ken Kersch’s Conservatives and the Constitution: Imagining Constitutional Restoration in the Heyday of American Liberalism (2019) provides at least twenty lessons from the second half of the Twentieth Century about the development of conservative constitutional thought and activism. Although conservatism has changed in many ways since the 1954-1980 period on which Kersch’s book focuses, these lessons are relevant for understanding the present political moment, filled with concerns that the U.S., during the second Trump Administration, is lurching toward tyranny, authoritarianism, and …

The Punishment Paradox, Steven Arrigg Koh

Faculty Scholarship

What does criminal punishment do? Across centuries of criminal legal thought, a shared answer persists: punishment incapacitates the wrongdoer. And yet punishment sometimes yields its opposite. Paradoxically, punishment sometimes becomes a rallying point-expanding community identification and solidarity around the defendant. This Article shows this punishment paradox using the 2023-24 prosecutions of President Trump and recent and historical case examples-from Luigi Mangione to Karen Read to Rosa Parks. By arguing that criminal law can generate solidarity rather than stigma, the Article both rethinks foundational theories of punishment and reconsiders the role of criminal law in democratic politics. Such an approach transcends …

Corporate Law's Duty Of Data Loyalty, Andy Serwin, Neil Richards, Woodrow Hartzog, Ryan Durrie

Faculty Scholarship

Privacy law used to be a relatively tidy field, involving a few interesting but discrete topics like press disclosures of private facts, wiretapping, and the processing of personal data by internet companies. But as the digital revolution continues to disrupt area after area of human activity and software “is eating the world,” the core concerns of privacy law such as “when is it appropriate to process personal data?” have similarly entered field after field. Today, most fields of law, including discrimination law, antitrust, and international law, have found it necessary to reckon with the questions of informational harm and power …

From Policy To Practice: Strengthening Black Intellectual Engagement In Psu’S Resr Curriculum, Chantell Wesley

Anthós

This article examines how Portland State University’s Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice (RESR) requirement, while framed as an institutional commitment to equity and inclusion, can inadvertently reproduce White Language Supremacy within Black Studies classrooms. The central question guiding this analysis is how general education equity mandates shape the pedagogical and linguistic conditions of discipline-specific courses, particularly when those courses are positioned as service spaces for non-majors. I argue that RESR implementation often shifts instructional emphasis toward students less familiar with Black intellectual traditions, thereby displacing disciplinary rigor and marginalizing Black students’ intellectual labor.

Methodologically, this study draws on autoethnographic reflection …

Gendered Words And Patent Grant Rates: A Textual Analysis, Deborah R. Gerhardt, Miriam Marcowitz-Bitton, W. Michael Schuster, Avshalom Elmalech, Omri Suissa, Moshe Mash

Faculty Publications

Text is a vehicle to convey information that reflects the writer’s linguistic style and communication patterns. By studying these attributes, we can discover latent insights about the author and their underlying message. This article uses such an approach to better understand patent applications and their inventors.

While prior research focuses on patent metadata (i.e., filing year or gendered inventor names), we employ machine learning and natural language processing to extract hidden information from the words in patent applications. Through these methods, we find that inventor gender can often be identified from textual attributes—even without knowing the inventor’s name. This ability …

Health Care Fraud And The End Of Chevron, Joan H. Krause

Faculty Publications

What do the Environmental Protection Agency’s “plantwide” definition of a “stationary” pollution source,” a National Marine Fisheries Service determination of who pays for fishing boat observers, and a Department of Health and Human Services rule governing the marketing of prescription drugs have in common? In short, a government agency’s interpretation of a federal statute. All three cases go to the heart of the administrative state: the ability of an agency, staffed by experts in the field, to interpret static statutory language to offer practical guidance to an ever-evolving industry.

The same is true of health care fraud, although it is …

A New 17 U.S.C. § 108a: Restoring The Intellectual Property Clause's Balance In Copyright Consideration Of Digital Disruption And The Prevalence Of Onerous Licensing Practices, Caroline L. Osborne

Faculty Publications

Accessibility of knowledge and control over information is key to an informed public and democracy. The founding fathers recognized the benefits of an informed citizenry, enshrining this concept in the Intellectual Property Clause of the Constitution. Such a clause created a delicate balance between creator and consumer, incentivizing creation for the benefit of society. The beauty of the Clause is the concept of balance. Balance resting delicately on the fulcrum with the dual requirements of reward for creation and benefit to society. The evolution of the means and formats in which information is delivered to the consumer in the creation …

The Trademark Bargain: Registration As Disclosure, Dustin Marlan

Faculty Publications

This Article highlights the central—and under-theorized—role that disclosure plays within trademark law. By loose analogy, the patent disclosure requirement is a cornerstone of patent law, embodying the “patent bargain” where an inventor must disclose their invention in exchange for a twenty-year monopoly. This quid pro quo is believed to stimulate the progress of science and technology, making patent disclosure the very pulse of the patent regime. However, the fundamental importance of disclosure in trademark law remains underexplored. Like patents, trademark law imposes a rigorous bargain—to obtain the enhanced rights granted by federal registration, trademark owners must first make significant disclosures …

Who's Afraid Of Copyright And Ai?, Deborah R. Gerhardt

Faculty Publications

Copyright and AI need not be a copyright no man’s land. Recent decisions by the Copyright Office have gotten so much media attention that many creators are unsure if they can secure copyright protection if they use AI as a creative tool. The proposed creative control paradigm can help us all tackle the challenge of determining when works created with the assistance of AI are copyrightable. Instead of relying on long-established nuanced precedent for protecting works generated with new technology, the Copyright Office asserts that any content generated with assistance from AI tools is unprotectable. This position is radically inconsistent …

Construyendo Comunidades Inclusivas: Estrategias Para Fomentar La Unidad En Iglesias Progresistas Diversas, Andi C. Villar Arroyo

Apuntes: Reflexiones teológicas desde el margen hispano

This article explores the challenges and opportunities faced by progressive churches in balancing their cultural identity with inclusive principles. It argues that inclusive language, intercultural communication, and diverse leadership are key strategies for fostering cohesive and equitable faith communities. Drawing from biblical teachings and Wesleyan theology, the article emphasizes that embracing diversity strengthens the church’s mission of unity, justice, and spiritual growth. By implementing these practices, congregations can create a welcoming environment where all members feel valued, respected, and actively engaged in the life of the church.

A Qualitative Study Of Undergraduate Underrepresented Minoritized Students’ Online Learning Experiences, Susanne Morris

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

This dissertation reports a qualitative secondary analysis of 37 semi-structured interviews with 40 undergraduate underrepresented minoritized (URM) students. Guided by social constructionism and intersectionality, the study explores how students make sense of online learning as a sociomaterial environment, attending to perceptions of constraints, affordances, and missing or misaligned signifiers. Interviews were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s Reflexive Thematic Analysis to examine how institutional norms and course design shape what students experience as doable, safe, and meaningful. The study offers insight relevant to research and practice in equity and online learning.

Adolescent Relationships With Digital Actors And Their Influence In A Classroom Setting: An Interpretive Case Study, Kerry A. Hancock

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

In this post-COVID-19 society students are strongly influenced by their use of digital text and electronic devices. The assumption of the study was that if students spend time with devices and digital text that it might be possible for them to develop relationships with the non-human actors that exist as part of the learning environments in schools. This  interpretive case study rooted, in Posthumanist ideology, used Latour’s Actor Network Theory to approach data collection.

A comparative approach was adopted for this interpretive case study research and data were collected in three stages: initial classroom observation and analysis to determine the …

Industry To Classroom: The Role Of Academic Program Consultants In Building Self-Efficacy Among Occupation-Based Career And Technical Education Teachers, Erica L. Settelen

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Occupation-based career and technical education (CTE) teachers bring industry expertise to secondary classrooms but often begin teaching without traditional pedagogical preparation or familiarity with public school systems. In Kentucky’s New Teacher Institute (NTI), academic program consultants (APCs) provide program-area support to strengthen induction. Using the framework of self-efficacy and guided by Ivankova’s mixed methods action research (MMAR) framework, this study examined how occupation-based CTE teachers perceived APC engagement during induction and how APC-created asynchronous supports were experienced.

In the Reconnaissance Phase, a sequential Quantitative → Qualitative design included an initial survey followed by interviews. Survey results indicated midrange familiarity with …

Responding To The Needs Of First-Generation Students: An Action Research Study Of Professional Development Opportunities For Faculty And Staff, Kyle G. Phillips

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

First-generation college students have historically been considered marginalized in institutions of higher education, with diminished success rates and disproportionately higher incidents of imposter syndrome. This Mixed Methods Action Research study assessed the extent to which faculty and staff are able to recognize and implement research-based best practices to improve the support system surrounding this student demographic. In particular, it assessed current levels of preparation to support first-generation students and sought to identify and implement an appropriate professional development program as part of the study's intervention. The efficacy of the intervention was then assessed, with the result delineated in this dissertation. …

From Trauma To Triumph: The Relationship Between Psychological Resilience And Academic Resilience In Graduate School Students With Adverse Childhood Experiences, Jade Gingue

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

This dissertation investigated the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), psychological resilience, and academic resilience among graduate students. Grounded in resilience theory and interpreted through a trauma-informed, strengths-based lens, the study examined whether psychological resilience functions as a buffering moderator or as a direct protective factor among graduate students.

Using a quantitative design, data were collected via Qualtrics from graduate students (n = 391). This study used three previously validated instruments, including the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACE-10), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-25), and the Academic Resilience Scale (ARS-6), along with demographic measures. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted …

Recruitment Messaging, Authenticity, And Representation: A Mixed Methods Action Research Study In A Public School System, Chavis A. Sims

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

This study employed a Mixed Methods Action Research (MMAR) design to examine recruitment communication within a public school system facing persistent underrepresentation of minority educators.  Recruitment prototypes were developed in collaboration with district leadership and evaluated in a formative pilot involving 15 educators who provided Likert-scale ratings and written feedback on clarity, cultural relevance, persuasiveness, and engagement.  Quantitative findings indicated that messaging emphasizing professional purpose and pathways into teaching was perceived as clear and engaging.  In contrast, cultural relevance consistently received the lowest ratings across prototypes.  Qualitative responses revealed that reliance on non-local and AI-generated imagery weakened perceived authenticity and …

The Development Of Self-Efficacy Among New Residence Life Professionals, Kenyatta S. Jeter

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

New professionals in student affairs, particularly those working in housing and residence life, face complex job responsibilities that demand a high level of confidence and preparation. The purpose of this study was to increase resident directors’ sense of self-efficacy as they transition into their new role. This study employs a mixed methods action research (MMAR) design to explore the development of an effective onboarding and training framework to support housing and residence life professionals in successfully transitioning new resident directors into their roles.

An intervention plan was developed in collaboration with key stakeholders to increase resident directors’ sense of self-efficacy …

Problem-Based And Practice-Driven: Designing For Engagement In An Online Educational Leadership Program, Owens G. Saylor

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Virtual professional learning has emerged as a flexible and scalable solution for developing educational leaders, particularly those navigating demanding roles and geographic barriers. However, these benefits often come at the cost of diminished engagement, interaction, and practical application to real-world leadership challenges. Without intentional design, virtual sessions risk becoming passive and disconnected, undermining their professional development value. This study responds to these challenges by exploring how a problem-based learning (PBL) approach can improve engagement in the virtual component of the Kentucky Leadership Rising (KLR) Aspiring Superintendent Workshop Series.

This mixed methods action research (MMAR) study examined participants’ perceptions of engagement …

Enhancing International School Implementation Capacity: Supporting Contextualized Learning At An International Baccalaureate School In China, Christopher J. Hayden Iv

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

International schools allocate substantial resources to implement progressive curricular innovations; however, the advantages offered by these developments are contingent on their effective execution within classroom settings. This mixed methods action research (MMAR) study examined the implementation of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Global Context (GC) Strategy in the Middle Years Programme (MYP) at an international school in China and asked how the school might strengthen its capacity to enact this and similar innovations. Following a sequential MMAR design, a reconnaissance phase combined a whole-staff survey (n=87) with qualitative interviews to diagnose the individual, organizational, and contextual factors shaping implementation. Analyses identified …

Unveiling The Shadows: An Exploratory Study On Ghostwriting, Gray Markets, And The Ethics Of Contract Cheating, Micah Crawford

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Contract cheating has become an increasingly complex challenge for higher education, particularly as digital platforms, global academic labor markets, and generative artificial intelligence reshape the production and detection of academic work. While much of the existing literature examines contract cheating from the perspectives of students, faculty, and institutions, less attention has been given to the individuals who produce ghostwritten academic work. This dissertation addresses that gap by exploring how shadow scholars understand their roles, ethical boundaries, and participation within the academic integrity ecosystem.

Using an exploratory qualitative design, this study draws on twelve semi-structured narrative interviews with six freelance academic …

Are Multiple-Choice And Open-Ended Assessments Consistent In Predicting Science Achievement? Multivariate Multilevel Evidence From Chinese Students And Schools, Quan Wu

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

A multivariate multilevel model was developed and applied to secondary data from a large-scale science assessment of Grade 8 students in China to examine the consistency between multiple-choice and open-ended formats of assessment in predicting science achievement at the student and school levels. The sample included 44,534 students from 159 schools across two regions. Multivariate multilevel results indicated a moderately positive consistency between the two formats at the student level and a strongly positive consistency at the school level; these consistencies were stable across regions and did not depend on student and school characteristics. The findings have important practical implications …

Leadership Perceptions In Mid-Major Ncaa Athletics: Exploring Women's Teams Head Coaches' Experiences With Athletic Department Senior Staff, Sydnie A. Steele

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Leadership practices within NCAA Division I athletic departments can shape the professional climate, well-being, and stability of the coaching staff. Yet, limited research has explored how senior administrators influence the experiences of coaches who lead women’s teams at mid-major institutions. This phenomenological inquiry study explored how head coaches interpret their interactions with senior athletic department staff and how these relational dynamics inform perceptions of support.

Twelve Division I head coaches participated in semi-structured Zoom interviews about their experiences at former institutions. The interview protocol integrated the LMX-7 framework with open-ended questions to capture the significance of the head coaches’ lived …

Exploring The Relationships Between Social Influence, Vaping Behaviors, And Susceptibility Across Grade Levels In Kentucky, Raphael Adesiyan, Odunayo O. Omotilewa, Saber Feizy, Melinda J. Ickes

Kinesiology and Health Promotion Faculty Publications

Purpose: This study explored the relationships between social influence, vaping behavior, and susceptibility across different grade levels.   Design: The study design was cross-sectional. Data were collected from middle and high school students who voluntarily participated between September 2022 and April 2023.   Sample: A convenience sample of students in 6^th to 12^th grades in Kentucky (N = 4677).   Measures: Demographic information, including age, grade level, school location, and race/ethnicity, was collected. The outcome variables included social influence, susceptibility, and vaping behavior.   Analysis: Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the relationships between social influence, vaping behavior, and susceptibility.   Results: …