Digital Commons Network^™

Ai-Powered Compliance: Accelerating Efficiency And Decision-Making For Compliance Related Inquiries., Amberly R. Rodriguez

SMU Data Science Review

This research examines the potential of an AI-powered chatbot to streamline compliance workflows by reducing the time and effort required to locate and interpret complex compliance documents. The prototype integrates a centralized MySQL-based document repository, a contextual document querying engine, and a Streamlit web interface, enabling employees to retrieve accurate, document-backed answers within seconds. The system supports both stored and user-uploaded documents, with features such as automated summarization and source citations to enhance transparency and trust. Manual evaluation demonstrated notable gains in efficiency and accuracy compared to traditional search methods, with strong potential to improve adherence to compliance policies. Future …

Ai-Driven Optimization Of Wind Energy Distribution In Texas Using Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning, Waleed Amer, Owolabi Oluwadamilola, Bassey Ogbonnaya

SMU Data Science Review

Abstract. The integration of large-scale wind power into modern electrical grids presents persistent challenges due to variability, curtailment, and compliance with operational constraints. This study proposes a multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) framework for optimizing wind energy distribution within the Texas power grid. The system employs three specialized agents—managing wind curtailment, storage utilization, and load adjustments—to collaboratively balance supply and demand under dynamic grid conditions. Using historical operational data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the framework was trained and evaluated on a range of scenarios encompassing both typical and extreme operating conditions. Results demonstrate substantial performance improvements compared …

You Can't Be Kind Of A Lesbian: Mass Media's Representation Of Bisexual Woman, Shannon Pappas

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

In the present day, many societal beliefs and ideas are cultivated through mass media messaging. This study aims to examine mass media’s representation of bisexual women, specifically in pornography, and how those ideas lead to harmful stereotypes. Television show characters and song lyrics depicting bisexual women were examined using cultivation theory. Analysis found much of the representation involving force or coercion, indecisiveness, hypersexuality, and group sex. Pornography is an integral space for people to explore their sexualities. However, bisexual videos tend to only depict hypersexual or violent fantasies. With over 80,000 people logging onto PornHub each minute, negative stereotypes of …

Truth Will Out: Combating The Rhetoric Of Modern Conspiracy Theory, Seth Kelley

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

This essay explores modern conspiracy theories’ relationship to hatred and ignorance, and how specious ideas do not hold up to classical rhetorical analysis. It posits reasons why power embraces conspiracies that it has traditionally rejected and explains power and conspiracy theory’s symbiotic relationship in the age of misinformation. It champions rhetoric as the best tool to combat conspiracy theories.

Thesis: In order to effectively combat conspiracy theory’s undermining of human progress, we must hold conspiracists accountable for spreading dangerous lies, directly teach formal rhetoric in all public schools (and how to spot specious content), effectively foster multicultural respect and appreciation, …

Verbal Aggressiveness And Argumentativeness In College Forensics Students, Ben Walker

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Roth (2017) found competitive parliamentary debate participants score lower in verbal aggressiveness than those who have not competed in parliamentary debate. While there is some research regarding verbal aggressiveness in academic debate, there is not much in terms of individual events. This study examines verbal aggressiveness and argumentativeness in both debate and individual event college students. Results indicate debate students to have higher levels of verbal aggressiveness than IE students when trying to influence students not in forensics. Male students scored higher on verbal aggressiveness as did seniors. Conclusions about college forensics are drawn and suggestions are made for future …

From The Editor, Tanya Miller

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Letter from the Editor of the Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal, Dr. Tanya Miller, for Volume 48, 2025 issue.

Volume 48, 2025, Communication And Theater Association Of Minnesota Journal, Front Matter

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Front matter and Table of Contents for Volume 48 (2025) of the Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal.

Volume 48, 2025 Communication And Theater Association Of Minnesota Journal

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Complete digitized volume (volume 48) of Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal.

Rebecca And Rhododendrons: Female Identity In Interwar Britain, Ella Harrison

Furman Humanities Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, And Introductory Information, Gretchen Braun Editor

Furman Humanities Review

No abstract provided.

"Lofty, Where All Is Shrunk And Changed": The Duality Of Susan Pringle Frost's Measures To Retain Power In Progressive Era Charleston, Emily Anne Harris

Furman Humanities Review

2025 Meta E. Gilpatrick Prize Essay

Furman Humanities Review. Volume 36, August 2025, Gretchen Braun Editor

Furman Humanities Review

No abstract provided.

Antecedents And Effects Of Use Of Social Media By Small Business Firms In The United Arab Emirates: Insights From Dubai, Khadija Ahmad Mohammad

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

The utilization of social media by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to enhance their business growth and sales promotion has garnered significant attention in both academic and industrial arenas. Thus, several academic inquiries have attempted to identify the most effective ways to equip and incorporate social media technology, as well as applications into small business operations. This study is primarily concerned with the integration of social media technologies to facilitate seamless digital transformation across small business functions and operations. Conversely, research on social media in the UAE has emphasized the advantages for end users, while neglecting to consider the factors …

Unmasking Injustice In Tumultuous Times: Protest Art And Student Agency In A Summer Program, Indira Bailey

International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education

In today’s political climate, academic freedom is increasingly threatened, and topics that challenge dominant narratives are often censored. Art education faces growing pressure to thoughtfully integrate these critical issues into its curriculum. This paper explores a five-day summer social justice art workshop at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Using a social justice art education framework, the workshop engaged undergraduate students, including non-art majors, in social justice research through creative expression and protest art making. The author argues that non-visual art students can create impactful visual counter-narratives that confront oppression while engaging deeply with both creative processes and social …

Bridging Generations Through Art: Community, Creativity, And Wellbeing, Eva V. Coker Phd, Johnson K. Wor

International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education

Bridging Generations Through Art: Community, Creativity, and Wellbeing

Abstract

This article documents an intergenerational Art Day event that brought together participants of all ages to engage in a shared community art experience. Hosted in a community setting and facilitated by graduate students, the event emphasized intergenerational artmaking as a way to foster connection, creativity, mutual leaning, and wellbeing across generations. Through activities such as mindful pattern-making, montage, linoleum block printing, and weaving, participants collaborated, exchanged skills, and created artworks. Each art station was designed to support personal reflection, exploration, and participants across ages and abilities, and was informed by research …

Freedom To Create, Freedom To Teach: Lessons From A Liberatory Artmaking Practice, Andrea Allen

International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education

This essay explores the question, “How can a liberatory art practice inform a liberatory art teaching practice?” by examining the artistic process of Iranian artist Mahbube Parnian. Through four key themes (freedom to experiment, learning in community, identity exploration, and art as language) this essay draws parallels between Mahbube’s liberatory artmaking and pedagogical strategies that foster inclusive, student-centered classrooms. Framed within a socio-political climate that increasingly restricts liberatory teaching, this work argues that preserving justice-oriented, creative practices is not only essential to student well-being, but also an act of resistance.

Practicing Freedom: Rethinking Art Education Through Resistance And Observation, Barbara Drobot

International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education

In the post-Soviet space, art education has increasingly been shaped by tensions between traditional academic approaches and the rise of informal, entertainment-oriented models of what is called “creative development”.

After a classical academic art school, many students give up drawing because of the complex presentation of information. In contrast to specialized art education, most modern creative studios for children have reformatted their approach to step-by-step instructions and copying of samples, which limits the independence of students and suppresses artistic development. In this article, the author offers a critical analysis of template teaching methods and substantiates the need to move to …

Full Issue

International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education

No abstract provided.

Blind Mate Paddle Fabric Shuffle Cassette, Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure describes a blind-mate cassette interconnect system that enables high-speed, high-density connectivity between modular switching and fabric elements while maintaining full compatibility with standard OSFP (Octal Small Form-factor Pluggable) cages and connectors. The cassette integrates pre-terminated twinax or optical links within a floating housing that allows precise, tool-less alignment and automatic mating during module insertion, replacing up to sixteen discrete OSFP cables. This architecture combines the serviceability of blind-mate connectors with the flexibility of standard OSFP ecosystems (DAC, ACC, AOC, coherent, WDM, etc.), reducing installation time, eliminating cabling errors, and simplifying expansion from single-rack to multi-rack systems. By …

Cloud-Managed System For Distributing Audio Content To Point-Of-Sale Devices, Ramprasad S, Gulmohar Khan, Ankul Batra, Gajen Agrawal, Malay Singh, Saurabh Mimani, Ajay Prasad, Venu Annamraju, Sailendra Bathi

Defensive Publications Series

The utility for merchants of point-of-sale (POS) audio devices can be expanded beyond announcing transaction details. A cloud-managed system can facilitate the creation and distribution of custom audio content to these devices. For example, a user can input text through a client application, which can be sent to a cloud backend. The backend can use services, such as generative artificial intelligence for content refinement and a text-to-speech engine, to generate an audio file. The backend can then orchestrate the distribution of the audio file and an associated playback schedule to one or more endpoint audio devices. This system can expand …

Intergenerational Transfers In A Tractable Overlapping-Generations Setting, James Feigenbaum, T. Scott Findley, Sepideh Raei

Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

Motivated by the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax (GSTT) in the United States, we examine how varying estate tax rates by the heir’s age affects welfare. Methodologically, we introduce a parsimonious constant elasticity of substitution (CES) bequest utility that is markedly more tractable than the altruistic specifications commonly used in the literature, delivering closed-form optimal rules and transparent parameterization. Using this new framework, we provide a proof of concept showing how transfers from older to younger generations can enhance equilibrium welfare in a dynamically efficient economy à la Samuelson (1975). We embed the tractable bequest utility in a two-period overlapping-generations model with …

Immunological Surveillance Against Cancer Across Mammals, Orsolya Vincze, Piotr Minias, Alexandre Corthay, Fernando Colchero, Jean-François Lemaître, Louise Maille, Tamás Malkócs, Justus Hagemann, Dalia A. Conde, Samuel Pavard, Antoine M. Dujon, Beata Ujvari, Frédéric Thomas, Amy M. Boddy, Carlo C. Maley, Damien Chevallier, Tuul Sepp, Thomas Pradeu, Mathieu Giraudeau

Presidential Fellows Articles and Research

Contrary to expectations based on their higher cell numbers, larger and longer-lived species do not face dramatically increased risk of cancer. This strongly suggests that evolution has fashioned natural cancer resistance mechanisms, yet our knowledge remains limited on what these mechanisms might be. The cancer immunological surveillance hypothesis, proposed by Burnet and Thomas in the 1950s, highlights immunity as a key factor determining species-specific cancer resistance. Here we address the original, evolutionary interpretation of this hypothesis by investigating the relationship between cancer mortality risk and markers of efficient antigen presentation. Our results show that the expansion of the MHC class …

Empathy On Trial: The Role Of Neuroscience And Communication In Sexual Violence Jurisprudence, Samantha M. Gonzales

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

Sexual violence remains a contentious public safety and legal challenge, which has become further complicated by the tension between supporting victim-survivors and safeguarding the falsely accused. False accusations, though still well below the numbers of rightly accused, are experiencing a rise in popularity given recent (past ten years) political climates. This thesis examines how communication theory, neuroscience, and law intersect in molding perceptions of truth, culpability, and justice in sexual violence cases; while also examining the intersectionality of those fields in addressing the candor of allegations, the rate of recidivism, and quality of public health and safety. The most prominent …

Fitz Center Student Fellow Spent Summer Supporting Dayton's Homeless Youth, Lauren Mccarty

College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

A Daybreak Dayton internship helped prepare Alexia Benton for a future career in medicine and also offered an opportunity to connect with the Dayton community.

Designing Culturally Responsive Classrooms: Breaking Boundaries Using Bilingual Children’S Literature, Maryann Huebner

Honors Projects

The purpose of this study was to educate and empower teachers to implement culturally responsive teaching practices in the elementary classroom to create inclusive learning environments. With an emphasis on high-quality instruction and meaningful materials, the research aimed to support equitable learning opportunities for all students. The study had a specific focus on how the use of bilingual, culturally relevant children’s literature can be a powerful resource for developing bilingual abilities in students, enabling them to meaningfully and confidently participate in the multicultural classroom. To explore how children’s literature can foster bilingualism and biculturalism in students, I collected daily, reflective …

A Detailed Investigation Into Word-Order In The Modification Of Pronouns, Kelli Hesseltine, Joseph C. M. Davis

Publications and Research

This study builds upon Hesseltine and Davis ([2020]. “The Communicative Function of Adjective-Noun Order in English.” WORD 66 (3): 166–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.2020.1793499), which examines word order in modification in English and proposes the Assertion of Characterization hypothesis. To communicate an assertion of an entity’s traits, speakers employ two different meanings: weaker, signaled by the order AB as in long (A) hair (B), and stronger, signaled by BA as in hair (B) long (A). The attribution of the characterization is thus made less or more assertively. This work focuses on examples where the characterized entity, the B, is a form traditionally …

Mark Munsell Named Distinguished Fellow Of Artificial Intelligence, Lindenwood University

Archived Lindenwood Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Elevating Nursing Leadership: How Nurse Managers Empower Unit Practice Councils, Katie Fields

2025

EBP

Literature Review: Utilizing OVID and databases CINAHL and PubMed, a comprehensive review of 22 articles, including integrative reviews and qualitative studies, was conducted to examine leadership behaviors that support NPG and UPCs. Across the literature, empowerment, accountability, and presence are consistently highlighted as essential leadership behaviors for effective shared governance that strengthens engagement and professional growth. Clavelle and Tarasenko (2024) emphasized accountability as critical to advancing NPG, while Rollins et al. (2024) underscored the importance of adaptable leadership styles to meet the evolving needs of frontline nurses and practice councils.

PICO: What are the best practices and leadership behaviors …

Planting Seeds Of Success: Cultivating Cpen Certification In Pediatric Emergency Nursing, Shelby Flusche, Johanna Muller

2025

INNOVATION & LEADERSHIP

Background: Children’s Health Plano campus has faced challenges in supporting nurses preparing for the Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse (CPEN) exam, with limited resources available for study and preparation. To encourage certification, a certification champion was identified to provide leadership and guidance. However, it soon became evident that additional support was needed, as many nurses were unsure how to obtain a test voucher and reported low confidence levels regarding exam success. In fact, 75% of nurses initially rated themselves as neutral to not confident in their ability to pass the CPEN exam, highlighting a significant gap in …

We Float So You Don’T Sink: Implementation Of Float Nurse Support Role, Amanda Anderson, Caroline Kelley, Mary Moore, Carlie Phillips, Krista Westbrook

2025

INNOVATION & LEADERSHIP

Background: Critical care float pool nurses possess broad clinical expertise and flexibility to support a wide range of patient care areas across the organization. Their familiarity with multiple units, patient populations, and

established relationships with provider teams helps them to facilitate timely and effective clinical support. Acute care staff regard critical care nurses’ judgment with high respect, enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration and trust. Because of a rising patient acuity and census, there is risk for failures in escalation of care, with 16% of serious pediatric adverse events linked to delays is escalation (Sosa et al., 2022). Critical …