Digital Commons Network^™

Karmic Theodicies, Justin Mooney

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Illusory Copyright And The Private Censorship Of Art History, Peter J. Karol

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

This article makes a simple but in its own way startling claim: much 20th century U.S. visual art is not protected by copyright. These works were regularly “published” when they were first exhibited for sale in commercial galleries, often marketed through contemporaneous illustrated catalogs, almost always without copyright notice of any kind. They were thereby placed in the public domain. What is remarkable is the extent to which this reality has been ignored by artist estates and foundations and other art industry players. They operate on the incorrect, self-serving and generally unexamined assumption that most 20th century American art is …

Hkc06 - Information Versus Attention In Flood Risk Disclosure, Dolores Albarracín, Timothy Hyde

Oberlin College Kasper Economics and Business Working Paper Series

Flood risk disclosure is expanding rapidly in real estate markets, but if disclosures move demand by commanding attention rather than by conveying information, theirwelfare effects are ambiguous. We examine this tension in a discrete choice experiment where 1,498 respondents make hypothetical choices among real Gulf Coast properties under a control condition and four disclosure formats varying in informational content and presentation. Absent disclosure, insurance costs barely influence choices; by contrast, when respondents are shown precise flood insurance estimates, they are willing to pay $3.34 in annualized housing costs to avoid each annual premium dollar. Using a separate beliefs elicitation, we …

Decoration Of Lactic Acid Bacterium By Exploiting In Vitro Sortase A Transpeptidase, Faisal Hamd Alqhtani

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Attaching a drug module to the surface of lactic acid bacteria was the main aim of this dissertation, and it was achieved. By using the Sortase A mechanism, the drug module (green fluorescent protein fused to the LPETG motif) was anchored to the LAB surface. To reach the final results, this dissertation will describe the process that I undertake to achieve the end goal. Modifying media, producing pure enzymes with less impurity, and reducing the protease activity in E. coli BL21 were all described in this five-chapter dissertation. Keywords: drug delivery, lactic acid bacteria, green fluorescent protein, sortase A, fusion …

The Gravity Of The Ukraine War: Measuring Conflict Impacts On European Grain Trade, Stefan Bonchis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the heterogeneous structural disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine on the European Union’s agricultural trade architecture, focusing on three critical commodities: wheat, maize, and sunflower seeds. Employing a structural gravity model framework across all 27 EU Member States, the study evaluates two conflict episodes, the 2014 Crimea annexation and the 2022 full-scale invasion, to identify the net beneficiaries and heavily impacted nations within the EU agricultural trade network. The empirical strategy utilizes a dual-test design to capture the full scope of the disruption. Test A (Ukraine towards the EU trade) reveals a distinct geographic logic in …

Understanding The Experiences Of Faculty Members Who Teach Case Conceptualization, Asianna Harris

Dissertations (1934 -)

Competence in case conceptualization (CC) is a core skill in clinical training. However, many graduate programs lack a structured process for teaching this complex and dynamic clinical skill. While most research focuses on students’ perspectives on learning CC, there is a distinct gap in research on faculty experiences, successful teaching methods, and the assessment of teaching practices. Therefore, this study addressed the gap in extant literature by exploring how doctoral programs’ faculty taught transtheoretical CC and how they evaluated the effectiveness of their instruction. A Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) design was employed to deeply examine the experiences of 13 faculty …

Latina Representation In Children’S Literature: A Content Analysis Approach., Vanessa Varela

Dissertations (1934 -)

This quantitative content analysis investigates the representation of Latina girls and women in children’s books across two distinct publishing periods. Drawing on foundational scholarship in gender and racial representation in children’s literature (Casey, 2021; Hamilton et al., 2006; Leslie, 2021; Pérez Huber, 2018; Paynter, 2011; Weitzman et al., 1972), and informed by the emergence of multiracial feminism in the 1990s, the study examines a total of forty books, using the book as the unit of analysis (20 published in 1995 and 20 in 2025). A comprehensive 60-item coding instrument was used to generate descriptive statistics, conduct inferential testing, and support …

Carrying The Midwife’S Bag Across The Atlantic: German Midwives And Paraprofessional Midwifery In The Us, 1850s-1920s, Melanie Simone Lorenz

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation compares the occupational development of midwifery in the United States and Germany between the 1850s and the 1920s. It examines how midwifery in nineteenth-century Germany developed into an early paraprofession through its inclusion in the paramedical division of labor and the creation of professional associations and a trade journal. In the United States, by contrast, such a development did not occur. Instead, physicians excluded midwives from the emerging paramedical division of labor. Even though a dedicated group of German American physicians and midwives attempted to replicate the German model of midwifery in St. Louis, Missouri, this paraprofessional form …

Enhancing Deep Learning Image Reconstruction In Breast Ct With Task-Driven Training And Physics-Informed Models, Megan Ariel Murphy

Dissertations (1934 -)

Dedicated breast X-ray computed tomography (breast CT) is a developing imaging modality that has potential as an alternative to mammography. Unlike traditional mammography, breast CT offers high-resolution, fully 3D anatomical detail, which aids in the detection of microcalfications and subtle lesions that are potential indicators of cancer. To be effective for screening, breast CT must limit radiation exposure by reducing CT view angles. However, traditional image reconstruction methods yield noisy, artifacted images in this sparse-view CT setting. This dissertation develops image restoration and reconstruction methods that address these limitations by integrating physics-informed iterative methods with machine learning tools, and a …

Pragmatic Conceptualism, Public Nuisance, And The American Opioid Litigation, Benjamin C. Zipursky

Washington and Lee Law Review

Public nuisance as a part of American tort law has been as high profile in the first decades of this century as products liability law was in the last several decades of the twentieth century. The American opioid litigation over the past decades is a spectacular example, filling headlines and generating billions of dollars of settlements. There is a plausible argument, however, that the doctrinal core of the opioid litigation is meritless because there simply is no “interference with public right” as required by public nuisance law. The first aim of this Article is to articulate and assess that argument. …

Equality Before Tax Law, Charles Delmotte

Washington and Lee Law Review

The income tax code is riddled with exceptions—exclusions, rate preferences, and deductions—that reduce tax burdens for dominant majorities and powerful interest groups. These carveouts now amount to an astonishing $1.9 trillion, equivalent to 75 percent of all federal income tax revenue. By granting policymakers discretion to allocate tax exceptions, the tax system not only invites capture but also the weaponization of taxation against disfavored economic and political groups. Yet despite the central role of these exceptions, tax scholars have not articulated a principle requiring taxation according to general rules.

This Article bridges philosophy with insights from political economy to reveal …

Universal Injunctions And The Executive-Judicial Relationship In America, Jeremy Kang

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines a specific type of legal controversy surrounding the Trump administration’s dealings with the judicial branch. Central to the matter is the concept of universal injunctions: how a federal court can enjoin even non-parties to a case from behaving in certain ways.

The history of universal injunctions, from pre-Enlightenment England to modern America, is initially discussed. Then special attention is given to their use against President Donald Trump in particular, culminating in the Supreme Court curtailing them, and district court judges ignoring the high court’s ruling. Finally, previous examples of conflict between the American executive and judicial branches …

It's All In The (Exponential) Family: An Equivalence Between Maximum Likelihood Estimation And Control Variates For Sketching Algorithms, Keegan Kang, Kerong Wang, Ding Zhang, Rameshwar Pratap, Bhisham Dev Verma, Benedict Wong

Faculty Conference Papers and Presentations

Maximum likelihood estimators (MLE) and control variate estimators (CVE) have been used in conjunction with known information across sketching algorithms and applications in machine learning. We prove that under certain conditions in an exponential family, an optimal CVE will achieve the same asymptotic variance as the MLE, giving a fixed point algorithm for the MLE. Experiments show the fixed point algorithm is faster and numerically stable compared to other root finding algorithms for the MLE for the bivariate Normal distribution, and we expect this to hold across distributions satisfying these conditions. We show how this algorithm leads to reproducibility for …

Managing Risks Under Nuclear Power Plant Projects: A Latent Similarity-Guided Contract Customization, Mariam Elazhary, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Global energy is transforming, with nuclear power emerging as a pivotal player in achieving sustainable and low-carbon energy goals. The nature of nuclear technology introduces unique challenges, such as stringent safety and environmental requirements. Existing studies focus on general risk identification, such as supply chain delays, cost overruns, and public perception issues. However, these studies fail to address integrating these risks into tailored contractual provisions, which are critical for navigating the unique challenges of nuclear projects. The goal of this paper is to examine how standard construction contracts can be tailored to better accommodate the risks inherent in nuclear power …

Acute Intermittent Hypoxia And Acute Intermittent Hypercapnic Hypoxia Elicit Cortico-Diaphragmatic Plasticity In People With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury, Alysha Bogard, Michela Mir, Tommy Sutor, Jessica Dunn, Kathryn Cavka, Arian Vistamehr, Hannah Snyder, Joseph Welch, Jayakrishnan Nair, Gina Brunetti, Gordon Mitchell, Emily Fox

Department of Physical Therapy Faculty Papers

Respiratory impairment is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality after spinal cord injury (SCI), highlighting the need for interventions that improve breathing function. In people with SCI, acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) elicits respiratory motor plasticity and improves inspiratory function. However, in uninjured people facilitation of corticospinal diaphragm motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude occurs only when AIH is combined with mild hypercapnia (acute intermittent hypercapnic hypoxia; AIHH). It remains unclear whether AIHH similarly enhances diaphragm corticospinal excitability after SCI. We tested the hypothesis that AIHH increases diaphragm MEP amplitude and reduces MEP onset latency in individuals with chronic SCI, whereas …

Urb-Poiesis: A New Terminology Between Theorisation And Practice In Sustainable Urban Development, Lubna Raheem Al-Azzawi

Iraqi Journal of Architecture and Planning

Urb-poiesis is a new term formed from the two words `urban' and `poiesis', which refer to the autopoietic and allopoietic phenomena of urban systems, as defined in relation to SUD. The research developed a new theory to investigate the typology of city system behaviour. Thus, a new model of theoretical relationships based on the Urb-poiesis definition is proposed to create a dual association with identity as the driving force behind the city. The methodology followed a logical, stepwise approach to transforming qualitative data into quantitative data, using a semantic differential scale (SDS) of Urb-poiesis represented by identity from the flow …

Multi-Parameter Assessment Of Land Degradation Vulnerability In Ranya And Pshdar Regions Using Geospatial Techniques, Kaifi Chomani

Iraqi Journal of Architecture and Planning

Land degradation poses a significant threat to the stability of the ecological and socio-environmental characteristics of the Ranya and Pshdar (RP) region in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The fragile environmental and physical dynamics of the RP regions make it considerably vulnerable to land degradation. This study integrates remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to address this issue, as these techniques provide a robust framework for mapping land degradation vulnerability in the RP regions of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Ten critical environmental and physical parameters were analyzed and considered to model …

The Impacts Of Urbanisation On Housing And Infrastructure In Nigeria: Implications For Environmental Sustainability, Nathan Udoinyang, Reuben Daniel, Johnson Aborivwighre Iteku, Edna Abibetu Abidde, Salami Hope E, Violet Abieyuwa Imariagbontua, Okose Faith Nneka

Iraqi Journal of Architecture and Planning

This study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods to collect and analyse data on urbanisation and its impact on housing and infrastructure in Nigeria. A survey of 400 households in urban areas of Nigeria was conducted, and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, including government officials, urban planners, and community leaders, were held. Secondary data were also obtained from existing sources, such as the National Bureau of Statistics and the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. The study found that urbanisation has led to a housing shortage, increased housing costs, and inadequate infrastructure development in Nigeria. It also …

The Effect Of Morphological Transformations On The Emergence Of Complex Urban Systems: The Historical Karkh Urban Systems In Baghdad Is A Ase Study, Sara Abdul Aalie Rasheed, Wahda Shuker Al-Hinkawi

Iraqi Journal of Architecture and Planning

Cities emerge as multi-component urban systems that exhibit complexity and synergy and are shaped by morphological transformations in their structural composition. From here, the research idea was launched to demonstrate the role of morphological transformations in the emergence of urban systems with multiple characteristics and their integration to form the complex urban system. The research aims to demonstrate the impact of transformations on the emergence of the complex urban system, a fundamental characteristic of the city's growth and development, which comprises different urban structures that arise over time. The research adopted a qualitative descriptive-analytical approach and applied it to a …

Posthuman Architecture And The Machine: A Theoretical Approach To The Impacts Of Artificial Intelligence On Architecture, Waleed Joudah Nassar Alsaadi, Ibrahim Jawad Kadhim Al-Yousif

Iraqi Journal of Architecture and Planning

Posthumanist philosophy shifts the focus away from independent, human-centred thinking toward diverse, pluralistic modes of knowledge. It adopts the idea that human agency is interconnected with a broad network of other actors, such as contemporary intelligent machines, most prominently embodied in artificial intelligence. This research discusses the relationship and interconnection between architecture in its posthuman form and technology, selecting artificial intelligence as a model of this technology, as it represents the most significant technical and intellectual revolution at present. The study examines posthumanism as a radical theoretical model that seeks to transcend the limitations of human thought and anthropocentrism. The …

Geospatial Assessment Of Urban Expansion And Green Area Decline In Karbala Using Machine Learning: Supporting The Achievement Of Sdgs, Doaa Taha Yaseen, Oday Zakariya Jasim

Iraqi Journal of Architecture and Planning

Urban sprawl is a major challenge to sustainable development. This research examines geospatial patterns of urban growth and vegetation cover reduction in the Karbala District between 2017 and 2024. Sentinel-2 satellite imagery classification using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) model was evaluated, and accuracy was assessed using confusion matrices and a comparative evaluation against the Esri Sentinel Land Cover dataset. The SVM approach provided better classification precision. The change-detection analysis shows that the conversion of green and cultivated lands into built-up areas is significant. Although there has been an expansion of pivot-irrigated areas in other districts of the Karbala Governorate, …

Urban Stigmergy: A Traceability Approach Towards The Development Of Baghdad, Nada Abdulmueen Hasan, Shireen K. Zedan

Iraqi Journal of Architecture and Planning

Interdisciplinary urban research has pointed to finite attempts to the fact apply and develop stigmergic approaches the concept has not gained widespread acceptance in the field of urban design despite paving the way for significant opportunities and possibilities for city development, thus the research framework represent the concept of stigmergy within a specific approach to traceability impact which stimulates stigmergic behavior in the urban environment, and results in the generation of a set of urban development mechanisms the research objective focuses on exploring the mechanisms of the traceability approach within urban stigmergy scenarios and their role in the development of …

Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy For Hepatocellular Carcinoma Is Associated With Improved Survival After Hepatectomy: A Matched Analysis Of The 2017 To 2022 National Cancer Database, Lawrence Chiang, Adam Bodzin, Daniel Lin, Nader Hanna, Scott Koeneman, Hien Dang, Charles J. Yeo, Christopher Shubert, R. Zheng

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

Background: Effects of neoadjuvant immunotherapy (NIT) before liver resection are not well-described in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Survival and R0 resection rates in HCC patients undergoing curative-intent resection with or without NIT were evaluated.

Methods: A retrospective study of stage I-III HCC patients undergoing hepatectomy from the 2017–2022 National Cancer Database was performed. Patients receiving NIT were exactly matched 1:3 to non-NIT patients by clinical stage. Primary outcomes were margin positivity, 30- and 90-day mortality, and overall survival.

Results: After matching 510 patients, 97 received NIT and 291 did not (non-NIT). Resections included segmental (178, 45.9%), lobar (149, 38.4%), and extended …

Sdg 4.1.1 Minimum Proficiency Levels. Definition And Blueprint For Assessment, Prue Anderson, Andrew Mannion, Ursula Schwantner, Maurice Walker, Colin Watson, Toby Simmer

Global education monitoring

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 aims to ensure that, by 2030, “all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.” The primary indicator 4.1.1 concerns the proficiency of girls and boys in two learning areas (reading and mathematics) at three stages of education: at the end of lower primary, at the end of primary, and at the end of lower secondary. Large-scale learning assessments are essential tools to capture data on learning outcomes and to provide system-level evidence on education quality and equity. In the context of SDG 4, …

Exploring Primary Care Providers’ Compassionate Care And Their Evidence-Based Practice With Death, Grief, And Loss: Patient Experience And Perspective, Kathryn Krzykala

Dissertations

Research on primary care providers’ (PCPs) education regarding Death, Grief, and Loss (DGL) remains limited. Specifically, data is lacking regarding patients' perceptions and opinions on what they need and expect from their PCPs regarding grief and loss. This exploratory mixed-method study comprised 146 participants who had experienced death and non-death loss. It examined participants' perceptions of 1) PCP compassion, 2) PCP utilization of evidence-based grief and loss practices, 3) their own level of comfort discussing DGL with their PCPs during medical visits, and 4) their personal grief and loss experiences. The findings revealed that PCPs' grief-informed evidence-based treatment, as reflected …

Finding The Confidence To Speak: Reducing Public Speaking Anxiety In Secondary English Students, Nickolas Johnson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Public speaking is an essential academic, professional, and civic skill, yet many secondary students experience anxiety when asked to speak in front of peers and when assigned a presentation. This capstone project explored the question: How can secondary English language arts teachers develop methods to decrease anxiety around students who struggle with public speaking? The end result of this project is a Google Site resource guide that is designed for secondary English language arts teachers. The site provides background information on public speaking anxiety in the classroom, a bank of low-stakes speaking activities that can be used independently or in …

How Mentoring Can Close The Gender Gap In Post-Secondary Education, Jared Hinkley

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The purpose of this project was to examine the causes of the post-secondary enrollment gap between young men and women and create a curriculum that uses mentoring to help narrow the divide. The research question: How could mentoring for middle-school-aged males help narrow the post-secondary enrollment gap between boys and girls? was developed after self-reflection on my own middle school experiences, as well as reading well-documented support showing the need for male guidance, especially for young men. The literature reveals that school-based mentoring programs typically show limited success compared to community-based mentoring. However, some school-based mentoring focused on task-oriented goals …

Authentic Material Use In English Language Development Classrooms, Kenneth Fields

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

With attention on the topic of globalization at an all time high, more and more focus has been shifted towards student-centric, evidence-based approaches for second language education. In order to address the perceived need of more culturally-centered content, this project attempts to answer the question: What are the benefits of using authentic materials over grammar-based texts and how can authentic materials be implemented into low-proficiency ELD classrooms? Authentic materials, or materials created by native language speakers not for the purposes of L2 education, have been gaining more popularity among educational researchers as second language acquisition theories have begun to favor …

Understanding The Structural Drivers Of Useful Exergy Intensity, João Santos, Tiago Domingos, Tânia Sousa, Matthew Kuperus Heun, André Serrenho

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Energy-Economy Decomposition Analysis Across 112 Countries 1971-2020

Supported Decision-Making And The Inclusion Of People Who Lack Decisional Capacity In Greater Than Minimal Risk Research, Aaron Eli Segal, David Wendler, Dana Howard

Faculty and Staff Publications

In recent years, some have argued that supported decision-making can be ethically superior to surrogate decision-making with respect to decisions involving adults with cognitive and intellectual impairments or disabilities. In this paper, we argue that supported decision-making could also be ethically superior to surrogate decision-making in the context of clinical research that involves greater than minimal net risks. In current practice, adults who lack decisional capacity are often excluded from research that involves greater than minimal net risks (call this the minimal risk requirement). While this approach is intended to protect them, it can be ethically problematic, in part because …