Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Impact Of Mindful Social Media Literacy Instruction On Self-Regulated Smartphone Use, Catherine Coons

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Smartphone and social media addiction, and increasingly high rates of anxiety and other mental health challenges, afflict contemporary undergraduate students more than previous generations of college students. The mental health challenges faced by students directly affect their academic potential, influencing their ability to concentrate, maintain confidence, get adequate sleep, and sustain overall well-being. Despite the increasing prevalence of these issues, universities often lack sufficient resources, services, and trained staff to support this growing student population adequately.

This study examines the impact of mindfulness-based social media literacy instruction on curbing problematic social media use in college students. While extensive research has …

Performance Of Foamed Concrete Before And After Fire Conditions: A Review, Poles Bahgat, Mohamed Kohail, A. Fathy, A. Afifi

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Foamed concrete is defined as a type of concrete distinguished by its workability, low density, and insulating properties. It is used as building material. The objective of this review is to discuss the physical and mechanical characteristics and fire sensitivity of foamed concrete. Density influences the strength of concrete. The strength of concrete is between 2 and 3.5 MPa, which increased with the addition of gold mining waste, reaching approximately 35 MPa at optimal replacement levels.  There is a 60-70% reduction in strength for lightweight concrete with a density of 400-1200 kg/m³ compared to conventional concrete. The fire sensitivity of …

Hope For The Drowned: Baptism, Faith, And The Open Community Of Grace In Marilynne Robinson’S Housekeeping And Lila, Mackenzie M. Miller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis explores the baptismal imagery across two of Marilynne Robinson’s novels, Housekeeping and Lila. The hermeneutic used to understand baptism is based on some of the works of Rowan Williams, Mircea Eliade, and Northrop Frye. In its death and rebirth function, baptism is understood for its connection to the formation of self and identity. Baptism is also explored as a means of community initiation. Further, connecting these two baptismal functions, this thesis also looks at the role community plays in the formation of that identity. In this process, I compare Housekeeping’s Ruth and Lila’s titular character; …

Heart Of Stone: Geomorphization Through Stone-Oriented Affects, Grace F. Foster

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis draws from the work of geologist Marcia Bjornerud to bring a scientific (specifically geologic) understanding of humanity’s relationship to our home planet to bear in a literary context. I employ Bjornerud’s term “geomorphization” to expand from inter-species kinship to inter-substance kinship and to establish stone as an active, lively subject without relying on anthropomorphization. Geomorphization as I define it refers to recognizing similarity between ourselves and stone/Earth on the basis of our stoniness rather than stone’s human-ness. Geomorphizing ourselves entails what Bjornerud calls “timefulness,” a geologic perspective on temporality that sees the past as continually acting in the …

The Middle School Transition: Exploring Student Perceptions On The Transition From Elementary To Middle School, Cody T. Weed

Education Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand middle school students’ perceptions of their transition from elementary school to better learn the interactions and dynamics that unfold between them and their immediate environment. The middle school transition is a pivotal developmental phase marked by significant logistical, academic, and social–emotional challenges. Grounded in transition theory, the 4S framework, and stage-environment fit theory, this research explores the interactions between students and their new environment. Utilizing an embedded design mixed-methods approach, this study surveyed sixth-grade students at a public middle school in Eastern Washington. The goal was to illuminate students’ needs and concerns …

2026-2027 Graduate Catalog, Morehead State University. Registrar's Office.

Morehead State Catalog Archive

2026-2027 graduate catalog for Morehead State University.

Teresa Murphy Papers - Accession 1466, Teresa Harlem Murphy, Virgeson Family

Manuscript Collection

The Teresa Murphy Papers consists of a scrapbook, Winthrop yearbook (The Tatler), and family photographs belonging to 1929 Winthrop graduate, Teresa Harlem Murphy (b. 1908. The scrapbook details her life and experience while a student at Winthrop from 1925 to 1929. The Tatler contains many notes from classmates including their married names. Also of interest is a Victorian era calendar listing the birth and death dates of members of the Virgeson Family which includes the family of Joseph Cahoon Virgeson (1875-1941) and Katherine Elizabeth Whitley Virgeson (1879-1958).

Lindsay Pettus–J. Marion Sims Research Papers - Accession 1733, David Lindsay Pettus, James Marion Sims

Manuscript Collection

The Lindsay Pettus–J. Marion Sims Research Papers document historical research conducted by historian and conservationist Lindsay Pettus (1940–2020) on Dr. James Marion Sims (1813–1883), a native of Lancaster County, South Carolina, who is historically recognized for his role in the development of modern gynecology. The collection reflects Pettus’s sustained interest in documenting Sims’s life, medical career, legacy, and public commemoration, particularly within South Carolina.

The collection consists of research files, correspondence, printed materials, photographs, postcards, and reference notes compiled during Pettus’s research activities. Research materials include internet articles, photocopies of published writings, a photocopy of Sims’s autobiography, bibliographies, book lists …

National Master Farm Homemakers Guild Record - Accession 1734, National Master Farm Homemakers Guild

Manuscript Collection

The National Master Farm Homemaker’s Guild Records document the activities, governance, and programs of the National Master Farm Homemaker’s Guild, an organization founded in 1929 to promote the highest possible standard of living in the farmhouse and to emphasize the positive aspects of farm life. The collection reflects the Guild’s efforts to support farm homemakers through leadership, education, and national and state-level coordination.

The collection consists primarily of administrative records, including presidents’ reports, national convention materials, and meeting minutes. Presidents’ reports provide insight into organizational priorities, initiatives, and communications between the national leadership and state guilds during the early 1980s. …

Kathryn Summers Powell Papers - Accession 1741, Kathryn Summers Powell

Manuscript Collection

The Kathryn Summers Powell Papers document the professional career and administrative work of Dr. Kathryn Summers Powell (1920–2000), Professor of Home Economics at Winthrop College from 1960 to 1976. The collection primarily reflects Dr. Powell’s leadership in program development, departmental administration, and applied family and community education initiatives during her tenure at Winthrop.

Materials in the collection consist of faculty manuals, interoffice memoranda, accounting and reimbursement records, calendars, and internal policy documents that illustrate the operational and administrative functions of the Home Economics Department. Of particular significance are records related to curriculum planning and program development, including notes and drafts …

Pat Conroy First Edition Book Collection - Accession 1747, Donald Patrick Conroy

Manuscript Collection

The Pat Conroy First Edition Book Collection consists of first edition publications authored by Donald Patrick “Pat” Conroy (1945–2016), an acclaimed American novelist whose work is closely associated with the cultural, social, and physical landscapes of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Many of the volumes in this collection are signed by the author, enhancing their research and evidentiary value.

The collection spans Conroy’s literary career from his debut memoir The Boo (1970) through The Death of Santini (2013), a reflective work that revisits characters and themes central to his earlier writings. Included are major novels, memoirs, and nonfiction works such as …

Jordan Panoramic Photograph Collection - Accession 1767, Carol Mcwhorter Jordan

Manuscript Collection

The Jordan Panoramic Photograph Collection consists of two early twentieth-century panoramic photographs that document large-scale institutional and organizational gatherings in the American South. The images are dated 1905 and 1912 and reflect the use of panoramic photography to capture expansive scenes, collective identity, and public activity during this period.

The first photograph, taken in 1912 by the Russell Bros. photographic studio and labeled “Panorama no. 871,” depicts Camp Pettus, a military training camp located in Anniston, Alabama. The image provides a wide view of the camp’s layout, personnel, and infrastructure, offering visual evidence of early twentieth-century military preparedness and training …

Mary Phillips White Gettys Family Papers - Accession 1801, Mary Phillips White Gettys, Phillips Family, White Family, Gettys Family

Manuscript Collection

The Mary Phillips White Gettys Family Papers document multiple generations of the Phillips, White, and Gettys families of York and Chester Counties, South Carolina, with particular emphasis on family correspondence, military service, and commemorative remembrance spanning the early twentieth century through the early twenty-first century. The collection includes original letters, transcriptions, photographs, newspaper clippings, maps, printed materials, memorabilia, and personal artifacts that illuminate both private family life and broader experiences of war and civic engagement.

A substantial portion of the collection centers on Thomas “Tom” Henry White III (1925–1945), son of Wilson Carlisle White and Julia Phillips White and brother …

Annie V. Dunn Papers - Accession 1895, Annie Vredenburgh Dunn

Manuscript Collection

The Annie V. Dunn Papers document both the personal life and professional legacy of Ms. Annie Vredenburg Dunn (1876-1966), who served as head of the Winthrop College Department of Fine Arts for more than three decades from 1909-1947. The collection comprises correspondence, pamphlets, brochures, drawings, newspaper clippings, photographs, drawing instruments, and related materials that collectively illustrate her contributions to the development of Winthrop College’s Fine Arts Department, as well as her broader influence as an educator and member of her community.

Included within the collection are letters from family members, friends, and professional colleagues; records of contacts with various institutions …

Blair Beasley Papers - Accession 1355, Blair Edward Beasley Jr.

Manuscript Collection

The Blair Beasley Papers document the life and career of Blair Edward Beasley Jr. (1940-2003) as a theater educator, director, performer, and amateur race car driver. Beasley taught theater at Winthrop University and Southern Illinois University and maintained an active interest in automobile racing. The collection also documents his relationships with family, friends, students, colleagues, and others, as well as the impact he had on those around him.

The collection contains photographs, theses, play and performance materials, posters, certificates and awards, newspaper clippings, correspondence, employment records, scrapbooks, and other personal and professional materials. Materials relating to Beasley’s theater career include …

Susan Huffman Pruitt Collection - Accession 1445, Susan Huffman Pruitt

Manuscript Collection

The Susan Huffman Pruitt Collection consists of materials documenting Pruitt’s experiences as a student at Winthrop College and her continued involvement with the institution as an alumna. Pruitt (1919-2015) graduated from Winthrop College in 1940. The collection includes three bound volumes of Winthrop College’s Tatler yearbooks from 1937-1939, Winthrop publications, newspapers and newspaper clippings, alumni and class reunion materials, photographs, and miscellaneous items.

The collection provides insight into student life at Winthrop College during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Tatler yearbooks and other Winthrop publications document campus activities, student organizations, events, and other aspects of college life. Photographs …

York County Register Of Mesne Conveyances Books Collection - Accession 911, Clerk Of Court, York County

Manuscript Collection

This collection consists of microfilm copies of the York County, South Carolina, Register of Mesne Conveyances books dating from 1786 to 1852. The original records are held by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

The records primarily document the transfer and ownership of property in York District/County and include deeds, land conveyances, mortgages, indentures, plats, and related legal instruments recorded by the Register of Mesne Conveyances office. These volumes provide information on land transactions between private individuals, estates, businesses, and public entities during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

In addition to documenting property ownership and boundary changes, …

Pxaa: A Root-Cause Decision-Support System For Airline Passenger Complaints Using Sentiment Analysis And Complaint Classification, Adélia Acacio Da Silva, Stefani Rabelo De Campos Nunes

ICT

PXAA (Passenger Experience Analytics Assistant) is a machine learning and decision-support prototype developed to analyse airline passenger complaints using sentiment analysis and complaint classification techniques. The project follows the CRISP-DM methodology and uses airline passenger reviews collected from AirlineQuality.com through Python web scraping. Natural language processing (NLP) techniques were applied to clean and preprocess the textual data, while logistic Regression was used to classify passenger sentiment into positive, negative and neutral categories.

The project also implemented rule-based complaint classification to identify common complaint themes such as delays, baggage issues, customer service problems, comfort issues, payments/refund complaints and communication failures. These …

Comparative Economic Impact Modelling Of Floods Vs Drought On A Global Scale, Diogo Lemos Aguiar, Paulo Henrique Oliveira Machado

ICT

Climate change is generating unprecedented economic losses through extreme weather events, yet comparative predictive analysis between different hazard types remains limited. This report presents a Machine Learning–Based Comparative Economic Impact Modelling System designed to predict and compare the economic damages caused by floods and droughts on a global scale. The system integrates historical disaster records from the EM-DAT International Disaster Database with country-level socioeconomic indicators from the World Bank's World Development Indicators, applying supervised regression modelling to a unified dataset of 1,301 disaster events across 133 countries from 2000 to 2025. XGBoost and a Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network were evaluated …

Mechanical Properties And Crystallization Of Polybutylene Terephthalate Reinforced With Glass Flakes And Aluminum Powder, Nattakarn Hongsriphan, Pajaera Patanathabutr

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

This research investigated mechanical properties and crystallization of poly(butylene terephthalate) composites by adding glass flakes (GF) and aluminum particles (Al). The concentration of the GF was 3 wt% or 5 wt%, and the Al was 0.5 wt% or 1.0 wt%. The stress-strain curves of the PBT-based composites showed yielding and necking. The PBT/GF/Al composites with GF/Al ratios of 3/0.5 wt/wt%, 3/1.0 wt/wt%, 5/0.5 wt/wt%, and 5/1.0 wt/wt% had Young’s moduli of 11.44%, 11.70%, 16.81%, and 19.31% higher than that of neat PBT, respectively. In the presence of Al at 1.0 wt%, the flexural modulus of the PBT/GF/Al composites increased to …

Contributions Of Carbon Content And Cooling Rate On Phase Transformations And Mechanical Properties Of Sintered Fe-1.5cr-0.2mo-Xc Alloys, Mantana Yaruan, Wantana Koetniyom, Thanyaporn Yotkaew, Nattaya Tosangthum, Ruangdaj Tongsri

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Microstructural development in sintered Fe-1.5Cr-0.2Mo-xC alloys, produced under different cooling rates of 0.1℃∙s‒1 and 5.4℃∙s‒1, was investigated. It was found that, in slowly sintered Fe-1.5Cr-0.2Mo-xC alloys, the microstructure changed from hypoeutectoid to eutectoid and to hypereutectoid steel microstructural features with increasing carbon content. Under the fast-cooling rate of 5.4℃∙s‒1, the microstructural change with respect to the increase of carbon content involved the competition between the formation of ferrite + carbide mixture and that of martensite-austenite constituent. The increase of tensile strength of slowly cooled sintered Fe-1.5Cr-0.2Mo-xC alloys with increasing carbon content was attributed to …

Samuel Johnson Dictionary, 1755 Edition, Beth Rapp Young

Research Data and Datasets

This dataset contains digitized page images from the 1755 first edition of A Dictionary of the English Language, contributed by the University of Florida and Indiana University as part of a digital humanities project led by Beth Rapp Young. The collection provides foundational primary source material for the study of 18th-century English lexicography and supports research in textual analysis, transcription, and historical linguistics.

Psychometric Evaluation Of The Tattoo Attitudes And Motivations Scale: A New Instrument For Medical Tattoo Consultation, Jeffrey E. Cassisi

Research Data and Datasets

Medical tattooing is increasingly used to restore or alter appearance following surgery, injury, or medical treatment, yet brief instruments for assessing patient attitudes and motivations toward tattooing are limited. This study developed and evaluated the Tattoo Attitudes and Motivations Scale (TAMS), a 10-item measure intended for medical tattoo consultation and research. In Study 1, exploratory factor analysis was conducted with 589 adult women from a general population sample. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with 261 breast cancer survivors. The final scale supported three factors: Self-Enhancement, Negative Attitudes, and Self-Expression. Model fit was good in the clinical sample, …

Predictors Of Resilience Among East Asian American Adults: The Role Of Ethnic Identity, Parental Cultural Socialization And K-12 Experiences Of Stereotype-Related Stress, Regina Lee

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

This quantitative retrospective study examined predictors of resilience among East Asian American adults reflecting on their K-12 educational experiences of stereotype-related stress. Guided by Asian Critical Theory (AsianCrit), Ethnic Identity Theory, Resilience Theory, and Quantitative Critical Race Theory (QuantCrit), the study investigated whether ethnic identity and parental maintenance of heritage culture during K-12 schooling predicted adult resilience. Participants (N = 207) completed validated measures of ethnic identity (MEIM; Phinney, 1992; Roberts et al., 1999), parental maintenance of heritage culture subscale (AAPRES; Juang et al., 2016), stereotype-related stress (MMM Scale, Thompson & Kiang, 2010; Perpetual Foreigner subscale, Liang et al., 2004), …

Reforming Revocation By Physical Act, Barry Cushman

Journal Articles

From the Introduction

In a previous article, I documented the various problems that are created by the law’s recognition of the power of a testator to revoke his will in whole or in part by physical act. That article canvassed five different areas of law in which such difficulties arise: ineffective attempts at revocation; the presumption of revocation; partial revocation by physical act; dependent relative revocation; and revival. In this Article, I first explore the asymmetries within the law of wills created by the persistence of revocation by physical act. I then offer some reflections on possibilities for reform.

Generative Ai For Born-Digital Collections: A Case Study For Metadata Management In An Institutional Repository, Tang (Cindy) Tian

Journal Articles

This case study examines the application of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, specifically ChatGPT-4o, ChatGPT-5, and Google Gemini 2.5 Flash, to streamline metadata extraction and creation for a born-digital collection within a digital repository environment. Testing four descriptive metadata elements—titles, abstracts, keywords, and full-text URLs—the study shows that AI improves efficiency in structured tasks but remains limited in semantic ones such as keyword matching. Results demonstrate that AI can streamline metadata workflows for small or resource-constrained institutions while emphasizing the continuing importance of human oversight and ethical responsibility in AI-assisted metadata workflows.

Democracy In Practice, Stefanos Milkidis

Open Educational Resources

In this assignment, students are asked to write a public-facing blog post that connects a theme from American government to a current issue, event, or personal experience. The goal is to practice civic dialogue and critical thinking, while contributing to a broader public conversation about American government, politics, and democracy.

What Church Planters Need : How Community, Training, & Intentional Relationships Fuel Church Growth, Carolina G. Miller

Heritage Material

No abstract provided.

Sacred Or Sham? Strengthening Judicial Review Of Religious Sincerity Under The Free Exercise Clause Article Title, Montana Martinez

Faculty Scholarship

While the Court has expanded the scope of Free Exercise protections, it has conspicuously failed to articulate how courts should separate sincere religious claims from fraudulent ones. The result is a doctrinal void: any claimant can recast political or philosophical objections as "religious" and demand constitutional protection. The risk is that the Free Exercise Clause, if stripped of any sincerity filter, will collapse into a generalized right to exemption from law. This Article argues that courts can assess religious sincerity without evaluating the truth or validity of the religious belief, and it proposes a framework grounded in the constitutional text, …

Kim Gyeong-Seok And The Origins Of Northeast Asia’S Corporate Accountability Movement For War And Colonialism, Timothy Webster

Faculty Scholarship

Campaigns to review Japan’s wartime legacy and legal liability have recurred throughout postwar Japan. While most of these efforts have targeted the Japanese government, an important subset of actors has also focused on the role of Japanese corporations. And perhaps no one played a larger role in directing attention towards Japan, Inc. than Kim Gyeong-seok, a Korean forced laborer in the 1940s turned redress activist in the 1990s. As described in this Article, Kim’s 1991 lawsuit against Nihon Kokan launched the corporate accountability piece of the reparations project, an endeavor that continues to create ripples even now. The Article briefly …