Digital Commons Network^™

Refugee Stigma And Its Toll On Mental Health: Development And Validation Of The Refugee Stigma Scale (Rss), Hamed Abdollahpour Ranjbar, Khaled Elazab, Ibrahim Yigit, Fatema Almeamari, Ceren Acartürk, Gülşah Kurt, Janet Turan, Andrea Norcini Pala, Bulent Turan

Student Publications [Scholarly]

Background Unprecedented, forced displacement, especially from conflict and war areas, requires addressing resultant mental health issues. Aim Refugees experience mental and physical health problems due to post-displacement stressors, and the pervasive stigma associated with refugee status can exacerbate these difficulties, highlighting the need for a comprehensive assessment tool to understand various facets of refugee stigma. Method We developed the refugee stigma scale (RSS), consisting of 43 items informed by the literature, qualitative and quantitative data. The scale includes four theoretical dimensions of stigma: perceived community stigma, experienced stigma, anticipated stigma and internalised stigma. To examine convergent validity, validated self-report measures …

When A Folder Is Not A Folder: Investigating Complex Composite Content, Tyler Thorsted

Faculty Publications

Generally file formats on modern systems are single byte streams, and there are many tools available to help identify and determine what software is needed to make use of the format. When dealing with formats born on Macintosh systems, a single byte stream is often not all that is needed to make use of the formats. On older Macintosh systems a Type/Creator code and a resource fork are often needed, and on more modern systems there are other challenges that need to be addressed. This paper explores some popular formats and tools that are needed to properly assess and capture …

Critical Approaches To Jurisdiction: The Struggle For Control Of Indigenous Lands And Resources, Dayna Scott

Articles & Book Chapters

This chapter questions the starting assumptions in thinking through questions of “jurisdiction” in public law, specifically in relation to assertions of inherent Indigenous territorial governing authority. It reviews the common conceptual images of jurisdiction we employ in law schools and offers resources from critical interdisciplinary theory for new conceptions. In highlighting examples of the present exercise of Indigenous territorial jurisdiction, such as the Kunst'aa guu— Kunst'aayah Reconciliation Protocol and the Tsleil-Waututh Sacred Trust Assessment of the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) project, the chapter urges public law scholars to adopt an orientation of prefiguration in order to bring into being conceptualizations …

Harnessing Coherent-Wave Control For Sensing Applications, Pablo Jara, Arthur Goetschy, Hui Cao, Alexey Yamilov

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Imaging techniques such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy and diffuse optical tomography (DOT) achieve deep, noninvasive sensing in turbid media; however, they are constrained by the photon budget, as most of the injected light is lost to scattering before reaching the detector. Wavefront shaping (WFS) can enhance signal strength via interference at specific locations within scattering media, enhancing light-matter interactions and potentially extending the penetration depth of these techniques. Interpretation of the resulting measurements relies on knowing the optical sensitivity - the relationship between changes in the detected signals and perturbations at a specific location inside the medium; however, conventional diffusion-based …

Skrmetti Beyond Scrutiny, Kate Redburn

Faculty Scholarship

In United States v. Skrmetti, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), a state law that prohibits transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming care. For the first time, the Court considered a fundamental question in civil rights law: How does the Fourteenth Amendment regard transgender people? The Court gave little guidance. It did not sort out principles for deciding when anti-transgender discrimination classifies by sex, nor whether transgender people are a suspect class. Instead, the Court held that “[i]n the medical context, the mere use of sex-based language does not sweep a statute within the reach of …

A Comparative Study Of Adult Education In China And Japan Under The Background Of Degree Law, Yuchen Chang

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

This paper is a comparative study of adult education policies in China and Japan under the background of the academic status Law passed by the 14th People's Congress of China. This paper compares the development history of adult education policies in the two countries from the perspective of historical institutionalism. This paper analyzes and compares the development paths and current policies of adult education in China and Japan, thereby summarizing the similarities and differences between the two. It is concluded that China is in a critical period of transformation in adult education. Both China and Japan have complete adult higher …

A Cross-National Study Of Female Fertility Intention And Family Welfare Policies In China And South Korea, Jingshuang Gao

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

Against the backdrop of chronically low fertility rates in China and South Korea, this study investigates the relationship between female fertility intentions and family welfare policies in these two East Asian societies. It aims to identify the multidimensional challenges women face, analyze the disjuncture between existing fertility support policies and women's fundamental needs, and propose pathways for policy optimization. Employing a mixed-methods approach including online observation, critical discourse analysis of policy texts, and small-scale semi-structured interviews, the research reveals that women's fertility intentions are constrained by physiological risks, economic pressures, the cultural expectations of "motherhood," and conflicts with personal development. …

The Impact Of Chinese And British Marital Property Division Mechanism On Chinese Women's Post-Divorce Economic Security Research, Diyin Su

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

In 2025, the Civil Code Interpretation (II) of the Marriage and Family Section was released to refine the rules for dividing property in divorce and add new quantitative standards for compensation for non-economic contributions, but the traditional gender division of labor and judicial practice bias still result in women's non-economic contributions, such as household work, being neglected and insufficient financial protection after divorce. The British property division system adheres to the principle of dynamic fairness, namely, the implementation of a separate property system for the couple's property within marriage and a common property system after marriage, with more emphasis on …

Proceedings Of The Global Conference On Business And Economics, Bhuvan Unhelkar, Valentina Della Corte, Cihan Cobanoglu, Mehmet Erdem

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

This is the third volume of the Global Conference on Business and Economics Proceedings Series. This volume also includes papers presented at the Global Conference on Technology & AI in Hospitality and Tourism.

Local Injection Of Particles For Retinoic Acid Drug Delivery Improves Muscle Structure And Modulates Inflammation In Mice Recovering From Cast Immobilization, Candice V. Cheung, Regina A. Searcy, Kidochukwu J. Atube, Nicholas A. Colonna, Kelsey E. Krusen, Kate J. Cappage, Khufu M. Holly, R. Paul Ward Pratz, Jessie H. Fournier, Vitali Sikirzhytski Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Disuse muscle atrophy secondary to acute illness or injury prolongs recovery and increases risk of permanent disability as a result of reduced muscle strength and myofiber damage upon reambulation. However, there are no pharmacotherapies to support muscle growth and repair following prolonged immobility. We propose that all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) may support recovery of atrophied muscle via modulation of satellite cells and macrophages. Clinical application of ATRA is hindered by solubility, stability, and the need for high systemic doses. Therefore, in the current study, we developed poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLG) particles for local injection and extended release of ATRA (ATRA-PLG) and investigated …

Commuting Patterns And Use Of Bus, Cycling, And Walking In Small And Medium-Sized U.S. Cities: An Analysis Of Demographic Influences, Bun Song Lee, Alejandro Pacheco, Dalton Oxford, Troy Rodriguez

Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using 2015-2019 American Community Survey block-group data, we study commuting by bus, cycling, and walking in small and medium-sized U.S. cities, where auto-centric urban form raises equity concerns. We center the analysis on supply as well as demand by asking whether service is present where vulnerable residents live. Three results stand out. First, scarcity is pervasive: more than 70 percent of block groups report no bus commuters, indicating widespread transit deserts. Lack of a household vehicle strongly predicts non-automobile commuting and is tightly correlated with the share of very low-income households. Second, relationships vary with network coverage. In both the …

Stable Isotope Paleoecology In The Bridgerian (Early Eocene): Investigation Of The Bridgerian Crash And The Canopy Effect, Aaron M. English

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO) was the warmest sustained interval of the Cenozoic. Its waning stages coincided with a marked decline in mammalian biodiversity known as the Bridgerian Crash, which was likely driven by increasingly cooler and drier conditions. Paleobotanical evidence suggests the early Eocene supported wet, subtropical to tropical forests at mid-latitudes, however the structure of these forests at the close of the EECO remains poorly understood. In this study, I measure carbon isotope values (d¹³C_E) from the enamel of early Bridgerian (~52.2 – 48.3 Ma) herbivorous mammals from the Greater Green River …

Being The “Other”: How Teaching Internationally Impacts Teacher Candidates’ Culturally Sustaining Practices, Jeanne Carey Ingle, Emily Spitzman, Sarah Thomas

Bridgewater Review

In an increasingly globalized world, preparing teachers to work with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners has become a critical component of teacher education programs. The recently revised Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Candidate Assessment of Performance (CAP) guidelines emphasize the need for teacher candidates to demonstrate growth in their culturally sustaining pedagogy (DESE, 2025). However, traditional approaches to cultural responsiveness in teacher preparation often fall short of comprehensive, practice-oriented methods that foster connections to classroom practice (Gulya & Fehérváry, 2023).

Bridgewater Review Volume 43 Number 2 2025

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Championing Faculty Scholarship And Community: Writing Across The Curriculum (Wac) Summer Institute 2025, Jonathon Shirland, John Mulrooney, Elizabeth Veisz

Bridgewater Review

For one week in August, participants from academic departments across campus come together at the WAC Summer Institute to advance their own projects in a collegial environment of exchange, community, and mutual accountability. For eighteen years, WAC has played this vital role in supporting BSU faculty in their scholarly and creative endeavors. Small working groups facilitated by a WAC Coordinator commit to alternating focused periods of writing with peer review and discussion, with the aim of significantly advancing projects towards publication.

Shining A Light On Firms’ Political Connections: The Role Of Dark Money, Matthew Denes, Madeline Scanlon

Faculty Publications

We study the emergence of a new channel for firms’ political activity using dark money through undisclosed and unlimited contributions. After the U.S. federal court decisions in 2010, S&P 500 firms substantially increased their use of dark money. We find that dark money contributions complement political engagement through campaign contributions and lobbying. Firms disclose dark money contributions when they face heightened nondisclosure costs. Firms contributing to dark money groups benefit by receiving more procurement contracts and increased government subsidies. Our findings highlight that political connections by firms are evolving and expanding through new and largely unexplored channels. (JEL D72, …

Living Shoreline Prioritization And Hydrodynamic Habitat Suitability Models For Restoration In The Indian River Lagoon And Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, Kelly M. Kibler, Melinda J. Donnelly, Vincent Encomio, Madison Giuntoli, Manisha Thenuwara, Brice Bennett, Laura Andrade Barron, Mariam Sonbol, Wynter Raine Seppala, Namritha Ramakrishnan, Jennifer Jordan Báez, Beth Orlando, Irene Arpayoglou, Melissa Meisenburg

Indian River Lagoon Shorelines

The spatial dataset: UCF_shorelinemodel_IRL_LWL.shp, was created with support from the Indian River Lagoon National Estuaries Program and Florida Sea Grant. These projects cumulatively led to creation of a living shoreline restoration prioritization model and hydrodynamic habitat suitability models for 1,550 km (963 miles) of estuarine shorelines in Indian River Lagoon and Lake Worth Lagoon.

The dataset presented herein includes:

1. shoreline data from >15,000 transects collected in the field,
2. shoreline wave climate data created through hydrodynamic modeling and frequency analysis of historic data,
3. categorization of potential risk for shoreline boat wake impact,
4. persistence of seagrass within 210 m of the shoreline, …

The Effects Of Head Injury On Executive Function And Emotion Regulation In Male And Female Athletes, Anna Christine Speer

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Head injuries are a common occurrence among athletes, and research on concussions has seen significant rise alongside an increasing awareness of their symptoms and effects. Women’s involvement in sports has also rapidly increased in recent decades. However, a significant gap in research exists as to how the effects of head injuries may differ across sexes, particularly regarding executive function and emotion regulation. This study aimed to bridge this gap in research by investigating how the frequency of head injuries in both female and male athletes impact executive functioning and emotion regulation among current and former athletes. Current and former athletes …

Parental Psychosocial Outcomes After A Positive Newborn Screen For A Lysosomal Storage Disorder., Courtney D. Berrios, Randi N. Gadea, Meghan Strenk, Twisha Nadella, Jennifer L. Gannon, Janelle R. Noel-Macdonnell Phd

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

PURPOSE: This study explores the psychosocial impact of a positive newborn screen (NBS) result for four lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) (Fabry disease, Krabbe disease, Mucopolysaccharidosis Type I, Pompe disease) across confirmatory results.

METHODS: Parents whose child who had a positive NBS for one of the included LSDs were recruited for a retrospective cohort (n = 80) or prospective, longitudinal cohorts (n = 50). Surveys assessed uncertainty, anxiety, intrusive or avoidant thoughts, and perceived vulnerability of their child's health. In-depth interviews explored the NBS experience and psychosocial response.

RESULTS: Participants experienced uncertainty and anxiety during confirmatory testing that improved as parents …

Associations Between Perceived Stress And Glycemic Measures: Gender And Age As Moderators, Ming-Hong Tsai, Charlene Enhui Goh, Michelle H. Lee, Francine Seah, Maybritte Lim, Eveline Febriana, Jiahui Fu, Julie K. Yip, Philip Presham, Sue-Anne Ee Shiow Toh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Introduction Prediabetes presents an opportunity for early intervention. Growing evidence suggests that psychological stress may contribute to glucose dysregulation, but the findings are inconsistent. This study aimed to clarify the association between perceived stress and glycemic measures, by first testing gender as a moderator, and then examining age as a moderator within each gender group. Research design and methods We analyzed cross-sectional data from 470 diabetes-free adults in Singapore. Participants completed the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale, comprising two subscales: perceived helplessness and perceived self-efficacy. Glycemic measures included fasting plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and 2-hour plasma glucose (2h-PG) following an oral …

Explainable Sentiment Analysis With Deepseek-R1: Performance, Efficiency, And Few-Shot Learning, Donghao Huang, Zhaoxia Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Large language models (LLMs) have transformed sentiment analysis, yet balancing accuracy, efficiency, and explainability remains a critical challenge. This study presents the first comprehensive evaluation of DeepSeek-R1—an open-source reasoning model—against OpenAI’s GPT-4o and GPT-4o-mini. We test the full 671B model and its distilled variants, systematically documenting few-shot learning curves. Our experiments show DeepSeek-R1 achieves a 91.39% F1 score on 5-class sentiment and 99.31% accuracy on binary tasks with just 5 shots, an eightfold improvement in few-shot efficiency over GPT-4o. Architecture-specific distillation effects emerge, where a 32B Qwen2.5-based model outperforms the 70B Llama-based variant by 6.69 percentage points. While its reasoning …

Efficient Integration Of External Knowledge To Llm-Based World Models Via Retrieval-Augmented Generation And Reinforcement Learning, Chang Yang, Xinrun Wang, Qinggang Zhang, Qi Jiang, Xiao Huang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

World models achieve remarkable success in predicting future states and planning in complex environments and Large Language Models (LLMs) serve as promising foundation to build general world models. However, their performances are usually constrained by the limited external knowledge to specific environments. Existing research attempts to enhance LLM-based world models through prompting or fine-tuning approaches, which are either requiring human knowledge or computationally extensive. Therefore, we introduce Retrieval-Augmented World Models (RAWM), a novel framework that leverages retrieval-augmented generation to efficiently integrate the external knowledge to LLM-based world models. Our main contributions are threefold: (i) We introduce a memory system and …

One Planner To Guide Them All! Learning Adaptive Conversational Planners For Goal-Oriented Dialogues, Huy Dao, Lizi Liao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Goal-oriented dialogues, such as recommendation and negotiation, often require balancing multiple, conflicting objectives. Existing methods typically involve training separate models for specific combinations of objectives, leading to computational and scalability issues. In this work, we aim to develop a new dialogue policy method that can adapt to varying objective preferences at inference time without retraining. This raises several challenges in terms of both (1) optimization strategy and (2) knowledge utilization. To address these, we propose a novel learning framework, Preference Adaptive Dialogue Policy Planner (PADPP), for multi-objective goal-oriented dialogues. Specifically, to tackle the former, we introduce a novel policy optimization …

Uncovering The Values Of The Metaverse For Leisure Use By Individuals: A Value-Focused Thinking Approach, Ruilin Zheng, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The metaverse is a computer-mediated environment where users take the form of digital avatars when participating in activities and interacting with one another. Given the popularity of the metaverse, especially among the younger population, we identified the values offered by the metaverse for leisure use by its users. Using the Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) approach, we identified these values in the form of fundamental and means objectives. The VFT approach was applied in interviewing users who conduct leisure activities in the metaverse and in analyzing the data collected. A total of 27 metaverse users were interviewed, which generated 8 fundamental objectives …

Local-Thinking Bias, Ed Dehaan, Charles M. C. Lee, Wei Ting Loh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Local-thinking bias, wherein agents overweight information that comes readily to mind, is a prominent finding in cognitive psychology. In this study, we investigate local-thinking bias in the context of sell-side analysts and measure each analyst’s “local” information as news stemming from their individual coverage portfolio. Tests examining multiple analysts forecasting on the same focal firm at the same time find that individual analysts overweight idiosyncratic local news and underweight news from economically linked firms that are not in their coverage portfolios. Market prices track the analyst bias from local news, leading to predictable and economically significant return reversal patterns in …

Harvesting Aav By Tangential Flow Filtration Using Reverse Asymmetric Membranes, Xiaolei Hao, Ronny Horax, Xianghong Qian, April Wheeler, Hironobu Shirataki, Sumith Ranil Wickramasinghe

Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Efficient bioreactor clarification for harvesting virus particles is often challenging. Tangential flow filtration is attractive as it can be easily adapted for batch and perfusion operations. Here the feasibility of using reverse asymmetric hollow fiber membranes, where the more open support structure faces the feed stream, has been investigated for harvesting adeno associated virus serotype 2. The open support structure of these membranes stabilizes a secondary membrane consisting of rejected particulate matter. It is essential that the stabilized secondary membrane remains highly permeable. Flux stepping experiments were conducted in total recycle mode in order to determine the critical flux. The …

Improving Infant Continuity Of Care In An Academic Center Clinic: A Quality Improvement Project., Abiye Y. Okah, Morgen L. Govindan, Rachael D. Dameron, Kristi Williams

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

INTRODUCTION: Continuity of care (COC) with an identified provider is a key principle of the patient-centered medical home. COC may be impacted by other activities that providers practicing in an academic center must engage in. The disruption of care processes during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a decrease in COC for infants attending our academic center's primary care clinic. We implemented a quality improvement (QI) project to improve the rates of infant COC.

METHODS: In 2021, we implemented a QI project with the aim of increasing the percentage of 12-month-old infants who had seen the same provider for at least …

A Word From The Writing Team (November 2025), Pam Walter, Mfa, Laura Deloretta, Phd

A Word From the Writing Team (Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Age- And Step-Length-Dependent Alterations In Muscle Synergies And Joint Coordination During Unexpected Gait Termination, Woohyoung Jeon, Ashley Dalby, Xuanliang Neil Dong, Melinda Hermanns

Health & Kinesiology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Falls in older adults often occur during unexpected gait termination, when rapid deceleration is required. Age-related declines in strength, proprioception, and coordination impair efficient distal-to-proximal braking, raising fall risk. Variable step lengths, ranging from “normal” steps to larger “big” steps used when hurrying, better reflect real-world walking demands and pose greater mechanical and neuromuscular challenges. This study investigated how age and step length affect muscle synergy complexity and joint coordination during unexpected gait stops.

Methods: Twelve healthy younger and twelve healthy older adults performed normal- and big-step stops in response to random visual cues during walking. Surface EMG from …

Sally Walton's Will: Reuniting The Andrews Families Of Western Maine And Beyond, Kathrine C. Aydelott

Faculty Publications

This article demonstrates how the 1871 probate file of Sally (Andrews) (Andrews) (Clark) Walton of Paris, Maine, resolves decades of genealogical confusion among Andrews families of western Maine. Analysis of her will, codicils, and probate accountings reconstructs a fragmented sibling group and definitively distinguishes two men named Perez Andrews whose identities had long been conflated. The evidence firmly links Darius Andrews of Sumner, Perez Andrews of Buckfield and Penobscot County, and several previously untraced Andrews siblings to a single parental family headed by Ebenezer Andrews Jr. and Sarah (Elliot) Andrews. Moving beyond questions of descent, the article shows how probate …