Digital Commons Network^™

Transplant Transplant(Ed) Transplant(Ing), So Jung Yoon

Masters Theses

Boundaries shape our lives and identities. The tangible presence of boundaries becomes a medium for engaging with the world—such as who occupies a space and how, or what tools are deemed valid in a design process. These boundaries aren’t always visible; they’re embedded in systems, habits, and assumptions that shape how we move, create, and are recognized. They extend far beyond fixed geographies and the specific positions we occupy within them.

Transplanting is the process by which things are moved or move across boundaries in hopes of being planted, finding a place to stay. Though it can be a search …

Designing Between Worlds, Levon Kostandyan

Masters Theses

This thesis reimagines design as a means of cultural continuity—an act of memory, resistance, and transformation. Rooted in the diasporic Armenian experience, it explores how identity is carried not only through storytelling, but through materials, rituals, and objects that evolve across time and place. Through the transformation of pomegranate skin from waste into a meaningful design material, the project navigates the space between symbolism and substance, honoring both the fruit’s ancestral weight and its potential as a living material language.


The work moves between personal narrative, historical research, and material experimentation, engaging with themes of displacement, hybridity, and embedded knowledge. …

The Red Thread: Objects As Medium, Hsin-Ning Alin Yang

Masters Theses

There are moments when people hesitate to speak their emotions or needs
—whether it’s love that feels too shy to articulate, needs that risk sounding too forceful, or feelings too vague to verbalize. By shifting the priority of emotion and communication factor ahead of pure functionality, this thesis posits that objects can serve as an alternative medium of communication.

This thesis begins by examining the root causes of communication difficulties and the coping strategies people use, ultimately identifying five situations in which objects can effectively substitute for verbal interaction. Building on these categories, the thesis explores how an object’s features, …

The Industrial Hemp Supply Chain Solution, Honovi C. Trudell Sir

Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Realistically solving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals utilizing an Industrial Hemp supply chain with economy to scale to replace petroleum based plastics and permanently offset carbon emissions produced from other continuously produced hazardous waste.

From Contamination To Consequence: Tracing Donna Lake’S Human Environmental History, Dean Kyne

Sociology Faculty Publications

The Donna Reservoir and Canal System (Donna Lake) in Texas has been a persistent source of environmental contamination for over a century, exposing surrounding communities to dangerous levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Originally built for agricultural irrigation, the system became a recreational fishing site before PCB contamination was discovered during public health investigations in the 1990s. This study examines patterns of demographic vulnerability, evaluates remediation efforts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and explores residents’ ongoing challenges related to toxic exposure. Using publicly available demographic data, EPA reports, and previous health assessments, the study analyzes variations in community characteristics …

Size Reduction Southward In Michigan's Mustard White Butterfly, Pieris Napi (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), W. H. Wagner Jr., Michael K. Hansen

The Great Lakes Entomologist

[Excerpt]

The mustard white, Pieris napi (Linnaeus) is generally considered to be a circumboreal species or species-complex. Much disagreement exists regarding the classification in this group, the members of which are extremely diverse, especially in Eurasia. There is evidently "a continuous range of differentiation, from local populations, through subspecies, to species, which nomenclature cannot fully reflect" (Bowden 1972). In North America the major controversy has been whether the so-called West Virginia white, P. virginiensis Edwards, should be separated as a distinct species. Most writers today agree that it should. Of the mustard white in the Great Lakes area, the local …

Strengthening Regulatory Standards For The Refurbished Medical Devices, Krishna Singh, Manan Sharma, Ashok Kumar, Sweety Sharma

Indian Journal of Health Sciences and Biomedical Research KLEU

Medical devices are essential in healthcare, with a wide range of over 500,000 types, from simple from simple tools like wheelchairs to complex machines such as pacemakers. These devices are categorized into four risk classes, from Class I (low risk) to Class III (high risk). Refurbished medical devices, which are previously used items restored to their original quality, offer a cost-effective solution, particularly in low-resource settings. However, they can pose risks such as contamination or worn parts if not properly maintained. Refurbishment involves repairs, reconditioning, software updates, and part replacements to meet manufacturer standards.

The global refurbished medical devices market …

An Old Law With New Tricks? The Prospects And Pitfalls Of Using The Antiquities Act Of 1906 To Shape Climate Policy On Federal Lands, Chick Hallinan

Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc

The Antiquities Act of 1906 empowers the president to declare a national monument on federally owned land, subject to constraints. As physical hazards enhanced by climate change endanger historically or biologically valuable objects and places, the Act can shape climate policy on federal land—extending the designation to new tracts and enhancing protections on existing monuments. This Note contends that climate change qualifies as a threat to federal public lands sufficient to trigger presidential authority to proclaim a national monument. Still, any such proclamation must account for the constitutional and statutory restraints that have some gravity on the president’s power to …

Address By His Excellency President General Mohammad Zia-Ul-Haq, Address By His Highness The Aga Khan On The Occasion Of The Aga Khan University Charter Presentation Ceremony

Charter of the University

No abstract provided.

Six Paths Of Global China: A Genealogy Of A Contested Geographical Imaginary, Jessica Dicarlo, Meredith J. Deboom

Faculty Publications

‘Global China’ has emerged as a shorthand for China's relationship to the global, but its axiomatic uses disguise considerable complexity. This article troubles self-evident uses and tidy categorizations of Global China by approaching it as an emergent, pluralistic geographical imaginary warranting critical analysis. Employing a genealogical approach that privileges indeterminacy and inconsistency over linearity and singularity, we draw on wide-ranging sources to reveal the contested, contextual, and contradictory uses of Global China in the contemporary moment. Our analysis identifies six ‘paths’ of Global China: Other, Integration, Bridge, Status, Threat, and Alternative. Each path facilitates distinct yet interlinked claims about …

Snow, Ice And Permafrost Landscapes As ‘Frozen Commons’: Examples From Northern Mongolia, Mariia Kuklina, Vera Kuklina, Nikolay Shiklomanov, Alexander Shiklomanov, Kelsey Nyland, Khadbaatar Sandag, Enkh Amgalan Sandag, Natalia Krasnoshtanova, Dmitrii Kobylkin, Alexander Kholodov, Andrey Petrov

Faculty Publications

Cryosphere has a global role as a biogeophysical phenomenon. It affects the livelihoods of people inhabiting permafrost areas and is affected by human activity within and outside of the cryosphere’s geographical span. ‘Frozen commons’ (FCs) are cryosphere resources and landscapes, defined by snow, ice, and permafrost, that are experienced, used, protected and managed by groups of people together. This paper highlights collaboration between herders and scientists aimed at improving the understanding of FCs in northern Mongolia, a region of rapid cryosphere transformation. The impact of climate change on Indigenous and pastoralist communities in Mongolia is profound, leading to the damage …

The Influence Of Geographic Ranges, Climatic Niches And Temperature Fluctuations On Population Variability, Cleber Ten Canten, Lauren Holian, Tad Dallas

Faculty Publications

The existence of patterns in population dynamics across species geographic ranges and climatic niches is a pervasive idea in ecology. Population variability (i.e. temporal variability in population density) should hypothetically increase near range edges or niche limits because of less suitable environments in these areas, but the occurrence of such patterns remains largely unexplored. Further, fluctuations in temperature could pose demographic constraints on populations and also influence their variability. We used Breeding Bird Survey data to show that the population variability of 97 resident North American birds consistently increases towards their niche limits and in areas with more variable temperatures, …

The Management Of The Bus Rapid Transit (Brt) System And Its Impact On Mobility In Lagos State, Nigeria, Olukayode Lasisi, Mayowa Paul Obembe, Leke Kayode Onabanjo, Tolulope Oluwatosin Bamiro, Oluwatobee Omowumi Iyiola

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

Lagos is famous for its high traffic congestion and insufficient road infrastructure. This study examined the effect of BRT management and its influence on mobility in Lagos State. The study adopted a cross-sectional design involving data gathering through the primary data collection method using a closed-ended questionnaire purposively administered to 100 commuters of BRT buses in Lagos. The findings revealed a high positive relationship between managing the BRT system and mobility in Lagos State. Additionally, the findings indicate a robust and positive causal relationship between Lagos State’s BRT system and transportation development. The BRT system contributes to improving transportation infrastructure …

Discovery Of Anisobas Irwini Claridge, New Species, And New Host And Distribution Records Of Anisobas Coloradensis (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae: Ichneumonini), Brandon R. Claridge, Kyri A. Forman

Insecta Mundi

Anisobas Wesmael (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae: Ichneumonini) is a moderately diverse parasitoid wasp genus present in the Holarctic and Indo-Malaysian regions. Here, we advance taxonomic knowledge of western Nearctic Anisobas by documenting new rearing and distribution records for A. coloradensis (Cresson) and describe A. irwini Claridge, new species, from central Arizona. There are now seven known Nearctic Anisobas species.

Geospatial Intelligence And Multi-Criteria Analysis For Mapping Groundwater Potential Zones And Sustainable Resource Management In Wadi Qena Basin, Eastern Desert, Egypt, El-Taher M. M. Shams, Rashad Sawires, Sahar N. E. Tawfiq, Hanaa R. Youssef, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Groundwater is a rare and valuable resource in arid and hyperarid areas. Over the past few decades, population growth, urbanization, and agricultural activities—particularly in developing countries like Egypt—have greatly increased the demand for water supplies. The purpose of this study is to apply a multi-criteria analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in conjunction with remote sensing and geographic information systems methodologies to identify potential zones for groundwater recharge in Wadi Qena, Eastern Desert of Egypt. This valley is considered as one of the most potential valleys for government-led land reclamation and development initiatives. Using several data sources (e.g., Landsat-8 Enhanced Thematic Mapper …

Upward Mobility Of First-Generation Low-Income Dartmouth Students, Robin T. Frye

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

The most promising way for young people to achieve upward mobility, which at the most basic level means making more money than their parents, is to attend the best college possible. From its inception, Dartmouth College has been an institution set up to educate the children of the wealthiest and most powerful families. Over the last few decades, more and more promising students have come from families whose parents and grandparents did not attend college. When First-Generation Low-Income (FGLI) students arrive at Dartmouth, they encounter an institution set up for wealthy students. I aimed to discover how well Dartmouth supports …

Through The Four Truth Lens: Exploring Climate Change Communication At Joshua Tree And Glacier Bay National Parks, Heather A. Waterman, Amanda Berlinski

Dissertations

The climate crisis threatens our global communities, cultures, and futures. Communication that brings climate change into everyday conversations and galvanizes the public to respond to it collectively is needed. However, political divides in the United States make climate change a contested heritage topic that is challenging to address. The purpose of this applied, basic qualitative research study was to use the Four Truth Framework, developed by the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to investigate climate change communication at Joshua Tree National Park in California and Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. Climate change affects national parks more than other …

Protecting Traditional Cultural Expressions: Law, Indigenous Protocols, Library Practices, Ulia Gosart, Valmaine Toki, Susan Townzen

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This study responds to contemporary international policy developments focused on protecting Indigenous creative work classified as Traditional Cultural Expressions. The study claims that states’ interests continue to guide policies in this area, compromising the relationship between regulations and the aspirations and needs of Indigenous communities. The study uses comparative methodology and content analysis to develop this argument. The study also highlights the significance of partnerships between Indigenous communities and cultural institutions that may function as alternative means to protect Indigenous creative works. The study explores cases from Indigenous communities and cultural institutions in New Zealand, the USA, and Mexico to …

Their Will Is Wealth: American Billionaires, Illiberal Capital, And Their Immunity To Federal Law, Conor Kawika Carroll

Dissertations and Theses

Billionaires are inherently unique political actors. They, and their wealth, are a species apart. This rarity is measurable by quantifying relative consequences for actions made on behalf of that wealth. This thesis explores whether or not a billionaire's political power provides them with immunity to federal laws and regulations that govern wealth and its political use. The objective of this research is two-fold: to illustrate the scholarship gap regarding American billionaires and their relative immunity from federal law, and to instigate academia to study billionaires politically at increasing rates, providing more data for lawmakers regarding the most economically powerful political …

Archaeological, Pxrf, And Gis Analyses At The Trestle Bridge Site (8ja186), Northwest Florida, Victoria Marie Freitas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Trestle Bridge Site (8JA186), located on an eroding riverbank of the upper Apalachicola River in northwest Florida, represents a significant multi-component precontact site with occupations that date from the Early Woodland (~800 B.C.–A.D. 300) and the Fort Walton periods (A.D. 1000-1500). Previous research has broadly classified the site based on ceramic and lithic assemblages, but a detailed investigation into pottery production and environmental changes over time at the site remains unexplored in the understudied Apalachicola valley region. There also appears to be over a thousand-year gap in occupation at the site, as no Middle or Late Woodland ceramic or …

Augmenting Tornado Detection And Tracking With Crowdsourced Media, Mel Bass, Daniel V. Klein

Defensive Publications Series

Tornados that impact a location have multiple different effects, not all of which are captured by video footage or other data sources. This disclosure describes techniques to obtain data from additional sources (including consumer devices, with user permission) for the purposes of tornado detection and/or tracking the activity and path of a tornado. Such media can include video footage (or screenshots) from storm chases, vehicle cameras, outdoor cameras, etc. obtained from devices where the users permit use of the video footage for storm detection. Additionally, data from lightning activity, pressure sensors, power grid anomalies, etc. can also be obtained and …

No. 41: Crisis, Pandemic Precarity And Food Insecurity Among Migrant Households During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Quito, Ecuador, Mercedes Eguiguren, Taymi Milán, Cheryl Martens

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

This study examines the food insecurity experiences of Venezuelan migrants in Quito, Ecuador, within the broader context of the Venezuelan crisis, regional migration responses, and the structural precarity migrants face. Moving beyond the dominant “migration crisis” narrative, this paper adopts a crisis-living framework to analyze how protracted instability and pandemic precarity shape migrants’ experiences. Based on a 2023 survey of migrants and refugees who lived in Quito throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings reveal that food insecurity is a persistent challenge, disproportionately affecting female-led and extended households. Key factors influencing food insecurity include job instability and deteriorating employment conditions, limited …

A Reconstruction Of The Homeric Tradition In Early Greece, Aidan F. Hoey

Student Theses

This thesis discusses the centuries-long historiographical debate that is known to us as the Homeric Question. The identity of Homer, the authorship of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the dating from when the Homeric epic poems were composed, the Homeric diction, and the historicity of the Trojan War has puzzled scholars since Antiquity. Only by the twentieth century, scholars Milman Parry and Albert Lord proved that the Iliad and Odyssey were orally composed. How the written form of the Homeric epic poems came about has become even more of a historiographic puzzle than it has been previously. Building off the …

Response To Six Interlocuters On The Topic Of Neuroscience And Responsibility, Michael S. Moore

The Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues

I am very pleased to be afforded the opportunity to respond to the edited and revised versions of the six papers that were discussed at the Rutgers Symposium in honor of my recent book. Each of these six papers raise excellent points that can serve as the springboard for deeper exploration of some of the salient issues raised in my book, and it is my aim in this response to take advantage of that opportunity. I am quite appreciative for the spur to intellectual progress that these papers and this symposium represents. By-and-large scholarship is a solitary enterprise but occasions …

Navigating Sovereignty And Human Rights: A Legal Analysis Of Palestinian Detention Under Israeli Jurisdiction In Comparison To International Law, Amani Nidal Odeh

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines whether Israeli detention practices of Palestinians conform to or contravene Israeli domestic legislation and international legal standards using a doctrinal legal analysis. This thesis evaluates six key areas through four hypotheses: the detention of minors, geographic disparities (particularly Gaza), administrative detention procedures, the use of military courts, due process violations, and detention conditions. While Israeli domestic law formally authorizes these practices, the analysis finds they routinely violate crucial international legal norms, including the ICCPR, CRC, CAT, and the Fourth Geneva Convention. The use of secret evidence, prolonged administrative detention without trial, and discriminatory legal frameworks undermines the …

Agent-Based Modeling: Introduction And Actuarial Applications, Rick Gorvett

Mathematics and Economics Faculty Working Papers

Agent-based modeling (ABM) has become an important and valued approach to modeling complex systems. In this paper, I advocate for actuaries to recognize the complex systems-nature of socioeconomic and risk processes and for ABM models to become a regular resource in our actuarial toolkits. These models allow for the observation of potential macro-behavior emerging from the underlying agent-level micro-activity and characteristics. Therefore, ABM models can provide significant insight into the quantification of risk and the identification of optimal strategies. This paper is an introduction and guide to ABM models, and it includes several case studies to illustrate their utility.

The Finest Orientalism: "The Orient" And Empire In 19th Century Romantic Poetry, Nathan D. Banfield

Graduate Masters Theses

This project seeks to interrogate the way that nineteenth-century Romantic authors incorporated tropes and depictions of the Near East in their poetry, and the relationship that their use of these tropes has to furthering the British Empire’s imperial aims. Drawing from the theory of “Orientalism” articulated by Edward Said, and his theoretical underpinnings in Michel Foucault’s theory of discourse analysis, I consider four major Romantic poets whose works articulate different versions of “The Orient” as a discursive entity. Said postulates that the “The Orient,” rather than being an inaccurate depiction of an existing geopolitical region, is a fabrication which is …

The Lawyer’S Obligation As Public Citizen, Gene R. Nichol

Mercer Law Review

It is an honor to participate in this symposium—at the Mercer Law School—which, to its great credit, is looking hard and thoughtfully at the lawyer’s professional role. I particularly admire the focus on the lawyer’s obligation as public citizen. Something we pay attention to, I’d guess, less frequently than other purported ethical charges. I’m grateful, too, that the Mercer Law Review would host this terrific conference. And I salute former American Bar Association (ABA) President Mary Smith’s leadership on these issues; especially her formation, in 2023, of the ABA’s Task Force for American Democracy, with Judge Michael Luttig and others, …

Current Events In Legal Classrooms: Enhancing Professional Identity Formation, Stevie Leahy

Mercer Law Review

In the Fall of 2023, educators were surveyed on their inclusion of “current events” in classroom spaces (“CE Survey”). The term current events was broadly defined as: “events that are happening in the world, including recent legal decisions (U.S. or global), political events that impact the operation of the legal system, and/or social events that impact your community. This definition is intended to be inclusive.” Based on nearly 100 responses, the results indicate that while the large majority of educators agreed that incorporating current events into instruction is vital, there are still many barriers to responsible inclusion of this type …

Microplastic Production And Toxicity Of Marine Ropes On Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, Amelia Lawson

Graduate Masters Theses

Marine environments have been affected greatly over the last 50 years by anthropogenic marine waste, particularly plastic. Plastic waste in the oceans comes from many sectors, such as textiles, shipping, and the fishing industry. As plastic litter degrades, it produces microplastics, including five major forms: foam, films, fragments, beads, and fibers. Fibers are the most prevalent microplastic type and are often formed from marine ropes, which are frequently discarded or lost at sea. These ropes contribute to entanglement, ingestion hazards, and microplastic pollution. While the shedding of microplastic fibers from ropes during active use has been studied, much less is …