Digital Commons Network^™

Provocation In Philosophical Practice, Kathryn Elizabeth Cook, Sara Dorrego Carreira, Anca-Cornelia Tiurean

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

Challenging conventional notions of comfort and safety in philosophical practice, this article argues for the primacy of reason in the work to provoke and exercise thinking. Exercising thinking involves problematization and conceptualization of cherished ideas and attitudes. Consequently, philosophical consultations can be uncomfortable; rather than seeking to alleviate this discomfort, this article examines it directly. Assumptions that discomfort is harmful, consultation is dangerous, philosophers are therapists, or success is mandated are actively problematized. The authors appreciate the growth promoting role of discomfort, see the beauty of exercising the thinking capacity, and respect the thinking competence of all people. The authors …

Macropinocytosis Inhibition Attenuates Profibrotic Responses In Lung Fibroblasts And Pulmonary Fibrosis Models, Ivan O Rosas, Aaron K Mcdowell-Sanchez, Santiago Sanchez, Juan D Cala-Garcia, Alan R Waich Cohen, Elisa Ruiz-Echartea, Scott A Ochsner, Daniel C Kraushaar, Lindsay J Celada, Dandan Sun, Francesca Polverino, Cristian Coarfa, Neil J Mckenna, Konstantin Tsoyi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating chronic lung disorder with limited treatment options. Macropinocytosis is one of the key cellular processes involved in nutrient consumption from the extracellular environment under stress conditions. Here, we studied the role of macropinocytosis in experimental pulmonary fibrosis models. We found that macropinocytosis is increased in human lung fibroblasts (HLFs) derived from patients with IPF. The inhibition of macropinocytosis with 5-(n-ethyl-n-isopropyl)-amiloride (EIPA) inhibited profibrotic responses in IPF-derived and TGF-β1-stimulated HLFs and reduced pulmonary fibrosis in bleomycin-injured (Bleo-injured) mice. EIPA exerted its antifibrotic effects by regulating amino acid uptake, mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 …

Re: Comment Letter For Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou), Draft Intermediate (60%) Remedial Design Report, Blacktail Creek Riparian Actions (Dated March 13, 2026), Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Vitamin D Deficiency And Adverse Cardiovascular, Metabolic, And Mortality Outcomes In Adults With Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Propensity-Matched Retrospective Cohort Study, Andrew Cecil, Ekow Essien, Abena Agyekum, Gloria Amoako

Aurora GME

OBJECTIVE: Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and implicated in metabolic dysregulation and cardiovascular disease. This study examined associations between vitamin D deficiency and adverse cardiovascular, metabolic, and mortality outcomes in adults with OSA.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study utilized the TriNetX Global Collaborative Network spanning 155 healthcare organizations. Adults (≥18 years) with OSA (ICD-10: G47.33) were stratified by serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 into deficient (≤12 ng/mL, n=64,205) and sufficient (≥20 ng/mL, n=64,205) cohorts following 1:1 propensity matching. Primary outcomes included all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, heart failure, pulmonary embolism, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, …

Preventing Long-Term Harm: Pediatric Pain Management In Primary Care, Mike Smith, Amanda D. Deacy

Pediatrics in Practice: A CME Podcast

This episode explains practical steps primary care clinicians can take to recognize and reduce procedural pain and emotional distress in children, and why early management matters for long-term health and trust in healthcare. Guest Amanda Deacy, PhD, Clinical Director of the Abdominal Pain Program and pediatric psychologist at Children’s Mercy, reviews evidence-based strategies and how they prevent chronic pain and vaccine avoidance. Learn about pediatric pain management, needle procedures, topical anesthetic options, comfort positioning, distraction techniques, and vaccine pain reduction.

Click here to stream the podcast episode.

Heterogeneity Mechanism And More Precise Prediction Of Seafarer Fatigue Based On Group Modelling, Zhiwei Zhao, Anqi Quan, Shuxin He, Lijun Tang, Xinjian Wang, Wessel M.A. Van Leeuwen

Plymouth Business School

Traditional research often treats seafarers as a homogeneous group when exploring the causes of fatigue, neglecting the potential heterogeneity in fatigue mechanisms arising from differences in rank and department. This study systematically analyzes the fatigue driving patterns of four subgroups – Deck Department vs. Engine Department, and Officers vs. Ratings – and constructs high-precision prediction models. Based on questionnaire survey data from 450 seafarers from two Chinese shipping companies, Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted to extract group-specific factors. Subsequently, Multiple Linear Regression and Backpropagation Neural Network models were established to identify key influencing factors and compare predictive performance. The results …

The Effect Of Think-Pair-Share Strategy In Performance The Offensive Skills (Serving And Setting) In Volleyball, Najlaa Abbas Al-Zuhairi, Nihad Mohammed Alwan, Liza Rustum Yaqoob, Missaa Nadem, Yousra Juma Al-Sinani

Modern Sport

The primary objective of this study was to identify the effectiveness of the Think–Pair–Share strategy in volleyball, particularly with regard to the two skills under investigation. The study was conducted on a sample of female students from the College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences for Women, University of Baghdad. Concerning the methodology, the researchers adopted an experimental approach. The research population consisted of 93 female students distributed across five sections, and the study sample comprised 40 students selected randomly. Of these, 20 students were assigned to the experimental group and 20 to the control group, representing 43% of the …

Community Optometrist–Led Monitoring Of Quiescent Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: The Fenetre Randomized Clinical Trial, Anitta Sharma, Aljazy Jaber, Bishwanath Pal, John G. Lawrenson, Robert A. Harper, Adnan Tufail, Annastazia E. Learoyd, Emily Robinson, Abdel Douiri, Rachel Burman, Ashleigh Kernohan, Sofia Vougioukalou, Simon Read, Judit Csontos, Aled Jones, Sajjad Mahmood, Martin Mckibbin, Janet L. Peacock, Richard Gale, Praveen J. Patel, Pearse A. Keane, Robin Hamilton, Luke Vale, Catey Bunce, Konstantinos Balaskas

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Importance Hospital-based ophthalmology faces increasing demand for long-term monitoring of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Safe redistribution of routine monitoring to community clinicians is relevant to integrated community (primary)–secondary care models.   Objective To examine whether community optometrist–led monitoring of nAMD is noninferior to hospital-based monitoring for detecting disease activity requiring treatment.   Design, Setting, and Participants This multicenter, noninferiority randomized clinical trial was conducted from October 8, 2019, to January 31, 2024, at secondary centers (17 hospitals) and primary centers (60 community optometry practices) with 12-month follow-up. Statisticians were masked to patient grouping. Adults 55 years or older with quiescent AMD …

Self-Healing Qos Queue Management, Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

A self-healing quality of service (QoS) queue management system and method are disclosed for a multi-service network node. Ingress traffic is classified by a class of service (COS) map and forwarded by a scheduler to a normal queue set of per-service egress queues. A queue monitor aggregates per-queue telemetry, including credit accumulation statistics, drops, and depth, and feeds the telemetry to a self mapping correction engine over a feedback path. The correction engine distinguishes a queue freeze from transient congestion by detecting that a queue has available credits yet is not draining, and in response rebinds the affected service to …

Consumer Earbud As A Closed-Loop Biometric Sensor And Ambient Feedback Device For Exercise Support, Gerard Ziemski

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes the use of a single consumer earbud — an in-ear device with an integrated optical (photoplethysmographic) heart-rate sensor — simultaneously as both the heart-rate sensor and the sole audio feedback channel for real-time, hands-free, screen-free exercise support, without any separate wearable such as a smartwatch or chest strap.

Heart-rate and related samples (active energy, respiratory rate, step count, distance, flights climbed) are obtained through the host operating system's on-device health and workout framework, keeping all biometric computation on the device. A heart-rate zone configuration is derived from age (maximum heart rate estimated as 208 minus 0.7 times …

Crediting Recorded Prior Activity Toward An Exercise Warm-Up, With Heart-Rate-Gated Warm-Up Termination And Audio Status Through A Consumer Earbud, Gerard Ziemski

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes a method for shortening or waiving the warm-up period before an exercise session by crediting the user's recorded prior activity, in combination with heart-rate-gated warm-up termination and audio status delivered through a consumer earbud.

A fitness application queries a platform health-data store (for example Apple HealthKit or Google Fit) and/or its own session log for activity bouts ending within a recency window before the present session — a previously recorded workout, or elevated active-energy or heart-rate samples. When a qualifying bout is found, the minimum warm-up duration is reduced or waived, with the amount of credit scaling …

Dynamic Video Resolution For Background Playback, Daniel Vik, Jugal Manjeshwar

Defensive Publications Series

This document describes techniques for a context-aware media scaling system that dynamically adjusts the resolution for video playback on devices (e.g., resource-constrained devices such as smart televisions) based on the current state and navigational context of a user interface (UI). The system determines the current state by actively tracking an application’s view context or page identifier (ID) to detect navigational transitions between a primary viewing UI (e.g., a “Watch” page) and a secondary navigational UI (e.g., for browsing content). The system maps the current state to a specific resolution policy. For example, for a transition from the primary viewing UI …

Autonomous Multi-Agent System For Declarative Data Center Lifecycle Management, Ananya Simlai, Niccolò Cascarano

Defensive Publications Series

Conventional data center management can involve manual workflows or static declarative systems that may not effectively adapt to real-time conflicts or complex events, potentially resulting in unpredictable deployment timelines and increased operational risk. Systems and methods are described that can utilize a multi-agent ecosystem for managing data center resources. In such a system, specialized, autonomous software agents can communicate and negotiate with one another through a medium such as an asynchronous fabric to interpret high-level declarative goals. The agents may autonomously orchestrate complex actions, resolve resource conflicts, and adapt to changing conditions. This approach can improve operational resilience and agility …

Adaptive Compliance-Aware Secure Gateway Selection And Disaster-Aware Autonomous Tunnel Rehoming For Secure Service Edge (Sse) Environments Using No-Mutation Shadow Probing And Policy-Equivalence Gating, Faizan Amjad Mohammed, Ashwin Kumar Ravichandran, Pradeepan K Kannawadi

Defensive Publications Series

Proposed herein is a framework to enable adaptive, compliance-aware secure service edge (SSE) secure gateway selection and autonomous tunnel rehoming for enterprise software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) edges in both steady-state and disaster conditions. The proposed framework uniquely combines no-mutation controller-side shadow probing, hard policy-equivalence gating, and transactional canary/staged rollout with deterministic rollback before production cutover. The result is safer failovers and better application performance while preserving compliance boundaries and reducing outage blast radius.

Dynamic Health-Aware Agent Card Extensions To The Agent-To-Agent (A2a) Protocol For Fitness-Based Orchestration In Multi-Agent Systems, Robert Barton, Yathi Udupi, Maithri V M, Jerome Henry

Defensive Publications Series

A service is proposed herein that updates Agent-to-Agent (A2A) cards in real-time regarding the health and performance of a particular agent, including information represented in the particular agent's card, so that other agents have better information before selecting the particular agent for a given task/operation.

Reframing Kabyle Resistance In Marc Garanger's Femmes Algériennes 1960, Lea Wong

Journal of Amazigh Studies

This article examines the identity photographs taken by Marc Garanger as a site of Kabyle women’s resistance in the Algerian War. Over the course of 1960, Garanger moved between various wartime displacement camps across Kabylia, photographing indigenous people for the production of identity cards––a crucial from of colonial population control. Since its publication, Garanger’s Femmes algériennes has become an ambiguous symbol of resistance in the Algerian War, largely due to the subjects’ perceived antagonistic posture and gaze. This article takes a forensic approach to analyzing Kabyle women’s wartime adornment, uncovering a new framework for conceptualizing Algerian women’s agency grounded in …

Representations Of Women Safeguarding Living Cultural Heritage For The Future In 21st Century Kabyle Cinema, Sheila Petty

Journal of Amazigh Studies

This article examines cinematic representations of how some Kabyle women relate to and shape claims to Amazigh (Kabyle) land, language, tangible and intangible cultural heritage; how they navigate and safeguard cultural memory; and how this is depicted in three Kabyle films: La Langue de Zahra/ Zahra’s Mother Tongue (Fatima Sissani, France/Algeria, 2011); Nnuba (Sonia At Qasi-Kessi, Algeria, 2019; and Azar/Racine/Root (Malik Bourkache Daoud, Algeria, 2023). The article also probes how the filmmakers use tangible cultural heritage (documentary film) to document, transpose, and transmit intangible cultural heritage (memories, poetry, song, stories). Through an analysis of the narrative form and cinematic style …

Table Of Contents

Washington International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Comprehensive Examination Of Patients’ Data Privacy In Vietnam, Phuong Cham Nguyen

Washington International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Data Privacy In Vietnam’S Banking Sector, Bich Thao Nguyen

Washington International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Personal Data Protection In Vietnam’S Burgeoning Insurance Sector, Thi Giang Thu Pham, Thị Long Nguyễn

Washington International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Return Dimensions And Employees’ Work Effort In Power Supply Organizations: Does Gender Really Matters?, Patrick Christopher Singogo

Business Management Review

This study investigated the effect of return dimensions i.e. tangible and intangible returns on employees’ work effort, as well as gender differences. The study was guided by Conservation of Resources Theory and Expectancy Theory, together with pertinent literature. Four hypotheses were formulated to investigate the direct effect of tangible and intangible returns on employees’ work effort and the moderating effect of gender. The study drew its sample from 171 employees at the headquarters of Tanzania Electricity Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) in Ubungo, Dar es Salaam. Respondents were stratified into managerial and operative levels, and then systematic sampling was used within …

Special Economic Zones And Industrial Pollution: Evidence From Vietnam, Hannah Huang

Economics Undergraduate Senior Theses

Vietnam has seen rapid economic development, driven in part due to a proliferation of over 300 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) across the country since 1991. This paper exploits the staggered rollout of SEZs across the country to identify the effect of SEZ establishment on local air pollution in Vietnam from 2009 to 2019. I find that establishing an SEZ significantly reduces local PM2.5 concentration, with the largest reduction concentrated in the first years following establishment and attenuating over the longer term. I also find evidence that SEZs shift local firm composition toward higher-technology manufacturing, but zones focusing on dirtier industries …

Examining The Impact Of The Palisades And Eaton Fires On Air Quality In Los Angeles, Ryan Edward Glenn

Earth Sciences Undergraduate Senior Theses

Wildland-urban-interface (WUI) fires in the US are increasing in frequency and intensity with disproportionately large impacts on air quality and human health. In January 2025, the Palisades and Eaton wildfires swept across the Los Angeles Basin, burning residential areas and destroying vegetation. Despite their significance, WUI fires remain understudied compared to wildland fires, especially in regard to emissions composition. Here, I utilize a combination of field samples, modeling, and remotely-sensed datasets to survey the emissions profiles and variations during the 2025 Palisades and Eaton wildfires. I find that 75.1% of Los Angeles County was exposed to surface PM2.5 rated ‘unhealthy’ …

Lawrence University One Hundred Seventy-Seventh Commencement, Sunday, June 14, 2026, Lawrence University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Baseline Lymphopenia Predicts Survival In Ici-Naïve Solid Tumor Patients Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Propensity-Matched Real-World Pan-Cancer Analysis., Ahmed Ismail, Nina Balanchivadze, George R Simon, Yanis Boumber

Oncology Articles

Background: Baseline lymphopenia is common among advanced solid tumors and may influence the efficacy/safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), but large real-world evidence is limited. We evaluated the association between baseline absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) and clinical outcomes in adults with solid tumors treated with ICIs in routine practice. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study using TriNetX. Adults with solid tumors who received pembrolizumab, nivolumab, or atezolizumab (ICI-Naïve) between January 2015 and June 2026 were included. Baseline ALC was measured within 30 days before first treatment and was classified as lymphopenic (ALC < 1.5 × 109/L) or non-lymphopenic (ALC ≥ 1.5 × 109/L). Propensity score matching (1:1) yielded 5249 patients per group. The index date was the first immunotherapy date, and outcomes were assessed at 6, 12, 24, 36 months, and 5 years. The primary outcome was 24-month overall survival (OS); secondary outcomes were OS at 6 and 12 months and 6-month risks of healthcare utilization, immune-related adverse events (irAEs), and serious infections; and exploratory outcomes included OS at 36 months and 5 years. All outcomes were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier analysis, Cox proportional hazards models, and risk ratios. Subgroup analysis included OS stratified by solid tumor subtypes and prior lines of therapy. Results: After matching, patients with baseline lymphopenia …

Correcting A Carry-On Conundrum: A Proposal To Expand The Dot’S Ability To Regulate Unfair And Deceptive Practices In The Airline Industry, Antonio Linek

Et Cetera

This Note examines the Department of Transportation’s attempt to regulate airline ancillary fees through 89 F.R. 34620. The Rule required airlines to disclose certain ancillary fees in an obvious manner, early on in the booking process. Airlines for America challenged the Rule in the Fifth Circuit in Airlines for Am. v. Dep’t of Transp. The court held that 49 U.S.C. § 41712 allows the DOT to prohibit unfair and deceptive practices, but not to impose prescriptive rules. This holding conflicts with older Seventh Circuit authority approving similar agency action, creating a circuit split. This Note argues that the Fifth …

A Lawyer’S Responsibility To The Rule Of Law, Joseph Mead

Et Cetera

The American legal system faces a growing crisis as the gap between vested rights and judicial remedies expands. Attacks on the legal profession deter lawyers from taking on lawsuits challenging the federal government, potentially expanding the gap between right and remedy. This essay describes how the legal profession has responded to this moment and urges attorneys to renew their commitment to the rule of law.

Mental Health Transition Of Care Across State Lines: The Perspectives Of College Students, Caroline E. Hanson

Washington Semester Program

The mental health of first- year college students has a strong effect on their ability to transition smoothly and successfully to college (Young, C. C., & Calloway, S. J. (2015). For all students, the transition to college is stressful, filled with adjusting to new surroundings, schedules, and people. In addition to the social and environmental changes, college students are going through immense cognitive developments, specifically in their self-concept, self-esteem, and identity (Berk, 2023).

Carbon Dioxide And Methane Greenhouse Gas Fluxes In Coastal Salt Marshes Of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Hannah C. Clark

Earth Sciences Undergraduate Senior Theses

Preserving “Blue Carbon”, or the carbon buried in suboxic or anoxic soil in coastal environments, is emerging as a potential natural climate solution (Fargione et al., 2018; Mcleod et al., 2011). Tidal wetlands act as both carbon sinks through uptake by vegetation and soil storage and serve as carbon sources via lateral transport of carbon through tidal flushing and emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), including carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) (Bansal et al., 2023). The C-NEWTS (“Carbon New England Wetland Time Series”) project, an NSF-funded collaboration between the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic …