Digital Commons Network^™

Elevating Entrepreneurship With Generative Artificial Intelligence, Yaojie Li, John Kirk Ring, Dan Jin, Saleh Bajaba

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) transforms the entrepreneurial landscape by providing contextual information, identifying viable opportunities, and facilitating entrepreneurial decision-making. Despite the growing acknowledgment of its use in entrepreneurial activities, this field lacks a robust theoretical framework and practical implementation. This study seeks to fill this gap by drawing on information behavior literature to explore the effect of GenAI across the entrepreneurial spectrum. By leveraging large language models and prompt engineering patterns, we examined how GenAI could generate accurate, relevant, and inspiring content through various interaction scenarios. Our findings suggest that GenAI significantly mitigates early-stage entrepreneurial information asymmetry and supports sophisticated …

Alpine Plants And Climate Change: Tracking Community Shifts In Yosemite National Park, Brooke Wallasch, Annalise Burrows, Madeleine Colbert, Michael Gottlieb, Ty Connelly, Julian Durante, Emily Staats, Marjorie Say

Baker/Koob Endowments Awarded Projects

As climate change progresses, alpine plant communities are predicted to shift upslope as they track temperature over time. Relative to lowland environments, alpine areas are experiencing a faster rate of temperature change due to a phenomenon referred to as elevation-dependent warming. A common approach for tracking plant communities shifts over time, is to conduct resurveys of the same area at several time points, as the Global Observational Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) has done on mountain summits around the world since 2001. In 2011-2013, GLORIA developed a supplemental survey method whereby belt transects were established downslope of summits in …

In Remembrance Of Carolyn Potter, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

Carolyn served for the past decade as the Senior Editor of this journal. She was responsible for several aspects of production, including article formatting, the CCR style guide, and copy editing, and she served as the first stop in reviewing, weighing the academic merit of submissions. Her intellectual conclusions were invariably accurate.

Academic Civilization: Expansion And Development, Inbar Gotlib Gotlib-Rivkin

Comparative Civilizations Review

The concept of academic civilization was developed out of and in relation to that of modern civilization. Prominent characteristics of modern civilization are reflected in institutions of higher education, and they can therefore be regarded as constituting a civilization. The six main characteristics of institutions of higher education that render them a civilization include expansion in terms of scope and growth, flexibility and institutional diversity, center-periphery relations, academic culture, autonomy and academic freedom, and the monopolization of professional training and the professional middle class. This paper addresses the first characteristic — expansion of institutions of higher education — and …

End Matter

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Ontology Accelerates Few-Shot Learning Capability Of Large Language Model: A Study In Extraction Of Drug Efficacy In A Rare Pediatric Epilepsy, Pedram Golnari, Katrina Prantzalos, Veronica Hood, Mary Anne Meskis, Lori L Isom, Karen Wilcox, Jack M Parent, Dennis Lal, Samden D Lhatoo, Howard P Goodkin, Elaine C Wirrell, Kelly G Knupp, Manisha Patel, Jeffrey A Loeb, Joseph E Sullivan, Lauren Harte-Hargrove, Brandy E Fureman, Jeffrey Buchhalter, Satya S Sahoo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: Dravet Syndrome (DS) is a developmental and epileptic encephalopathy that is characterized by severe, prolonged motor seizures and high resistance to multiple antiseizure medications (ASMs) with multiple comorbidities. Evaluating the efficacy of new drugs in DS preclinical models and mapping them to human phenotypes of DS through analysis of published literature is an important goal for improving outcomes in this rare pediatric epilepsy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Large language models (LLM) have demonstrated great promise in parsing published literature; however, the performance of LLMs falls short in medical applications. In this study, we investigate the effectiveness of domain ontology developed …

Telemedicine-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Tenacity) For Veterans With Chronic Migraine: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol., Teresa M Damush, Samantha M Calcatera, Olivia Datre, Lindsey Hayley, Charles Austin, Emily L Schlitz, Carin Lea Eubanks, Lynnie Harrison, Doyle Yuan, Stanley Taylor, Mindy Flanagan, John Ney, Elizabeth K Seng, Jason J Sico, Amy S Grinberg

Health Services and Informatics Research

BACKGROUND: Behavioral interventions for people with headache (HA) diseases have demonstrated clinical efficacy. Despite strong empirical support and endorsement by professional practice organizations, behavioral interventions are not widely accessible to HA patients. Clinic-based behavioral treatments remain inaccessible to many. The objectives of this study are to conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial and to determine the feasibility of the implementation of a cognitive behavioral therapy protocol for HA (CBT-HA) delivered via telehealth (TENACITY) compared to enhanced HA usual treatment (EHUT).

METHODS/DESIGN: TENACITY is a single-blinded, randomized, controlled, pilot trial with a single intervention arm and an EHUT control arm analyzed …

(Re)Birth Of A Nation: Reconstruction’S Unfinished Business, Zanita E. Fenton

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

The irony, alluding to the title of the 1915 silent movie Birth of a Nation, seeks to make conspicuous the counter-stories that more authentically account for the “birth” and development of American society. Ku Klux Klan-sponsored propaganda designed to evoke hyper-racist fearmongering and perpetuate sexual paternalism over White women, the plot from Birth of a Nation reflects the paradigmatic race-bait: relentless pursuit of a White woman by a Black man. This storyline was fictionalized, culturally unrealistic and deliberately omitted the very real sexual exploitation of Black women and girls. Birth of a Nation parallels Constitutional history that marginalizes supplemental …

An In-Depth Criticism Of Shaw V. Reno, Katherine M. Perez-Oviedo

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

If I have learned one thing from my semester taking Critical Race Theory, it is that the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly issued decisions that directly impede on remedial efforts to address past racial discrimination. When the question of “how can we use the law to instill social change?” is proposed in class discussion, it is difficult to imagine a world in which the Court would support the progressive measures suggested.

Nothing To Gain: The Disparate Impact Of The Capital Gains Tax Preference On Women And Persons Of Color, Ann M. Murphy

Nevada Law Journal

Tax preference provisions are scattered across the Internal Revenue Code, and the capital gains tax rate offers an enormous advantage for wealthy taxpayers. When first enacted, it was touted as eliminating the “lock-in effect” which caused investors to hold on to their investment property. Today, it is justified as encouraging investment and eliminating gains produced merely by the passage of time. The provision’s unequal benefits are hidden from the picture. Although not overtly dis-criminatory, the preference operates as a tax cut for the wealthy. Women and per-sons of color see little benefit from the lower tax rate. The difficulty of …

The Worker Fight Against Compelled Listening: The Past, Present, And Future Of Captive Audience Meetings In The Wake Of Amazon.Com, Hailey Simpson

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Antibacterial And Anticancer Properties Of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles: A Review Of Current Advances And Future Directions, Ali Hadi, Uday Nayef, Falah Mutlak, Majid Jabir, Mohammed Muayad

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

Zinc oxide Nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) have a promising potential in antibacterial and anticancer treatments because of their ease of production, low toxicity, and versatility in application. This review encompasses recently developed synthesis, characterizing and biomedical applications of ZnO-NPs. Green synthesis methodologies, sol-gel, and precipitation influence the biological effectiveness of ZnO-NPs, these methods particularly affect key characteristics such as particle size, shape and surface charge. These properties play crucial roles in antibacterial effectiveness, which facilitates their ability to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) and bacterial cell membrane disruption, leading to bacterial cell death. The efficiency of ZnO-NP in cancer treatment is also …

Mechanisms, Performance Enhancements, And Scalability Prospects Of Solvent-Annealed Perovskite Solar Cells: A Review, Ammar Al-Janabi, Chtourou R.

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

Perovskite solar cells have rapidly advanced due to their exceptional optoelectronic properties, but achieving uniform crystallization and stability remains challenging. This review examines solvent-assisted annealing, including solvent-vapor and anti-solvent treatments as a strategy to modulate perovskite crystallization for enhanced device performance. Solvent vapors (e.g. DMF, DMSO, alcohol mixtures) introduced during thermal annealing sustain a supersaturated environment that extends nucleation and enables Ostwald ripening, yielding markedly larger grain sizes and improved crystallinity. Studies show that solvent annealing can increase MAPbI3 carrier diffusion lengths beyond 1 μm and maintain >14.5% efficiency even for films up to 1 μm thick. Advanced schemes, such …

Understanding Long Covid In National Community-Based Cohort: Symptom Clusters, Symptom Natural History, And Vaccine’S Role As A Prevention Tool, Yanhan Shen

Dissertations and Theses

BACKGROUND: Long COVID, or post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), represents a growing public health concern with diverse symptom profiles, unclear risk factors, and evolving evidence on potential prevention strategies. Most studies of Long COVID have relied on electronic health records or convenience samples, which may underestimate mild or community-based cases and lack standardized follow-up, and often do not include pre-infection health information or complete infection histories. This dissertation leverages prospective data from a national community-based cohort to characterize the heterogeneity of Long COVID symptoms, assess symptom trajectories over time, and evaluate the effect of COVID-19 third dose vaccination on …

Multigenerational Caregiving And Its Effect On Human Capital: Insights From A Human Resource Development Perspective, Rob E. Carpenter, Brandy Dial

Human Resource Development Faculty Publications and Presentations

A multigenerational caregiving crisis is emerging at the interface of family and work, and human resource development (HRD) should pay attention. This perspective considers the impact of multigenerational caregiving-induced responsibilities on human capital frameworks, and their implications for HRD. We believe traditional models often neglect the unique challenges multigenerational caregivers face—such as stress, absenteeism, and constrained opportunities for self-development—which contribute to the erosion of human capital. This paper uses quantitative models to show that multigenerational caregiving is a critical driver of human capital depreciation. Integrating multigenerational caregivers into human capital discourse foregrounds the need for adaptive HRD strategies. These strategies …

A Participatory Photovoice Investigation Of Community Assets, Barriers, And Opportunities To Curb The Opioid Epidemic, P. Balvanz, R. G. Olvera, M. Booty, J. Mcswiggan, C. Damato-Macpherson, S. Ellison, A. Farmer, K. Klingler, A. Kuntz, N. Lewis, C. B. Oser, L. Sprague Martinez, S. Stitzer, H. Surratt, O. Yamoah, A. Berkshire, T. Carter, K. Campbell, S. Dynes, B. Gealy, F. Harris, B. Herrington, S. Matthews, D. Myers, C. Rapier, A. Shouse, S. Szelagowsi, M. Mcgladrey

Sociology Faculty Publications

The opioid epidemic remains an entrenched issue in communities due to its multiple and interrelated risk factors. As part of the HEALing Communities Study, we recruited people with lived experience of substance use disorder and practitioners in the field to participate in multi-session Photovoice projects to contextualize the opioid use landscape in their respective communities. Photovoice combines photography and group discussion to explore concerns and strengths in a community. Researchers facilitated 21 Photovoice projects (N = 127 participants) across 19 communities in the Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Ohio HCS sites. We performed template analysis on the Photovoice discussion transcripts to develop …

The Scoop, Vol. 12 Issue 6, September 2025, Health Sciences Library

Volume 12

Latest news and updates from the Health Sciences Library in our monthly newsletter for September 2025. Please see page 2 for a text-only version of this issue!

Estimating Historical Age-Sex Distributions Of A Tribal Population: A Case Study Of The Hopi, 1900 To 1940, David Swanson, Jeff Tayman

Publications, Reports and Presentations

Historical information on tribal populations in the United States is scattered and discontinuous. A significant part of the discontinuity is the gap between 1900 and 1970. This paper describes a process that may partially fill this gap by developing decennial age-sex data from 1900 to 1940. Where temporally consistent, we compare these estimates to those done by others. This work provides a point of departure for generating more demographic information about the Hopi from 1900 to 1940 and, ultimately, beyond 1970, a critical turning point regarding the increased availability of American Indian data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It also …

A New Era Of Zines: Taking Lessons From The Past To Combat Intellectual And Political Fascism, Catherine Kane

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

Zines have long functioned as a way to circumvent the traditional gatekeepers of news, art, mainstream narratives, and publishing. They are largely non-commercial, and their emphasis is to put the means of production and distribution directly into the hands of the individual. Although their roots are in DIY, proletariat culture, they are now the subject of study in museums, libraries, and higher education, and have been co-opted by big brands, media outlets, and publishing houses—the institutions they originally sought to undermine.

In their most authentic form, zines have represented free thinking and speech, while giving individuals and communities a rallying …

I Am Scared Too: A Qualitative Study On The Influential Factors On The Fear Of Childbirth In Black Women, Imani Rivers

Tennessee State University Alumni Theses and Dissertations

Pregnancy and childbirth can evoke a range of emotions, including happiness, frustration, and fear. While some worry during pregnancy is expected, heightened and persistent fear can negatively impact a woman’s mental and physical health. Despite this, fear of childbirth remains underexplored, particularly in the context of Black women’s experiences. Existing literature lacks focus on the contextual and systemic factors contributing to this fear, creating a significant research gap (Reissig et al., 2021). Black women in the United States are disproportionately affected by medical mistreatment, often experiencing dismissal and silencing in clinical settings—an issue frequently rooted in implicit bias and racial …

Identification And Characterization Of Peptide Responsive Histone Modification Genes During Root Nodule Symbiosis In Medicago Truncatula, Shivani Dharam

Tennessee State University Alumni Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen (N) is an essential but limiting macronutrient for crop growth in agroecosystems. Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF) is a critical biological process where atmospheric Nitrogen is converted into ammonia by Nitrogen fixing the bacteria called rhizobia, forming mutualistic relationships with legume plants. These interactions are mediated by several signaling pathways and may involve epigenetic modifications like DNA methylations, histone modifications, where gene expression is altered without any change in DNA sequence. Histones are proteins provide structural support to DNA. However, genes encoding enzymes for these post translational modifications are poorly investigated in the Leguminosae family. This project aims to answer …

Understanding Performance And Egg Quality Parameters In A Pastured Egg-Type Poultry Breed, Biswajit Kumar Biswas

Tennessee State University Alumni Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of rearing systems on performance, egg quality, and ileal amino acid (AA) digestibility in laying hens (65 weeks of age). A total of 66 hens were distributed into two rearing systems: Cage (2 birds/replication, total 12 birds in 6 replications) and pasture (9 birds/replication, total 54 birds in 6 replications), and reared on three levels of energy diet (11.50 MJ/kg, 12.50 MJ/kg, and 13 MJ/kg). The birds were reared from d 1 to 14 (diet 1), d 15 to 28 (diet 2), and d 29-42 (diet 3). The average temperature, wind speed, and humidity were …

Exploring The Adoption Of Construction Technologies In Infrastructure Projects: Bridging Perceptions Of Experts With Real Project Data, Fareed Salih, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Infrastructure projects have progressively adopted construction technologies, yet previous studies have not fully explored technology utilization by comparing the perceptions of experts with actual project data. This research fills this knowledge gap. The authors (1) developed, distributed, and collected a survey completed by 52 construction practitioners to investigate the use of these technologies and their associated benefits; (2) checked the survey reliability and validity using Cronbach's alpha test; (3) investigated the perceptions of utilizing construction technologies across industry sectors; (4) explored the perceptions of benefits across industry sectors; (5) analyzed the impact of construction technologies on project objectives and phases …

Realizing Nepa’S Reasonable, Productive, And Enjoyable Harmony: The Fiscal Responsibility Act’S Amendments And Implications For Practitioners, L. Sheldon Clark, Catherine E. Kanatas, Maxwell C. Smith

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the “Magna Carta” of environmental protection, serves two important purposes: providing (1) decision makers and (2) the public with a federal agency’s assessment of the impacts that may occur from its proposed or selected course of action before the agency acts. Despite frequent criticism about NEPA reviews causing costly project delays, NEPA’s procedural requirements and framework had remained unchanged for more than 40 years. That all changed with the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA). The writing on the NEPA wall is now very clear: agencies must now produce shorter NEPA analyses with a …

Noise Law, Joshua Ulan Galperin

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The rumble of traffic, the drone of air conditioners, the blast of construction equipment. These are the mundane sources of noise pollution that we all experience but rarely think about. Or, if we do think about noise pollution, we don’t think of it as a central piece of federal environmental law. This Article, however, demonstrates that noise law is, or was, central to American environmental law, and it offers insights into how environmental protection and administrative governance work today.

In the 1970s, during the height of environmental activism and policymaking, lawmakers recognized noise as a serious pollutant alongside issues we …

Artificial Intelligence In Head And Neck Cancer: Towards Precision Medicine, Jacob Hagen, Logan Hornung, William Barham, Supratik Mukhopadhyay, Adam Bess, Kevin Contrera, Devraj Basu, Vlad Sandulache, Guillaume Spielmann, Sagar Kansara

Faculty Publications

Over the past 20 years, the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) have gained significant interest. While AI has been implemented to various degrees in several disciplines, its unique applications in head and neck cancer (HNC) remain underdeveloped. This narrative review examines the existing body of literature regarding the use of AI in HNC. Studies to date have demonstrated AI’s utility across multiple phases of the HNC treatment continuum. Despite its promise, integrating AI into clinical practice faces several challenges, including concerns about system integrity, generalizability, privacy, and bias. In this review, we address these challenges and offer insights into future …

Cover, Furman University

Furman Magazine

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents And Advertisements, Furman University

Furman Magazine

No abstract provided.

Building A Network Of Support, Elizabeth Davis

Furman Magazine

Alumni build on lessons of care and support, for students and each other.

Q & A: Mental Health And Well-Being, Furman University

Furman Magazine

Allyson Brathwaite is the director of the Trone Center for Mental Fitness and a psychologist who has worked in college mental health for nearly two decades. Brathwaite spoke with Furman Magazine to share some of the insights she's gleaned as a key partner in leading Furman University's mental health initiatives.