Digital Commons Network^™

Founder Teams, Social Networks, And New Firm Performance, Joyce Zhou, Jun Yu, Arturo Rodriguez, Josh Tolleson

Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship

Research has shown that entrepreneurs’ social networks have a positive effect on the performance of new business ventures. However, much of the research in this area has focused on the individual entrepreneur, even though it is recognized that most new business ventures are started by a team of entrepreneurs. Integrating theories of social networks, top-management teams, and the resource-based view, this study focuses on the effect of the characteristics of entrepreneur teams on entrepreneurial social networks as well as the availability of resources made possible by these social networks. It also examines the potential for team cohesion to moderate the …

Catalogue Of The Water Striders (Hemiptera: Gerridae) Of Mississippi, Chase G. Fry, Patricia L.S. Wooden

Midsouth Entomologist

Water striders (Hemiptera: Gerridae) are skating aquatic insects with piercing-sucking mouthparts that opportunistically feed on prey trapped by surface tension. The presence or absence of water striders and other aquatic Hemiptera in water systems may be important indicators of water quality. Despite their importance, the last aquatic Hemiptera checklist for the state was published in 1988. Since this publication, humans have altered waterways to meet their needs, and Gerridae taxonomy has continued to evolve. This study aims to create a current checklist of Gerridae, to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the species found in Mississippi before aquatic habitats are …

Utility Of The Thoracic Trauma Severity Score In Predicting Outcomes In Isolated Thoracic Injuries: A 10-Year Omani Cohort Study, Badriya Alqanubi, Darpanarayan Hazra, Aisha Breiki

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Objectives: The Thoracic Trauma Severity Score (TTSS) is a composite scoring system developed to assess injury severity and predict outcomes in thoracic trauma. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of TTSS in predicting clinical outcomes in patients with isolated thoracic trauma in Oman. Methods: This retrospective observational study was conducted at two tertiary academic hospitals in Muscat, Oman, between January 2014 and December 2024 and included adult patients with isolated thoracic trauma. TTSS was calculated from demographic, radiological and clinical data. Its predictive performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic analysis for mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and …

Material Affecting Design (Mad): How Living Biomaterials Reshape Computational Design Through Biological Transformation, Abolhassan Pishahang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Living biomaterials grow during fabrication, making strategy selection a design problem distinct from conventional form-making. This dissertation investigates how Pleurotus ostreatus mycelium and Triticum aestivum plant roots reshape the computational design process through their biological behavior. The central argument is that when a designer works with living matter, the material participates in forming, changing the decisions made, the strategies chosen, and the framework required. This relationship between biological transformation and computational design is named the Material Affecting Design (MAD) framework. The research was conducted through a research-through-design methodology grounded in American pragmatist philosophy, particularly the work of Dewey, James, and …

Jiriki And Tariki: Zen And Jōdo Shinshū Through Hakuin And Rennyo, Anthony Baker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Both Hakuin Ekaku 白隠慧鶴 (1685 – 1768) and Rennyo Shōnin 蓮如上人 (1415 – 1499) used different Buddhist practices to achieve enlightenment. The soteriological practice of Zen Buddhism, understood as kenshō 見性, or “seeing into one’s nature,” and the soteriological practices of Pure Land Buddhism, understood as anjin 安心, or “the settled mind,” are often viewed as opposites because they purport that the practitioner reaches enlightenment through two different means. Rinzai Zen Buddhism claims to obtain kenshō through jiriki 自力, or self-power. The Buddhist practitioner uses their own effort to break through barriers and obtain for themselves, on their own behalf, …

The Sacred Garden: An Exploration Of Black Women’S Sexual Pleasure As Healing And Liberatory Practice, Brittany M. Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Much of sexology (i.e., sex science) employs a non-inclusive, sex-negative and anti-Black perspective. Most research about Black sexuality, specifically Black women’s sexuality, is rooted in negativity, promiscuity, shame, and the erasure of pleasure. To undo such a narrow, harmful, and dehumanizing view of Black women’s sexuality, this qualitative study employed an intersectional, pleasure-focused, and sex-positive framework to explore how Endarkened (Black) women’s sexual pleasure is a healing and liberatory practice. This study also delved into Endarkened women’s femininity/feminine expression to understand how Black femininity functions as a form of feminine resistance by not existing within patriarchal femininity. Guided by Lorde’s …

Building Ai-Native Innovation System To Drive Transformation And Innovation In Research Organization And Management Models, Hong Xuehai

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is profoundly reshaping research paradigms. This study aims to analyze the intrinsic mechanisms through which AI empowers scientific research and its impact on the organizational management models of research. By summarizing what AI can and cannot do in empowering research, it reveals the current effectiveness and capability boundaries of AI in this domain. Based on the extraction of common core conditions for AI-empowered research and the deconstruction of typical cases of AI-enabled research organizational models, this study analyzes the differences between the organizational management model of AI-empowered research and traditional research organizational models. Furthermore, it proposes three …

Understanding And Foresight On Construction Of Foundation Model Industry Innovation Ecosystem, Liu Liu, Chunhui Jia, Yangfan Han, Qiqi Zhang, Jialin Li, Dayuan Li, Junpu Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Foundation models are a key vehicle driving artificial intelligence toward general intelligence, and their industrialization urgently requires support from a systematic and collaborative innovation ecosystem. This study focuses on the construction of the foundation model industry innovation ecosystem. It first reviews the frontier progress and identifies its essence as a complex innovation network featuring the three-dimensional synergy of technological, organizational, and industrial architectures, and then analyzes the architecture along the upstream, midstream, and downstream of the industrial chain: the upstream supports computing power and data, the midstream undertakes algorithmic innovation and platform services, and the downstream realizes multi-scenario value transformation. …

Construction Trends And Addressing Strategy Of Global Carbon Value System In View Of Chinese Enterprise, Xu Shuangqing, Liang Sun, Jianfeng Guo

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The global carbon value system represents a new consensus on values formed over decades of collective human action to address climate change. Its framework has been preliminarily established, with three dimensions—institutions, norms, and industries—forming a multidimensional space for expansion. Through this framework, the carbon value system can extend its influence to every aspect of human activity. At its core, the carbon value system involves reassessing the value of human activities and establishing new constraints for sustainable development. Consequently, enterprises must transform their traditional development models. For Chinese enterprises, the emergence of the global carbon value system during their pursuit of …

Building China’S Space Station Intellectual Property Protection System: Strategic Demands, International Rule Competition, And Institutional Pathways, Xiao Youdan, Bing Xiao, Yi Zheng, Xianghui Liu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

As China’s space station transitions into its application and development phase, on-orbit research outputs are entering a period of concentrated yield. The protection of space station intellectual property (IP) has evolved from a theoretical proposition into a pressing institutional demand. For decades, developed economies, notably the United States and European nations, have dominated the development of international space IP rules. Their core approach extends the traditional principle of territoriality through “legal fiction”, establishing jurisdiction based on the “State of registry’s jurisdiction”—that is, treating space objects as extensions of the registering State’s territory, thereby extending the reach of domestic IP law …

Insights And Implications Of Ai For Science Strategies Of Major Science And Technology Powers, Zhang Zhiqiang, Yawei Shao

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transitioning from a research aid to a scientific discovery agent. The new paradigm of “AI + Science” (AI for Science, AI4S) – the intelligent science paradigm (or the fifth paradigm of science) – characterized by the deep integration of artificial intelligence into the entire process of scientific discovery, is rapidly emerging and becoming a “new agent” for intelligent and autonomous execution of scientific discovery and technological invention as well as a key force in reshaping the human knowledge production system and the global landscape of technological competition. The intervention of AI in the field of knowledge …

Open Sharing And Collaborative Governance: Practices And Implications Of National Institutes Of Health’S Digital Transformation, Long Yuntao, Bingzhi Wang, Zheping Xu, Yang Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

With the rapid development of information technology, research projects and tasks of research institutes are increasing rapidly. Scientific and technological resources are the core and foundation of scientific research work, and scientific research institutes are faced with the needs of processing, management and coordination of a large number of scientific and technological resources. Digital transformation has become an inevitable choice for the high-quality development of scientific research institutes. The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), as the world’s top scientific research institute, has continuously introduced a number of initiatives in the field of digital transformation, such as institutional reform policies, …

Reel Into Fishing!: Providing A Recreational Fishing Education Program For Youth, Amelia Valente, Douglas R. Zemeckis, Lisa Morse, Gene Nigro

Journal of Extension

New Jersey is known as the Garden State, but with over 130 miles of Atlantic coastline, it also has very productive marine ecosystems that offer numerous opportunities for recreational marine fishing. The International Game Fish Association, a nonprofit organization committed to the conservation of game fish and the promotion of responsible, ethical angling practices, collaborated with Rutgers Cooperative Extension to host a youth educational program entitled Reel Into Fishing! The objective is to educate participants through hands-on engagement on ethical fishing practices and marine science to help develop the next generation of responsible anglers.

Ai-Powered Knowledge Engines As Research Infrastructure For Systematic Knowledge Discovery, Gary Welz

Publications and Research

This paper proposes knowledge engines as a framework for understanding how intelligent systems — both human and artificial — systematically discover, integrate, and generate knowledge. We argue that history’s greatest scientific minds functioned as knowledge engines, processing information through iterative cycles of ingestion, analysis, synthesis, and communication, guided by curiosity and willingness to challenge established beliefs.

We propose a taxonomy of nine integrated capabilities — ingestion, digestion, analysis, calculation, comparison, connection, association, analogy, and multimodal communication — that any serious knowledge engine must combine systematically. The argument is deliberately integrative: achieving ambitious research goals requires orchestrating all nine capabilities within …

Predicting Telemedicine Patient Visit No-Shows: Discovering An Actionable Patient Risk Model, Barbara R. Medvec, John D. Knight

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

The objectives of this project were to evaluate a large healthcare system’s telemedicine no-show risk model, assessing accuracy in identifying (1) high-risk for no-show patients and (2) refinements to the model that would improve the prediction accuracy and ease of use. The original model factors—Portal Activation, Last Portal Log-In < 90 days, E-Check-In < 90 days, E-Check-In for Visit Completed, and Last Video Visit—showed limited predictive power, making the model challenging to apply in practice. Leadership seeks a more accurate and streamlined model to support targeted interventions aimed at reducing no-shows.

A literature review revealed limited evidence on predictive scoring models for telemedicine visit no-shows. We analyzed 525,333 telemedicine appointments from 30 clinics between 2021 and 2024. Using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression, we: (1) assessed no-show rates by risk score; (2) calculated standardized Z scores for model factors; and (3) …

Reality Check: Nursing Graduates' Transition To Practice And Implications For Curriculum Development, Catherine A. Stubin

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Nursing workforce instability has intensified due to worsening work conditions and increasing demands on nurses. Burnout disproportionately affects younger nurses and is strongly linked to early-career attrition (Labrague et al., 2025), with nearly 15% of newly licensed registered nurses leaving within their first year and over 30% within two years (AACN, 2024; NLN, 2022). Addressing burnout is vital not only for nurse retention but also for maintaining mental health and ensuring high-quality patient care (Li et al., 2024; Shah et al., 2021).

The purpose of this study was to examine nursing alumni perceptions of how effectively their undergraduate curriculum at …

When We Feel Maxed Out: Increasing Human Capacity Across Four Domains, Erica Skarda Ramey

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

The experience of being “maxed out” reflects depletion across emotional, cognitive, physical, and relational domains that collectively determine human capacity. Nurses frequently encounter this state in themselves, colleagues, and patients, where exhaustion and stress diminish coping and resilience. Emerging evidence demonstrates that recovery requires more than time or reduced workload; deliberate engagement in evidence-based practices produces measurable improvement across domains.

This paper introduces a multidimensional framework for human capacity and synthesizes recent findings linking mindfulness, cognitive training, physical conditioning, and social connection with improved well-being. The review identifies five common misconceptions that obstruct recovery—beliefs that time alone restores capacity, that …

Digital Empowerment For South Asian Immigrants: An Intervention For Metabolic Syndrome (Desi-Mets), Amir U. Islam, Sharon Wexler, Lin Drury, Jeffery A. Stahl

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: South Asian immigrants (SAIs) in the US have a disproportionately high prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS), leading to increased risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Increased waist circumference and early-onset heart disease further potentiate health disparities, underscoring the need for culturally tailored interventions. Digital health interventions (DHIs) have been recognized for their potential to effectively support lifestyle modifications in minority populations, including SAIs, by providing accessible and culturally tailored health management solutions.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a culturally tailored digital health intervention (CT-mHealth) in reducing MetS among SAIs in Hudson Valley, …

The Development Of The Theory Of Sociocultural Determinants In Breast Cancer Screening, Corvette Vanessia Yacoob, Indra Hershorin

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Breast cancer is a disease that strikes women globally every 14 seconds, making it a global health issue. It is among the most common cancers in women and the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Black women face disproportionately higher mortality, underscoring the need for early, equitable screening.

Purpose: To explore the key factors shaping breast cancer screening habits among Caribbean-American Women of African ancestry. The study developed a substantive theory of sociocultural determinants to address and improve early and equitable breast cancer screening methods.

Philosophical underpinnings, including constructivism, pragmatism, and symbolic interactionism, guided the …

Graduate Nursing Faculty Work And Wellbeing Survey: Pilot Study Of Dual-Role Faculty, Erica Skarda Ramey

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Burnout among nursing faculty continues to threaten workforce sustainability and academic program stability. Dual academic–clinical faculty experience compounded demands that heighten burnout risk and reduce job satisfaction. Despite recognition of these challenges, limited instruments specifically examine wellbeing in this group. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and initial psychometric properties of the Graduate Nursing Faculty Work and Wellbeing Survey (GNFWWS), designed to assess burnout, job satisfaction, and perceived institutional support among graduate nursing faculty with concurrent academic and clinical practice roles. Guided by the Job Demands–Resources framework, the cross-sectional pilot was implemented at a large academic medical center in the …

Effects Of Aromatherapy On Nurses’ Occupational Well-Being: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Ari Woo, Kyungsook Kim

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Purpose: This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the effects of inhaled aromatherapy on nurses' occupational well-being (stress, sleep quality, fatigue, and anxiety) to provide integrated evidence for nonpharmacologic management strategies.

Methods: Following PRISMA and the Cochrane Handbook, randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials were identified using PICOSD criteria. Independent reviewers screened, extracted, and synthesized data. Risk of bias was assessed with RoB 2.0 and ROBINS-I. Fourteen studies met inclusion criteria.

Results: Across 14 studies, inhaled aromatherapy was associated with improvements in nurses' outcomes. Stress decreased versus controls (SMD = -0.70; 95% CI -1.12 to -0.28; I2 = 65%). Sleep quality improved …

Community Energy Storage: A Framework For Enhanced Energy Trading And Cost Efficiency, Bassam Al-Hanahi, Aziz

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The integration of renewable energy sources (RES) into modern electricity grids introduces substantial challenges, primarily due to their inherent variability and the critical need for real-time supply-demand balancing. Community Battery Storage system (CBSS) has emerged as an effective strategy to address these challenges, enhancing grid stability and providing localized economic benefits through optimized energy storage and management. This paper presents a novel energy trading framework that prioritizes community welfare by balancing the reduction of user energy costs with CBSS revenue generation. The proposed model employs a multi-objective optimization approach, utilizing the epsilon-constraint method to strike an optimal balance between minimizing …

Intentionality Displays In Contemporary French Literature, Martine Motard-Noar

SOROUD: The journal of Literacy Criticism

The works of Hélène Cixous and of Pascal Quignard can be described as spaces of intentionality where a narrative program unfolds.

Intentionality, Or How Photography Became An Art, David Paigneau

SOROUD: The journal of Literacy Criticism

The introduction of the daguerreotype in 1839, soon followed by the appearance of what we now call photography, was one of the most significant breaks in the history of representation.

India And The Cisg — A Case For Ratification, Ranak Banerji, Rida Rahman

National Law School Business Law Review

The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (‘CISG or Convention’) was opened for signatures in 1980. More than forty years later, it has been one of the most successful international instruments that has attempted to unify international commercial law. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (‘HK SAR’) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recently ratified the CISG. This development brings into question the non-signatory status of another trading giant, India. The ratification of the CISG is as much a commercial question as it is a legal one. It can provide extensive benefits along with legal …

Gender Aspects Of Rihla, El Gharoussi El Mobarik

SOROUD: The journal of Literacy Criticism

Controversially contested, rihla is a genre by itself for the very reasons it is contested for. Anchored in its Arab-Muslim culture, the hijra of the prophet, the cult of pilgrims, and scientific peregrinations, flourished in the Muslim West: it is primarily a Magribine genre. No genre enjoys absolute purity, so does the rihla. It has links with geographical literature, fahrâsa and autobiography. The writing of the narrative in linear form and circular content systematically challenges didactics, pleasant and ethical digressions, but also books: the genre is intertextual.

The Moorish Ambassador’S Journey To Spain: Cultural Encounters In Ahmed Ben Mehdi Al-Ghazāl’S Natījat Al Ijtihād Fi Al-Mohādana Wa Al-Jihād (1766), Lhoussain Simour

SOROUD: The journal of Literacy Criticism

This article attempts to read al-Ghazāl’s travel account Natījat al Ijtihād fi al-Mohādana wa al-Jihād as a valuable archival material and an eighteenth-century subaltern narrative that offers the re-interrogation of the discourse of the Self and the Other from the perspective of the Moroccan traveler. Natījat al Ijtihād is a travel account that gives further historical evidence about one of the less discussed experiences in literature and annals of history, the abduction of Muslims in foreign lands. Such an interdependent overlap between these thematic concerns and the historical context that fuels up al-Ghazzal’s travel-inspired text would give readers the chance …

Reality Check: How Avatar And Face Representation Affect The Perceptual Evaluation Of Synthesized Gestures, Haoyang Du, Yinghan Xu, John Dingliana, Brian Keegan, Rachel Mcdonnell, Cathy Ennis

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

The capacity to create realistic virtual humans has progressed significantly, and such characters can be found in many applications across entertainment, education and health. As an essential element of interactive virtual humans, speech-driven 3D gesture generation still depends heavily on perceptual evaluation, yet studies often vary avatar appearance and facial presentation when judging the generated motions. Prior work suggests these visual choices can bias motion judgments, but controlled evidence remains limited. We address this gap with controlled evaluations of co-speech gestures across motion sources, spanning seven representative avatar renderings used in contemporary research and application pipelines. Our results show that …

Closing The Gap: Canadian Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Competencies And Training Needs In Idd, Lin Li, Yona Lunsky, Anupam Thakur, Soumya Mishra, Nagyeong Kim, Gurmanpreet Kaur

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) face persistent health inequities, including higher morbidity, premature mortality, and increased healthcare use [1–3]. These disparities are intensified by limited provider training and confidence in caring for this population [4,5], underscoring the need to strengthen nursing education in IDD. This study examined Canadian undergraduate nursing students’ attitudes, competencies, and training needs related to IDD.

Methods: From May-August 2025, a 28-item anonymous online survey was distributed through nursing programs and nursing student societies across Canada. The survey assessed knowledge, attitudes, self-perceived skills, exposure to IDD in coursework and clinical settings, and preferred learning …

Ai-Powered Gamified Extended Reality Training For Dementia Care Competence In Healthcare Students, Modupe Akintomide, Joy Li, Toi-Ann Kingsby, Dandre Williamson

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

The development of dementia care competence among healthcare students remains limited by the scarcity of experiential training opportunities for managing behavioral and psychological symptoms [1]. Traditional curricula often fail to provide sufficient, high-fidelity practice for the complex, emotionally charged interactions characteristic of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) care [2].

To address this gap, we developed an AI-powered, Gamified Extended Reality (XR) Dementia Behavioral Training App. This immersive platform simulates authentic caregiving encounters with persons living with ADRD. It employs an AI-generated animated patient agent and integrates adaptive difficulty scaling within clinically relevant, scenario-based modules to mirror the complexity of …