Digital Commons Network^™

Is Everything Awesome? Cultural Apologetics In A Metamodern Age, Alexander Lee, Dara Huamanchumo Ascanio, Isaiah Johnson

Liberty University Research Week

Contemporary apologists have emphasized that engaging with culture in an insightful and respectful way is a powerful tool for evangelism (Chatraw & Allen, 2018). In this vein, children’s media, born in a specific cultural setting, has a formative impact on upcoming generations, an avenue of influence that should be explored for its implications in apologetics. To do this, the research explores themes highlighting the transition between postmodernism and metamodernism by comparing the films Toy Story (1995) and The Lego Movie (2014). The project figures characters in Toy Story as representing the shift from modernism to postmodernism, while characters in The …

Effects Of Ses, Bedtime Rules, And Screen Time On Adolescent Obesity, Great Onyedika Okereke

Liberty University Research Week

Background: Adolescent obesity affects nearly 1 in 5 U.S. teens and is influenced by behavioral and social factors. Excessive screen time and poor sleep are known contributors, but less is known about how these risks interact with socioeconomic status (SES) and household routines. Understanding these interactions is essential for designing effective, equitable interventions.

Methods: We conducted a literature review of peer-reviewed studies from the past five years exploring the relationship between screen time, sleep, and obesity among U.S. adolescents, with attention to the moderating roles of SES and family routines (e.g., parental monitoring, bedtime rules).

Results: High screen use and …

Mythological Literature And The Metamodern Turn: An Augustinian Analysis, Elyse Penton, Brady Cullins, Dennis Nicholson, Nathan Redford

Liberty University Research Week

First articulated by Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker, metamodernism is a cultural sensibility emerging after postmodernism that describes an oscillation between modern sincerity and postmodern irony. Metamodernism is characterized by “informed naivete,” renewed emotional investment and a desire for meaning despite awareness of ambiguity. One significant feature of this cultural shift is the renewed presence of mythological narratives in contemporary literature and media. This research asks how metamodernism contributes to a resurgence of myth and how this phenomenon may be interpreted through an Augustinian “Inside Out” framework. Myth, as defined by folklorist Lauri Honko, is a narrative concerning …

Stress And Fructose Uptake In Enterocytes, Gretchka Mair, Landri Shope

Liberty University Research Week

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the most prevalent form of diabetes worldwide and represents a growing global health concern. T2DM is characterized by chronic fasting hyperglycemia and is increasingly associated with alterations in the gut microbiome. This study tests the hypothesis that heat stress, a gut dysbiosis-associated stressor, will upregulate the fructose transporter GLUT5 in enterocytes. Increased GLUT5 expression may enhance intestinal fructose uptake, thereby contributing to worsened glycemic control in T2DM. While the mechanism linking inflammation and impaired glucose homeostasis remains elusive, emerging evidence supports strong associations among gut dysbiosis, systemic inflammation, and insulin resistance.

Reframing Treatment For Binge Eating Disorder: Integrating Physical, Psychological, Behavioral And Spiritual Domains To Improve Treatment Outcomes, Lily Carone

Liberty University Research Week

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is the most prevalent eating disorder and is frequently treated using interventions designed for Bulimia Nervosa (BN and Anorexia Nervosa (AN). In fact, many programs treat clients with BED, BN, and AN in the same milieu with similar interventions. As a result, specific clinical issues are not addressed, so many clients with BED exit treatment prematurely with little to no improvement in symptoms. Traditionally, interventions for BED have been universally prescribed and include food exposure to decrease binges and cognitive behavioral therapy to improve negative self-image without addressing other important aspects of BED such as weight-related …

History Of Tarot, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

Believe it or not, this modern mystical favorite has a very different origin story! Tarot was originally a trump card game, Tarocchini, developed in 15th-century Italy.

The War On War: Desensitization's Effects On Society's Moral Fabric, Chelsea E. Johnson, Andrew J. Cudden

The Penguin Review

In an era of constant connectivity, violence is no longer distant or intermittent. Wars, political repression, mass shootings, and humanitarian crises now unfold in real time, shared instantly through twenty-four-hour news cycles and social media. Never before has global suffering been so visible. Yet this unprecedented access has failed to produce sustained moral urgency or collective responsibility. Instead, violence becomes increasingly utilised as fleeting content–viewed, shared, and then displaced by the next trending event. This paradox raises a pressing ethical question: how can a world more informed of suffering become so morally disengaged from it?

Fighting For The Story: How Identity Shapes The Israel–Hamas War, Ana Lilia Zavala

The Penguin Review

The war between the state of Israel and the militant group Hamas is often portrayed in strictly strategic or material terms, from rockets and tunnels to ground offensives and massive casualties. Yet what truly lies at the core of the conflict in the Gaza Strip is not merely a struggle over territory or security, but a struggle of identities, narratives, and legacies of harm. From my constructivist standpoint, I believe that actors act not just because of “national interests,” but because of how they understand their own identity, how they interpret the other, and how normative structures shape their choices. …

Present Day North Korea, Milo Fisher-Golton

The Penguin Review

The government of North Korea poses an extreme threat to the world while suppressing its citizens’ freedom, so why doesn't this topic get the attention it warrants in the United States? North Korea has been the cause of two major inhumane issues for some time now: as a nuclear threat to all other countries, and as a human rights suppressor to its own population under its communist dictator, Kim Jong Un. North Korea is at odds with its geographical neighbors, the United States, and other global powers. Their access to nuclear weapons– along with their alliances with Russia and China– …

Windshield Not The Rearview Mirror, Dan Fabricant

Oxford ICSB

We talk a great deal about the past at ICSB and while the history is important, we still need to skate to where the puck is going. We’ll tee up where we are and where we are going when it comes to: drug preclusion; federal preemption; state regulatory efforts; hemp/cannabis; electronic commerce platforms; claims; essentiality; and much more, like what you can do to affect real change for the future of the industry.

Purr-Spectives: Connections Between Feline Coat Color And Human Preferences And Perceptions In Northeast Arkansas, Tiffany L. Batchelor

Create@State

Felines have played an important role in the lives of humans for thousands of years. This study investigated perceptions of felines and feline demographics in Northeast Arkansas (NEA). For Study 1, data on phenotype and health conditions was collected from 2,305 patient files from three NEA veterinary clinics. For Study 2, an anonymous survey generated using Qualtrics was published through College of Agriculture social media accounts to gather opinions from cat owners on feline coat color and ownership trends. Study 1 identified up to 6 pattern-based and up to 18 color-based phenotypes per clinic and a total of 129 unique …

Teacher Based Evaluation Of Bridge Partnership Program, Maranda Lea Jones, Sarah Bess, Autumn Goforth

Create@State

Basic 21st-century skills such as communication, creativity, and critical thinking are a necessary foundation in today’s world. This research is based on evaluating and observing a campus partnership between Arkansas State University and Nettleton Middle School called BRIDGE (Building Real-world Innovation and Development through Guidance and Education). The purpose of this research is to examine teacher's perceptions of the BRIDGE program and its impact on students. Data is currently being collected through interviews with teachers from Nettleton Middle School who work directly with students participating in the BRIDGE program. Teachers are prompted with open-ended interview questions to share their experiences …

The Algorithmic Battlefield - How Ai Is Redefining Modern Warfare, Pranav Bhatnagar Mr

Defensive Publications Series

Modern warfare has entered a phase where conflict is no longer initiated or decided solely through visible force, territorial aggression, or human-led strategy, but through the continuous operation of Artificial Intelligence systems that process intelligence, predict behavior, and influence decisions at a scale and speed beyond human comprehension, transforming the battlefield into a persistent, invisible domain where actions are shaped long before they are executed, as seen in real-world geopolitical tensions such as those between Russia and Ukraine, where cyber operations, satellite interference, and AI-assisted intelligence systems have become as critical as physical military deployments, and in the strategic competition …

Research Week 2026 Program, Scholarly Communications

Liberty University Research Week

Program booklet for Research Week 2026.

A Joint Effort: Accomplishments Of The Resource Center For Cannabis And Cannabinoids Research, Patrick Still, Don Stanford, Mary Paine, Nandakumara Sarma

Oxford ICSB

No abstract provided.

Harnessing Hybrid-Ai For Real-Time Phishing Detection, Justin Villa

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Phishing attacks have evolved into a sophisticated cybersecurity threat, targeting individuals and organizations through emails, websites and social media platforms. Current detection methods rely on predefined rules and deep learning models, but they struggle to identify new and evolving phishing techniques. This research proposes an adaptive hybrid AI approach that integrates Random Forest (RF) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural networks. RF is effective for analyzing structured phishing data, while LSTM can detect patterns in sequential data, such as phishing messages. To improve accuracy and adaptability, we will incorporate adversarial training and explainable AI techniques. A key contribution of this …

Resonance In Mechanical Systems And Structures, Andrew Murphy

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

This conceptual poster presents the theoretical foundations of resonance in mechanical systems and structures, demonstrating the definition of resonance as a mechanical property associated with the vibration of an object, governed by modal properties, damping, and coupling. We review common applications and extensions to parametric and nonlinear resonance, where applications span vibration isolation and control to structural dynamics in aerospace systems. Advantages include informing design decisions to ensure the accomplishment of engineering objectives. This is leveraged through measurement sensitivity and efficiency distinct to mechanical resonance modeling. Further benefits can be seen in the advancements related to compact design via mode …

Vibration And Thermal-Vacuum Feasibility For Micro Carbon Fiber Filled Nylon Filament Lunar Applications, Andrew Murphy, Shannon O'Sullivan

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

This work seeks to improve the fundamental understanding of the properties concerning 3-D printing filaments that have potential to be used for lunar applications. The associated properties in focus for the study, vibration and thermal-vacuum-resistance, are fundamental aspects of spaceflight and are critical to mission success for objectives associated with the environmental factors in space. The successful outcome of this work will answer questions relating to the feasibility of micro carbon fiber filled nylon 3-D printing filaments such as Markforged’s Onyx® for application in Space Technologies Laboratory projects, including for the development of structures relating to the EagleCam 2.0 lunar …

Apical-Out Lung Organoids: A Platform For Spaceflight And Cf Research, Valeria Jimenez, Ally Schwennesen

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

A genetic condition known as cystic fibrosis (CF) is brought on by mutations in the CFTR gene, which results in chronic lung inflammation and impaired chloride ion transport. CF bronchial epithelial cells enable direct comparison of disease pathology, while normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells offer an essential model for researching airway physiology. Realistic modeling of respiratory tissue and its reaction to environmental stressors like microgravity is made possible by the creation of 3D lung organoids from these cells. In this project, we developed apical-out organoids, which expose the apical surface of epithelial cells to the external environment. These organoids …

The World Needs More Resilient Kids, Kara Driggs

Family Perspectives

No abstract provided.

Legal Education In Malaysia, Khalid Yusoff

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Behind The Scenes - Anthony Cheung

V Music Magazine

No abstract provided.

Talk - Eric Kot

V Music Magazine

No abstract provided.

Chi Chung's Voice

V Music Magazine

No abstract provided.

Vol. 1 Full Issue

V Music Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Social Validity Of The Zones Of Regulation, Tracy Grass

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine teachers’ perceptions of the social validity of the Zones of Regulation, specifically in terms of the constructs of acceptability, feasibility, and perceived effectiveness, in elementary school classrooms. Despite the popularity of this social-emotional learning (SEL) program, limited research has explored its social validity. To address this gap, a mixed-methods research design was used to gain a comprehensive understanding of teacher perceptions and experiences.

A total of 43 elementary teachers completed the Usage Rating Profile—Intervention Revised (URP-IR), and seven teachers participated in semi-structured interviews. Abductive thematic analysis was used to integrate data and …

Educators’ Experiences With Structured Word Inquiry For Spelling Underachievement In K–8 Students, Leah Skinner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this basic qualitative study was that K–8 students in the western United States continue to experience spelling underachievement despite structured literacy interventions. Grounded in Bowers and Kirby’s structured word inquiry (SWI) framework, the purpose of this study was to explore educators’ experiences implementing SWI for spelling instruction with K–8 students in the western United States. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 16 K–8 educators with SWI experience who were selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Thematic analysis using open and axial coding resulted in six themes. Findings indicated that educators perceived SWI as an effective, …

Trademark’S Parody Problem, Christine Haight Farley

Research Reports & White Papers

This Article challenges the Supreme Court's recent assurance that trademark parody is adequately protected under ordinary infringement doctrine without the need for special speech safeguards. In Jack Daniel's Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, the Court curtailed the principal First Amendment defense for expressive trademark uses while predicting that parodies would nonetheless prevail under the likelihood of confusion test. This Article shows why that prediction is mistaken. Drawing on recent case law and trademark doctrine, it identifies four structural vulnerabilities that now confront parody: the expansion of "trademark use" as a gatekeeping device that excludes parodists from speech-protective …

The Impact Of Traffic On Packet Schedulers Within A Simulated Environment, Landon Mohr

Honors

Packet scheduling is a well-studied topic in networking. It determines the order in which packets leave a congested output link and therefore affects delay, jitter, throughput, and packet loss. Prior research has shown that different schedulers offer different tradeoffs, but fewer studies have examined how scheduler performance changes under defined mixed-traffic workloads. The experiment uses NS-3 to simulate a congested network with multiple traffic types, including VoIP, gaming, HTTP, streaming, and bulk transfer, and compares FIFO, Strict Priority Queuing, and FQCoDel under varying traffic profiles and queue sizes. The results show that scheduler choice affects timing-sensitive traffic much more strongly …

Why Israel Failed To Anticipate The October 7 Attack: A Postmortem Analysis, Emily Helgeson

Honors

This project conducts an autopsy of Israel’s failure to anticipate Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7, 2023. Existing scholarship identifies multiple contributing factors for this intelligence failure, including flawed strategic assumptions (conceptzia), political dysfunction, organizational sexism, and overreliance on surveillance technology. While all these factors may have contributed to the failure, most studies either examine the causal impact of a single factor in isolation or treat multiple factors together as equally impactful. As a result, the literature has yet to identify the primary driver of the October 7 failure. To address this gap, this study adopts a postmortem approach, borrowed …