Digital Commons Network^™

Liver-Specific Expression Of Hiv-1 Viral Protein R Causes Hepatic Steatosis And Glucose Intolerance In Male Mice, Neeti Agarwal, Pradip Saha, Claudia E Ramirez Bustamante, Sean M Hartig, Mark A Herman, Ashok Balasubramanyam, Jordan E Lake

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is increasingly recognized in people with HIV (PWH), with both HIV and antiretroviral therapy contributing to liver damage and glucose intolerance. However, the role of viral proteins derived from reservoirs in this process remains unclear.

Methods: Adeno-associated virus (AAV) constructs encoding a control protein or HIV-1 viral protein R (Vpr) driven by the thyroxine-binding globulin promoter were administered to male mice (n = 5 per group) fed regular chow or a high-fat diet (HFD). Young adult mice underwent intraperitoneal glucose tolerance testing and magnetic resonance imaging, followed by euthanasia. Liver and adipose tissues …

Predicting Major Depression Among Diverse Online Gamers: The Role Of Internet Addiction And Spirituality, Lindsay Lundeen, John R. Mccall

Counseling, Leadership, and Research Methods Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study analyzed whether religious or spiritual affiliation and therapy enrollment protect against symptoms meeting Major Depressive Disorder criteria beyond demographic, Internet addiction, and described therapy enrollment. Findings illustrated one risk factor and one protective factor associated with experiencing symptoms that meet Major Depressive Disorder criteria: impairments and dysfunctional self-regulation increased participant probability and risk, while religious or spiritual affiliation decreased the probability of and protected participants from depressive symptoms. The findings underscore the complexities of Internet addiction and depression symptoms among a population of diverse online gamers, highlighting a critical need for tailored counseling interventions.

Noise Law, Joshua Ulan Galperin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

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 …

The Future Of Diplomatic Asylum In Latin America, Regina Romero-Garza

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

Latin American Countries (“LAMC”) maintain a distinct set of diplomatic practices that differ from those commonly observed around the world. One observable distinction is the doctrine of diplomatic asylum, which allows political refugees of other countries to seek asylum in foreign embassies. The concept of diplomatic asylum is seldom recognized outside of the Latin American region, leaving LAMC as one of the few that recognize and use this locally recognized right. Various cases have arisen over the years involving disputes between the countries receiving the refugee (receiving state) and the country that wants the refugee in their custody (territorial state). …

Sustained Response To Pan-Braf Inhibitor Plixorafenib (Fore8394, Plx8394) In A Young Adult With Neurodegenerative Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis, Joanna S Yi, Kathleen S Mccarthy, Kate Mazur, Rebecca Kudlaty, Terry Armstrong, Nilesh Desai, Stacie Peacock Shepherd, Daniel Zinn, Jessica Velazquez, Brooks Scull, Carl Allen, Kenneth Mcclain

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Is Bedtime Use Of Kratom (Mitragyna Speciosa) A Sleep Aid Or Disruptor? Examining Its Daily Effects And Individual Differences, Chung Jung Mun, Patricia Timmons, Leigh V Panlilio, Christopher D Verrico, Ynhi T Thomas, C Austin Zamarripa, David H Epstein, Kirsten E Smith

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is a psychoactive botanical native to Southeast Asia increasingly used in the U.S. for various self-reported benefits, including sleep improvement. However, empirical evidence concerning kratom’s effects on sleep is limited. Here, we examined the association between bedtime kratom use and self-reported sleep outcomes in naturalistic settings across consecutive days, while also exploring sex and chronic pain status as potential moderators. A secondary analysis was conducted using the data from a 15-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study of 357 U.S. adults who reported regularly using kratom. Participants made daily reports of their bedtime kratom use and …

Fast, Slow, And Metacognitive Thinking In Ai, M. Bergamaschi Ganapini, M. Campbell, F. Fabiano, L. Horesh, J. Lenchner, A. Loreggia, N. Mattei, F. Rossi, Biplav Srivastava, K. B. Venable

Faculty Publications

Inspired by the ”thinking fast and slow” cognitive theory of human decision making, we propose a multi-agent cognitive architecture (SOFAI) that is based on ”fast”/”slow” solvers and a metacognitive module. We then present experimental results on the behavior of an instance of this architecture for AI systems that make decisions about navigating in a constrained environment. We show that combining the two decision modalities through a separate metacognitive function allows for higher decision quality with less resource consumption compared to employing only one of the two modalities. Analyzing how the system achieves this, we also provide evidence for the emergence …

The Gamification Of Banking, Colleen Baker, Christopher K. Odinet

Faculty Scholarship

Gamification is coming to banking. This phenomenon is already gain-ing ground in advertising, healthcare, manufacturing, and, more recently, with the GameStop and AMC meme stock saga in securities trading. The idea behind gamification is to make transactions seem fun, playful, and even casino-like in order to elicit habit-forming, addictive-like effects with consumers. This Article argues that the rise of financial technology (“fintech”) firms and their ever-growing business relationships with incumbent financial institutions has created the necessary conditions for gamification to take hold in the banking sector. In order to explore this observation, we undertake a study of current examples of …

The Sec Proposed Cybersecurity Infrastructure Rules And New Disclosure Requirements, Neal F. Newman, Lawrence J. Trautman, Brian Elzweig

Faculty Scholarship

In addition to regulation of securities market issuers, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) is also responsible for regulation of those entities that provide the networks, either electronic or physical, that enable the functioning of our securities markets. On February 9, 2022, the Commission published a Release for Cybersecurity Risk Management for Investment Advisers, Registered Investment Companies, and Business Development Companies containing proposals that, if adopted, would establish a new cybersecurity incident reporting and disclosure regime and require registered investment advisers (“advisers”) and investment companies (“funds”) to implement policies and procedures designed to address cyber risks. The comment period for …

Transdiagnostic Correlates Of Family Accommodation In Anxious Youth, Whitney S Shepherd, Erika S Trent, Orri Smarason, Hannah N Sansone, Daphne M Ayton, Amanda Palo, Abigail E Candelari, Wayne K Goodman, Andrew G Guzick, Eric A Storch

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Anxiety disorders are common in children and cause significant impairment. Family accommodation, which refers to behavioral changes that family members make to temporarily alleviate a child’s anxiety, has been linked to child anxiety symptom severity. Although emotional vulnerabilities for anxiety such as emotion dysregulation, anxiety sensitivity, and distress intolerance have been associated with family accommodation, research concerning the relationship between these constructs among anxious youth is limited. We hypothesized that these variables would be uniquely and positively associated with family accommodation and would moderate the relationship between anxiety symptom severity and family accommodation. Treatment-seeking child–parent dyads (N = 90; …

[Description And Sample Chapter Of] Living Well With Adult Adhd: Practical Strategies For Improving Your Daily Life, Laura E. Knouse, Russell A. Barkley

Bookshelf

Imagine an ADHD toolkit filled with tried-and-true skills that empower you to be more focused and productive—and to “hack” daily life so your strengths can shine. That's exactly what expert therapist Laura E. Knouse and preeminent authority Russell A. Barkley offer in this friendly guide. In short, engaging chapters, you get a menu of science-based strategies and resources for getting organized, completing tasks from start to finish, managing time, regulating your emotions and impulses, and addressing common relationship problems faced by adults with ADHD. Drs. Knouse and Barkley share ideas you can use every day, complete with checklists, self-coaching tips, …

Exploring Undergraduate Early Childhood Education Students' Conceptualizations Of Stem In Early Learning Contexts, Melany Spiehs

Educational Leadership Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Early childhood is widely recognized as a critical stage for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning, yet many teachers feel underprepared to support children’s foundational knowledge and skills. This study examines how undergraduate students in early childhood education conceptualize STEM within early learning environments through an analysis of their coursework and field experiences. The investigation explores both students’ articulated beliefs about STEM (espoused theories) and how they enacted STEM teaching and learning in practice (theories-in-use). Data were drawn from course artifacts including journals, reflections, learning stories, lesson plans, and field observation notes. While much of the existing literature emphasizes …

Charting The Course: Understanding Key Elements, Stakeholder Insights, And Professional Perspectives In Establishing A Community College Court Reporting Program, Sherman P. Willis

Educational Leadership Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

There is a national shortage of court reporters. This study investigates which elements and essential factors, according to industry criteria and stakeholder feedback, should form the foundation of a community college court reporting program. The research question was decomposed into two components: examining key elements from existing programs; and identifying best practices from judge surveys and essential program components from court reporter interviews.

A mixed analysis included National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)–approved program document review, quantitative surveys of Nebraska judges, and qualitative interviews with Nebraska court reporters. The survey evaluated judicial perspectives on fundamental program components. Semi-structured interviews gathered information …

Record Number Of Students Enter Top Stem Phd Programs, Anthony Bosman

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

Sharksrx Newsletter Fall 2025, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Sharks Rx

No abstract provided.

Subsistence As Resistance: Reconceptualizing The Theory Of Progressive Property To Incubate Resistance To Consumerism, D.S. Pensley

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Article reconceptualizes the theory of progressive property by juxtaposing legal theory with the empirical study of a subsistence economy in the U.S. Subarctic. Progressive property holds that owners are bound by obligations to non-owners as a means to achieve human flourishing. The theory is constrained by the primacy of private property in Western thought, and it also lacks the ecological ethic required for sustainability. Drawing from my fieldwork, I suggest that human flourishing must additionally incubate resistance to consumerism.

Federal statute, 16 U.S.C. § 3113, defines subsistence as “the customary and traditional uses by rural Alaska residents of wild, …

Environmental Bankers: States Are Billing Fossil Fuel Companies For Extreme Weather Disasters, Kelly A. Adam

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

For decades, common law has been the pathway to remediation for environmental tragedies. Victims of traditional environmental harms can pursue justice through legal challenges like nuisance, negligence, and violations of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). However, climate change–induced natural disasters have led to the normalization of the “Act of God” exception; a policy provision commonly used in insurance law that excludes coverage for damage caused by unforeseeable natural disasters. Even so, real cities suffer the consequences of the real harm, whether insurance accepts it or not; so, who bears the burden of funding the recovery?

Maryland, …

Look What You Made Me Do, Russell M. Gold

Washington and Lee Law Review

We have understood for centuries that crime is both the product of social forces and individual choice. We know now that crime is affected by economic deprivation, addiction, trauma, and mental health issues. But American criminal legal processes hide this reality by coercing defendants into expressing a profoundly simple narrative: crime is solely individual choice to do wrong. This coerced narrative finds defendants during a plea colloquy standing up in court saying that they are pleading guilty because they are guilty and for no other reason. A defendant who goes off-script to tell the judge that they have been repeatedly …

The College Voice, Vol. 62, No. 7 [October 1, 2025], Connecticut College

2025-2026

No abstract provided.

From Disruption To Renewal: Harnessing Divine Interruptions And Strategic Leadership For Transforming Church Culture, Ryan Johnson

Great Commission Research Journal

Church revitalization is a field that addresses refreshing the church’s mission and vision by leaders who assess internal and external factors affecting the congregation’s current state. However, researchers in organizational culture argue that refreshed strategies will be ineffective without also addressing underlying cultural issues. This essay addresses the need for and the process of transforming church culture during the revitalization process. Pastors and leaders bring about cultural change by disrupting the status quo. This disruptive leadership is achieved through two approaches. First, leaders proactively and incrementally disrupt the status quo to influence cultural change through faithful pastoral practices. Secondly, leaders …

I Was In Prison And You Educated Me: A Missiological Analysis, Paul H. De Neui

Great Commission Research Journal

With less than 5% of the world’s population, the United States incarcerates more than 25% of the world’s prisoners. The U.S. detains more of its own population than any other country in the world. Providing theological education to men and women who are incarcerated in U.S. prisons presents possibilities for mutual transformation, culture shaping, as well as numerous complex challenges. This article reviews the ten years of North Park Theological Seminary’s involvement in this effort in three state prisons in Illinois, drawing out lessons learned in the process. The opportunities and potential pitfalls are presented from a missiological perspective to …

Fall 2025 Complete Issue, David R. Dunaetz

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Exploration Of Physics-Informed Grid Generation Technique For Wall-Modeled Les Using Eagle3d, Dominic Schneider

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Wall-Modeled Large Eddy Simulation (WMLES) is an area of interest due to its ability to lower computational costs of LES. Even with the application of wall models, LES still proves to have practicality issues when it comes to use in industry, due to the expertise, time, and computational resources required. A novel technique for generating a lean, physics based WMLES grid is described.

The technique utilizes a RANS solution to extract turbulence information, user-specified values related to resolution of turbulent energy levels, acoustics waves, and shock waves, to generate a point cloud for producing a lean WMLES grid with in-house …

Active Measurement Of A Micron-Order Gap Under High-Speed And High-Temperature Conditions, Andrew Becker

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The hypersonic regime poses numerous challenges that researchers face in the development of hypersonic flight vehicles. Due to their excellent thermomechanical properties, ultra-high-temperature ceramics (UHTCs) have risen as a promising solution to act as a protective barrier between the harsh environment and surface materials of these flight bodies. The mechanical operation of a portable hypersonic simulation device was developed in-house and tested at Argonne National Laboratories (ANL) to gather in-situ material response of prospective UHTC samples when exposed to a hypersonic regime. An edge detection-based algorithm was developed and used in LabVIEW to monitor the health and operation of the …

Population Health And Systems Science: Medical Student Feedback On A Novel Approach That Follows A National Curricular Framework, Jeffrey Levin, Gary Beck Dallaghan, Chaynee Atwood, Vanessa Casanova, Cynthia Ball, Theresa Byrd, Emmanuel Elueze, Michael Kennedy, Dalia Nessim, Peter Pendegrass, Yordanos Tiruneh

School of Medicine Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: Population Health and System Science, a longitudinal course at a new medical school in northeast Texas, incorporates case-based learning and experiential field visits during an 18-month pre-clerkship phase. The course integrates content from public and population health, preventive medicine disciplines, and health administration and leadership. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey assessed student self-reports on achievement of session objectives and introduction to national core curricular, cross-cutting, and systems thinking domains. Results: Of 36 students, 33 responded. Most rated objectives favorably. Open-ended responses highlighted relevance to future practice and requested more content on biostatistics, epidemiology, health equity, and healthcare economics, …

The Expanse: Exploring Comparative Mythology In The Mediterranean Through Video Game Development, Michael A. Davis

Senior Theses

This web application, titled The Expanse, explores the arguments surrounding comparative mythology, specifically regarding those in the Mediterranean region. The Expanse is a turn-based role-playing game using the characters and gameplay format of the Shin Megami Tensei video game series. The game depicts the conflict between comparativists and particularists using mythological characters, creating situations in which the player takes sides in a debate that permeates the real world. This story seeks to inform players of the subjective nature of sciences by tying moral dilemmas into an overarching metanarrative specific to comparative mythology.

Fit For Success: Exploring Physical Activity Promotion And Effects On Students At The University Of South Carolina Through A Podcast Series, Maia Schwarzmueller

Senior Theses

College students face unique challenges when trying to maintain physical activity levels, such as time constraints, stress, and lack of proper facilities. The Fit for Success podcast will explore how physical activity is a powerful tool towards enhancing self-perception, academic success, and stress management as well as delve into the specific barriers that University of South Carolina students face to physical activity. The podcast will also explore different aspects of physical activity promotion including group fitness, competition, and built environment. The goal of the podcast is to help students to see physical activity as an important component of many facets …

Compost Grinder For The University Of South Carolina Office Of Sustainability, Rori E. Pumphrey, Grace Yaegel, Aaron R. Sawyer, Bradley White

Senior Theses

This project originates from a collaboration with the USC Office of Sustainability, which seeks to improve the handling and processing of food waste generated on campus. The primary challenge is the difficulty in composting certain types of food waste, such as avocado pits, pumpkin rinds, and other dense or fibrous organic materials that are not easily broken down using conventional methods. Existing commercial solutions are often too large and expensive, or electrically powered, and are thus not well suited for the volume or nature of USC's food waste. To address these limitations, our team designed a manually operated food waste …

(Si15-010) On Perturbations Of Gabor Frames, Jamkhongam Touthang

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Stability plays a crucial role in frame theory and its applications. The present paper studies the interaction between Gabor frames and perturbations, presenting perturbation results related to small changes of the frame parameters and the window functions both in regular and irregular settings. Examples are provided for illustration. Additionally, the paper briefly discusses algorithms pertinent to Gabor frames under perturbations and highlights challenging areas in the field.

The Walking Moai Hypothesis: Archaeological Evidence, Experimental Validation, And Response To Critics, Carl P. Lipo, Terry L. Hunt

Anthropology Datasets

The transport of Rapa Nui's (Easter Island) monumental moai statues has been debated for over a century. Based on a systematic analysis of 962 moai, with a focus on 62 road statues, combined with 3D modeling and experimental trials, we demonstrate that these multi-ton megaliths were designed for transport vertically in a controlled "walking" motion facilitated by their carved shapes. Our evidence includes distinctive morphological features of road moai (wide, D-shaped bases and forward lean), archaeological road characteristics (4.5m wide, concave cross-sections), non-random breakage patterns, and successful experimental validation using a precisely-scaled 4.35 metric ton replica based on road …