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Terrorism Financing In The Digital Age: The Illicit Exploitation Of Cryptocurrencies, Vesna Markovic

Justice, Law, and Public Safety Studies Department Faculty Articles

Terrorist groups rely on their ability to support their operations by financing training, securing infrastructure, transporting fighters, and acquiring weapons and munitions. This necessitates the pursuit of illicit funding sources to cover expenses. These funds cover the costs of logistics, use of safety, transportation of fighters, and acquisition of weapons and munitions to sustain their operations. In the past several decades, terrorist groups have employed various methods in their activities. In recent decades, terrorist groups have faced escalating challenges in this domain due to the tightening of oversight measures by law enforcement agencies targeting their financing channels. This has compelled …

Staff Education To Improve Medication Nonadherence In Behavioral Clinic, Evette Amundam Akam

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The project is a staff education initiative to address medication nonadherence in a behavioral health outpatient clinic. The practice-focused question underpinning this project was, Will a staff education program with essential components improve staff knowledge, skill, and attitudes, ultimately improving medication adherence among behavioral health patients in outpatient clinics? I sought to design, implement, and evaluate an evidence-based educational program that equips healthcare providers with the knowledge and skills to identify, address, and overcome barriers to medication adherence. I used both quantitative and qualitative analytical methods. The results demonstrate improvements, with the average knowledge score increasing from 62.75% to 96% …

Police Officers’ Use Of Force In The Low Country Of South Carolina, Mariah Roy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

United States police officers' use of force is an ongoing concern of many community members. As these encounters continue to occur, lawmakers in states, including South Carolina (SC), have revitalized or implemented statutes addressing the use of force. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to better understand the use of force in law enforcement from the perspectives of community members in the Low Country region of SC. The rational model and contact hypothesis served as the study’s foundation. Data were collected from interviews with 10 participants over the age of 18 from Charleston, SC, a city within the …

Arab Americans’ Views Of Arab Lobbying Efforts Related To The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, Samar Farha

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research on ethnic lobbying has largely neglected the perspectives of Arab Americans, creating a disconnect between this community and their lobbying efforts. This gap is crucial because it threatens to widen the disconnect between Arab Americans and their lobbying groups, where effective lobbying depends on a unified message. Existing studies highlight this gap, pointing out the lack of unified organization and ongoing resource constraints that limit the influence of Arab American lobbyists on U.S. foreign policy. The purpose of this generic qualitative was to explore Arab Americans’ perceptions of their lobbying efforts and the factors shaping these perceptions based on …

A Systematic Review Of Metaverse Cybersecurity: Frameworks, Challenges, And Strategic Approaches In A Quantum-Driven Era, Hasan Ali Al-Tameemi, Ghadeer Ghazi Shayea, Mishall Al-Zubaidie, Yahya Layth Khaleel, Yahya Layth Khaleel, Noor Al-Huda K. Hussein, Raad Z. Homod, Mohammad Aljanabi, O. S. Albahri, A. H. Alamoodi, Maad M. Mijwil, Mohammed A. Fadhel, Iman Mohamad Sharaf, Mohanad G. Yaseen, Ahmed Hussein Ali, U. S. Mahmoud, Saleh M. Mohammed, A. S. Albahri

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

This study aims to perform a detailed systematic review that investigates and synthesizes the available literature on the challenges and strategies in cybersecurity in the Metaverse. The methodology employed was to ensure a comprehensive literary analysis of the study methods, employing databases such as ScienceDirect (SD), Scopus, IEEE Xplore (IEEE), and Web of Science (WoS). The search was conducted by employing a query that would yield articles published until September 2024, resulting in a total of 325 papers. After vigorous screening, deduplication, and application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 34 studies were identified for quantitative synthesis. These papers were …

Full Issue 17(2) 2025

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Introduction 17(2) 2025, Rosalind Latiner Raby

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Criminal Abortion And Citizen’S Arrest, Ira P. Robbins

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

In the aftermath of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, many states rushed to classify abortion as homicide. In addition to criminalizing abortion, some states have shown a willingness to place enforcement of the new laws in the hands of ordinary citizens through a variety of private enforcement mechanisms. These new abortion statutes exist in tandem with existing citizen’s arrest laws to create the possibility for women, providers, and those who assist them to be subject to this problem-ridden doctrine. This Article analyzes potential scenarios in which these areas clash and pose new risks to exercising what was not long …

The Sec, Fraud, And Cryptocurrencies, Lawrence J. Trautman, Brian Elzweig, Neal F. Newman

Missouri Law Review

The SEC’s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022–2026 is focused on the impact of the rapidly developing rate of change in new technologies that provide for markets to be more interconnected and interdependent than ever. Because Congress has yet to give the SEC, or any other agency, express authority to regulate cryptocurrency, the SEC has taken a regulation-by-enforcement approach. The SEC’s recent enforcement efforts relating to crypto asset securities were substantial, with enforcement actions addressing a range of alleged misconduct in the crypto asset securities space, including billion-dollar crypto fraud schemes; unregistered crypto asset offerings, platforms, and intermediaries; and illegal …

Masthead

Missouri Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Clobes Conundrum: Why Muldrow Should Not Apply To Hostile Work Environment Claims And How The Eighth Circuit Got It Right, M. Thomas Yang

Missouri Law Review

In 2024, the Supreme Court held that an employee does not have to prove material harm to prevail on a discrimination claim under Title VII. Because hostile work environment claims also derive from Title VII, courts and litigants are currently grappling with whether this ruling upends the long-standing “severe or pervasive” doctrine. This Note argues that it does not. Passed in 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it illegal for “an employer . . . to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, …

The Buck Stops Here: Missouri Legislature’S Defunding Of Abortion Providers, Maizey Edgar

Missouri Law Review

On May 2, 2022, the Supreme Court’s draft opinion for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization leaked online. The era-defining opinion to overturn fifty years of Roe v. Wade and undo the constitutional right to abortion reinvigorated the discussion surrounding reproductive healthcare access among the American public, with the majority of Americans supporting legal access to abortion in all or most cases. Over the last decade, a movement to defund abortion providers has arisen, and the issue of defunding has become an even hotter point of debate after the Dobbs decision. In Missouri, elected representatives have fought to defund Planned …

Suicide’S Shadow: The Evolution Of A Ghost Crime, Scott W. Howe

Missouri Law Review

Law treats suicide as malfeasance—a display of mental illness and, worse, a ghost crime that has never left us. While states no longer criminally punish suicide, they detain and force mental-health treatment on many who attempt it, or indicate they might attempt it, and threaten criminal sanctions against those who aid or encourage it. For these and other reasons, the suicide label functions not merely as a description of an event but as a censure. A lengthy, legal history, fueled originally by religion but then tempered by pragmatism, led to these circumstances and can largely rationalize relevant legal doctrines and …

Intangible Harms, Tangible Consequences: Analyzing The Impact Of Transunion On Standing To Sue For Data Breach, Noelle Wilson, Amanda Reid

Missouri Law Review

Scholars and practitioners predicted that the 2021 Supreme Court case TransUnion v. Ramirez would essentially nullify the private right of action—a key enforcement mechanism for many consumer privacy laws. This Article analyzes federal courts (N=96) interpreting TransUnion in data breach contexts. Our contribution is twofold: (1) identifying tests courts employ to determine whether data breach plaintiffs have alleged sufficient “injury in fact” to establish Article III standing, and (2) highlighting the areas of inconsistency in how courts employ those tests. The analysis serves to ground the scholarly debate about the implications of TransUnion in holding breached entities accountable. Despite the …

Rediscovering Ancient Greek Pigmentation, Cynthia-Rose Seeds

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This thesis paper will discuss various questions relating to pre-Greco-Roman Ancient Greek paint pigments. In recent years discoveries of paint samples on Ancient Greek sculptures and architecture are becoming increasingly common, contradicting the stereotype that history has made of Ancient Greece having a pristine white aesthetic in their artwork. (Brinkmann, 2008) The various paint pigments that can be found throughout excavations in Greece, as well as the general history of pigments, create a new narrative when it comes to the art of Ancient Greece. Using various evidence such as pigment samples, artworks, textual primary sources, and scholarly research, this thesis …

Cyber Security Of Autonomous Vehicles: The Implications For City Planning, Tegg Westbrook

Journal of Strategic Security

The rise of autonomous vehicles (AVs) has proclaimed positive consequences for urban quality, including reductions in accidents and deaths. As automobiles become digitalized, questions over cyber or electronic threats require further contextualization in urban security scholarship. Focusing on literature on radiofrequency interference of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-aided and -dependent systems, the aim of this article is to consider threats to vehicle safety from electronic interference and the implications for users, city planners, asset managers, and vehicle manufacturers.

While well-known issues such as privacy aversion, tax avoidance, and fraud are documented, it expands on other less-well-known threats to autonomous vehicles …

Understanding The Strategic Value Of The Assassination Of President Juvénal Habyarimana, Jonathan R. Beloff

Journal of Strategic Security

This article examines the assassination of former Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana through the utilization of strategic theory. The President's assassination on the night of April 6, 1994, ignited the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which killed up to a million Rwandan Tutsis and non-extremist Hutus within 100 days. While the assassins are still unknown, speculation exists of whether the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) or the former ruling akazu ordered the attack. It concludes that the akazu was the most likely actor behind Habyarimana's assassination, given that the structure of strategic incentives favored its position over the alternatives.

An Analysis Of Androgen Receptor (Ar) Variants In Breast Cancer, Elaine Vanterpool

Student Posters

The androgen receptor gene is more than 90 kb long and codes for a protein that has 3 major functional domains: the N terminal domain, DNA-binding domain, and androgen-binding domain. The protein functions as a steroid-hormone activated transcription factor. Upon binding the hormone ligand, the receptor dissociates from accessory proteins, translocates into the nucleus, dimerizes, and then stimulates transcription of androgen responsive genes. This gene contains 2 polymorphic trinucleotide repeat segments that encode polyglutamine and polyglycine tracts in the N-terminal transactivation domain of its protein. Expansion of the polyglutamine tract from the normal 9-34 repeats to the pathogenic 38-62 repeats …

An Analysis Of Diabetes Associated With Appl1 Variants D94n And R46w, Elaine Vanterpool, Gaielle Price

Student Posters

Diabetes is a chronic condition characterized by high blood sugar levels resulting from the body's inability to produce or effectively use insulin. Type 2 diabetes, the most common form, is often linked to insulin resistance, where cells do not respond properly to insulin. The APPL1 gene encodes a multifunctional adaptor protein that plays a key role in insulin and adiponectin signaling, both of which are crucial for glucose metabolism. APPL1 enhances insulin stimulated glucose uptake by activating Akt, a major component in the insulin signaling pathway. Deficiencies in APPL1 have been linked to impaired insulin signaling, contributing to insulin resistance …

Analysis Of The Capn10 Gene In Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Elaine Vanterpool, Gabrielle Murray

Student Posters

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal imbalance disorder unique to females that primarily affects the ovaries. It is common in women of reproductive age and characterized by irregular menstrual cycles and further health issues include diabetes type 2, ovarian cysts and infertility. Many women with PCOS have insulin resistance. CAPN10 is the first diabetes gene to be identified through a genome scan. It was also found to be associated with other Cardiometabolic disease and PCOS. CAPN10 gene also known as the calpain-10 is a calcium dependent cysteine protease. This means its activity is regulated by calcium ions and it …

Unveiling Genetic Links To Hypertension: Smad4 Mutations And Their Predicted Impact, Elaine Vanterpool, Cailey Wilson

Student Posters

Hypertension, commonly referred to as high blood pressure, is a significant public health concern due to its role in increasing the risk of life-threatening conditions such as heart attack and stroke. Often called the "silent killer," hypertension typically presents without symptoms, leading many individuals to remain unaware of their condition until complications arise. While lifestyle factors play a crucial role in hypertension development, genetic factors have also been increasingly recognized as contributors to disease susceptibility. This study focuses on the genetic basis of hypertension by investigating the SMAD4 gene, which encodes a protein involved in intracellular signaling pathways. Mutations in …

Green Luxury Hotels: How Sustainability Can Succeed With Better Governance, Roland Joice

Senior Theses

Vacations are universal. People from all around the world use trips as a getaway from their routine lives. They could be long-distance or short, budget or luxury, but they all share the purpose of a new and different experience. As described by the United Nations, tourism “enhances the well-being of individuals, safeguards the natural environment, stimulates economic advancement, and fosters international harmony.” (Pololikashvili, UN Tourism, 2024). However, as the world has grown to become more interconnected than ever, tourism has also grown exponentially. With the post-COVID-19 boom, there is more worry today than ever before regarding the negative impacts travel …

Focal Adhesion Genes And Proteins Are Differentially Expressed Across Cell Types In Down Syndrome, Brian Yoon

Senior Theses

Down syndrome (DS), caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21, leads to widespread gene expression changes through mechanisms such as transcriptional dysregulation and altered protein interactions. These disruptions contribute to a range of clinical features, including impaired wound healing, immune dysfunction, and neurodevelopmental abnormalities. This study focused on how DS affects fibroblast morphology and motility—processes critical for tissue repair and brain development. Using quantitative immunocytochemistry and image analysis, we found that DS fibroblasts displayed a broader, less polarized shape, with increased cell perimeter and reduced aspect ratio. However, levels of key adhesion proteins like vinculin, FAK, and β-actin were …

Achieving Total Health Using Food To Heal: A Podcast On A Holistic Approach To Nutrition, Taylor Sharer

Senior Theses

Nutrition is the key to a healthy and happy life. In a world where chronic, avoidable diseases are the leading cause of death, it is necessary to educate the public on how they can improve their overall health and wellbeing using food. Every aspect of health is interconnected, and what we eat can create massive changes in our health. My project focuses on holistic nutrition, providing an easily accessible, science-based and informative discourse about how to reach health and wellness goals through a podcast. Using personalized experience combined with current research, I discuss topics such as whole foods, individualized nutrition, …

Frenemies? Fascists And Conservatives In Interwar Britain, Dylan R. Cameron

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the attitudes, beliefs, and arguments of British Conservatives (Tories) in discussions about British fascism through the lens of two mainstream Conservative newspapers, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, focused primarily on the buildup and aftermath of the infamous Olympia rally in June 1934. This thesis identifies two key factions within the conservative movement which arose in reaction to the rise of Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists (BUF): (1) the staunchly anti-fascist “mainline Tories” who detested the BUF’s “foreign” character, propensity for violence, and antithesis to traditional liberal democratic principles, and (2) the fascist-sympathizing “reactionary Tories” …

The Isolation And Characterization Of Acidovorax And Brevundimonas Bacteriophages With Preliminary Biocontrol Study On Arabidopsis Thaliana, Minh Quynh N. Vu

Senior Theses

As antibiotic-resistance becomes an increasing global concern, researchers are looking for alternatives to combat phytopathogenic rhizobacteria – one of which is through the application of phage biocontrol. To elucidate the complex tripartite relationships between phage, bacteria and plant interactions, nine novel phages were isolated from potential phytopathogenic strains of Acidovorax (RBW13) and Brevundimonas (RBW18). These phages were isolated from root samples obtained from the Rocky Branch Creek and the Broad River located in Columbia, SC. Using Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), we identified seven “medium sized” phages (~40 kbp), one “large-sized” phage (~200 kbp), and one “small-sized” phage ( < 25 kbp). Three phages were determined to be lambda-like due to their “ladder-building” patterns on PFGE. Although spot-tests revealed that all phages seemed to have broad host ranges that spanned over multiple genera, plaque-formations must be observed in future experiments to determine if these phages can infect their hosts productively. Preliminary in planta experiments were performed on Arabidopsis thaliana …