Digital Commons Network^™

Mishaps And Misdiagnosis: The Growing Need For Regulation Over The Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis Industry, Anna M. Lucchese

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This note explores negligence involved in a unique type of In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedure that incorporates genetic testing to assess whether an embryos has a harmful genetic abnormality before implantation. This procedure is known as Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGD). The Note explains the current regulatory schemes for PGD in the United States—or lack thereof—compared to other countries and guidelines from international professional societies. It further outlines options for what regulatory authorities in the United States would be best suited to oversee PGD use. The Note ultimately argues that fertility clinics should be required to adopt mandatory quality certifications to enhance …

Hitch Hall Building Health Evaluation, Emily Perkins

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Testing the air and water quality of the Hitch building located on Belmont's campus. Reporting our findings, along with mold and bacteria samples taken from swabs within rooms in Hitch. Showcasing the importance of healthy building practices and proper HVAC systems.

Learning By Doing: The Impact Of Experiential Learning Through Tower Creative Communications, Bryson I. Moore

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Experiential learning has gained recognition as a valuable pedagogical approach in higher education, providing students with hands-on experience that bridges the gap between theory and practice (Phan, 2024). This study examines the benefits of experiential learning through the lens of Tower Creative Communications (TCC), a student-run strategic communications agency. By analyzing five in-depth interviews with former TCC clients and survey responses from organization members, this research explores the real-world impact of student-led professional experiences. Findings indicate that TCC not only enhances students’ technical skills in public relations but also fosters critical thinking, problem-solving, and professional confidence. Clients reported high satisfaction …

Rational Choice Theory: An Evaluation, Camille Liebergen, Troy Terry

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

The Rational Choice Theory is the view that individuals who commit crime behave in a rational way. This theory suggests that criminal behavior is not impulsive, but rather a result of a cost-benefit analysis evaluating the perceived rewards from the act against the potential punishment. It suggests that the criminal justice system can reduce crime by increasing the risks associated with criminal behavior. (Siegel, 101)

Mental Health First Aid With Criminal Justice Students, April N. Terry, Troy Terry

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Mental illness is a major contributor impacting overall health, affecting more than 1 billion people globally (Papish et al., 2013). Research suggests more than 80% of people who die by suicide had a mental illness with suicide being the second leading cause of death for those between the ages of 15-29 (Isometsä, 2001). Yet, many individuals do not seek professional treatment for a variety of factors, including lack of awareness of warning signs and symptoms, mental health stigma, and unavailable services (Baumann, 2007). One method for addressing barriers to mental health treatment includes targeted efforts to improve mental health literacy …

Apathy Or Arrogance? Why High Schoolers Are Uninformed About Current Events, Delia Dixon

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This study analyzes the associations between high school student confidence levels on international current events, their motivations to learn more, optimism for the future, and their general understanding of international current events. Using a survey, I first asked students how confident they felt about their understanding of current events, their level of desire to learn more, why they felt that way, and their level of optimism for the future. The second section had the participants list 3-10 current events that they felt were the most important. The third section tested their general awareness of current global events by having them …

The Dark Side Of Leadership: Thanos’ Destruction And Underwood’S Deception, Mason Haxton, Minhaj Ahmed

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This project looks at the leadership styles and use of power in two well-known fictional villains. Firstly being Thanos from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and also, Frank Underwood from House of Cards. Thanos is both an authoritarian and visionary leader, believing it is his responsibility to restore balance to the universe, even though his plan involves mass destruction. His leadership connects to power orientation and action-oriented leadership theories, showing both prosocial intentions and antisocial actions. While he thinks he is being fair and ethical, his leadership is actually destructive and creating chaos throughout the universe. His refusal to consider other …

Piloting Free Ai Tools For Open Student Course Applications, Christine Hober

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Objective: The purpose of this mixed-methods, quasi-experimental pilot study was to analyze practice outcomes after incorporating the university sponsored artificial intelligence (AI) adaptive learning platforms and assistants with the major course project of the student nurse educator development course. The study’s aim was to implement AI tools without increasing student perceptions of course work stress.

Methodology: Utilizing a convenience sample of 10 graduate students from a mid-western rural, public university following structured implementation of normally assigned coursework, process modifications for implementing AI tools were shared. Surveys analyzed student perceptions of stress (specifically linked to new technology implementation) alongside the perceived …

Res Historica, Volume 4, Lynneth Miller Renberg Phd, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta

Res Historica

The 2025 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg, Samuel Sanders, and Julia Ackerman. The cover art for this volume is an open access image.

Reserve Officer Training Corps Officers’ Perspectives On Diversity, Equity, And Inclusionary Practices In Commissioning Minority Officers In The U.S. Military, Christopher Tompkins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study was the lack of research on Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) officers’ practices using diversity, equity, and inclusionary (DEI) in commissioning minority officers in the U.S. military. This deficiency of literature and research illustrates the necessity to explore ROTC officers' perspectives of practices in this context. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore ROTC officers’ perspectives on DEI practices related to commissioning minority officers in the U.S. military. The conceptual framework was grounded in critical race theory and aversive racism theory. The research question was focused on ROTC officers' perspectives on DEI …

Bioethics Of Patents And Licensing, Tabrez Y. Ebrahim

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Are Technology And The Law On The Same “Wavelength”?: Examining The New Frontier Of Brainwaves And Data Privacy, John G. Browning

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Reimagining Social Media Through Middleware: A Structural Path To Competition And User Agency, Madhavi Singh

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

How Does Racial Bias Impact The Perceptions Of Black Women Regarding Maternal Care?, Tanner K. Braddy

Honors College Theses

Between 1999–2002 and 2018–2021, the maternal mortality rate in the United States increased by 144% from 9.65 to 23.6 deaths per 100,000 live births. Although women of all races are affected by maternal mortality yearly, it is especially prevalent in black women. In the United States, black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than non-black women. Despite advanced medical technology and ongoing research, black women are continuing to die because of pregnancy at an alarming rate. Many studies suggest that discrimination and implicit bias - defined as subconscious feelings, attitudes, prejudices, and stereotypes an individual …

The Black Box Spring 2025, Amberly Neese, Oliver Sowers, Cordelia Cep, Luca Careaga, Annelise Newnum, Austin Palahnuk, Solomon Sharp, Margaret Colwell, Isabella Rekemeyer, Jordan Stephens, Sam Costello, Samuel Davidson, Brandon West, Nevaeh Allen, James Bradley, Sawyer Star, Jaxon Binch, Autumn Cooper, Stetson Miller, Spencer Savage, Abigail Connors, Andreca Garcia, Violet Barton, Kayla Natelli, Elyse Grant, Joshua Taylor, Cristian Garland, Fred Phillips, Matin Winiarsky, Gianna Morelli, Alex Nie, Vanessa Munoz, Andrea Taylor, William Punches, Sheryl Gillum, Axl Burtleson, 22blues, Lara Ortelli, Dylan Hamoaka

Black Box

The Black Box is a creative publication dedicated to displaying the talented work of the Embry-Riddle Prescott community. Creativity and ingenuity flow throughout ERAU and we want to put it on display!

Validity And Reliability In Church-Based Research, David R. Dunaetz

Great Commission Research Journal

Conducting high-quality research is difficult because so many things can go wrong, whether it be poor research design, researcher bias, inaccurate attempts to measure phenomena, random errors made by participants, or any of a myriad of other problems that can occur. Researchers need to consciously seek to maximize the accuracy of their measurements (measurements that are high in reliability) and make credible conclusions (conclusions that are high in validity). This paper explains several forms of validity and reliability using examples from measures of church attendance and spiritual gifts inventories. It first examines how the validity of research design (including both …

Church Doors And Hospital Doors: The Interrelationship, Azubuike Chukwubumnobi Okeke, Samuel Obiajulu Ike

Great Commission Research Journal

This study examines the place of medical evangelism as a means of church expansion in modern Nigeria. It is a retrospective cross-sectional investigative study involving data collection from the Good Shepherd Specialist Hospital’s anonymized patient records. The Good Shepherd Specialist Hospital is in Enugu State in southeastern Nigeria. Over 100,000 patients sought medical care in the hospital during a period of 19 years. Seventy-four percent had spiritual care provided by a person of the same faith. Most of the respondents came from within the Enugu metropolitan area. Using the church planting ministry of the Chapel of His Resurrection within the …

Samgpt: Text-Free Graph Foundation Model For Multi-Domain Pre-Training And Cross-Domain Adaptation, Xingtong Yu, Zechuan Gong, Chang Zhou, Yuan Fang, Hui Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Graphs are able to model interconnected entities in many online services, supporting a wide range of applications on the Web. This raises an important question: How can we train a graph foundational model on multiple source domains and adapt to an unseen target domain? A major obstacle is that graphs from different domains often exhibit divergent characteristics. Some studies leverage large language models to align multiple domains based on textual descriptions associated with the graphs, limiting their applicability to text-attributed graphs. For text-free graphs, a few recent works attempt to align different feature distributions across domains, while generally neglecting structural …

Introduction – Emerging Pollutants In Water: Threats, Challenges, And Research Needs, Sarantuyaa Zandaryaa, Ali Fares, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Water is indispensable for life, health, and environmental sustainability, as underscored by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Traditional water quality assessments have historically focused on pathogens, nutrients, and heavy metals. However, recent decades have witnessed growing concerns over Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs), a diverse class of pollutants with potential risks to human health and ecosystems. CECs encompass pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine-disrupting compounds, and microplastics, entering water bodies via wastewater, industrial discharge, and agricultural runoff. Their persistence and adverse effects pose significant challenges to water treatment technologies. This manuscript explores the scientific understanding, environmental fate, and societal implications …

Who Owns The Heat? Property Rights In Geothermal Energy, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Landowners can have ownership claims to oil, gas, water, and other tangible natural resources located in their subsoil. But can they also claim rights to the thermal energy found below their land? With 50,000 times more heat energy within the top 10,000 meters (around 33,000 feet) of the Earth’s surface than contained in all of the world’s oil and natural gas resources combined, geothermal energy is a tremendously promising, clean, and renewable energy resource. Yet, ambiguities in property rights related to the development and ownership of geothermal energy resources raise questions about who is entitled to benefit from that potential. …

Legal Market Decartelization, Milan Markovic, Nuno Garoupa

Faculty Scholarship

American lawyers’ grip on the legal market is receding. Scholars and policymakers increasingly agree that the public has little to lose and potentially much to gain from legal market decartelization - the weakening of the lawyers’ monopoly over the legal services market. Harkening to deregulatory initiatives abroad and in Arizona and Utah, reformers contend that removing restrictions on the corporate delivery of legal services and unauthorized practice of law will slash costs and expand access to justice.

Drawing on economic theory and recent market developments, this Article offers a cautionary rejoinder. Understandable concerns about cartelization and lawyer rent-seeking have led …

Tomorrow’S Climate Law, Today, Daniel E. Walters

Faculty Scholarship

The prospects for domestic legislation or international treaties that would require governments, businesses, and individuals to stop emitting the greenhouse gases that cause global climate change are particularly bleak these days. Even as the United States has recently passed its most ambitious climate legislation to date in the Inflation Reduction Act and related “green industrial policy” legislation, these successes were ultimately a compromise with politicians who refused to consider more direct controls on emissions. Assuming they survive the second Trump Administration, the green subsidies and nudges contained in these laws, coupled with a groundswell of private environmental governance, will do …

Debt Tokens, Andrea Tosato, Diane Lourdes Dick, Christopher K. Odinet

Faculty Scholarship

The worlds of crypto and bankruptcy have collided. Once-prominent, fast-growing, and even politically influential platforms for trading cryptocurrencies have imploded spectacularly. Gone are the glossy advertisements, celebrity endorsements, and proclamations that blockchain operates as a law unto itself. Instead, insolvent crypto businesses—including the crypto exchange giant FTX—find themselves in bankruptcy court, no different from any other failed enterprise. These bankruptcies reveal a startling reality: individual investors who placed their trust in these platforms have been stripped of their digital assets. In their stead, they hold hard-to-collect claims against these defunct platforms.

Amid the chill of the crypto winter, bankruptcy has …

Capital Formation, The Sec, And Accredited Investors, Neal F. Newman, Lawrence J. Trautman, Brian Elzweig

Faculty Scholarship

Protecting the investing public, while simultaneously facilitating the efficient flow of capital needed by all new and growing businesses continues as a primary responsibility of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Enhancing the capital formation process is a necessary step in the creation of jobs and growth of any economy. Central to the SEC’s regulatory schematic is the proposition that some particularly sophisticated and wealthy investors require less protection than those with less knowledge, experience, and resources. During December 2023, for just the third time, the SEC staff issued a report examining the status of the natural person accredited …

Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Creation, And The Future Path Of Copyright Law, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Most literature at the intersection of copyright and AI has focused primarily on what copyright law is or ought to be. Frequently overlooked is the question of what copyright law will be in the AI space. Understanding this question is crucial because the path of copyright law chosen by the United States will have a major impact on the country's economic and technological future.

This article begins by scrutinizing two lines of arguments that have been advanced to deny copyright protection to AI-generated works: constitutional and incentive-based. The article then discusses a third line of arguments—harmonization-based arguments—and identifies select instances …

What's Missing From Value-Based Care-Accounting For The Costs And Benefits Of Quality Improvement, Donald E. Casey

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Guide To Sec And Business Open Source Corporate Intelligence, Lawrence J. Trautman, Brian Elzweig, Neal F. Newman

Faculty Scholarship

An agency of the U.S. intelligence community observes, "The explosion of open source intelligence (OSINT) in recent years has transformed how governments and people around the world consume and process information about society and global issues." It is likely that "We all use open-source and probably don't even realize it, but we also use it for different reasons. You might use open-source information to do a credibility check and to find out more about the person selling you something on Facebook marketplace." Others "may research someone… met on a dating app or before hiring someone for a job." Every use …

Physiotherapy In Community-Based Rehabilitation In Middle And Low-Income Countries: A Scoping Review, Er D. Petil Jr., Napoleon R. Caballero

Philippine Journal of Physical Therapy

Introduction: Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) is a widely recognized approach to address the rehabilitation needs of individuals with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Physical therapy (PT) plays a crucial role within CBR programs. This study aimed to synthesize the current state of literature regarding the integration of PT in CBR programs in LMICs across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, examining key characteristics, reported outcomes, and challenges to implementation.

Methods: A comprehensive review of literature was conducted, focusing on studies published in the past decade. Data were extracted and synthesized in matrix format to compare and contrast findings across the …

Insulin Treatment Regimen Of Type 1 Diabetic Children And Adolescents Attending Children Welfare Teaching Hospital/ Medical City, Swalin Shamoon, Munib Alzubaidi

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

Background:Insulin therapy is the cornerstone treatment of tT1DM in children and adolescents. Various insulin types and modes of administration are available with various efficacy and safety. Aim of the study: To evaluate the difference in efficacy between conventional regimen and multiple daily doses in treatment and control of T1DM among children and adolescents.Patients and methods:This study is a clinical prospective follow-up study conducted in Diabetic clinic of Children Welfare Teaching Hospital at Medical Complex in Baghdad city-Iraq for 10 months duration from 1st of December, 2020 till 30th of September, 2021 on an acceptable sample of 75 children and adolescents …

Anti-Carbamylated Protein Antibodies In A Sample Of Iraqi Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Hanan Sedeeq, Nizar Jassim, Leen Mustafa Kamil

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

ABSTRACT Background:: Systmic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune illness characterized by extensive immune complex deposition and consequent tissue damage. It is distinguished by the presence of antinuclear antibodies and the involvement of several organ systems.Objective: is to assess serum anticarbamylated protein antibody (anti-CarP) level in SLE patients and evaluate the association between anti-CarP antibodies with different disease characteristics.Subjects and Methods: Serum level of anti-CarP antibody was measured for a total of 40 adult female patients with SLE whom attended the Rheumatology Consultation Clinic of Baghdad Teaching Hospital / Medical City, compared with 40 apparently healthy controls matched in ages and …