Digital Commons Network^™

Beyond A Shadow Of A Doubt: Examining The Female Gothic In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein And Bram Stoker's Dracula, Delaney Harrington

Ex Sapientia Loqui

This paper establishes characteristics of the Female Gothic subgenre, traces the origin of the fiction subgenre throughout the years, and applies these characteristics to argue that Frankenstein and Dracula should be considered prime examples of feminist literature. I analyse the characters of both novels, as well as the authors' respective intentions and social contexts.

Galen Of Pergamum: Life, Literature, And Legacy, Elyse Rogers

Ex Sapientia Loqui

Galen of Pergamum was a second-century physician whose work had an enduring impact on the field of medicine. His extensive writings were the primary reference and teaching materials for the medical community for over a millennium. While his ideas were revolutionary for his time, they were eventually outdated. Nevertheless, there was a continued reliance on his authority, which hindered scientific advancement. Galen both advanced the world of medicine with his emphasis on observational analysis and constrained its progress through the profound dominance of his theories.

This paper aims to understand the life of Galen and the significance of his work …

In The Shadow Of Justice: How The Mythos Of The Batman Balances Major Ethical Theories In His Pursuit Of Ideal Justice, Camille Bewley

Ex Sapientia Loqui

For more than eighty years, the Batman character has exhibited a unique synthesis of major theories of Justice, and through his experiences as a vigilante, exemplified the pursuit of the ideal virtue of Justice. Because virtue requires a lived example to be understood, Batman is one of the foundational stories fulfilling this need for one of collective society’s prominent pillars. Within the horror of Gotham City–a hyperbolic, fictional representation of urban corruption–Batman’s actions as a vigilante, walking a tightrope to maintain morality even above the law might not only be justified, but necessary. The Batman’s nature, balancing ethical theories and …

Report On Alpha Chi, Camille Bewley

Ex Sapientia Loqui

A report on the state in 2026 of the Arkansas Eta Chapter of Alpha Chi.

Full Issue, Clara Kernodle

Ex Sapientia Loqui

No abstract provided.

Are Nonprofit Tax Exemptions And Deductions "Federal Financial Assistance"? Should They Be?, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

Florida Tax Review

Two recent federal court decisions have reignited the debate over whether “Federal financial assistance” as used in four federal anti-discrimination statutes includes the tax benefits enjoyed by most nonprofit organizations. Both courts concluded that it does. While an appellate court reversed one decision, and the other case settled without appellate review, these holdings create significant uncertainty. And this uncertainty affects the more than 1.8 million tax-exempt nonprofits, many if not most of which do not receive federal financial assistance through other channels and so could safely conclude these statutes do not reach them, absent these decisions. This uncertainty is also …

Redemption! Valuing Closely Held Companies After Connelly, Adam Chodorow

Florida Tax Review

In Connelly v. United States, the Supreme Court resolved a long-standing dispute over how to treat redemption obligations when valuing a decedent’s shares in a closely held company. The Court held that redemption obligations do not offset corporate-owned life insurance proceeds obtained to fund a redemption, upsetting a long-standing practice. While the Court undoubtedly reached the right conclusion, it (1) failed to address important arguments the parties and amici raised; (2) assumed away the effects of discounts, premiums and different valuation techniques, which would have complicated the analysis without changing the conclusion; and (3) muddied the water somewhat by …

State Tax Discrimination And Internal Consistency, Michael T. Fatale

Florida Tax Review

The contours of the U.S. Supreme Court’s dormant Commerce Clause doctrine of internal consistency, which asks whether a state tax intrinsically overreaches in imposing a burden upon interstate commerce, are difficult to understand. This is despite the fact that a determination that a state tax violates internal consistency can have significant state fiscal consequences. This uncertainty was suggested again by the recent case, Zilka v. Tax Review Board City of Philadelphia, for which the Supreme Court later denied certiorari. See 304 A.3d 1153 (Pa. 2023), cert. denied, 145 S. Ct. 1045 (2025).

The parameters of the internal consistency …

The Mother Of All Tax Shelters, Michael Doran

Florida Tax Review

By its own account, the federal government spends more than $500 billion every year to subsidize retirement savings in 401(k) plans, IRAs and similar arrangements. That figure is larger than the annual budget of every government agency other than the four largest. The theory behind this massive subsidy is that it gives workers at all income levels an incentive to save money that they would otherwise spend, thereby enhancing retirement security, reducing old-age poverty and easing dependence on Social Security. But the theory is wrong. The retirement tax subsidy is anything but egalitarian. Less than five percent of the subsidy …

The Chilling Effect Of Sffa V. Unc/Harvard On Race-Based Affirmation By Tax-Exempt Charities, David A. Brennen

Florida Tax Review

Recently, the Supreme Court decided in SFFA v. Harvard/UNC that colleges are restricted in their use of race-based affirmative action in admissions. Post-SFFA, many have incorrectly suggested that this means that race may never be considered in admissions. This Article asserts that this expansive view of SFFA is incorrect and leads to a chilling effect on affirmative action by colleges. However, instead of simply asserting that SFFA permits some considerations of race in admissions, the Article goes further by arguing that SFFA does not even apply to admissions by some private colleges. For instance, private colleges that are …

Taxing Royalties Where Value Is Created: Is A Redraft Of The Oecd Model Tax Convention Necessary?, Valentina Emanuele

Florida Tax Review

This Article examines whether Article 12 of the OECD Model Tax Convention should be redrafted to tax royalties where value is created in an increasingly IP-driven and digitalized economy. It traces the historical evolution and current structure of royalty provisions in the OECD, U.N. and U.S. Model Conventions, highlighting inconsistencies between formal source rules and the underlying economics of royalty income. Building on an economic concept of value creation, the Article argues that royalties are best understood as active, business-related income generated through research and development, IP protection and market exploitation across multiple jurisdictions. It then proposes a reallocation of …

Pillar Two: Much Ado About Next To Nothing?, Julie A. Roin

Florida Tax Review

The OECD has spent the last fifteen years working on the design and implementation of rules for the taxation of income derived from international transactions, rules that are supposed to both increase corporate tax revenues and minimize “destructive” tax competition. Pillar Two, the second part of the two-part “Inclusive Framework,” was released in July of 2021. It is designed to force countries to impose a minimum tax on income derived by large multinational enterprises. Pillar Two–compliant taxes have been enacted by most of the countries in the European Union, Japan, South Korea and other economically important countries, but not by …

Time Value Of Money (One More Time), Daniel Halperin

Florida Tax Review

Nearly 40 years ago I wrote Interest in Disguise: Taxing the Time Value of Money. The article showed that if the party’s marginal tax rate is constant, since the present value of the amount included or deducted may not change, deferral (or acceleration) of income or expense does not necessarily affect the tax impact. However, there seems to be surprisingly little recognition of the widespread impact of the insight that the timing of income and deductions may not affect value.

There are several academic proposals suggesting that recognition of present value equivalence can improve understanding of the impact of …

Trusted Distribution And Authentication Of Ai Agent Artifacts, Niranjan M M

Defensive Publications Series

AI-driven systems increasingly rely on externally developed AI agent artifacts, such as agents, tools, plugins, and services, that are distributed through registries or marketplaces and executed within enterprise environments. While existing registries enable discovery and existing runtime security systems focus on detecting malicious behavior during execution, there is no mechanism to ensure that such artifacts are authentic, legitimately published, and governed across their lifecycle before execution.

The proposal introduces systems and methods for trusted distribution and authentication of AI agent artifacts, establishing a pre-execution trust framework that enables consuming systems to verify publisher identity, artifact authenticity, provenance, and lifecycle state …

Dynamic Watch Complications, Sumukh A. Shevde, Kamran Mustafa, Abhijit Adsule

Defensive Publications Series

This document describes a system in which a smart watch—also referred to as a wearable device, fitness tracker, or digital timepiece—displays different configurations of watch faces, widgets, app shortcuts, or complications, depending on different contexts. The system utilizes a context engine to monitor real-time data from sensors and system applications, such as temporal data, spatial data, schedule data, and activity data, to determine a user’s current situation and predict the user’s desired screen layout. The system uses a strict set of rules to resolve any conflicting information to ensure predictable and relevant information delivery. Based on the user’s current context …

Topological Phase Matrix Computing With Hyper-Spatial Extensions: Integer 12-Vector Lattice With Dynamic Small-World Connectivity (Moution Extension), Olexandr Lozovyi

Defensive Publications Series

We present a deterministic spatial computing architecture extending integer-based phase lattices (VOC AI / MOUTION frameworks) with dynamically evolving non-local connections. The system operates on a 12-vector isotropic neighborhood approximating a face-centered cubic (FCC) topology in 2D projection. By introducing bounded virtual links, the lattice forms an emergent small-world network enabling rapid global information propagation (insight generation) while preserving strictly O(1) per-node complexity. The model is fully integer-based, requires no floating-point arithmetic, and deterministically converges to metastable attractors. This work establishes prior art for bounded-degree hyper-spatial phase computation, dynamic plasticity, and M-layered multiplexed topologies.

Automatedly Assemblable Roll-Cage For Formula Racecars, Triggered By Artificial Intelligence (Ai), Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

Here, it is disclosed the roll cage of an active / automated safety system for the protection of Formula racecar drivers. It consists of a multiple times deployable and retractable titanium or other metal roll cage comprised by two semi-roll cages at each side, that rotate from an undeployed position to a deployed position to assemble said roll cage. When undeployed, each semi-roll cage at each side is concealed inside the corresponding sidepod of the racecar (See Figures 1 to 4). This active safety system can be deployed as a preventive safety measure or deployed to provide protection in an …

Assessing The Aesthetic Responsiveness Among Patients In A Free Clinic Setting, Jack E. Pitts

Student Scholar Showcase

Art therapy has increasingly been recognized as a complementary intervention in healthcare settings, with demonstrated benefits for stress reduction and overall biopsychosocial well-being. However, limited research has explored aesthetic engagement within medically underserved and economically disadvantaged populations. This study examines aesthetic responsiveness among patients receiving care at the Free Clinic of Central Virginia using a standardized Aesthetic Responsiveness Assessment. The assessment consists of 14 Likert-scale questions assessing individuals’ cumulative aptitude across three domains: aesthetic appreciation, intense aesthetic experience, and creative behavior. Responses and data were collected voluntarily and anonymously, and they were analyzed to better understand how patients in an …

Late-Season Forb Availability And Bumble Bee Foraging Patterns In Iowa’S Restored Prairies And Suburban Gardens, Isaac De Young, Ellary Carson, Mya Cole, Tucker Draayer, Sharon Huffman, Naomi Johnson, Jasmine Lux, Genesis Maldonado, Caitlin Olson, Maelee Rodenburg, Jordan Shull, Travis Sweeney, Arianna Van Donkelaar, Laurie Furlong, Todd Tracy

Celebration of Research

Pollinators are essential to terrestrial ecosystems, and bumble bees are among the most effective pollinators in the United States (Hatfield et al., 2012). They pollinate forbs (non-grass herbaceous flowering plants), including crops, garden plants, and native prairie species (Dumroese et al., 2016). Their ability to travel long distances, forage in cool temperatures, and buzz-pollinate makes them critical to both wild and agricultural productivity (Mola & Williams et al., 2019). Research shows that bumble bee populations have declined in recent decades due to habitat loss, reduced floral resources, pesticide exposure, and climate change (IPBES, 2016).

Northwest Iowa is dominated by agriculture, …

Political Orientation As A Predictor For Collegiate Anger And Narcissism, Tyson D. Braunschweig, Jay Medenwaldt

Celebration of Research

Recent research suggests a potential association between anger and narcissism among politically right-leaning individuals (Hart & Stekler, 2022; Maglić et al., 2024). It also indicates a potential relationship between political extremism and anger (Marinthe et al., 2025; Dono et al., 2024). To test these hypotheses, 100 Midwest college students were surveyed and answered questions regarding their political orientation, level of narcissism, and level of anger. A multiple regression was performed, seeking to predict political orientation scores from anger and narcissism scores. We found anger and narcissism to not be significant predictors of political orientation, both together and separately. Anger and …

Role Of Dental Screening In Preventing Hip Prosthetic Joint Infections, Aidan Anderson, Cailee Dix, Emma Franken, Erin Keizer, Zavyr Metzger, Tyra Snyder, Pam Hulstein

Celebration of Research

Hip arthroplasty is a common procedure, but Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) remains a serious postoperative complication associated with increased hospital stays, readmissions, and costs. Evidence suggests that poor oral health may contribute to PJIs through the spread of bacteria from the mouth to the surgical site. This project examined the relationship between preoperative dental health and postoperative outcomes in adults aged 50–90 undergoing hip replacement. A literature review using the Johns Hopkins Research Evidence Appraisal Tool evaluated 19 studies from databases such as PubMed and ScienceDirect. While no clear association was found between specific dental risk factors and PJIs, untreated …

Does Reappraisal Of Test Anxiety Improve Performance?, Lydia Baker, Jay Medenwaldt

Celebration of Research

Test anxiety, anxious thoughts and worries surrounding testing, is a relevant issue for around 20-30% of students today. Different methods have been researched to treat test anxiety, including emotion regulation strategies, one of which is cognitive reappraisal. Personality traits such as neuroticism may make it hard for a person to emotionally regulate, which is why cognitive reappraisal is helpful. A Qualtrics survey was distributed that placed people into 3 experimental groups: positive reappraisal, negative reappraisal, and a control group, and participants were asked to complete a memory test after reappraisal. A One-way ANOVA revealed no significant effect of reappraisal on …

The Intentional Soundtrack: Using Specific Music To Proactively Manage The Elementary Classroom, Meredith Sundberg, Angela Carlson, Carrie Thonstad

Celebration of Research

This research investigates how educators can intentionally use specific musical genres and tempos as reliable environmental cues to enhance student attention, engagement, and classroom management. While the general benefits of music in education are well-documented, this study seeks to identify which genres are most effective for specific instructional outcomes. While conducting a four-week comparative study across four second-grade classrooms, I evaluated the impact of upbeat and slow music during transitions, classical and pop music during independent spelling work, and classical, pop, and curriculum related music math brain breaks. Data was collected through observational rubrics, student surveys, and academic test scores. …

Geographic Trends In North American Tornado Risk: A 75 Year Analysis, Thomas Tracy, Todd Tracy

Celebration of Research

In recent years, many meteorologists have claimed that ‘tornado alley’ has shifted over the last decades toward the east. We wanted to see if this claim holds true. We searched online for databases containing information on all US and all Canada tornadoes. By visualizing the data, we were able to find some trends in rating and the number of tornadoes over time. Using a program we wrote in R, we calculated the geographical average for tornadoes for each year. We also weighted this average by the rated magnitude of each tornado and by the number of deaths from each tornado. …

Emergent Dynamics In Multiplex Social Networks: Agent-Based Modeling Of Information Diffusion For Misinformation Control, Harshvardhan Prabhakar Ghongade, Anjali Ashokrao Bhadre, Shivani Agarwal, Harjitkumar Uttamrao Pawar, Harshal Subhash Rane

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Information misrepresentation is widespread in multi-layered social networks which provide multiple avenues to communicate information. As such, it presents significant opportunities for both information integrity and public discourse to be undermined by disinformation. This paper outlines a new agent-based model, developed to capture emergent dynamics of multi-layered social networks and to help identify technical means to mitigate information misrepresentation in complex systems. A key component of this research includes a novel Multi-Layer Information Diffusion Model (MLIDM), integrating both cross-layer communication among agents, as well as heterogeneous agent behaviors and adaptive intervention strategies. Our methods employ a three-stage process to model …

Teaching With S2scc-Ai: A Practical Framework For Sport Management Classrooms, Kimberly D. Bynum, Wendy T. Gillis

The COSMA Journal

ABSTRACT

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, including tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity, are radically changing how higher ed students approach their college learning experience. These shifts are especially impactful in undergraduate sport management programs, where employers expect graduates to demonstrate teamwork, critical thinking and digital literacy skills. As AI becomes embedded across sport industry functions such as event operations, marketing, analytics, and fan engagement, higher ed pedagogy must evolve to reflect the professional contexts students are preparing to enter. In this paper, Student-to-Student Co-Creation enhanced by AI (S2SCC-AI) is advanced as a practical, COSMA-aligned pedagogical framework for leveraging …

Annual Statement Of The Wellpoint Tennessee, Inc. To The Insurance Department Of The State Of Tennessee For The Year Ended December 31, 2024, Tennessee. Department Of Commerce And Insurance.

TennCare Oversight

No abstract provided.

Annual Statement Of The Wellpoint Tennessee, Inc. To The Insurance Department Of The State Of Tennessee For The Year Ended December 31, 2023, Tennessee. Department Of Commerce And Insurance.

TennCare Oversight

No abstract provided.

Annual Statement Of The Volunteer State Health Plan, Inc. Of Chattanooga In The State Of Tennessee To The Insurance Department Of The State Of Tennessee For The Year Ending December 31, 2024, Tennessee. Department Of Commerce And Insurance.

TennCare Oversight

No abstract provided.

Annual Statement Of The Volunteer State Health Plan, Inc. Of Chattanooga In The State Of Tennessee To The Insurance Department Of The State Of Tennessee For The Year Ending December 31, 2023, Tennessee. Department Of Commerce And Insurance.

TennCare Oversight

No abstract provided.