Digital Commons Network^™

Recortes Federales Amenazan La Ayuda A Sobrevivientes De Violencia Doméstica En Nueva York, Ilvea Lezama Melendez

Capstones

Este reportaje examina el impacto de los recientes recortes federales en el financiamiento de organizaciones sin fines de lucro en Nueva York. Esas que brindan servicios a sobrevivientes de violencia doméstica y dependen en gran medida de subvenciones federales y fondos públicos para operar refugios, líneas de ayuda en crisis, servicios legales, consejería y apoyos culturalmente específicos. La reducción de recursos ha provocado interrupciones en los servicios y una disminución en la capacidad de atención, justo cuando la demanda de apoyo por parte de las sobrevivientes dentro de comunidades inmigrantes. A través de entrevistas con proveedores de servicios y expertos …

Nyc Falls Behind In Climate Resources For Pregnant And Postpartum Moms, Jada Simon

Capstones

The U.S. still holds the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations around the world. While national rates have since seen a slight decrease, Black mothers still see high maternal death rates in comparison to white mothers, showing that racial disparities in maternal death rates are still apparent. In NYC, the reason for these disparities are not just unequal access to quality healthcare, but also the poor living conditions of neighborhoods in the city that are made up mainly of minoritized groups. So far, it has gone unconsidered that that the maternal mortality and climate crises are happening concurrently. This …

Enduring The American Dream, Edward Grattan

Capstones

Martha and Rene - both Colombian nationals – have made the difficult decision to self-deport from the United States in the midst of the Trump Administration’s unprecedented immigration crackdown and deportation campaign. After working as day laborers in The Hamptons, New York for nearly eight years, the couple shares their experience of leaving their current life behind as anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy escalates across the country.

The Trump administration has transformed the landscape for immigrants living in the United States, regardless of documentation status, by eliminating paths for legal residency, charging The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency with …

Two Major Ontario Hospital Labs Bought Research Dogs From U.S. Breeder With Troubled Pastdogs Bred For Scientific And Medical Testing Suffer Abuse As The Scientific Industry Increasingly Turns To Alternatives For Research., Allison Hunter, Mary Beech, Sami Marshak, Kate Morano

Capstones

The purpose-bred dog breeding industry for research is little known. Each year, thousands of dogs are bred for scientific and medical testing, supplied to research facilities by a handful of major commercial breeders. But gaps in enforcement and regulation have allowed abuses to persist, even as the industry increasingly turns to alternatives to animal testing. Animal rights advocates have been decrying the treatment of these dogs. A federal Inspector General report found lax oversight of the industry, raising further concerns about how dogs are treated. This story was reported in collaboration with the Investigative Journalism Bureau, based in Toronto, and …

Relief, At A Cost: New Bill Forces Landlords To Offer Ac, But Leaves Tenants With The Bill, Niamh Mcauliffe

Capstones

As summers in New York City are getting hotter and hotter every year due to climate change, lack of home air conditioning is a serious issue. A newly passed City Council bill would require landlords to provide air conditioning upon tenant request. While advocates see the legislation as a necessary step to protect tenants from the dangers of extreme heat, there are still unresolved questions around energy affordability, costs and implementation.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XgVilwyn6ncwVbslr1UcdP6p-3OwGQAseHXMY3EYCeY/edit?usp=sharing

The Glow Up Guide: Chicago Edition : Housing + Stability After Foster Care, Lucila M. Baptiste

Capstones

For my practicum, I examined what “independence” looks like for young people aging out of foster care and how the transition to adulthood is shaped by housing instability, rising living costs, and uneven access to support. Using an engagement journalism approach, I centered lived experience and community-informed reporting to document the challenges young people face as systems shift responsibilities onto them often quickly and with limited safety nets.

This practicum pairs narrative reporting with a practical, service-oriented resource component designed to be useful beyond the classroom. The project draws on interviews, field reporting, and collaboration with people closest to the …

Employers’ Best Practices For Retaining Women Employees With Dual Responsibilities Post-Covid-19 Pandemic: A Multiple Case Study, Wenoka E. Nieves

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The challenges women face with dual responsibilities during a crisis often force them to take on additional or multiple responsibilities at home. The specific research problem is that although researchers have investigated job loss during crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the topic of how employers can retain women with dual responsibilities, caring for their family members in their household and working during crises, has not been explored. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the best practices that employers use to retain women employees with dual responsibilities who are caring for their household family members …

Artificial Intelligence And Consumer Trust, Privacy, And Protection On Digital Platforms, Alheri Gajere Adams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Academic scholars have researched the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on privacy, trust, and data governance; however, substantial gaps remain—particularly regarding how AI influences consumer trust and privacy among Texas consumers subscribed to digital platforms. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore how Texas consumers experience and perceive online platforms for personal and private use regarding online data privacy and trust, underscoring the gap in prior research on how state-level consumer protection laws, such as the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), address concerns relative to data trust, privacy, and digital protection. The conceptual framework that guided …

Leveraging Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation To Enhance Self-Regulation In Emotion And Sleep, Suraya Dunsford, Mica Komarnyckyj, Elsa Fouragnan

School of Psychology

This Perspective article discusses the emerging potential of transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) as a non-invasive neuromodulatory technique for enhancing self-regulatory processes, particularly emotion and sleep regulation, in healthy individuals. Offering high spatial precision and the ability to target both cortical and deep brain regions, TUS uses focused ultrasound waves to induce acute and delayed effects on brain activity. We propose that combining TUS with neurofeedback methods and/or specific cognitive training exercises may capitalise on these neuroplastic effects, thereby augmenting and prolonging their impact to support lasting improvements in self-regulation. We focus on the domains of sleep and emotion regulation, where …

The Impact Of Patient-Generated Health Data From Mobile Health Technologies On Health Care Management And Clinical Decision-Making: Narrative Scoping Review, Ava Keeling, John Downey, Matthew Halkes, Yinghui Wei

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Background: Long-term health conditions and multimorbidity are increasing globally, placing an unsustainable pressure on health care systems. Mobile health (mHealth) technologies enable the collection of patient-generated health data outside clinical settings, offering the potential to support personalized care and inform clinical decision-making. However, the ways in which mHealth patient data are being used in clinical practice remain unclear. Objective: This study aimed to map and synthesize the existing literature on how patient-generated mHealth data are reportedly being used and influencing clinical decision-making for adults with long-term conditions in an outpatient care setting. Methods: A narrative scoping review was conducted on …

(Un)Intended Consequences Of Race In Medicine: The Ethics Of Race-Based Medical Practice And The Perpetuation Of Structural Racism, Allegra Merriweather

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation proposes that race-based medicine acts as a form of structural racism that is ethically indefensible. While it may be claimed to be a neutral diagnostic tool, the medical use of race as a biological proxy only further enforces the very hierarchies it purports to remediate, reinscribing inequity from conception to death. Building off Jacques Ellul’s work on Technique, we interpret race-based medicine as a self-perpetuating system that values procedural expediency over moral accountability. In nine chapters, the analysis follows the ways this technique is manifested in genetics and assisted reproduction, where commodified racial selection preserves social hierarchies; in …

Accepting Vs Understanding, Transgender Aliens And Alienation, Reyna G. Aliah

English

Trans people have been the subject of intense discrimination in recent years, suffering dehumanization from right-wing and conservative groups. This dehumanization (and the fear resulting from it) parallels common attitudes in science fiction about actual aliens. Orson Scott Card’s Hierarchy of Foreignness classifies individuals and species into five categories, depending on their sentience; whether they are from the same city, nation, or planet; and whether communication is possible. This paper examines how transgender people can be classified according to this system on a societal level, with said class depending on the lens used to view them as well as the …

Playing By Feel: Gender, Emotion, And Social Norms In Overwatch Role Choice, Cristo Leon, Angela Arroyo, James Lipuma

STEM for Success Resources

This paper explores how emotion, gameplay context, and social norms shape role choice in both digital and institutional systems. Using Overwatch as a case study, it examines gendered experiences of physiological excitement and decision-making during play. Women often describe heightened emotional engagement where victory represents both personal achievement and resistance to cultural expectations. Such emotions influence situational choices, including whether to play as a Tank, DPS, or Support, and which hero to select based on perceived risk or visibility. Drawing on feminist game studies and transdisciplinary communication, the authors argue that role preference is determined not only by game mechanics …

Assessment Of Polymeric Chloroquine Formulations For Targeted Therapy Of Ulcerative Colitis And Metastatic Colorectal Cancer, Neha Kumari

Theses & Dissertations

Effective targeted drug delivery is a critical unmet need in the management of both ulcerative colitis and metastatic colorectal cancer, where conventional systemic therapies may be hindered by suboptimal efficacy and significant side effects. This thesis explores the development and preclinical assessment of polymeric chloroquine (PCQ)-based nanotherapeutics, leveraging stimuli-responsive designs for disease-specific delivery and action.

For ulcerative colitis, a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-responsive nanogel system was engineered to release PCQ, a macromolecular derivative of hydroxychloroquine, specifically in the inflamed areas within the colon. Nanogels with well-defined size and positive surface charge were synthesized via reversible fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization …

Evaluation And Calibration Of Coupled Low-Cost Particulate Matter Sensors, Tyler Cargill

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Low-cost sensors (LCS), if used appropriately, are useful instruments to elucidate human exposure to particles suspended in the air (i.e. particulate matter, PM). Characterizing this exposure is crucial, as exposure to PM2.5 (i.e. particles with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm) negatively affects the respiratory, cardiovascular, and other organ systems and is the leading environmental burden for global mortality. Similarly, exposure to particles with aerodynamic diameters greater than 2.5 μm and less than or equal to 10 μm, here forth termed as PMCoarse, is known to cause health ailments for the upper respiratory system. This dissertation focuses on the MODULAIRTM-PM (MOD-PM), …

Probing The Mechanisms Of Reinforcement Learning: Reinforcement Learning, Ventral Striatal Astrocytes, And The Dynamic Coordination Of Information Seeking With Learning, Fatih Sogukpinar

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

While reinforcement learning has been a vital component in artificial intelligence and machine learning, there exist many open questions about its implementations and how to improve them, in both minds and machines. Among these are i) the contribution of non-neuronal cell types to reinforcement learning, and ii) information-seeking behavior during reinforcement learning. In this thesis, we studied these main topics pertaining to reinforcement learning. In the first chapter, we examined the role of astrocytes in reinforcement learning, and in the second, we investigated human information seeking during reinforcement learning. Neurons in the human and animal brain have been known to …

Transforming Co2 Into Value-Added Products: Liquefied Petroleum Gas And Solid Carbon Materials, Kaiying Wang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The escalating climate crisis, driven by anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, necessitates the development of advanced Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technologies. A critical distinction within CCU lies between transient carbon cycling, which converts CO2 into fuels, and permanent sequestration, which transforms it into durable, solid materials. This dissertation addresses fundamental catalytic challenges across both pathways to develop economically viable and technologically sound solutions for CO2 valorization. This work seeks to answer two primary research questions: (1) How can the catalyst temperature mismatch and stability limitations in the tandem conversion of CO2 to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) be overcome to …

A Framework For Fostering Flood Ready Neighborhoods, Kirsten Howard, Lucy Perkins, Alyson Eberhardt, Lisa Wise, Abigail Lyon, Lynn Vaccaro, Gracie Ballou, Annie Cox, Kate O'Brien

UNH Cooperative Extension

This resource summarizes lessons learned from the Flood Ready Neighborhoods Program and shares prompts and resources for readers related to community engagement and resilience building.

Evaluating The Accuracy Of Point Of Care Testing Compared To Standard Laboratory Testing Among Inborn Infants In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Isha Parikh, Sepideh Saroukhani, Matthew Rysavy, Brian Chang, Mar Romero-Lopez, Lindsay F Holzapfel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Point-of-care (POC) testing offers expedited results with lower blood volume requirements than central laboratory (CL) tests, particularly for low-birth-weight infants.

Methods: A retrospective cohort included 118 patients with paired POC and CL tests within one hour in the first 14 postnatal days. Differences and agreement were assessed using linear mixed-effect models that account for within and between-subject variations.

Results: Compared to CL, POC testing underestimated sodium (6.0 mEq/L), potassium (0.1 mEq/L), chloride (5.1 mEq/L), and glucose (2.3 mg/dL), and overestimated hemoglobin (0.08 g/dL) and hematocrit (0.8%). Differences (CL- POC) varied by postnatal age and sample type, with larger differences …

Organizational Return On Investment In Nursing: A Systematic Review, Olga Yakusheva, Kathryn Lee, Alissa V. Fial, Marianne E. Weiss

Individual Articles

Background: High-quality nursing care is crucial for healthcare quality and safety, yet there’s limited understanding of the business case for investing in nursing from an organizational perspective. This study seeks to address this evidence gap by identifying and synthesizing data on the organizational return on investment in nursing human capital, considering initial investment costs and the resulting impact on production costs and revenue.

Method: We conducted a systematic review using four databases (PubMed, CINAHL, EconLit, Web of Science) to find nursing human capital studies from January 1990 to June 2024. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they examined nurses …

The Nursing Human Capital Value Model, Olga Yakusheva, Kathryn A. Lee, Marianne Weiss

Individual Articles

Nursing's economic value is presently framed within the dominant “outcomes-over-cost” value framework. Within this context, organizations employing nurses often use nursing budget reductions as a cost-minimization strategy, with the intent of retaining high quality outcomes. However, persistent issues such as nurse understaffing, burnout, and turnover threaten healthcare systems' capacity to deliver the quality, equitable, affordable patient care that the public requires. In this paper, we propose a new conceptual model and definition of nursing's economic value. The model development is guided by the convergence of three classic economic frameworks:human capital theory, production theory, and value theory. Grounded in these theories, …

Late-Stage Capitalism And Consumerism In Higher Education: A Morphogenetic Analysis, Kallen Zhou

Publications

Facing widespread student disengagement and dissatisfaction, U.S. higher education is undergoing a paradigm shift, detaching from its civic and pedagogical origins. A key force driving this transformation is the rise of student consumerism. While existing literature documents market-driven actions adopted by higher education institutions (HEIs) and the consumer roles students play, it overlooks structural market forces. Specifically, little theorization exists on the relationship between late-stage capitalism and student consumerism. This paper addresses that gap through two steps: first, offering a historical analysis of the traditional university model, late-stage capitalism, academic capitalism, and the decline of the liberal arts; second, developing …

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Bailey School of Music Concert Programs

Ring in the holiday season with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as they bring a festive program of seasonal favorites to the Bailey School of Music. Presented as part of the ArtsKSU Professional Series, this special performance will feature joyful arrangements and timeless tunes that capture the spirit of the season. With something for everyone, it’s a perfect way to celebrate with family and friends through the power of live music. It will be an evening of holiday cheer, world-class musicianship and community celebration!

Exploring The Medicinal Properties Of Indigenous Plants Within An Enabling Program: Bridging The Gap Between School, Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Knowledge And Science, Sharon L. Gough, Julie Sartori, Angela Jones

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In 2021, less than half of Australian universities considered Indigenous perspectives in curriculum development, with only 15% ensuring Indigenous content in all courses. Literature acknowledges that a strengths-based approach to the inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and perspectives, enhances representation and decolonises curriculum. In 2020, Noongar elder Vivienne Hansen, and John Horsfall created Noongar Bush Medicine, detailing the medicinal use of Indigenous plants. Yeshi, Turpin, Jamtsho, and Wangchuk noted that many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities use native plants for health purposes. However, there is limited data on the therapeutic efficacy of these plants. In 2024, …

Full Issue - Maya America V7, I2, Maya America Editors

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Full issue of Maya America, volume 7, issue 2.

Introductory Note: Profound Guatemala, Alan Lebaron

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Words have historic and contemporary variations in meaning. People who write about the Maya employ words such as revitalization, resurgence, agency, resistance, authenticity, and cosmovision, for example. “Profound” is the theme for Maya America this issue, and we present three examples, two from the past and one from today. The 1st profound comes from Raúl Leiva’s poem Mundo Indigena, and the second from Guillermo Bonfil Batalla who applied the word to Mexico. Our third example of profound comes from Silvia Patricia López Juan, one of the authors in this issue of Maya America.

Living Experiences Of Indigenous Health Practice: Belizean Maya Communities And Belize Migrants, Kristina Baines

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Belize Maya communities, like many indigenous communities around the world, have long experienced challenges to maintaining health as they interface with an ever-expanding globalized model of development. This essay explores the relationship between traditional ecological practices and health in the context of a holistic understanding of what makes healthy bodies, healthy communities and healthy lives. Using the author’s Embodied Ecological Heritage (EEH) framework and a phenomenological lens, the essay shares how sensory experiences become embodied through everyday practice, promoting health and general wellbeing. This grounded theory, developed in and with Maya communities, helps us understand ways to consider and support …

Utilizing The Visia Camera For Analyzing 5-Fluorouracil Treatment Efficacy For Actinic Keratosis, Emily Woolhiser, Leena Jamal, Jessica Kirk, Bertha Baum, Robert Dellavalle

Student Publications

The VISIA camera is a device that captures images of the skin, offering a detailed look at skin health by detecting changes that are often missed during physical exams and by the naked eye. It can help identify changes in UV damage, pigmentation, texture, fine lines, and redness. In dermatology, it has become a useful tool to build targeted treatment plans and follow patient progress over time. We present a case of a male patient diagnosed with diffuse scalp actinic keratoses who was treated with topical 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). VISIA images were taken before treatment, at one week, and again three …

Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge And Environmental Science For Sustainable Lake Conservation: Danu Kerthi In Bali, Ni Kadek Surpi, Si Luh Nyoman Seriadi, Ni Wayan Jemiwi Jero

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

This study investigates how the Danu Kerthi philosophy operates as a framework that integrates Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with environmental science to support sustainable lake conservation in three upstream lakes in Bali: Beratan, Buyan, and Tamblingan. While previous scholarship has largely focused on the normative and symbolic dimensions of Sad Kerthi, empirical evidence on its ecological effectiveness remains limited. To address this gap, the study adopts a multi-site qualitative design involving participatory observation, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews with 30 participants representing traditional leaders, Hindu priests, tourism managers, village officials, and local residents. Thematic analysis shows that Danu Kerthi continues …

An Integrated Multivariate Econometric Modeling Framework For Risky Driving Behavior Related Crashes: Evaluating Crash Risk And Severity Across Zones, Pabitra Kumar Roy

Dissertations and Theses

Rapid advancements in crash modeling have yet to fully integrate multiple behavior-driven crash types and their severity outcomes within a single, scalable framework, specially in a way that captures the sequential nature of these behaviors where one risky action may amplify another. This study proposed an integrated multivariate econometric framework to jointly model crash frequency and severity outcomes for three major behaviorally driven crash types: alcohol-related, distraction-related, and aggressive-driving-related crashes. Specifically, using Oregon's 2022 census block group-level crash data, we propose an Integrated Multivariate Negative Binomial – Generalized Ordered Probit Fractional Split (IMNB–GOPFS) model to analyze these dimensions simultaneously while …