Digital Commons Network^™

One-Pot Synthesis Of Sustainable Aviation Fuel From Brown Grease Using Multifunctional Zeolite-Supported Catalysts, Clara Mongelli, Great Umenweke, Tyler St Clair, Gilles Caboche, Olivier Heintz, Robert Pace, Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez

Chemistry Faculty Publications

The most viable way to decarbonize aviation in the near term is through Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), most of which is currently produced via the deoxygenation of fats, oils, and greases (FOG) followed by a separate isomerization step. Multifunctional zeolite-supported catalysts offer several advantages over existing formulations, such as enabling the use of waste FOG streams, performing their deoxygenation via decarboxylation/decarbonylation (deCO_x), and effecting the synthesis of SAF in one-pot. Previous work has shown that while supported Ni-Cu catalysts can afford excellent results in the conversion of waste FOG to fuel-like hydrocarbons via deCO_x, zeolitic materials …

The Shadow Of Legal Pluralism In Indonesian Islamic Courts: Child And Spousal Maintenance, Stijn Cornelis Van Huis

The Indonesian Journal of Socio-Legal Studies

This paper is inspired by Franz von Benda-Beckmann’s notion of “bargaining in the shadow of legal pluralism” and applies this notion to spousal and child maintenance negotiations that take place between judges, husbands and wives within divorce processes at Indonesian Islamic courts. I will argue that in the context of Muslim family law practice in Indonesia, the legal plural situation does not only influence out-of-court negotiations, but formal legal processes within the Islamic courts as well. It follows Keebet von Benda-Beckmann’s example in analyzing the legal plural dynamics of women’s claiming process comprehensively, by investigating the interconnectedness of the pre-trial, …

Civil Servant Disobedience: An Alternative Legal Strategy To Prevent Bureaucratic Pathology, Richo Andi Wibowo

The Indonesian Journal of Socio-Legal Studies

This paper seeks to provide conceptual and empirical justifications for civil servants to engage in disobedience to curb bureaucratic pathology. Various civil servants have long complained that they face illegal instructions from their superiors. The cases discussed here are from public procurement, which has a dimension of political corruption, a recurring problem in many places in Indonesia. Thus, the problem shall be seen as a bureaucratic pathology rather than as maladministration. As the reporting of superiors to legal enforcers may be too risky, the disobedience can be accomplished by refusing to cooperate with superiors who give illegal instructions. The term …

International Accreditation For Acute Stroke Care: Lessons Learnt From A Kenyan Stroke Centre, Dilraj Sokhi

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Background: The prevalence of stroke is increasing in Africa, yet resources remain limited in managing the disease. Whilst there are international guidelines on how to set up and manage stroke services, even in resource-limited settings, the uptake remains low. We describe here the opportunities and challenges we faced whilst setting up a stroke care pathway of international standards in a regional referral hospital in East Africa.

Methods: We describe how we adapted international stroke care guidelines for acute primary stroke (including both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke), and used these to inform our stroke care pathway. We highlight opportunities of leveraging …

Preventing Workplace Violence: A Strategic Imperative For Today’S Organizations, Alan Saquella

Publications

Workplace violence is a critical and growing concern for organizations across all industries. It encompasses a wide spectrum from bullying and verbal threats to physical assaults and, in the most tragic cases, homicide. While acts of extreme violence often dominate news headlines, they are typically preceded by missed warning signs and failed interventions.

Behavioral Assessment Ai Software: Enhancing Polygraph And Investigative Interviewing, Alan Saquella

Publications

In the rapidly evolving world of security, law enforcement, and investigative sciences, professionals are increasingly turning to advanced technologies to supplement tried-and-true methodologies. One emerging innovation is behavioral assessment software, designed to enhance both preemployment screening and investigative interviewing. Acting as a form of modern human intelligence collection, these tools enable examiners and investigators to gather deeper insights directly from candidates and subjects, revealing behavioral cues and risk indicators that might otherwise remain hidden (Vrij, 2008).

Gw250114: Testing Hawking’S Area Law And The Kerr Nature Of Black Holes, Jaclyn (Jax) Sanders, Ligo-Virgo-Kagra (Lvk)

Physics Faculty Research and Publications

The gravitational-wave signal GW250114 was observed by the two LIGO detectors with a network matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 80. The signal was emitted by the coalescence of two black holes with near-equal masses 𝑚1=33.6^+1.2 _−0.8⁢𝑀⊙ and 𝑚2=32.2^+0.8 _−1.3⁢𝑀⊙, and small spins 𝜒1,2≤0.26 (90% credibility) and negligible eccentricity 𝑒⁢≤0.03. Postmerger data excluding the peak region are consistent with the dominant quadrupolar (ℓ=|𝑚|=2) mode of a Kerr black hole and its first overtone. We constrain the modes’ frequencies to ±30% of the Kerr spectrum, providing a test of the remnant’s Kerr nature. We also examine Hawking’s area law, …

Replication Of Blood Dna Methylomic Signatures Associated With Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels Of Ykl-40 And Nfl Biomarkers, Timo Kaleck, Rafael Campos-Martin, Amanda Cano, Maria Victoria Fernández, Pamela Martino-Adami, Luca Kleineidam, Victor M Andrade Fuentes, Kumar P Tripathi, Kayenat Parveen, Raquel Puerta, Itziar De Rojas, Kishore A Ravichandran, Oliver Peters, Julian Hellmann-Regen, Josef Priller, Maria Gemenetzi, Anja Schneider, Jens Wiltfang, Emrah Düzel, Katharina Buerger, Robert Perneczky, Stefan Teipel, Christoph Laske, Frederic Brosseron, Marta Marquié, Daniel La Van Den Hove, Mercè Boada, Michael T Heneka, Michael Wagner, Natalie Marchant, Jean-Charles Lambert, Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, Frank Jessen, Agustín Ruiz, Alfredo Ramirez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Drivers Of Frequent Emergency Department Use In Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Older Adults: A Qualitative Study, Anita Chary, Annika Bhananker, Michelle Suh, David Leavitt, Elise Brickhouse, Shreya Tamma, Jose Ramirez, Mariana Rios, Aanand D Naik, Margaret Samuels-Kalow, Naomi George

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The emergency department (ED) is the safety net for and a common point of healthcare access for socioeconomically disadvantaged older adults. Little is known about socioeconomically disadvantaged older ED patients' perspectives on their health, healthcare access, and ED use. Such insights could guide tailored interventions to address unmet clinical and health-related social needs (HRSN).

Methods: We performed a qualitative study with older adults in a single public safety net hospital ED. We interviewed patients age 60+ who had ≥ 4 ED 4 visits in the past year. Semi-structured interviews explored perceived health needs and motivations underlying ED visits. We …

Identifying Geographic Cold Spots Of Pcos Diagnosis In Texas: A Spatial Analysis Of Underdiagnosis And Rural Disparities, Ryan Ramphul, Geethika Yalavarthy, Jooyeon Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Context: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common yet underdiagnosed endocrine disorder with substantial reproductive and metabolic consequences. Although disparities in PCOS care have been documented, few studies have employed spatial methods to identify areas of potential underdiagnosis.

Objective: This study uses geospatial analysis to detect cold spots of PCOS clinical encounters across Texas and investigates neighborhood characteristics associated with these areas.

Methods: We analyzed inpatient and outpatient encounter data from the Texas Public Use Data File (PUDF) between 2018 and 2024 to identify PCOS-related visits (International Classification of Diseases, revision 10: E28.2). ZIP code tabulation area (ZCTA)-level PCOS encounter …

Do Medicaid Data Accurately Reflect The Expenditures And Outcomes For Extremely Premature Infants?, Elenir B C Avritscher, Jon E Tyson, Therese A Stukel, Youngran Kim, Cecilia Ganduglia Cazaban, Kanekal S Gautham, David Lynch, David C Goodman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The accurate and meaningful assessment of Medicaid expenditures relative to survival rates among Medicaid-eligible extremely premature infants has received little scrutiny, despite its importance for improving outcomes. We have identified key problems that hindered such assessments using Texas Medicaid data, which may also be relevant to other states.

Maternal Sleep Disorders And Maternal And Birth Outcomes: A Retrospective Us Claims-Based Study, Anayeli Herrera Morales, Audrey C Choh, Cici X Bauer, Stefan A Czerwinski, Miryoung Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Sleep disturbances are commonly reported during pregnancy and have been associated with adverse maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes. However, self-reported sleep disturbances may not be accurately reflected in the prevalence of clinically diagnosed sleep disorders.

Methods: Using Optum's de-identified Clinformatics Data Mart Database, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 93,767 American women who were pregnant with singletons between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2021, to (1) determine the prevalence of clinically diagnosed sleep disorders and breathing abnormalities; (2) examine their associations with maternal health outcomes; and (3) examine their associations with birth outcomes. Sleep disorders and breathing abnormalities …

The Moderating Role Of Digital Multi-Sided Platform On The Firm Value Of Traditional Value-Chain Firms, Chee Pheng Lim

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation examines the strategic value and performance implications for traditional value-chain firms (TVCFs) that adopt digital multi-sided platforms (DMSPs) to augment their existing businesses. DMSPs facilitate interactions among multiple user groups through digital intermediaries, generating self-reinforcing network effects that enhance value creation, reduce operational and transaction costs, and enable collective innovation. Despite the prevalence of platform-based firms, 60% of global unicorns and 7 of the world’s 10 most valuable companies operate digital platforms, empirical research on the value-creation mechanisms of DMSPs remains limited. Anchored in the resource-based view and platform theory, this study investigates how DMSP moderates the relationship …

Transforming The World With Reparations, Ingrid Wuerth Brunk, Monica Hakimi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This special issue of the American Journal of International Law—devoted entirely to reparations in international law—offers a range of perspectives on reparations for large-scale harms relating to colonialism, slavery, industrialization, and transboundary pollution. As the symposium authors describe, the gap between the reparations that justice might demand and the ones that international law provides is enormous. The international law for reparations does not come close to remedying such harms and is not poised to do so anytime soon.

Is There Life In The Ruins? A Look At Post-Sveen Contract Clause Jurisprudence, James W. Ely, Jr.

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Seven years ago, in Sveen v. Melin, the Supreme Court applied the prevailing multipart test and rejected a contract clause claim. The result was hardly a surprise. The Court has not invoked the contract clause to invalidate a state law in more than forty years. The decision broke no new ground and seemingly signaled that the Court was content with the current multipart test, one that appears calculated to uphold state regulatory authority rather than vindi- cate the rights of contracting parties. Justice Neil Gorsuch force- fully dissented in Sveen, insisting that the multifactor test "seems hard to square with …

Do Representative Payments Matter?, Brian T. Fitzpatrick, Colton Cronin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

For many decades, courts have awarded the representative plaintiffs who bring class actions an extra payment when the actions recover something for the class. It has long been thought that the payments are necessary to induce a class member to step forward and serve as a representative, and, without them, many class actions would go away. Indeed, we show that the payments had become all but ubiquitous in non-securities class actions. In 2020, however, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit became the only circuit to hold the payments unlawful. We test whether the Eleventh Circuit's decision …

Item 1: Syllabus Hssj 2200: Civic Leadership, Wendy Wagner

Wendy Wagner, Civic Leadership

This is a course in leadership studies that challenges students to consider the leadership development literature in civic contexts. It is also a service-learning course. While service itself is a form of civic participation, it's important to note that service-learning courses don't always focus on issues of civic identity and engagement as much as one might think. Civic learning is not an inherent outcome of all service-learning experiences. The literature in community engaged scholarship is clear that we do not achieve civic learning outcomes from simply adding ten “service hours” to an otherwise unaltered course. Instead, assignments and classroom discussions …

Item 4: Activity 3: Your Declaration Of Civic Engagement Values And Principles, Wendy Wagner

Wendy Wagner, Civic Leadership

The purpose of this activity is to help students develop critical thinking skills about civic engagement by analyzing both successful elements and limitations of common service approaches. Using Robert Egger's story as an example, students share their own experiences with community engagement. Students identify positive elements and critiques of typical community engagement projects and collaboratively establish a statement of values and principles that address these concerns.

Item 6: Assignment 2: The What, So What, Now What? Paper, Wendy Wagner

Wendy Wagner, Civic Leadership

This structured reflection assignment guides students through the analysis of a service-learning experience using the DEAL model of critical reflection. Responding to scaffolded prompts, students write a 4-5-page paper connecting their community service experience to broader course concepts, examining the social context and systems involved, and articulating their learning about civic responsibility and future action steps. Assignment is easily adapted from a paper to a presentation.

Item 5: Assignment 1: Pathways To Public Service Presentation, Wendy Wagner

Wendy Wagner, Civic Leadership

This assignment asks students to research a local organization addressing a social issue of their choice, analyze which of the six Pathways to Public Service are represented in the organization's work, and identify alternative pathways through other organizations addressing the same issue. Students prepare a 5-minute presentation that demonstrates their understanding of diverse approaches to civic engagement and creates opportunities for their own civic participation.

Item 3: Activity 2: Civic Skills: Design Your Own Learning, Wendy Wagner

Wendy Wagner, Civic Leadership

This two-part activity helps students identify important civic skills for democratic participation and then use backward design principles to create their own experiential learning plan for developing a specific civic skill. Students learn how to intentionally design learning experiences that build their capacity for effective civic engagement.

Item 1: Syllabus - Information Literacy And Civic Responsibility, Troy Martin

Troy Martin, Information Literacy and Civic Responsibility

This is a seven-week unit designed for a first or second-year, undergraduate, general studies program. The American Association of Colleges and Universities includes information literacy as an “essential learning outcome”. This unit highlights pressing questions and problems related to democracy, civic responsibility, the contemporary information ecosystem, information disorder, and information literacy skills. It outlines objectives, resources, learning activities and assignments.

Item 2 And 2.1: Activity 1: Who's Interested In The News? Whose Interests Are In The News?, Troy Martin

Troy Martin, Information Literacy and Civic Responsibility

This activity requires students to compare and contrast characteristics of popular or commercial news stories with public interest news stories. Students will make critical distinctions between different kinds of information that coexist under the broad umbrella of “news” in a contemporary information ecosystem. Instructors should provide students with the worksheet for this activity.

Item 4: Assignment 1: Cultural Immersion: A Group Documentary Project, Salah D. Hassan

Salah D. Hassan, Global Citizenship: Culture and Climate Justice in Indonesia

This assignment asks students to explore how Indonesia is global. Working in small groups of 2 or 3 with an Indonesian student, the group will spend several afternoons and evenings with a host family, documenting local cultural activities in Jambi that are signs of globalization. Each group will prepare a concise documentary project that uses photos and/or video to explore a specific global topic in Jambi. Topics might include food, fashion, entertainment, advertising, automobiles, educational systems, language, religion, ethnicity, etc. Students will explore how the local cultures have incorporated or contributed to the burgeoning global cultures that define Indonesia in …

B. Assignment One: U.S. Voting Rights Character Card Assignment With Presentation, Frankie Nicole Weaver

Frankie Nicole Weaver, Comparative Twentieth Century South African and United States Civil Rights and Voting Rights Histories

This assignment requires students to think like curators and research their assigned historical figures. Figures are tied to the women’s suffrage and anti-suffrage movements in the United States. Museums and historic landmarks want visitors to engage in history and to consider the complicated, interesting backgrounds of figures who acted in unique ways, shaped by their notions of class, race, gender, culture, power, education, religion, democracy, and citizenship. Often, museums ask their visitors to imagine they are historical figures. One way to achieve this is by providing wearable lanyards with character cards that feature an image of a historical figure on …

C. Assignment Two: South Africa Voting Rights Character Card Assignment With Presentation, Frankie Nicole Weaver

Frankie Nicole Weaver, Comparative Twentieth Century South African and United States Civil Rights and Voting Rights Histories

This assignment requires students to think like curators and research their assigned historical figures. Figures are tied to the women’s suffrage movements in Southern Africa. In Southern Africa, women’s suffrage campaigns were less central as male-dominated white political agendas and non-white struggles for emancipation eclipsed them. Yet, the history of women’s suffrage and enfranchisement of new segments of South Africans, including white women in 1930, is important to examine when considering voting rights and civic engagement in Southern Africa. Non-white women in South Africa would be forced to persevere in their struggle for political rights; some would vote in the …

Item 1: Syllabus Introduction To U.S. Government And Politics, David Hubert

David Hubert, Introduction to U.S. Government & Politics

This is an adaptable syllabus for an introductory US Government and Politics course. It provides learning outcomes, an outline for seven 2This is an adaptable syllabus for an introductory US Government and Politics course. It provides learning outcomes, an outline for seven 2-week modules, and the spacing of in-class activities and other assignments

E. Assignment Four: Scopes Trial History Lesson & Class Activities, Frankie Nicole Weaver

Frankie Nicole Weaver, Comparative Twentieth Century South African and United States Civil Rights and Voting Rights Histories

Build on introductory context and engage with themes tied to the 1925 Scopes trial, particularly highlighting public discourse and civic engagement in culture and politics, TN law and state judicial proceedings, science and technology, religion and Christianity in the US, notions of evolution and human evolution, public education, journalism and media, national politics or political ideologies, and US Constitutional liberties of speech, press, and religion.

F. Assignment Five: Scopes Trial Creative Assignment, Frankie Nicole Weaver

Frankie Nicole Weaver, Comparative Twentieth Century South African and United States Civil Rights and Voting Rights Histories

This creative assignment encourages students to reflect on independent exploration, class group learning, discussions, and to use research to think critically and to present their ideas in a 5-6-page essay. Students will also think like educators and create 8-10 PowerPoint slides.

Item 5: Assignment 2: Community Service And Self Awareness: Illustrated Experiential Learning Journal, Salah D. Hassan

Salah D. Hassan, Global Citizenship: Culture and Climate Justice in Indonesia

This course is grounded in community service and emphasizes experiential learning. Students will be spending significant time outside of the classroom working with local partner organizations and learning from them about the Indonesia cultures and environmental issues in Jambi. In this assignment, students connect their community service experiences with local Indonesian community organizations to their self-awareness as global citizens. The assignment asks students to record in an illustrated journal (a personal photo essay) their knowledge of the organization and the effect of community service on their self-knowledge while in Jambi. Documenting their observations through photos, videos, and a written journal, …