Digital Commons Network^™

The Road To The Sideline: Investigating The Impact Of The Rooney Rule On The Recruitment And Advancement Of Black Coaches In The National Football League, Enrique G. Washington

PhD in Organizational Leadership

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the impact of the Rooney Rule on the recruitment and advancement of Black coaches in the National Football League (NFL). Despite its implementation, Black coaches remain significantly underrepresented in top coaching positions, including head coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator. Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with nine Black coaches who worked in the NFL between 2003 and 2024, this study explored how Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) practices and executive recruitment strategies influenced their career advancement based on their lived experiences. Six principal themes emerged: (a) pathways to advancement, (b) visibility …

A Quantitative Study Of Presidents At Public And Private 4-Year Historically Black Colleges And Universities, Richard J. Gallot, Jr.

PhD in Organizational Leadership

There has been a notable increase in presidential turnover at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), leading to significant leadership challenges (Freeman & Gasman, 2014). Abrupt leadership changes create instability that impacts recruitment and retention of students, faculty, and staff, as well as overall morale on campuses (Gasman et al., 2010). Despite the importance of effective leadership, there is limited research specifically focusing on HBCU presidencies (Freeman & Palmer, 2020). Although the American Council on Education (ACE) has surveyed college and university presidents every 5 years since 1986, few studies have investigated HBCU presidents as a distinctive group. Existing research …

Servant Leadership In Empowering Marginalized Communities: A Qualitative Case Study Of A Nonprofit Organization With A Holistic Mission, April D. Mosely

PhD in Organizational Leadership

This qualitative case study examined the impact of servant leadership on organizational culture, service delivery, and long-term sustainability within faith-based nonprofit organizations serving marginalized and racialized populations. The research focused on the City of Refuge (COR) in Atlanta, Georgia, an organization with a holistic mission dedicated to life transformation through supportive services. Employing Greenleaf’s servant leadership theory as the theoretical framework, data were gathered via semistructured interviews with nine staff members and analyzed thematically. The findings revealed three primary themes: cultivating culture, cultivating compassion, and cultivating community. The results indicated that servant leadership positively influenced COR's capacity to foster trust, …

Improving The Efficiency Of Wells Turbines In Wave Energy Harvesting Using Computer Simulations, Godfred Abotar-Aidoo, Isaac Plange

ASPIRE 2026

Oscillating Water Columns (OWCs) are among the most promising wave energy converters for harnessing renewable power from ocean waves. These systems use a bi-directional airflow to drive a Wells turbine connected to a generator. However, the turbine’s efficiency is limited by flow separation and stall at high angles of attack. To address this, we investigated the effect of passive flow control by adding stability strips along the suction side of the turbine blades. The unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations, coupled with the k–ω SST turbulence model, were solved in ANSYS CFX 2025 R1 to evaluate the aerodynamic performance. Non-dimensional performance …

The Banner - V. 160, No. 6 - (July 2025), Christian Reformed Church In North America

The Banner

No abstract provided.

Minority Day Hearing On American Innovation And The Future Of Digital Assets: From Blueprint To A Functional Framework, Hilary J. Allen

Legislative Testimony & Comments

When we hear from the crypto industry that existing regulation is incompatible with their technology, that is a misdirection. It is entirely possible for a blockchain-based technology business to comply with existing investor protection and financial stability regulation. However, for many crypto businesses, it may be true that existing regulation is incompatible with the economics of their business model, especially if their business model depends on doing things that we have learned, over the years, tend to harm people. But we have little to lose as a society from limiting the profitability of this kind of business model; unfortunately, the …

Introduction To The Special Issue: Cities And Economic Development, Shihe Fu, Junfu Zhang

Economics

To a great extent, economic development is urban development. As economies grow, people and firms cluster in cities to take advantage of agglomeration economies, better infrastructure, access to markets and labor, and consumption amenities. Urbanization not only drives productivity gains and enhances consumer welfare but also introduces challenges such as housing affordability, traffic congestion, pollution, and inequality. Understanding these dynamics is essential for promoting efficiency and sustainable development. The evolution of cities is therefore not only a reflection of economic progress but also a key driver of it.

Physical Work Environments: An Integrative Review And Agenda For Future Research, Bukky Akinsanmi Oyedeji, Yea Hee Ko, Sunkee Lee

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This review examines the effect of physical work environments—the dedicated, tangible spaces where employees carry out their professional tasks—on organizational processes and outcomes. We synthesize decades of research across various disciplines using a conceptual framework that defines physical work environments along three key dimensions: ambience, spatial configuration, and aesthetics. These dimensions are analyzed for their effects on both internal stakeholders, such as employees, and external stakeholders, including clients, suppliers, and investors. Our analysis reveals two major themes in prior research: (1) task accomplishment, which focuses on how physical work environments influence physical and mental health, motivation and attitudes, as well …

A Power Dependence Model Of The Impact Of Leader Impostorism On Supervisor Support And Undermining: The Moderating Role Of Power Distance, Zihan Liu, Zihan Liu, Feng Qiu, Keith Leavitt, Xingyu Wang, Ziyang Tang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Leaders, often perceived as possessing exceptional confidence and competence, are not immune to feelings of self-doubt. Leader impostorism describes the experience that one’s attributes, experiences, skills, and abilities fall short of the standards expected in the leadership role, resulting in a sense of deception in fulfilling leadership responsibilities. While existing research has examined the antecedents and individual outcomes of leader impostorism, its implications for leaders’ treatment of subordinates remain largely unexplored. In this research, we investigate the downstream consequences of leader impostorism on behaviors directed toward subordinates. Integrating research on leader impostorism with power dependence theory, we propose that for …

Behavioral Responses Of The California Two-Spot Octopus Octopus Bimaculoides To Changes In Color And Sound, Sofia I. Ramirez, Nathalie Reyns

McNair Summer Research Program

Recreational and commercial boat activity, military and construction operations, and seismic surveys among other human activities produce excessive sound that is classified as anthropogenic noise. Because the intensity and frequency of anthropogenic noise is often higher than that of natural underwater acoustic stimuli, marine animals may experience physiological damage to their sound-detecting organs which in turn, affects their communication and orientation abilities. In our study, we aimed to analyze the differences in behaviors exhibited by the California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides) when exposed to various volumes of noise at 54 Hz. To further investigate behavioral changes under varying conditions, we …

The Persistence Of Benefit Cliffs: A Behavioral Look At A Policy Problem, Vladimir Snurenco

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Benefit cliffs—where earning slightly more leads to losing more in government support—are often treated as technical glitches fixable through better formulas. But this article argues that the real problem isn't just economic—it's psychological. Drawing on behavioral economics and lived experience, the piece explores how fear, loss aversion, and system complexity keep low-income Americans trapped—even when policy fixes say they should be better off. Until policymakers account for how people actually feel and behave, benefit cliffs will persist not just on paper, but in real life

Green Human Resource Management System Development In Africa: A Systematic Literature Review, Jinghan Wang, Lijun Tang, Jinhua Zhang, Bong-Keun Choi, Christopher Phillips

Plymouth Business School

Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) has garnered widespread international attention, yet the GHRM practices implementation and the challenges they face in African organisations remain underexplored. Given that the majority of GHRM studies in the African context have been published over the past four years, there is a clear need for a systematic review of the literature on GHRM in this region. This review examines 23 studies to identify which GHRM topics have been explored in the African context and what theories and methodologies have been adopted in these studies. Drawing from the selected literature, a conceptual framework is established to …

Digital Bibliography In The Age Of Linked Data, Kate Ozment

Faculty Scholarship

The article explores how the interplay of ideological values and technological capacities have shaped the digital bibliography of British print history. Using a misgendering in the English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) as a case study, the article explores how information flows through resources like Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), and Early English Books Online (EEBO), library catalogues, WorldCat, and retail outlets like Amazon. The article argues that as data from the ESTC is reproduced through linked data structures, information is ‘authorized’ far beyond what a single resource would do alone or what its original authors imagined or designed. While feminist, …

Tissue Engineering: History, Principles, Applications, Challenges, And Future Work, Alexa Cesari, Ms

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Tissue engineering is a comprehensive and cutting-edge field that leverages principles from multiple scientific disciplines to assist in regenerative medicine. It is defined by the most basic structure of the human body, the cell. When an injury occurs, cells send signals to initiate wound healing processes. In most cases, the body is equipped to heal wounds on its own; however, there are instances where wounds are too severe and cannot undergo proper regeneration. When this occurs, alternative measures are taken to assist in wound repair. With numerous advancements made over the years, tissue engineering has become an increasingly common method …

A Late Presentation Of Benign Cephalic Histiocytosis, Madison A. Hackley, Nicholas D. Brownstone, Shayan Waseh, Simo Huang, Jason B. Lee, Sylvia Hsu

Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Energetic And Economic Aspects Of Rebound, Part Ii: Applications Of The Framework, Matthew Kuperus Heun, Gregor Semieniuk, Paul Brockway

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Widespread implementation of energy efficiency is a key greenhouse gas emissions mitigation measure, but rebound can ‘‘take back’’ energy savings. However, the absence of solid analytical foundations hinders empirical determination of rebound magnitudes. In Part I, we developed foundations of a rigorous, analytical, consumer-sided rebound framework that is approachable for both energy analysts and economists. In this paper (Part II), we develop energy, expenditure, and consumption planes, a novel, mutually consistent, and numerically precise way to visualize and illustrate rebound. Further, we operationalize the macro factor (k) for macroeconomic rebound. Using the framework and rebound planes, we calculate and show …

The East Palestine Train Derailment: A Complex Environmental Disaster, Lynn T. Singer, Fredrick R. Schumacher, Timothy Ciesielski

Faculty Scholarship

This symposium, The East Palestine Train Derailment: A Complex Environmental Disaster, brought together scientists whose research represented initial scientific responses to the community health impacts of the chemical exposures incurred from a disastrous train derailment and subsequent combustion in East Palestine, Ohio in February, 2023. This derailment and burn led to multiple complex toxic exposures to air, soil and water, including vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate. Presenters described the multi-university consortium formed to assist with developing and communicating data-informed summaries to the affected community. Presenters also reported on the immediate health sequelae experienced by the community and the stress and …

An Ambient Nox Reduction Reactor System With And Without Forced Air, Hamid Rahai, Rylan Moffit, Komal Gada, Jeremy Bonifacio

Mineta Transportation Institute

Ambient nitrogen oxide (NOX) is one of the main ingredients involved in the formation of ground-level ozone (smog), which contributes to global warming and the formation of particulates in the atmosphere and causes respiratory illnesses, especially in children, older adults, and people with lung diseases. Investigations on adding titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles to the paint used on concrete surfaces such as buildings and its potential in reducing ambient NOX concentration have provided opportunities for the research and development of methods for passive control and filtration of the ambient NOX. The present research used numerical geometrical optimization to identify an optimized …

Dynamic Microbiome Responses To Structurally Diverse Anthocyanin-Rich Foods In A Western Diet Context, Mohammed F. Almatani, Giovanni Rompato, Eliza C. Stewart, Marcus Hayden, Jeremy Case, Samuel Rice, Korry J. Hintze, Abby D. Benninghoff

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Student Research

Background/Objectives: Anthocyanin (ACN)-rich foods are known to influence the gut microbiota composition, but the temporal dynamics and structural specificity of these effects remain poorly understood. This study investigated how distinct ACN-rich fruit supplements impact the gut microbiome over time in the context of a Western-style diet. We hypothesized that ACN-induced microbial shifts would occur rapidly, differ by ACN source, and require continued intake to persist. Methods: C57BL/6J mice were fed the total Western diet (TWD) supplemented with freeze-dried powders from bilberry (BB), tart cherry (TC), chokeberry (CB), elderberry (EB), black currant (BC), or black raspberry (BRB) for 0, 1, 3, …

Performance Comparison Of Quantum And Classical Machine Learning Models For Chronic Kidney Disease Prediction, Parama Sridevi, Paramita Basak Upama, Masud Rabbani, Sheikh Iqbal Ahamed

Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

In this study, we develop and compare quantum and classical machine learning-based chronic kidney disease prediction models. We used the "Chronic_Kidney_Disease Data Set" of the UCI Machine Learning Repository. We performed data preprocessing and applied feature engineering techniques to select the best features. We developed two quantum machine learning-based models and two classical machine learning-based models. We used a hybrid classical-quantum environment for building quantum machine learning models. Finally, we compared the performances of all four models. We found that the Quantum Support Vector Machine performs best among the quantum models. The model’s accuracy was 95% with a k-fold cross-validation …

Copley Connects | Spring/Summer 2025, University Of San Diego

Copley Connects Library Newsletter

Message From the Dean | 2

Research and Scholarship Recognition | 3

Featured Collection: Southern Cross | 4

2025 Holleman Scholarship Winners | 6

AI Comes for Digital USD | 7

Pontem Partnership Marks Five Years | 8

Spotlight Jordan Kobayashi | 9

New Faculty at Copley | 9

ACRL Conference in Minneapolis | 10

American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference | 10

Copley Recognizes Graduating Seniors with Bookplates | 11

Top 10 Digital USD Downloads for the 2024–2025 Academic Year | 12

New Resources for Fall 2025 | 13

Seguimos Creando Enlaces Conference | 13

Copley Reads | …

A New City For A New Era: Xiong'an As Showcase Of China's Evolving Urban Ideology, Andrew Stokols

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Cities have long been expressions of political ideology in China and elsewhere. During China’s rapid urbanization over the past few decades, “new areas” became popular strategies to promote urban growth, following the success of Shenzhen, widely regarded as China’s first special economic zone. Today under Xi, Xiong’an New Area has become the latest “new area of national significance.” But unlike previous new areas in China, Xiong’an has become wedded to a distinct vision of the urban in Xi Jinping’s China, one in which the excesses of reform-era urbanization are controlled through new forms of affordable housing and finance, new ecological …

Simulating Before Planning: Constructing Intrinsic User World Model For User-Tailored Dialogue Policy Planning, Tao He, Lizi Liao, Ming Liu, Bing Qin

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recent advancements in dialogue policy planning have focused on optimizing system agent policies to achieve predefined goals, emphasizing strategy design, trajectory acquisition, and training efficiency. However, these approaches often overlook the critical role of user characteristics, which are essential in real-world scenarios like conversational search and recommendation, where interactions must adapt to individual user traits such as personality, preferences, and goals. To address this gap, we conduct a comprehensive study using task-specific user personas to evaluate dialogue policy planning under diverse user behaviors. Our analysis, based on these user profiles, reveals significant shortcomings in existing approaches, underscoring the necessity for …

La Salud Intercultural Aymara En El Contexto De La Muerte Y La Unidad De Cuidado Paliativo En El Hospital Regional De Arica, Chile, Phoebe Dennison

Chile: Public Health, Traditional Medicine, and Community Empowerment

Chile’s health system requires the inlcusion of intercultural health for indigenous populations. This includes palliative care. Indigenous patients come from different belief backgrounds that shape their understanding of death and health practices. Indigenous patients should be given culturally relevant end of life care that respects their beliefs. Intercultural health can be difficult to implement at any point in the patient’s life. Northern Chile has a significant population of Aymara people, an indigenous group. The Aymara people have a cosmovision that is intertwined with the natural world and believes death is the spirit’s journey to the next life. In the region …

Environmental And Social Values Are Important To All Utahns, But Conservative Utahns Are More Likely To Prioritize The Economy, Sarah E. Wilson, Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad

Utah People and Environment Poll (UPEP)

In the political landscape of modern America, few would disagree that people on either end of the political spectrum exhibit differences in priorities and values. Since the 1970s, polarization between left and right-leaning individuals and decision-makers regarding environmental matters has grown significantly.¹ For example, a 2023 Gallup Poll found that 78% of liberals favored prioritizing the environment over economic concerns, compared to just 20% of conservatives - representing the largest partisan gap since Gallup began including the question in their poll in 1984.²

Education Equity For Transgender And Gender-Diverse Persons In India: Insights Into Implementation Hurdles, Dipika Jain, Natasha Aggarwal, Kanmani Ray, Surbhi Karwa, Disha Chaudhari, Rishav Devrani

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Part I of this article presents international, global, and national approaches to the right to education for transgender and gender-diverse persons. It then describes the Indian approach—the NALSA judgment and the Transgender Persons Act. Finally, it provides anecdotal insight into the lived experiences of transgender and gender-diverse persons and the marginalization they face.

Part II outlines: (i) the rationale of this study, (ii) the research methodology, and (iii) the questions in the right to information requests, which have formed the basis for investigating the landscape of education rights for transgender and gender-diverse students.

Part III provides an overview of the …

Town Of Lee, New Hampshire Annual Town Report June 30, 2025, Lee Town Representatives

Lee, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Tkbe : Two Key Broadcast Encryption For The Iot, Rachit Parikh

Master’s Dissertations

The growing usage of the Internet of Things (IoT) has made it necessary to ensure

the security of these interconnected devices. Key management becomes particularly

challenging when devices are not always online due to resource constraints or business

decisions. Moreover, the IoT infrastructure typically relies on the publish-subscribe

model for communication, which raises additional security considerations since the

message broker becomes a central point of attack. Existing solutions with end-toend

encryption from publisher to subscriber are either computationally expensive for

resource constrained devices or compromise on the decoupling in publish/subscribe

systems. This thesis tackles the problem of efficient key management …

Machine Learning For Digital Biomarker-Based Detection Of Cognitive Decline, Seng Khoon The

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Dementia is a neurodegenerative disease with a prevalence rate expected to triple by 2050, posing a significant challenge for health services. To impede the increasing prevalence, medical professionals and scientists are actively investigating technology to detect cognitive decline at a reversible stage known as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Digital biomarker technology is an emerging pragmatic approach to permit objective, ecologically valid, and long-term continuous measurement of cognitive health status, rendering it as one of the promising technologies for early MCI detection. Despite its potential, it is nontrivial to encode, extract and combine predictive information from these digital biomarker technologies; advanced …

"Inspiring Empathy": A Descriptive Review Of A Musical Composition, Garo Saraydarian

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study explored the experiences of college professors using an assessment approach, descriptive review, to assess undergraduate music compositions. College professors, and educators in general, often debate best practices around assessing student work. A literature review showed a debate amongst music educators over approaches to assessing student compositions, with rubrics being especially controversial. Descriptive review uses collective discussion and a series of non-judgmental exercises that aim for participants to become more intimate with a student and their work. As an assessment technique that had been used to look at student artwork, albeit at the elementary grade level, descriptive review has …