Digital Commons Network^™

Life Lessons In Goodbye: Exploring Family Communication And End-Of-Life Depictions And Messages In Disney And Pixar Films Through A Content Analysis, Vanessa A. Gordon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Death is a friend of ours said Francis Bacon, and Hargarten stated that death has an inevitable arrival. This research aimed to explore the depictions and messages of death in Disney and Pixar films. The qualitative content analysis research methodology coded 267 deaths in Disney films (1937–2003) and Disney and Pixar Films (2003–2024). The study centers on replicating the scholarship of three prior works, while extending the research by incorporating more recent films into the analysis. Additionally, this current study applies a new theoretical framework, family communication patterns, to all films, including those previously reviewed solely for depictions of death, …

Sacred Silence: The Unspoken Realities Of Satisfaction In Marital Intimacy Among Black Christian Women, Shonda Reneé Brooks

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Sexual intimacy is a vital component of marital satisfaction, yet many married Black Christian women, taught to abstain from sex until marriage, enter matrimony without adequate marital guidance. This qualitative phenomenological study describes the lived experiences of married Black Christian women, ages 30–60, who were taught to abstain from sex until marriage but received little to no instruction on sexual intimacy after marriage. The central research question is: How do married Black Christian women, who were taught to abstain from sex until marriage, describe their experiences with marital intimacy? Framed by feminist theory, attachment theory, and intersectionality, the study examines …

Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing As A Moderator In Attachment Security Scores Accounting For Trauma, Kimberly Anne Arbelo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in increasing attachment security scores. A theoretical foundation of at attachment theory and somatic therapy are discussed. Attachment theory is expounded upon to better understand the development, maintenance, and break down of emotional and intimate bonds. Traumatic experiences are investigated to better understand its potential influence on insecure and secure symptoms within attachments. The Experiences in Close Relationships, the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for the DSM-5-TR, and the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDs) are instruments utilized in the study to measure attachment …

Biblical Leadership And Gender: Balancing Cultural Context And Theological Conviction, Lorie Lynn Heath

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

God originally made male and female in His image, imparting to them a shared authority over creation. They were co-heirs equal in purpose, mission, and value. However, cultural practices and patriarchal traditions have long obscured this original biblical design. Consider a qualified young woman in a local church, called, talented, and valued by her congregation, yet repeatedly overlooked for preaching and teaching positions because of her gender. Her story is not unique. This misapplication of Scripture not only harms women but also weakens the body of Christ and impedes the church’s testimony to the gospel. Accurate comprehension of the Bible …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Black Counselors Completing Wellness Checks For Their Black Clients, Shanique Slowley-Azeez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Black counselors who have contacted the police for wellness checks on their Black clients. This study explored how factors such as intergenerational trauma, systemic oppression, and race shaped the perceptions and experiences of these counselors who sought wellness checks from law enforcement for Black clients. This research was guided by intergenerational trauma theory (1966) and social constructivist theory (1978). Social constructivist theory allowed the researcher to understand how individuals describe and assign meaning to events, thus shaping their knowledge and lived experiences. The researcher employed semi-structured interviews …

Empathetic Administration: Leveraging Phenomenological Insights To Enhance Student Mental Health Support In Higher Education, Arlissia Lenton Bradley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe how students at universities in Texas navigated online mental health resources and coping supports while managing mental health challenges. The central research question that guided this study was: What were the lived experiences of students in higher education who were managing mental health issues? Utilizing Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory as the theoretical framework, the study examined how cognitive appraisals and self-effective beliefs, environmental supports and constraints, and behavioral coping strategies interacted as students interpreted and responded to mental health stressors in academic contexts. Data was collected in a virtual setting …

Positive Factors Of Resilience In Marginalized Families, Amanda K. Rigsby

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The current study examined underexplored factors of resilience that help individuals overcome trauma. The study gathered insights from individuals in marginalized communities through semi-structured interviews and collected qualitative data for thematic analysis from 15 participants. The study identified polyvictimized individuals’ perspectives on (a) resilience, (b) regulation, (c) sense of purpose, and (d) mindfulness. Exploring the relationship between these areas could broaden our understanding and, in turn, inform targeted interventions through further studies. This study collected qualitative data through semi-structured interviews with individuals in the Appalachian region. The Resilience Portfolio Model has been used in research to identify mindfulness, regulation, sense …

Threats To Cleared Industry, Think Tanks, And Academia From Malign Nations Focusing On Federally Funded Research And Development Centers, James E. Equels

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The world of academia, think tanks, and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) in the United States face increasing vulnerabilities to foreign intelligence exploitation, particularly by China and Russia. Espionage, cyber intrusions, insider threats, and intellectual property theft enable adversarial nations to leverage academic collaboration to access sensitive research. These threats are executed through foreign-sponsored partnerships, talent recruitment programs like China’s Thousand Talents Program, and infiltration via Confucius Institutes and other state-affiliated initiatives. Academic openness is routinely exploited to gain strategic military and technological innovation advantages. Operations by malign nations compromise federally funded research, while insider threats - both …

An Investigation Into Bridging The Rural Stem Gap With Multimedia Learning Principles: A Phenomenological Study, Joseph W. Halko

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to understand the lived experiences of STEM teachers at rural secondary schools concerning the use of multimedia learning tools to support cognitive processes during instruction. Meyer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML) provides the theoretical framework for this study, ensuring that multimedia learning modalities, such as e-learning platforms and educational technology, are grounded in sound cognitive theory. The central question is, “What are the lived experiences of rural secondary STEM teachers concerning the use of multimedia learning tools to support cognitive processes during instruction?” To support this investigation, a phenomenological methodology based …

A Predictive Correlational Study Of The Accuracy Of Facial Action Units And Heart Rate Variability To Predict Sustained Attention In Kindergarten, First-, And Second-Grade Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Carrie Michelle Harmer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, predictive correlational study was to determine to what extent facial action units brow raise, lip press, lip suck, and mouth open and heart rate variability predict sustained attention and how accurately heart rate variability predicts the same facial action units in children ages 5 to 7 in kindergarten, first, and second grade with autism in a northeast Florida public school district. Results add to the existing body of research on how accurately facial expression analysis and heart rate variability predict sustained attention in a larger, younger sample of children with autism. They also clarify the …

High-Functioning Autism, Stress, And Access To Resources: A Grounded Theory Analysis Of Families’ Strategies To Create A Network Of Support, Emmett S. Ramirez Vasquez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this systematic grounded theory study was to understand the process of partnership building for parents of individuals between the ages of 10-29 with high-functioning ASD at two counties in Central New York. The method of grounded theory was applied in this study as it gave an opportunity to study this process of partnership building between parents and support systems since previous theories had been insufficient to address this process. This study used a qualitative methodology to gather data from 12 participants including parents of individuals between the ages of 10-29 with high-functioning ASD as well as their …

The Influence Of Humility And Spirituality On The Relationship Between Work-Family Conflict And Mental Help-Seeking Attitudes In Skilled Trade Workers, Charles Dean Twellmann

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study examined the relationships among work-family conflict (WFC), humility, spirituality, and mental help-seeking attitudes (MHSA) among skilled trade workers in the United States. Skilled trade occupations are characterized by demanding schedules, physical labor, safety risks, and cultural norms emphasizing independence and self-reliance, factors that may influence occupational strain and attitudes toward psychological support. Although WFC and help-seeking have been examined in other high-demand professions, limited research has explored how humility and spirituality relate to these constructs within skilled trade populations. Validated self-report measures of WFC, humility, spirituality, and MHSA were administered to 196 skilled trade workers who were …

Soft Systems For Community-Based Hcv Management In Indonesian Oil Palm Plantations, Neny Indriyana, Suyud Warno Utomo, Tri Edhi Budhi Soesilo, Linda Darmajanti

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Certification mandates under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) have made measurable strides in promoting sustainability standards, yet governance challenges in High Conservation Value (HCV) 4, 5, and 6 management remain insufficiently addressed within Indonesian plantation contexts.  Drawing on adaptive governance theory and the social-ecological systems framework, this study argues that such gaps are structurally linked to the marginalisation of community agency within corporate-dominated decision-making. This study proposes and empirically evaluates an integrated governance framework that positions community engagement as a functional contributor to conservation outcomes within plantation landscapes of West Kalimantan, under …

Cold Origins Limit The Establishment Of Northern Temperate Plants In The Southern Hemisphere, Mark D Mullinger, Colin P Osborne, Jill C Preston, Simen R Sandve, Maria S Vorontsova, Luke T Dunning

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Plants with amphitropical distributions have closely related populations in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres, but are absent from the intervening tropics. They provide a unique opportunity to study the constraints shaping the distribution of temperate lineages through time. Using grasses from the ecologically diverse supertribe Melicodae, an emerging study system with species distributed throughout the temperate regions, we test the hypothesis that geography and/or environmental niche constrain which lineages successfully cross the tropics to establish in the opposite hemisphere. Biogeographic and evolutionary modelling was conducted on well resolved plastid and nuclear phylogenies constructed from whole-genome sequencing of 178 accessions of …

Taylor Swift And The Social Construction Of Risk: Harms Realized And Avoided, Jack L. Rozdilsky, Talia Shortt

The Manuscript: Journal of Taylor Swift Studies

An especially difficult ten-day period for Taylor Swift and her fans occurred in late July to early August 2024 as the Eras Tour was wrapping up its European leg.  On July 29, 2024, a Taylor Swift themed yoga and dance workshop taking place in Southport, United Kingdom, was attacked.  A disaster was realized as three children were killed during a criminal mass stabbing attack.  On August 7, 2024, a sequence of three Eras Tour concerts intended to be held in Vienna, Austria, was suddenly cancelled due to the discovery of an anticipated terrorist attack that was in the advanced stages …

Taylor Swift, Gender, And Feminism: What Do The Data Say?, Maxine Lewis

The Manuscript: Journal of Taylor Swift Studies

In the world of Swiftian scholarship, several scholars have credited Taylor Swift with feminist impact, while others have criticized both her type of feminism and claims to be a feminist. Many arguments rest on a narrow group of protest songs (“The Man”, “You Need To Calm Down”, and “Only The Young”) and a short period of Swift’s career in which she made many paratextual political gestures (2019-2020). However, claims about a songwriter’s feminism (or lack thereof) will be more accurate, robust, and nuanced if they draw on data from her whole career.

This article provides the first systematic survey of …

Heart Rate Variability In The Context Of Mental Health And Substance Use, Sage M. Lopez

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) has been linked to various areas of cardiovascular disease and mortality in previous research. Within this area, certain mental illnesses and use of psychoactive substances have been associated with low HRV and its health implications. Little research exists that examines the combined effects of mental illness and psychoactive substance use. The current research aims to understand if there is a compounding negative effect of these two factors when studied in tandem. Using a three-phase study design, HRV was analysed at baseline and at physiological relaxation, with participants being included under certain mental health, substance use, or …

From Inquiry To Action: Leveraging Group Level Assessment To Elevate Teacher Voice, Claire C. Underwood, Leslie Kochanowski, Abraham Underhill

Journal of Practitioner Research

This methodological paper explores the use of Group Level Assessment (GLA) (Vaughn & Lohmueller, 2014; Vaughn, 2024) as a participatory approach to practitioner inquiry within an early childhood education program. Using Cochran-Smith and Lytle’s (2009) inquiry as stance as a guiding conceptual framework, GLA is framed as a methodology that affirms educator expertise, fosters collective reflection, and generates tangible action. We document the adaptation and implementation of the GLA protocol at the Arlitt Center, a university-affiliated early childhood laboratory school committed to teacher-led professional learning. Through an adapted GLA process, teaching staff engaged in identifying barriers and opportunities related to …

Under The Guise Of “Benevolent Assimilation”: The United States Genocide In The Philippines, Samuel S. Cao

Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II

No abstract provided.

Eugenics In California: A Stain On The Golden State, Grace Martinez

Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II

No abstract provided.

Sublatâ Causa, Tollitur Effectus: Pathologizing Male Homosexuaity In The French Colonies, Anna Nicolae

Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II

No abstract provided.

Stateless Women: Religious Theocracies, Rollback Of Rights, And Population Panic, Christina Mcmanus

Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II

No abstract provided.

Historical Perspectives Vol. 30 2025

Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II

No abstract provided.

Guarding The Game: Building A Defensive Line Between Athletes' Biometric Data And Gambling Interests, Caroline Hébert

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This comment examines the intersection of wearable technology, professional sports, and the burgeoning sports betting industry. Focusing primarily on the National Football League (NFL), the author explores how biometric markers such as heart rate, stress levels, and fatigue—originally intended for player health and performance—are increasingly targeted for commercialization in the gambling market. The comment provides a critical analysis of the current legal landscape, noting that existing frameworks like HIPAA and GINA, as well as current Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), offer insufficient protections for athletes' sensitive personal data. Hébert identifies key points of exploitation by third-party vendors and highlights the conflicting …

Using Molecular Evolution To Explore Alternative Receptors For Sars-Cov-2, Kayden Harris, Aemelia Price, Ruby Bentz

Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement

SARS-CoV-2, the virus which caused the Covid-19 pandemic, likely jumped from bats into humans, canonically uses the protein ACE2 to infect cells. Recent studies found 22 possible human alternative receptors. However, it is unknown if these receptors are biologically significant to SARS-CoV-2 in vivo. Selective pressure between viruses and hosts often steer nucleotide changes in proteins, including viral receptors. Virus-driven natural selection is often evident in receptor evolution across related species. A signature of natural selection at virus-bound residues of an alternative receptor may indicate use by a virus. To determine if alternative SARS-CoV-2 receptors underwent natural selection in bats, …

Expanding The Fossil Record Of Hippopotamodon (Suidae, Artiodactyla) From The Hasnot Area, Siwalik, Pakistan, Muhammad Ilyas, Rana Mehroz Fazal, Sayyed Ghyour Abbas, Misbah Faiz, Kiran Aftab, Abdul Ghaffar, Khizar Samiullah, Luke Holbrook

STEM Student Research Symposium Posters

The suid genus Hippopotamodon with its type species H. sivalense, is well known from Upper Miocene deposits in Eurasia. Its taxonomic history has been characterized by considerable instability, including early misassignments to genera such as Sus and Potamochoerus, and subsequent reclassifications involving Propotamochoerus, Dicoryphochoerus, and Microstonyx. This confusion primarily resulted from an overreliance on variable dental and canine morphology. Subsequent systematic revisions attempted to resolve these issues by proposing synonymies among these taxa, although debate has continued regarding the relationship between Hippopotamodon and Microstonyx. Recent work supports the synonymy of these taxa based on shared diagnostic features across Eurasian material. …

Discovery And Characterization Of Three Novel Bacteriophages Infecting Arthrobacter Globiformis: Crescenzo (Ay), Gerri43 (Fr), & Roberts (Fr), Gabrielle Achinko, Maximillan Castro, Evan Chernyenko, Kelley Crescenzo, Natalie Horchuck, Jessica Lee, Mattie Mcmahon, Heidi Meehan, Sandra Orjih, Kanishka Poudel, Kaitlyn Roberts, Alex Bogush, Matthew Farber, Marina Bogush

STEM Student Research Symposium Posters

Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and are increasingly important in applications ranging from agriculture and food safety to phage therapy. In this study, we isolated and characterized three novel phages, Gerri43, Crescenzo, and Roberts, from soil samples collected in Greenwich, New Jersey, and from the Rowan University campus in Glassboro, New Jersey, using Arthrobacter globiformis as the host bacterium. Phages were recovered using standard enrichment and purification approaches. After initial isolation, multiple rounds of plaque purification and serial dilution were performed to obtain clonal populations. High-titer lysates were then prepared by flooding webbed plates. Electron microscopy showed that all …

Erratum To ``Childhood Obesity: Global Burden, Multifactorial Etiologies, Biological Mechanisms, And Emerging Interventions For Prevention And Management'' [Saudi Medical Journal 2026; 47(2):183–194], Fahad H. Baali

Saudi Medical Journal

In the manuscript entitled: ``Childhood Obesity: Global Burden, Multifactorial Etiologies, Biological Mechanisms, and Emerging Interventions for Prevention and Management'' Published in Saudi Med J 2026; Vol. 47(2): 183–194. doi: 10.15537/1658-3175.1001
The tables included in the published version were incorrect due to a production error.

Advancing Rheumatology In The Middle East: Mrc 2025 Abstracts, Martin Lee, Ahmed Zayat, Beena Hameed, Elsadeg Sharif, Fahda Al Okaily, Fehaid Alanazi, Francis Kynaston-Pearson, Khalid A. Alnaqbi, Mahmood Hachim, Mayam Al Nesf, Mira Mirashli, Mohammed Tariq, Ravi Gutta, Reem Abdwani, Saadeya Naji, Shamma Lootah, Tareq Al Araimi, Waleed Hafiz, Suad Hannawi

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Prevalence Of Brca1 And Brca2 Germline Mutations In Western Saudi Patients With Epithelial Tubo-Ovarian Carcinoma, Wala Mehros, Faisal Aldaheri, Anas Alqarni, Saif Aljehani, Abdulrahman Alnamlah, Alaa Althubaiti, Safaa Huneef, Hatim Jifree

Saudi Medical Journal

Objective: Ovarian cancer represents the most lethal gynecologic malignancy, the epithelial type (EOC) being the most common. BRCA gene mutations are associated with ovarian cancer, younger age at presentation, strong family history of EOC, and multiple malignancies in a single patient. This study calculated the rate of BRCA-positive EOC and compared BRCA-mutated vs non-mutated EOC cases. Methods: This retrospective cohort study, conducted at Princess Noura Oncology Center between May 2016 and December 2023, explored outcomes in BRCA-positive EOC patients. The inclusion criteria covered all EOC cases. A total of 70 patients were selected. Results: Of the 70 …