Digital Commons Network^™

Forbidden Knowledge: School Libraries, The First Amendment, And The Right To Receive Information, Natalie H. Berg

Washington Law Review

In the past five years, numerous Republican legislators and conservative parental groups have aggressively pushed to restrict sexual content in public schools. Many school districts have adopted policies that limit what topics are covered in class, and several statewide laws have legitimized and mandated these policies. Consequently, books featuring queer themes or characters are rapidly disappearing from public school libraries. These library restrictions, or book bans, have sparked substantial controversy and litigation.

This Comment examines state laws restricting public school libraries in Texas, Florida, and Iowa, arguing that these library restrictions violate the First Amendment on multiple grounds. Additionally, it …

The Effect Of Fascicular Elastin On The Mechanical And Functional Properties Of Healthy, Damaged, And Healing Tendon, Shawn Pavey

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Mechanical properties of tendon are highly influenced by structural protein composition and microscopic sub-structures. Within the largest subunit of tendon, the fascicle, the role of the elastin protein remains understudied despite impressive extensibility and fatigue resistance of its resulting elastic fibers. While previous work catalogued contributions of fascicular elastin across tendon type and species, the anticipated effects of elastin in fatigue and healing have not yet been explored. While previous knockout mouse models showed that disruption of elastic fibers led to altered mechanical properties (e.g., increased linear modulus), these models depended on heterozygous elastin deficiency or indirect knockout of proteins …

Economías De Reciprocidad En Un Paisaje Neocolonizado: La Plaza Almirante Brown Como Nodo Socioecológico Repensar La Belleza, La Pertenencia Y Las Plantas Desde La Educación Ambiental Y El Valor Plural Isp Report, Yereni Bruno-Sanchez

Argentina: People, Environment, and Climate Change in Patagonia and Antarctica

This study seeks to understand how ecological imperialism present in urban green spaces affects the optimal functioning of the reciprocal economies that sustain these places, through the case of Plaza Almirante Brown in Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The perceptions, values, and emotions that visitors attribute to this urban ecosystem are analyzed, as well as the social dynamics that keep it alive. The work acknowledges and respects the sense of place already established, while identifying a gap in the plaza's relational economy linked to the limited presence and public understanding of native flora. It proposes that the incorporation of …

Urban Noisy Miner Populations And Vegetation Composition Hinders Small Bird Communities In Urban Sydney, Australia And Canberra, Australia, Libby Hennes

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

Increasing urbanization to prioritize habitats that are eucalypt dominant with poor understory density has resulted in an overabundance of the native honeyeater the Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala). Noisy Miners are incredibly aggressive, especially towards birds that are smaller than them. This is believed to have contributed to declining small bird populations in remnant woodland patches that are dominated by Noisy Miners. This same pattern was discovered in urban greenspaces across Sydney, Australia and Canberra, Australia during November 2025. Small birds were almost completely absent in sites in Sydney and small birds in Canberra had a strong negative correlation with the …

It's Alive! Comparing Wet And Dry Sclerophyll Revegetation In Wollemi National Park Following The 2019-2020 Bushfires, Bethany Hall

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

Wollemi National Park is part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Areas and contains many endemic plants and animals. Increasingly severe fires are threatening the area. This study aims to compare how dry and wet sclerophyll sites are recovering after the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires. We surveyed eight wet sites and nine dry sites that were burned early in the bushfires. Diameter at breast height (DBH) and resprouting vigor was measured to determine if and how well trees were recovering. Dry sites experienced higher resprouting vigor compared to wet sites. Wet sites had a higher number of unique trees …

Spectrum, Volume 55, Issue 4, Sacred Heart University

Newspapers (Obelisk & Spectrum)

Highlights include: Second Annual P.I.E.R. Conference -- Laudato Si’ Initiative Expands to Office -- PRSSA Prepares Students for Real-World Success -- Fall Festivities at SHU -- TAP Presents “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” -- Sacred Heart Hockey Ranked First in Preseason Polls

Pacific Rxtracts - October 2025, Pacific Rxtracts

Pacific RxTracts

Articles:

• The Resurgence of Cardiac Glycosides in Heart Failure
• Wayrilz: New Breakthrough for Persistent or Chronic Immune Thrombocytopenia
• Atrasentan: An Emerging Therapy in IgA Nephropathy
• The Second FDA-Approved MASH Treatment
• New Pharmacist-Driven Calcitonin Protocol Delivers Cost Savings in Hypercalcemia of Malignancy Care
• Baxdrostat Offers Hope for Patients with Resistant Hypertension
• Challenging the Norm: Anticoagulant Discontinuation is Safe Postablation
• Olezarsen: Redefining Triglyceride Control Through APOC3 Inhibition
• Semaglutide and Tirzepatide Linked to Increased Risk of Vision Disorders
• At Last, a Step Forward in Gastric and GEJ
• Tarlatamab: A Breakthrough in Relapsed Small Cell Lung
• Expanded FDA Approval for Darolutamide
• Linvoseltamab: Redefining Multiple …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Env 3070 (Agroecology), Benjamin Iuliano

Open Educational Resources

Our relationships with the food we eat are deeply personal, but also connect us to a wide array of people, plants, animals, and landscapes around the world. Encompassing a diversity of scholarly approaches, the field of agroecology seeks to understand the interactions among these components, draw attention to the consequences of our present industrial food system, and create the conditions for more sustainable and just futures. In this course, students will learn about the science, practice, and social movement of agroecology through lectures, course discussions, field trips, and hands-on activities.

J.A.M: What Epiphyte Load And Frugivore Abundance In Ficus Species Can Tell Us About Disturbance Regimes In Tropical North Queensland, Jordan Trinidad

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

The Wet Tropics Bioregion hosts a startling diversity of species, many of which are endemic and/or endangered. The habitats in which these species are found have been threatened by intensive logging post-European settlement, which has increased the susceptibility of the isolated remnant fragments to cyclone-related disturbances. In this study, we surveyed the visitation rates of frugivores to Ficus species between Cape Tribulation and Yungaburra in Northeast Queensland, Australia, as well as the epiphyte abundance supported by these trees. We found that in upland rainforest, the forces of cyclones and habitat fragmentation act in confluence on epiphyte abundance via the moderation …

Effects Of Provisioning On Two Species Of Rock-Wallaby (Petrogale Mareeba And Petrogale Assimilis) In North Queensland, Australia, Eve Oliker

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

Provisioning, the act of providing food, water, or shelter to wild animals, can lead to habituation, resulting in changes in behavior, abundance, and distribution (Newsome & Rodger, 2008). In North Queensland, a colony of Mareeba rock-wallaby (Petrogale mareeba) at Granite Gorge has been provisioned for over 45 years, mainly through direct hand-feeding, while a group of allied rock-wallaby (Petrogale assimilis) in Magnetic Island has experienced shorter and less consistent provisioning. This study investigated whether long-term provisioning causes more severe behavioral changes, higher aggression, and larger aggregation sizes. Approximately one week was spent observing each population. Scan sampling was utilized to …

Habits And Habitats: Activity Budgets Of Platypuses (Ornithorhynchus Anatinus) Across Varying Habitat Types And Environmental Conditions In The Hobart Rivulet, Wyatt Nowacek

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

The habitat preferences and activity budgets of platypuses (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) was recorded in the Hobart Rivulet in Hobart, Tasmania. Twenty-three sites were sampled for platypus presence over 21 days for a total of 784 surveys at various times between 6:00 and 20:00 during which current weather and river conditions were recorded. Fifty-eight platypuses were observed, and their behaviors were recorded in 15-minute periods for a total 5.86 hours of behavioral data. During observations the type and duration of their behaviors was recorded. The habitat assessment at the sites included factors that may impact platypus occurrence, behavior, or abundance such as …

Why Antimicrobial Resistance Pipelines Fail On Cyanobacteria: What Custom Databases Reveal Instead, Maeve Musselman

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

Harmful cyanobacterial blooms (C-HABs) are increasing as climate change and nutrient enrichment create favorable environments for cyanobacteria. Although bloom-forming cyanobacteria can persist in extreme and polluted conditions, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and metal resistance (MR) play significant roles in bloom persistence and response to treatments, both remain understudied. Currently, most AMR detection pipelines use clinical databases developed for human pathogens which routinely fail to detect resistance genes in environmental microbes. This study evaluated AMR and MR profiles in seven freshwater cyanobacteria using both clinical AMR pipelines (CARD, ResFinder, ARG-ANNOT) and a custom environmental resistance database specifically designed to include metal …

What’S On The Menu? An Observational Study Of The Predatory Ecology Of Pseudochromis Fuscus, Navya Mittal

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

Understanding the foraging behaviour of small reef predators is important for determining how they influence reef fish and cryptobenthic community structure. This study examined the predatory behaviour of Pseudochromis fuscus, a mesopredatory reef fish known to consume high numbers of juvenile damselfish recruits. In contrast to previous studies, no successful captures of juvenile recruits were observed, despite numerous attempted strikes. Instead, benthic invertebrates appeared to be the primary food source across all three time periods examined (full moon, mass coral spawning, and new moon). Behavioural differences were observed among periods, with significantly higher pursuit attempts during the new moon, likely …

Contradicting Effects Of Three Firefighting Chemicals On Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis Infection, Naomi Meyers

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

The spread of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis around the world has led to the decline of many species; however, Australian amphibian populations are especially vulnerable to the effects of the fungus. The combination of endemism, small geographical ranges, and a climate that supports fungal growth has led to the presumed extinction of 6 endemic species since the disease was first discovered. In addition to this fungus, amphibians are also facing pressure from the increasing prevalence of wildfires. As wildfires become more common and more destructive, scientists are rushing to find chemicals that aid firefighters in slowing down and reducing the intensity of …

Presence And Change Of Fluorescence In Two Broadcast Spawning Hermaphroditic Coral Species Through Development From Egg To Early Settlement, Mollie Kroll

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

The Great Barrier Reef is home to a variety of hermaphroditic broadcast spawning coral species that only release gametes to reproduce once a year. The limited opportunity to collect these gametes to understand a scleractinian coral’s early ontogeny caps the knowledge on their development prior to early settlement on the reef substrate. Corals can produce green fluorescent proteins during their development, but the biological function for this fluorescence is still widely hypothesized. This study aims to track hermaphroditic broadcast spawning species fluorescence, Acropora millepora and Platygyra sp., during their development from egg to early settler. The expression of green fluorescent …

Relating Natural Dispersal And Expansion Of Mangrove Forests To Local Australian Restoration Methods, August Jones

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

The combined vulnerability and importance of mangrove forests have spurred efforts to preserve their remaining natural stage and restore their land area made unsuitable by storms or coastal development. Globally, both private and government organizations have participated in mangrove ecosystem recovery through standard methodology and principles such as replantation and ecosystem rehabilitation. However, research into the costs and outcomes of these programs has ruled that many of them suffer low success rates due to a lack of suitable areas for rehabilitation, citing a poor understanding of the ecosystem typology and lack of long-term measures to avoid eventual degradation. This study …

Way Kambas National Park: The Human-Wildlife Conflict Success Story Still In Need Of Improvement, Eleanor Lefkowicz

Indonesia: Arts, Religion, and Social Change

This paper investigates the negative interactions between humans and animals in Way Kambas National Park of Sumatra, Indonesia, and the prevention and mitigation tactics the community utilizes. The numerous villages surrounding the National Park suffer from elephant activity damaging their farms, while the elephants are frequently harmed by poaching within the park. Participate observations and interviews concluded that the Way Kambas community responds to human-wildlife conflict with a collaborative effort by locals, government park police, and non-governmental organizations to both deter elephant presence outside of the park and poaching activity within the park, as well as to mitigate the negative …

Piping Up: Exploring Body Length And Density Metrics Of Dominant Pipefish Species Urocampus Carinirostris Across Spatially Distinct Sites In Moreton Bay, Qld, Leah Esser

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

The morphologically unique family Syngnathidae faces high levels of anthropogenic pressures in Moreton Bay Marine Park where seagrass beds, habitat to many syngnathid species, are increasingly vulnerable. Among these species, the pipefish Urocampus carinirostris is especially prevalent, making it a strong candidate as an indicator and model species. Threats to seagrass, including pollution and nutrient overload, largely stem from sources on the bay’s western banks. This study aimed to conduct a preliminary investigation of how U. carinirostris size, density, and site-level pipefish diversity compares across locations, with particular attention to differences between eastern and western sites. An exploratory comparison between …

Helping The Natural World Speak For Itself: Art's Role In Communicating Environmental And Sustainability Concepts In Sydney, Australia, Elizabeth Clark

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

Climate change and its broadening scope have made awareness of environmental issues, as well as ways to mitigate them, essential to securing our planet's future. Artistic venues, such as art galleries and even theatres, are becoming increasingly prominent in this conversation due to their ability to engage broad audiences and make scientific concepts more accessible. To understand the effectiveness of artistic efforts in science communication, it is necessary to assess the strategies by which both successful scientific venues, like zoos or natural history museums, and emerging artistic venues in science disseminate information. This project aimed to assess science communication strategies …

Effects And Importance Of Structure And Light On Acropora And Platygyra Corals In A Shallow Reef, Olivia Becker

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

This study examined the niche’s corals had and their locations on the reef. And more closely observed how light availability and structural complexity affect the spatial distribution of different coral species on a shallow reef. By using photogrammetry and putting out HOBO light sensors data was observed to see how much light the corals received and the structural complexity that surrounds them. Surveys were done on Lizard Island in the Great Barrier Reef, and the study site was Horseshoe. Horseshoe is a shallow reef located on the sheltered side making it easy to survey at. During a 3 day span …

Blooming Questions: The Potential Impact Of The Ongoing Harmful Algal Bloom On Pinnipeds On Kangaroo Island, South Australia, Rose Cassidy

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

The ongoing harmful algal bloom in South Australia that began in March 2025, which resulted in over 106 marine animal mortalities across 550 taxa, was recently identified as having brevetoxins, which can harm marine mammals and human beings (Murray et al., 2025). This algal bloom is currently affecting Kangaroo Island, South Australia, a key habitat for the endemic Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea), as well as long-nosed fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri) (Goldsworthy et al., 2021), (Goldsworthy and Shaughnessy, 1994). Because these pinniped species were observed eating algal bloom affected prey, previous research on other pinnipeds suggests that the subject pinnipeds …

Fall 2025

La Louisiane

The magazine of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

The Impacts Of Sports Specialization On Youth Development, Madison M. Allen

Honors Thesis

To this date, there has been a rise in the professionalism of youth sports, which has increased the competitiveness and likelihood of early specialization in young athletes. While this allows youth athletes to have recognition at a young age, many athletes experience negative effects that inhibit their ability to make it to the elite level at a later age. Sports specialization can be defined as the participation and/or training of one sport year-round, typically excluding participation in all other sports. Current research suggests that sports specialization can contribute to injury and musculoskeletal disorders, impact motor skills and coordination, and cause …

Look What You Made Me Do, Russell M. Gold

Articles

We have understood for centuries that crime is both the product of social forces and individual choice. We know now that crime is affected by economic deprivation, addiction, trauma, and mental health issues. But American criminal legal processes hide this reality by coercing defendants into expressing a profoundly simple narrative: crime is solely individual choice to do wrong. This coerced narrative finds defendants during a plea colloquy standing up in court saying that they are pleading guilty because they are guilty and for no other reason. A defendant who goes off-script to tell the judge that they have been repeatedly …

Scientific Muse And Misuse: Reevaluating Authorship Attribution And Liability Allocation In The Generative Ai Age, Inbar Cohen Ganot

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

The Church And Child Welfare: Exploring Faith-Based Support For Foster, Kinship, Adoptive, And Biological Families, Elizabeth Deagle

Orphans and Vulnerable Children Senior Capstone

The child welfare system relies on foster, kinship, adoptive, and biological families to provide care, stability, and permanency for vulnerable children. Despite their critical role, these families often face complex challenges, including trauma exposure, placement instability, caregiver burnout, socioeconomic and legal barriers, and limited access to supportive resources. Historically, churches and faith-based organizations have played a significant role in caring for orphaned and vulnerable children. This paper examines the unique contribution of the church and faith-based organizations in strengthening child welfare efforts across three dimensions: (1) biblical and theological foundations for caring for vulnerable children and families, (2) trauma-informed ministry …

Investigating The Effects Of Cbd And Caffeine Interaction On Embryonic Development In Xenopus Laevis, Jeanesia M. Pierre

Theses

This study examined the interactive effects of cannabidiol (CBD) and caffeine on Xenopus laevis embryos over a 96-hour exposure period. Developmental toxicity was assessed using toxic unit isobole analysis, with LC₅₀, EC₅₀, and teratogenic index (TI) values calculated for CBD, caffeine, and mixtures at 3:1, 1:1, and 1:3 ratios.

Results showed that mixtures produced concentration-dependent interactions. When caffeine levels were higher, the mixtures displayed synergistic toxicity; as the proportion of CBD increased, the interaction shifted toward a concentration-addition model. Mortality was elevated in mixtures relative to single-compound exposures, while malformation rates decreased, indicating reduced teratogenicity. Overall, findings suggest that CBD …

Genome-Wide Identification Of Essential Genes For Microbial Insecticide Bioremediation, Mary Snook

AES Theses

Insecticides pose a threat to ecological, wildlife and human health when they are carried in runoff water from agricultural fields to surface and ground waters. Microbial bioremediation provides a promising avenue for degrading and removing these pollutants from runoff water before they dissipate into downstream ecosystems. While effective bioremediators for various target pesticides have been identified, we do not yet understand exactly how microbes degrade insecticides in most cases. In this study, I examined three bacterial strains with the ability to metabolize imidacloprid (strain Imidl Y) or malathion (strains Mal4 and Mal6), both common insecticides, and used transposon-mediated mutagenesis to …

Chapter 3: The Freezing Spell, Garon C. Smith

G. Wiz’s Book of Spells

The Freezing Spell is a fun one to pass off as a wizarding feat. A supersaturated solution of sodium acetate trihydrate is nucleated with seed crystals that the demonstrator has cleverly hidden on the tip of his/her middle finger. When the fingers are snapped over the open throat of the flask that holds the solution, a snowy hemisphere of crystallization grows over the next 10 seconds. The flask can then be inverted to show that it is now solid. The flask has also gone from room temperature to a nice handwarmer temperature of about 120^oF due to the …

Effects Of Depth, Substrate, And Wave Energy On Nearshore Demersal Fish Community Structure Off Central California, Jake Todd

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Fish species are not randomly distributed across space and changes in fish assemblages often occur in response to environmental variation, habitat characteristics, and species interactions, which are often scale-dependent. Understanding fine scale habitat associations can contribute to marine spatial planning, modeling efforts, and marine resource management. While habitat associations have been observed and studied on a variety of different scales, there is a distinct lack of information about how these factors influence fish assemblages in mesophotic depths in temperate ecosystems. In this study, I investigated species-habitat associations of demersal fish communities within an intermediate depth zone (20 60 m) and …