Digital Commons Network^™

Objects Of Atrocity: Material Culture And The Challenges Of Difficult Histories, Robert M. Ehrenreich, Jane E. Klinger, Gabriel H. Pizzorno, Caroline Sturdy Colls

Purdue University Press Books

The vast majority of people throughout history have left few written traces. That is especially the case for those who were brutally forced from their homes, stripped of their possessions, and swiftly imprisoned, enslaved, or murdered. Objects of Atrocity: Material Culture and the Challenges of Difficult Histories addresses how we return humanity to these people in order to avoid their erasure from history. Academics and practitioners from a variety of disciplines and cross-disciplinary approaches grapple with the challenges and possibilities relating to the collection, conservation, storage, and display of objects in the aftermath of mass atrocities. This collection confronts a …

Detection Of C60 Combination Bands In The Near-Ir Spectrum Of Tc 1, Morgan M. Giese, Vincent J. Esposito, Simon Van Schuylenbergh, Jan Cami, Els Peeters, Charmi Bhatt, Dries Van De Putte, A. G. G. M. Tielens, Michael J. Barlow, Jeronimo Bernard-Salas, Alessandra Candian, Bryan Changala, Nick L. J. Cox, Harriet L. Dinerstein, D. A. García-Hernández, Marco A. Gómez-Muñoz, Kay Justtanont, Kathleen E. Kraemer, Eric Lagadec, Arturo Manchado, Ana Monreal Ibero, Raghvendra Sahai, Ameek Sidhu, G. C. Sloan, N. C. Sterling, Jeremy R. Walsh, Roger Wesson, Joshua Cole Whitman, Albert Zijlstra

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

We report the detection of a set of new near-infrared emission features between 3.5 and 5.2 μm in JWST/NIRSpec observations of Tc 1, the planetary nebula known for displaying the cleanest and most prominent mid-infrared cosmic fullerene spectrum. These broad features share the same spatial distribution as the well-known C₆₀ and C₇₀ mid-infrared emission bands, peaking in an asymmetric ring approximately 5″–6″ from the central star. Through comparison with new anharmonic quantum chemical calculations, we demonstrate that these features arise from C₆₀ combination bands, marking their first detection in an astrophysical environment. The total energy radiated …

Work Precarity, Mental Health, And Performance Among Humanitarian Aid Workers In Egypt Post-2025 U.S. Funding Reduction, Mariam Allam

Theses and Dissertations

The humanitarian sector is increasingly characterized by precarious employment conditions and work precarity, including short-term contracts, unclear renewal terms, inadequate compensation, heavy workloads, and job insecurity, exacerbated by volatile donor funding. The 2025 U.S. funding cuts have intensified these vulnerabilities, particularly in countries like Egypt, with massive humanitarian operations because of being a significant destination for asylum applications and one of the largest refugee host countries. Despite the prevalence of precarious work in the humanitarian sector, limited research examines its effects on workers' mental health and work performance, especially during funding crises. This qualitative study explores the perceived effect of …

Integrative Assessment Of Body Composition And Micronutrient Status In An Adult Egyptian Population, Roua Aref Nouh

Theses and Dissertations

Integrative Assessment of Body Composition and Micronutrient Status in an Adult Egyptian Population: A Functional and Biochemical Approach

Obesity and metabolic dysfunction are increasingly recognized as heterogeneous conditions that cannot be sufficiently characterized by body mass index (BMI) alone. Alterations in body composition, particularly central adiposity and skeletal muscle mass, may coexist with micronutrient imbalances even among individuals who fall outside conventional BMI-based obesity classifications. In clinical settings, such metabolic vulnerability is frequently accompanied by non-specific functional symptoms, highlighting the need for integrative assessment approaches that extend beyond weight-centered metrics. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the associations between micronutrient …

Philosophia From Dialectic To Dying Before Death: Traces Of Plato’S Spirit In The Encounters Between The Falāsifa, Mutakallimūn, And Sūfiyya, Fadhil Yunus Alsagoff

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis offers a fresh approach to the question “What is philosophy?” by reconsidering Plato’s vision of philosophiaand seeking its traces in the encounters between the Falāsifa, the Mutakallimūn, and the Sūfiyya of the classical Muslim world. I argue that Plato’s true legacy lies in a vision of philosophia as dialectical inquiry that ultimately leads – due to the inextricable limitations of propositional language – to aporia and what he called “practicing for dying and death.” I then argue that this vision of philosophia finds resonance in the classical Muslim world in the embodied encounters between …

The Experience Of Newly Formed Syrian Female-Headed Households Refugees In Egypt: Challenges And Opportunities, Wasim Dia

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the lived experience of Newly Formed Syrian Female-Headed Households in Egypt. It focuses on how the extended displacement reshapes gender roles, decision-making, and survival strategies. Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, extensive family separation, death, disappearance, and male migration have occurred, leading to a significant rise in female-headed Syrian refugee households. As a result, displacement has intensified women’s vulnerability, generating new responsibilities and limited spaces for agency, especially within restrictive legal and socio-economic environments.

Based on in-depth qualitative interviews conducted in 2023, this research explores how Syrian refugee women navigate everyday life in Egypt …

Sense Of Belonging Among Undergraduate Students At The American University In Cairo: Demographic Trends, Barriers And Facilitators, Lamiaa M. Mohamed

Theses and Dissertations

A sense of belonging is widely recognized as a key determinant of undergraduate students’ academic success, well-being, and persistence in higher education. However, existing research is largely grounded in Western contexts and often emphasizes institution-level measures, with limited attention to how belonging is experienced and constructed by students in non-Western settings. This study examines undergraduate students’ sense of belonging at the American University in Cairo, focusing on factors that shape belonging and institutional practices that may strengthen it. Using a sequential mixed-methods design, the study examined 87 responses from a quantitative survey adapted from the University Belonging Questionnaire, followed by …

Humanitarianism Through Alan Kurdi Photograph: A Discourse Of Governing Suffering, Nada Mahmoud

Theses and Dissertations

Humanitarianism has become one of the powerful languages of modern times, in which compassion, ethics, and moral obligations are mediated to alleviate suffering. This thesis investigates humanitarianism not exclusively on the basis of its moral sentiments but on its functioning as a system of power that governs people’s conduct. It examines how different technologies of power feed into the operationalization of humanitarianism to transform it into a system for governing suffering. By decoding the elements of its power, the thesis aims to understand humanitarian reason through the humanitarian loop, from generating knowledge, categorization and representation, to the legal and normative …

Scruples Before Religion: Muslim Waraʿ Of The Formative Period, Omar Laaroussi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studies the conceptual history of waraʿ and its role as a normative paradigm existing in the formative centuries of the Islamic world. To do so, I consider the Hellenic concepts that ground Near Eastern understandings of virtue and piety before the rise of Islam. This, I then use to contextualise a focused discussion on the textual history of waraʿ before moving on to discuss its properties in a ascetic social-world through the analysis of those very texts. I attempt to place those properties in conversation with modern philosophers’ work on disciplinary regimes and their impacts upon the self. …

Parental Gender Bias In Youth Employment Standards: Evidence From Upper Egypt, Mahmoud Saeed

Theses and Dissertations

Youth unemployment remains a critical challenge in Egypt, with female labor force participation among the lowest globally. While structural factors such as limited job creation and public sector contraction are well-documented, the role of family-level decision-making in constraining women's labor market entry has received limited quantitative attention. This thesis examines parental gender bias in employment standards in Upper Egypt, investigating whether and how parents impose systematically different job requirements for daughters compared to sons. Using primary survey data from 17,284 unemployed youth aged 18-35 across six governorates, paired with responses from their parents, this study analyzes parental preferences across six …

Mobilizing Social Capital In Social Entrepreneurship: Strategies, Networks, And Growth In The Egyptian Context, Doaa Alaa

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how social entrepreneurs in Egypt strategically mobilise social capital to access resources, legitimacy, and opportunities within a fragmented and institutionally ambiguous ecosystem. Drawing on qualitative case studies of eight legally registered, mission-driven for-profit enterprises, the study analyses how founders build and leverage offline and online networks through practices such as emotional bonding, community formation, knowledge sharing, symbolic positioning, ecosystem engagement, and digital presence. Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and secondary data, the research identifies a set of relational strategies that function as core mechanisms for entrepreneurial growth in contexts where formal support structures and legal definitions …

How Disability Inclusion Shapes Student Experiences In Egyptian Public Universities, Ramez Maher

Theses and Dissertations

The inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education is a critical aspect of equity, social justice, and human rights, particularly in Egypt, where systemic barriers continue to hinder access to education for this demographic. Despite the enrollment of approximately 19.4 million students in 2018, only 38,135 students with disabilities were admitted, highlighting the significant challenges they face in accessing higher education.   Through a qualitative approach employing reflexive thematic analysis, this study explores the interplay of institutional policies, cultural attitudes, and accessibility challenges that affect the educational experiences of students with disabilities in Egyptian public universities. The analysis of 21 …

From Aspiration To Obligation: A Contractual Sustainability Framework For The Egyptian Construction Industry, Salma Ali

Theses and Dissertations

The construction industry is responsible for approximately 40% of global energy consumption and 35% of total waste generation, making it one of the most significant contributors to the global sustainability challenge. In Egypt, that challenge takes a specific contractual form. Egypt’s construction sector contributes approximately 23% of national energy consumption, yet the survey findings reveal that 63.5% of construction professionals report that sustainability clauses rarely or never appear in contracts, and only 11.5% confirm the presence of enforceable provisions with measurable targets. This gap is structural rather than attitudinal. Competitive procurement penalises voluntary sustainability investment, and without contractual obligation, awareness …

The Informal Impact Of The Headscarf Ban On Veiled Students’ Everyday University Experiences In Paris, Farah K. Lotfy

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the informal impact of the 2004 headscarf ban on the everyday university experiences of veiled students in Paris. Although the ban applies formally to public schools rather than universities, the wider social climate surrounding laïcité and the veil continues to influence how veiled students experience visibility, belonging, and participation in higher education.

Using a qualitative approach based primarily on semi-structured interviews, supported by informal observations conducted within university spaces in Paris, the study explores how exclusion is experienced through stereotypes, scrutiny, social discomfort, self-monitoring, and anticipation of discrimination rather than through formal university policy. The research focuses …

Engineering Nanoelectrocatalytic Systems For Co2 And Nitrate Conversion Into Value-Added Chemicals, Abdelrahman Mohamed Abdelmohsen

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis addresses two major related environmental crises: nitrate pollution of water systems and the ever-increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Both challenges are closely linked to anthropogenic disturbance of nitrogen and carbon cycles and require sustainable, energy efficient mitigation techniques. In this study, we investigate electrochemical conversion routes as a unified approach to convert these pollutants into value-added compounds: ammonia (NH3) via nitrate reduction (NO3-RR) and ethylene (C2H4) via carbon dioxide reduction (CO2RR). The first half of this work deals with the design and engineering of Cu-Zn alloy electrocatalysts for efficient NO3-RR. Tuning the alloy composition and surface nanostructure …

Flexible-Mode Multi-Skilled Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem With Setup Times: Application In The Oil And Gas Industry, Safinaz M. El Dawody

Theses and Dissertations

Turnaround maintenance (TAM) in the petroleum refining sector requires coordinating geographically dispersed project portfolios under stringent resource, schedule, and budget constraints. Conventional scheduling models treat tasks in isolation, failing to account for shared resources, crew fatigue, or inter-site transit. To bridge this gap, this study introduces and empirically validates a Flexible-Mode Multi-Skilled Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem with Setup Times (FM-MS-RCPSP-ST). Applied to a real-world portfolio of 76 TAM projects across five governorates in Egypt, the framework is operationalized through an 11-stage pipeline integrating NSGA-II multi-objective optimization, GIS-based routing, and 500-trial Monte Carlo disruption simulations.

Results demonstrate that incorporating mandatory crew-rest …

Who Moderates? A Polycentric Framework For Allocating Regulatory Responsibility In Online Content Moderation, Farh A. El Wishi

Theses and Dissertations

The question of who is responsible for content moderation on the internet remains one of the key topics relating to internet governance. Legislation has been adopted, platforms have utilized self-regulation methods, and users have flagged and reported content, all often happening simultaneously, yet rarely according to any coherent principle for deciding which actor should bear primary responsibility for which aspect of the problem. This research argues that the absence of a principled allocative framework is the central governance failure of the internet's regulatory history, and that addressing it requires a structured distribution of regulatory responsibility across the three actors who …

Gpr182 Is A Lipoprotein Receptor For Dietary Fat Absorption, Zhiwei Sun, Gwendalyn J. Randolph, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The lymphatic system plays a central role in lipid absorption by transporting triglyceride-rich particles called chylomicrons (CMs) from the small intestine to the systemic circulation. However, the molecular mechanism by which CMs get into the intestinal lymphatics is unknown. Here, we demonstrated that GPR182, an atypical chemokine receptor in lymphatic endothelial cells, mediates dietary fat absorption. GPR182-KO mice exhibited a selective increase in circulating high-density lipoproteins and are resistant to diet-induced obesity. GPR182 ablation in mice led to poor lipid absorption and thereby a delay in growth during development. GPR182 broadly interacted with and transported lipoproteins. Transmission electron microscopy analysis …

The Kashmir Conflict After The Abrogation Of Articles 370 And 35a Of The Indian Constitution: Geopolitical Dynamics And Human Security Implications, Rizwan Ali

Dissertations and Theses

The abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution on August 5, 2019, revoked the special autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under the Indian administration. It further bifurcated it into two Union Territories under central Indian control. The move came amid a severe security lockdown and communication blackout that lasted for months. It was followed by instrumental legal, social, and economic developments that directly affected the area’s disputed status and the human rights of its residents. This research examines the geopolitical and human security implications of the abrogation and subsequent developments through a qualitative, analytical design, integrating Edward …

Where To Now With Privacy? A Systematic Literature Review With Human–Artificial Intelligence Synthesis (Slr-Hais), Moulik M. Zaveri, Ameet Pandit, Violetta Wilk, Steven D’Alessandro

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose – The development of digital technologies has led to changes in how consumers perceive privacy. This systematic literature review (SLR) aims to introduce human–artificial intelligence (AI) synthesis (HAIS) as a novel methodology for extending traditional SLRs. Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive review of the privacy literature is conducted to demonstrate the efficacy of the SLR with HAIS (SLR-HAIS) approach, using 149 articles published by top marketing journals on consumer privacy. The PRISMA approach is adopted as the organizing framework. In addition, the TCCM framework is applied in conjunction with Leximancer-driven HAIS analysis, which utilizes natural language processing techinques for thematic …

Adaptive Video Sampling Using Multi-Factor Analysis For Multimodal Ai, Larry Lai, Ruixi Fan, Lan Wang, Youbao Tang

Defensive Publications Series

Processing continuous video streams can be computationally expensive and may lead to information loss with fixed-rate sampling techniques. A content-aware filtering system for adaptive video sampling may utilize a set of parallel analysis components to examine a video stream in real-time for factors such as scene changes, motion, semantic content, and latent feature similarity. Based on the aggregated output of these components, the system can select information-rich keyframes for downstream processing. A selected keyframe may be paired with a temporal timestamp. This approach may reduce data volume and computational load compared to fixed-rate sampling, while seeking to preserve temporal details …

Hugh Roberts, The Man And His Work, Edmund Burke Iii

Journal of Amazigh Studies

NA

In Memoriam: Hugh Roberts, Bruce Maddy-Weitzman

Journal of Amazigh Studies

NA

La Conceptualisation Du Temps À Travers Les Métaphores Dans Le Parler De Zayan : Approche Cognitive, Amenzou El Mostafa, Brahim Oumeraouch

Journal of Amazigh Studies

L'analyse des expressions métaphoriques du temps dans le parler des Zayan révèle une utilisation récurrente de métaphores conceptuelles qui reflètent la perception du temps dans cette culture. Les expressions métaphoriques telles que « le temps coule » sont largement utilisées pour décrire la continuité et l'irréversibilité du temps, tandis que celles comme « ne gaspille pas l’argent » soulignent sa valeur et sa gestion. En examinant ces expressions à travers les postulats de la théorie de Lakoff (1980), nous observons que les schémas conceptuels associés au temps reflètent deux visions distinctes : une conception dynamique, où le temps est vu …

La Formation Des Noms D’Agent En Tamazight À Travers Un Modèle Inspiré De La Morphologie Distribuée « Le Parler De Zayan Au Moyen Atlas Marocain », Rachid Achahboun

Journal of Amazigh Studies

Dans le Parler de Zayan du Moyen Atlas marocain, les noms d'agent se distinguent par une diversité morphologique influencée par des consonnes labiales et des allomorphies spécifiques. Ils présentent des mélodies vocaliques communes et intègrent souvent l'infixe [-m-] associé à des voyelles. Cet article analyse la dérivation des noms d’agent, mettant en lumière l'affixation des morphèmes et les transformations vocaliques, à travers un modèle inspiré de la Morphologie Distribuée. Pour ce faire, nous étudions le rôle des voyelles initiales et pénultièmes ainsi que des consonnes dans la formation des noms d’agent dans le cas du masculin et du féminin, tout …

Les Pseudonymes Des Femmes Rifaines En Diaspora : Stratégies De Résistance Et D'Affirmation Identitaire Sur Les Réseaux Sociaux, Abdelouahab Bazine

Journal of Amazigh Studies

Cet article explore les stratégies onomastiques développées par les Rifaines en contexte diasporique à travers l’analyse de leurs pseudonymes sur les réseaux sociaux, en particulier dans les groupes Facebook communautaires en France et en Belgique. Il examine comment ces désignations fonctionnent comme des marqueurs identitaires, traduisant des dynamiques de résistance, d’affirmation et d’adaptation en contexte migratoire. En mobilisant une approche sociolinguistique et anthropologique, cette étude met en lumière la manière dont les pseudonymes articulent attachement aux origines, inscription dans un espace transnational et négociation des rapports de domination linguistique et culturelle. L’analyse du corpus révèle plusieurs stratégies onomastiques, notamment l’usage …

Indigeneity In The Diaspora: Amazigh Women In The United States, Heide Castaneda

Journal of Amazigh Studies

As people migrate elsewhere, they create new forms of solidarity and citizenship through articulations of their Indigenous identity. The activities and identity formations of migrant Imazighen have long been integral to the Amazigh movement, often producing and propelling forward ideas and practices that influence politics in their North African homelands. At the same time, migration is a key driver of shifts in gender roles and identity. The gendered dimension of Indigenous experience remains largely underexplored and is the subject of this article. Amazigh women, like other Indigenous women around the globe, are frequently portrayed as guardians of cultural and linguistic …

Reframing Kabyle Resistance In Marc Garanger's Femmes Algériennes 1960, Lea Wong

Journal of Amazigh Studies

This article examines the identity photographs taken by Marc Garanger as a site of Kabyle women’s resistance in the Algerian War. Over the course of 1960, Garanger moved between various wartime displacement camps across Kabylia, photographing indigenous people for the production of identity cards––a crucial from of colonial population control. Since its publication, Garanger’s Femmes algériennes has become an ambiguous symbol of resistance in the Algerian War, largely due to the subjects’ perceived antagonistic posture and gaze. This article takes a forensic approach to analyzing Kabyle women’s wartime adornment, uncovering a new framework for conceptualizing Algerian women’s agency grounded in …

Listening To Taos Amrouche, A Kabyle Woman’S Singing Voice In A Context Of Exile And Immigration : Between A Search For Intimacy And Independence, Melek Chekili

Journal of Amazigh Studies

This article analyzes the vocal, musical and literary strategies Algerian Kabyle singer and writer Taos Amrouche employs to determine the place voicing holds for her in contexts of colonization, exile and migration. I demonstrate through her singing career and her 1975 autobiographical novel l’Amant Imaginaire, that within the ambivalences stemming from her birth in Tunisia to exiled Kabyle Christian converts and her emigration to France, Taos Amrouche’s singing voice provides a space where those ambivalences can co-exist. By being adamant about keeping her artistic activity close to her body and explicitly referring to sex in her writing, she exerts …

Data Privacy In Vietnam’S Banking Sector, Bich Thao Nguyen

Washington International Law Journal

No abstract provided.