Digital Commons Network^™

Language And Culture: Exploring The Links Between Africans And African Americans, Joash J. Gambarage

Global Africa: Journal of African and African Diaspora Studies

Due to the generational distance between contemporary African Americans and the earliest generations of enslaved Africans, the deep cultural connection between these two groups has not been sufficiently explored. Moreover, much of the existing literature on African culture in the Americas primarily focuses on retentions related to religion, music, food, and language, often missing other critical aspects of cultural continuity within the African diaspora, such as African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Niger-Congo linguistic ties, naming practices, and African epistemologies. This exclusion limits our understanding of how the historical movement of Africans and the persistence of African cultural legacies, have …

Situating Everybody Hates Chris (Ehc): The Appeal Of The Show, Elizabeth Johnson, Donald Culverson

Global Africa: Journal of African and African Diaspora Studies

"Everybody Hates Chris" (EHC) achieved critical success by employing comedy to address significant social issues, distinguishing itself in early-2000s television. Unlike earlier and contemporary series such as "Moesha," "The Hughleys," and "The Cosby Show," EHC offered a nuanced portrayal of Black family life, engaging an audience often overlooked or misrepresented by mainstream media. This article examines shifts in the television industry from the late 1990s to the early 2000s that facilitated EHC's innovative approach. The series departed from traditional family sitcoms, functioning not merely as entertainment but as a social commentary on the complexities of the family as a societal …

Christian Missions’ Medical Work In The Colonial Ilorin Province, 1900 To 1960, Rasheed Onagun

Global Africa: Journal of African and African Diaspora Studies

A scarcity of labor and the pursuit of optimal profit maximization led to the colonial government's collaboration with Christian missions to disseminate and expand Western healthcare to the populace. In Ilorin Province and Nigeria as a whole, missions undertook the majority of colonial medical work and public health initiatives. For the first time in the history of Ilorin Province, missionary endeavors introduced Western medicine as an alternative healthcare source to many, necessitating a historical examination. This paper explores existing literature, oral testimonies, and extensive archival documents to analyze the impacts of missionary medical work on the well-being of the people …

Editors’ Note: Introducing The Inaugural Edition

Global Africa: Journal of African and African Diaspora Studies

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Dam Negotiations: Water, Diné Sovereignty, And The Navajo Dam, George Smith

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On July 30, 1958, contractors working for the Bureau of Reclamation broke ground on the Navajo Dam, located about 35 miles east of Farmington, New Mexico. Diné Tribal chairman Paul Jones had called the dam a “new hope for [his] people,” anticipating increased agricultural and industrial capacity from irrigation and flow management. Though officially approved in 1962, the contingent Navajo Indian Irrigation Project (NIIP) that was to provide those many of those benefits remained to be completed in 2024. By contrast, the San Juan Chama Project (SJCP), the other project contingent upon the dam, diverted water from the San Juan …

Marcion And The Crisis Of Second-Century Christianity, Samuel Petersen

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Almost a century after the death of Christ and his original apostles, the 2nd-century Judeo-Christian church found itself in a vicious struggle for survival catalyzed by an ongoing negotiation between the church’s traditional Jewish roots and establishing its own identity. The loose confederation of Jesus-believers fought to gather themselves into a functional body as they wrestled with questions surrounding the very nature of the Christian faith.

“No Hen Should Herald The Dawn Lest Misfortune Follow”: Gender, History, And Power Sima Guang’S Comprehensive Mirror, Zoe Ngan

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

It was not a particularly notable occasion when Emperor Gaozong 高宗 of the Tang dynasty (AD 618–907) established Wu Zetian 武則天 as a mid-ranked concubine in 654. Emperors, throughout Chinese history, were polygamous rulers who acquired no shortage of concubines per the Rites of Zhou 周禮, an ancient ritual text which proposed that rulers obtain 121 wives and consorts. Wu’s nomination signified the unpredictability of imperial favour and almost certainly did not turn heads when her appointment occurred.

Christianity Behind The Iron Curtain: How Creative Arts Gave A Voice To The Voiceless, Riana Johnson Wills

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 1988, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) held celebrations across the Soviet Union to mark the Millennium of Christianity in Russia, commemorating a thousand years since the baptism of Rus in 988. While this was a monumental day for Christians, many believers across the Soviet Union felt a sense of dissonance. For decades, religious freedom and worship had not been privileges they enjoyed. Thousands of Christians suffered for their belief. The communist regime began in 1922 with Vladimir Lenin. The USSR built upon Marxist ideology where atheism is a fundamental and they expected nationwide compliance to these ideologies. …

Rationed Victory: A Study Of American Civilian Rationing In World War Ii, Alex Moulder

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In any conflict or competition it is often said that the winner is “fueled to victory.” This could come as a result of training, diet, stamina, support from others, or sheer willpower. Even small variations in any of these elements can have significant consequences and affect outcomes. The same can be said about civilians during wartime, especially during the largest conflict of the twentieth century, World War II. The war cemented the United States as a global power, thanks in part to its massive economy, technologies, and industries, which helped to overcome the war of attrition against the Axis powers. …

Leasing Land, Losing Sovereignty: Us Military Land Leasing In Okinawa, Japan, Kathryn Blau

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Military land leasing in Okinawa has played a central role in limiting Okinawan political sovereignty since the end of World War II by fostering economic dependence on US military bases and enabling policies that override local opposition. Tracing the evolution of the leasing system under both American occupation and Japanese administration reveals how land expropriation, compensation policies, and increasingly generous financial incentives encouraged reliance on base-related income while discouraging advocacy for land reversion and base reduction. The analysis further demonstrates how the Japanese government's legal enforcement of mandatory lease renewals, particularly during the 1996 Okinawa land dispute, curtailed the rights …

Editor's Preface, Gabe Smock

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

This editor's preface explores the origins and enduring mission of The Thetean, BYU's undergraduate history journal. Through archival research in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, the journal's founding history is traced to its inaugural 1967 edition, revealing the origin, pronunciation, and meaning of its distinctive name as a reference to Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society. The preface highlights the journal's longstanding commitment to encouraging scholarly research, providing publication opportunities, and introducing students to the work of historians. By recovering the journal's own history, it underscores the broader value of historical inquiry: understanding the past to better …

Front Matter

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Solvable Diagrams And Equations Over Groups, Andrew Clifford, Paul Cummings

University of Tennessee Mathematical Journal

Given a presentation $\mathcal{P}=\langle X|R\rangle $ of the group $G$ and an equation $e\in G*\langle t \rangle$, we define a solution to a van Kampen diagram over the presentation  $\mathcal{P}_e=\langle X\cup\{t\}|R\cup\{e\}\rangle$. We prove that $e$ is solvable over $G$ exactly when every diagram over $\mathcal{P}_e$ has a solution.

Bloomington Community Brain Health Services Program: The Intersection Of Law Enforcement And Brain Health, Janet Yeats, Luke Campbell, Booker Hodges

Forensic Scholars Today

In 2023, the Bloomington Police Department launched the Bloomington Community Brain Health Services (BCBHS) program in response to increasing mental health crises, provider shortages, long wait times for services, and rising law enforcement involvement in crisis calls. The Bloomington Model integrates licensed therapists and supervised graduate-level interns directly within a police department structure. The program aims to reduce mental health-related calls, stabilize residents experiencing crisis, and eliminate cost barriers by offering up to 15 sessions of free, short-term therapy delivered in homes, schools, virtual settings, and community spaces.

This article outlines the program’s development, implementation, and early outcomes, highlighting key …

Pharmacological Potential Of Pomelo (Citrus Maxima) Peel: A Bibliometric Review Of Global Research Trends And Future Directions, Indah Zunita Sari, Alma Nur Azizah, Fitriana Nur Hanifah, David Fernando, Agung Endro Nugroho, Abdul Rohman

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Pomelo (Citrus maxima) is a widely cultivated tropical fruit with global production reaching approximately 8.55 million tons in 2023. This large-scale production generates a substantial amount of peel waste despite the fact that pomelo peel contains secondary metabolites with promising pharmacological potential. This study aimed to evaluate global research trends related to the pharmacological potential of pomelo peel using a bibliometric and review-based approach, as well as to identify future research directions. Data were collected from the Scopus database and filtered for English-language scientific articles, reviews, and conference proceedings. The analysis was performed using the Biblioshiny and VOSviewer …

Plant By-Products As A Valuble Source Of Natural Antiglycemic Compounds: Economic Aspects And Alternative Raw Material Sources, Tatjana Đorđević, Jelena Vujetić, Isidora Dickov, Diandra Pintać Šarac

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Plant by-products, often considered as waste in various agricultural and food processing industries, have emerged as a valuable source of natural antidiabetic or antihyperglycemic compounds. These compounds, derived from plant materials that would otherwise be discarded, have the potential to mitigate the global burden of diabetes and offer sustainable solutions for glycemic control. Prominent groups of natural antidiabetic compounds found in plant by-products are polyphenols, as well as bioactive proteins and peptides. In addition, agro-industrial residues such as wheat bran, oat husks, and fruit peels are excellent sources of carbohydrates that can be incorporated into functional foods to help manage …

Emerging Antifungal Strategies Against Candida Albicans Using Metal–Organic Frameworks And Novel Therapeutics: Opportunities And Challenges, Amanpreet Singh, Sandeep Kumar, Sehrabpreet Singh, Jeewanjot Singh

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen responsible for infections ranging from superficial mucosal disease to life-threatening systemic candidiasis, particularly in immunocompromised hosts. Its pathogenicity is enhanced by morphological plasticity, biofilm formation, and immune evasion, contributing to antifungal resistance. Limitations of existing antifungals have driven interest in emerging therapeutics. This review highlights strategies including metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), host-directed therapies (HDTs), CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, and phytochemicals. MOFs offer high drug-loading capacity, controlled release, and enhanced penetration into biofilms, showing promise against drug-resistant strains. Selected phytochemicals demonstrate inhibitory effects on virulence traits such as hyphal formation and enzyme secretion. CRISPR-Cas9 …

An Optical Fiber Caffeine Sensor Using A Molecularly Imprinted Polymethacrylic Acid Membrane Coated On Optical Fiber Surface As A Transducer, Josiah W. Miller, Jason D. Mccaslin, Shiquan Tao

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Caffeine is a neurotransmitter, important to human health. This compound exists in many food products, has been added to soft drinks, pharmaceutical drugs. For many applications, a field deployable technique for quick detecting caffeine is attractive. In this paper, we report a selective optical fiber caffeine sensor using a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) membrane as a transducer. The membrane extracts/concentrate caffeine from sample solutions significantly improved sensor’s sensitivity with a 95 times sensitivity improvement. The sensor achieved a detection limit of 0.20 µg/mL. This sensor was used to directly analyze caffeine in soft drink products without interference from sample matrix.

Ai Adoption And Organizational Resilience In Turbulent Environments: The Mediating Role Of Employee Digital Literacy And The Moderating Role Of Innovation-Supportive Climate In The Iraqi Hospitality Sector, Hasan Mutashar Gbouri

Arab Economic and Business Journal

This study examines whether adopting artificial intelligence (AI) strengthens organizational resilience when the operating environment is hostile, and identifies the internal conditions an organization must satisfy before an AI investment translates into resilience. Two mechanisms anchor the argument: employee digital literacy, which carries the effect, and an innovation-supportive climate, which conditions it. We surveyed 400 employees across three premium hotels in Baghdad, Iraq, sampled by operational level, and tested the model with structural equation modeling in AMOS 26.0. The results show that AI adoption alone yields only a modest direct gain in resilience. Slightly more than half of its total …

Image Fusion Based On Deep Learning With Different Locations And Sizes Of Objects, Baneen Al-Kalabi, Tawfiq Al-Assadi

Journal of Intelligent Informatics, Networking, and Cybersecurity

Multi-focus image fusion combines partially focused images into a single all-in-focus composite. Existing object-based methods assume precise spatial and scale alignment across source images, an assumption that frequently fails in Misaligned Multi-Focus Dataset scenarios due to camera displacement and focal length variation. This paper proposes a novel training-free, object-aware fusion framework to address this limitation through a five-stage pipeline: YOLOv8x detection, SAM2-L segmentation, LoFTR correspondence matching, a novel Scale-Aware Area Resize Algorithm, and GLCM-guided MSB/LSB bit-level fusion. The framework was evaluated on the EDMF benchmark (20 image pairs, synthetically modified to simulate Misaligned Multi-Focus Dataset shifts) and a Misaligned Multi-Focus …

Lossless Medical Image Compression Using Integer Discrete Wavelet Transform With Adaptive Subband Differencing And Context-Adaptive Entropy Coding, Rasha F. Nadhim, Ibrahim Adel Ibrahim, Ashwaq T. Hashim

Journal of Intelligent Informatics, Networking, and Cybersecurity

From transform-domain decorrelation and adaptive entropy coding, we propose a method for efficient lossless compression of medical images in this work. We implement the Integer Discrete Wavelet Transform (IDWT) to decompose the input image into four subbands of LL, LH, HL, HH, encompassing approximation and directional detail elements, in the initial implementation. It also removes spatial redundancy in image information and decomposes image information into a less correlated and more sparsely distributed set of coefficients. To decrease redundancy further, it proposes a subband-dependent differencing scheme, which decorrelates neighbouring wavelet coefficients with directional prediction. So horizontal differencing is done on LH, …

A Blockchain-Integrated Federated Learning Model And Autoencoder-Based Feature Reduction For Improving Iot Intrusion Detection, Tahseen A. Wotaifi

Journal of Intelligent Informatics, Networking, and Cybersecurity

The rapid growth of Internet of Things (IoT) environments has brought forth a wealth of security challenges in detecting network intrusions in diverse and resource-restricted systems. Privacy, scalability, and single point of failure issues plague traditional centralized intrusion detection solutions. To address these challenges, the study proposes a secure and adaptive intrusion detection model using Federated Learning (FL) and Blockchain, augmented with autoencoder-based feature reduction. The ToN-IoT dataset is pre-processed, and then an unsupervised autoencoder is used to build informative low-dimensional feature representations. The processed data is deployed to various clients to mimic a real federated situation. Every client will …

A Dual- Task Hierarchical Graph Attention Network For Protein-Protein Interaction Sites Prediction, Oras A. Hussein, Eman S. Al-Shamery

Journal of Intelligent Informatics, Networking, and Cybersecurity

In computational structural biology, it is still very hard to accurately find protein-protein interaction (PPI) sites and estimate how strong the interaction would be. In this research, we provide an innovative two-stage deep learning framework that combines residue-level graph representation learning with protein-level regression to achieve a thorough modeling of protein interactions. Protein structures first encoded as residue graphs, with nodes that stand for amino acids and edges that show how close they are to each other in space. To find binding residues, a deep residual Graph Attention Network v2 (GATv2) uses multi-head attention, residual connections, and Jumping Knowledge aggregation …

Candida Albicans Purulent Pericarditis Complicated By Cardiac Tamponade In A Critically Ill Burn Patient: A Case Report, Mutaz Althobaiti, Abdulrahman Alqahtani, Faisal Alanazi, Mohammad S. Alotaibi, Ibrahim Bahabri, Shikah Alsuwaid, Turki Almutairi, Fawaz Almutairi

Journal of the Saudi Heart Association

Candida pericarditis is a rare, life-threatening complication of invasive candidiasis, associated with high mortality.

We report this case of a young woman with 60% body surface area burn, multidrug-resistant polymicrobial sepsis, and multiorgan failure who developed Candida albicans pericarditis complicated by cardiac tamponade. Despite urgent pericardiocentesis and escalation of antifungal therapy, she ultimately progressed to refractory shock and multiorgan failure.

This case illustrates the diagnostic challenge and therapeutic limitations of fungal pericarditis in critically ill host, and underscores the importance of maintaining a high index of suspicion in burn patients with multisite Candida colonization and prolonged antibiotic exposure.

When Auditors Trust Ai: A Qualitative Study Of Professional Judgment, Data Quality, And Adoption Barriers In Lebanon, Joseph Serghani

Arab Economic and Business Journal

This study explores auditors’ trust in AI in a limited-resource and turbulent context, namely Lebanon. Using semi-structured interviews with 14 junior and senior auditors in Lebanon, this study identifies the factors that make auditors either willing or unwilling to trust in AI-powered audit processes. The results indicate that auditors perceive the potential benefits of AI, such as increased speed, capacity, and ability to detect anomalies. Yet, trust in AI is limited by concerns about implementation costs, the erosion of professional judgment, blockchain complexity, data overload, and reliance on high-quality data. Instead of excluding AI from the equation, auditors perceive it …

Between Tradition And Profession: Intersectionality Of Javanese Women Journalists In Surakarta’S Newsroom, Rahman Hakim, Vanggi Eka Riski

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

Javanese female journalists in Surakarta navigate the simultaneous pressures of professional journalism and deeply internalised Javanese cultural values such as nrimo (acceptance of one’s circumstances), andhap asor (humble and deferential conduct), and tepa selira (attentiveness to the feeling of others). These values shape their everyday conduct in the newsroom yet often remain unacknowledged in existing literature. Combining Intersectionality Theory, Face-Negotiation Theory (Ting-Toomey), and Self Theory (Rogers) as complementary frameworks, this qualitative study adopts a constructivist paradigm and employ phenomenological method to explore how female journalists make sense of the intersection between gender norms and local cultural values. Data were collected …

Arrythmias In Autoimmune Diseases: Immune-Mediated Mechanisms And Management, Kamala P. Tamirisa, Jorge A. Irizarry-Caro, Ian Curnutt, Devika Adusumilli, Mia Jose, Meenakshi Jolly, Estelle Torbey, Annabelle S. Volgman

Student Publications

Autoimmune diseases substantially increase the risk of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death through shared immune-mediated mechanisms. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, autoantibodies, and progressive myocardial fibrosis disrupt ion channel function, impair conduction, and create re-entrant substrates. Across systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and systemic sclerosis (SSc), these pathways manifest as atrial fibrillation, ventricular arrhythmias, conduction disease, and heightened arrhythmic mortality. Anti Ro/SSA antibodies, in particular, contribute to QT prolongation and atrioventricular (AV) block, while cytokines such as TNF α, IL 1β, and IL 6 remodel electrophysiological properties and promote fibrosis. Advanced cardiac imaging, especially cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), …

Food For Thought: Evaluating The Mind Diet’S Impact On Cognitive Decline, Alayna Pleckham

Summer Interdisciplinary Research Symposium

Objective: 

This paper aims to analyze current research and outcomes of the MIND diet on preventing and slowing neurocognitive decline in adults with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. A literature review was conducted to evaluate the correlation between the MIND diet and slowed neurodegenerative disease through structural change, transcriptomics, biomarkers, and cognitive function testing.

Methods:

A narrative literature review was conducted using Google Scholar, PubMed, and JAMA to identify studies published between 2020 and 2025 examining the MIND diet and cognitive outcomes in adults with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Studies using validated cognitive assessments and comparison groups were included, while studies …

“Beyond Weight Loss: Evaluating The Anti-Inflammatory Potential Of Glp-1 Receptor Agonists In Hidradenitis Suppurativa”, Lindsey Roos

Summer Interdisciplinary Research Symposium

Objective: The purpose of this narrative literature review was to evaluate the role of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) as adjunctive therapy in adults with moderate-to-severe Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). The clinical question explored whether GLP-1 RAs improve disease severity, flare frequency, quality of life, and metabolic outcomes in patients with obesity or metabolic dysfunction.

Methods: A literature review was conducted using Google Scholar, PubMed Central, Christopher Center Library, NIH resources, Research Rabbit, and JAMA Dermatology. Studies published from 2019 to 2025 were reviewed. Inclusion criteria included adults with clinically confirmed moderate-to-severe HS (Hurley stage II–III), measurable baseline disease severity, …