Digital Commons Network^™

Ai In The Workplace: Understanding Role Ambiguity, Employee Motivation, And Learning Engagement, Sheena Leah Metzger

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into organizational processes has altered how work is performed and experienced by employees, yet empirical research examining the human implications of AI-driven change remains limited. This study examined the perceived impact of AI implementation on role ambiguity, employee motivation, and training engagement, and investigated the moderating role of perceived organizational support (POS). Grounded in Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) Theory and Organizational Support Theory (OST), the research examined how employees interpreted and responded to AI-related changes in their work environment.

The results offer valuable insights into a shifting perception of how employees experience technology in …

Scandal And The Late Ancient Christian Historian, Jennifer Barry

Cultural and Philosophical Inquiry Articles

This article argues that scandal functions as a key narrative technology in late ancient Christian historiography. Rather than treating scandal as anecdote or moral failure, ecclesiastical historians use it as a structured way of arranging deviant bodies, contested practices, and moments of exposure to produce claims about Christian truth. Through recurring controversies, this study traces how biblical stories are reworked by authors such as Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret to stabilize doctrine, police boundaries, and articulate Christian identity. Across these writers, scandal emerges as a method of historical control, not merely a record of past conflict but a means of …

How Exemplary Elementary School Principals Embed The Infinite Mindset Practice To Inspire The Achievement Of Extraordinary Results, Amna Osman

Dissertations

Purpose: This phenomenological study explored how exemplary elementary school principals perceive and embed Sinek’s (2019) infinite mindset framework within their organizations to achieve extraordinary results. A secondary purpose was to examine how perceived organizational supports and barriers influence the development of an infinite mindset among these principals.Methodology: This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of exemplary elementary school principals and their perspectives on implementing the five Infinite Mindset practices in their schools. The study focused on public elementary school principals in Monterey County, California. From 49 principals across six districts, 10 were purposefully selected based on established criteria for exemplary …

Asymptotic Profiles And Disease Prevalence At The Steady State For An Sis Patch Model, Daozhou Gao, Xin Li

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

Infected individuals often display mobility patterns that differ significantly from those of healthy individuals-traveling less frequently, covering shorter distances, visiting fewer destinations, and altering their timing and modes of movement. In this paper, to explore the influence of changes in travel frequency and destination on the spatial spread of infectious diseases, we propose a susceptible-infectious-susceptible patch model in which susceptible and infected populations have different dispersal rates and connectivity matrices. We first establish the threshold dynamics in terms of the basic reproduction number R-0 and show the existence and uniqueness of endemic equilibrium (EE) when R-0>1. Then we examine …

The Lives Of Fritz Haber And Of International Law: Entwined Tales Of Tragedy And Irony, Mark A. Drumbl, C. William Vardy

Scholarly Articles

This article recounts the life of international law through the story of a single individual. This is the narrative of biographical international law. The subject — equally protagonist and antagonist — of this article is Fritz Haber, a German-Jewish scientist born in 1868. Devoted to the Kaiser, Haber was declared a war criminal by the Allies following World War I for having been ‘the father’ of chemical warfare. Haber argued that chemical weapons were more humane than conventional weapons. While under this shadow, Haber also won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1920 for his pioneering work with ammonia …

Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report 2025, Aaron R. Young, Mark E. Burbach, Sue Olafsen Lackey, Robert Matthew Joeckel, Jeffrey Westrop

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Incarcerated Persons’ Day In The Sun: Why Prisoners Should Have A Right To Fresh Air And Direct Sunlight, David Gross

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

One word sums up the current state of a prisoner’s rights to fresh air and direct sunlight: conditionality. Because the rights are conditional in the United States, the sword of litigation hangs above prisons while residents are subject to violations of their limited constitutional rights. International law and medical research respectively recognize the right to, and need for, outdoor recreation. However, the grueling deliberate indifference standard debilitates attempts to change this reality in the courthouse. Thus, the impetus of change must come from the expansion of statutory rights. The right to fresh air and direct sunlight can be energized …

Characterization Of Tomographic Piv System For Single-Phase Immersion Cooling Applications, Joel Joshua Oommen

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses

As the rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure and High-Performance Computing (HPC) pushes power requirements to new heights, traditional air-cooling methods have become inadequate for modern server demands. Consequently, single-phase immersion cooling (SPIC) has emerged as one of the effective and sustainable alternatives, utilizing dielectric fluids to remove heat through direct contact with electronic components. Despite numerous thermal and reliability studies, the complex three-dimensional movement of buoyant thermal plumes around intricate component shapes are not yet fully understood in confined spaces.

This thesis provides a detailed characterization of Tomo-PIV and a component level experimental study of flow patterns in …

Scaling Llm Inference: From Novel Attention Mechanisms To Efficient Kv Cache Management, Weishu Deng

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations

The rapid scaling of artificial intelligence workloads has shifted the dominant performance bottleneck of modern computing systems from compute to memory. Graph neural networks (GNNs) issue increasingly irregular memory accesses, while large language models (LLMs) issue increasingly large ones; in both cases, the relative scaling of memory bandwidth and capacity continues to lag behind the scaling of compute. Consequently, naively executing these workloads on commodity GPUs results in stalled streaming multiprocessors, exhausted high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and serving stacks that incur PCIe transfers on the critical path. This dissertation argues that the efficient scaling of attention-based AI workloads requires the joint …

Multimodal Deep Learning For Biological Data Understanding, Saiyang Na

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations

This dissertation presents three contributions to multimodal deep learning for biological data understanding, addressing the fundamental challenge of cross-modal alignment from two complementary perspectives: designing effective multimodal fusion methods for specific biomedical applications, and proposing a general framework for higher-order multimodal alignment that captures hierarchical structure in data.

First, we develop Cmai, a deep learning framework for B cell receptor (BCR) to antigen binding prediction that aligns BCR sequence information with antigen three-dimensional structures using contrastive learning. Cmai achieves an average AUROC of 0.907 across 17 antigens and 5 independent cohorts, and demonstrates clinical utility in predicting immune checkpoint inhibitor …

Using Herbarium Specimens To Morphologically Delineate Three Western Phlox Species, Jack David Hager, Meredith Zettlemoyer

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Western Phlox are incredibly diverse, found in a variety of habitats spanning lowland meadows to high alpine tundra. The genus contains around 65 unique species, often with overlapping trait variation that makes morphological and taxonomic delineation difficult. Phlox missoulensis, a cushion-forming species endemic to the Missoula Valley, inhabits lower-elevation, windy, arid ridgelines that mimic alpine conditions. Two nearby congeners, Phlox kelseyi and Phlox pulvinata, occupy partially overlapping ecological niches: P. kelseyi is found in wet meadows at similar elevations to P. missoulensis, while P. pulvinata is found in higher elevation environments. P. missoulensis exhibits morphological characteristics that are intermediate between …

Temporal Avoidance By Gray Foxes Reflects Growing Pressure From Expanding Coyotes In The Neotropics, Madison Odenbach

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are rapidly expanding their range towards South America, potentially threatening the world’s highest canid diversity residing on that continent. A better understanding of their interactions with native species is needed to anticipate potential competitive impacts. In Costa Rica, native gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) likely occupy a similar niche to the coyote newcomer, yet little data exists on their interactions in tropical ecosystems. We hypothesized the two species separate temporally to minimize the potential for competition in our study area, given preliminary data suggesting high spatial overlap (57.1% of coyote-detected sites overlap with fox-detected …

Momager Dearest: Why The Kidfluencer Industry Requires Stronger Regulation, Lewis, Annabel

Santa Clara Law Review

In the last twenty years, social media has undergone a massive transformation. What began as a medium to connect with friends has evolved into a multi-billion-dollar industry where influencers reign supreme, profiting from their online personas. This opportunity is not limited to those old enough to operate their own accounts.

The recent rise of child influencers, known as “kidfluencers,” enables parents to profit from sharing aspects of their children’s lives on the internet. These accounts are not without benefit. Beyond their financial appeal, kidfluencer accounts can serve as a means for parents to bond with their children and may open …

Annual Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes October 2025-June 2026, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Annual Compilations of the Faculty Senate Minutes (Minutes Only)

Meeting minutes and summaries of Faculty Senate actions for the academic year 2025-26.

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet January 2026, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The January 2026 monthly packet includes the agenda, appendices, and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments given in the meeting held January 5, 2026.

Evaluating Llms For Cpe Identification In Iot Reconnaissance, Christopher Davisson

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Vulnerability identification during penetration testing relies on rigid string-matching to map network scan data to Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) identifiers and downstream Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs). The approach frequently fails on physical Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which produce non-standard, irregular service banners that resist deterministic parsing. Large Language Models can reason through these fuzzy associations, but cloud-hosted models introduce cost, latency, and operational security concerns when processing reconnaissance data from live networks. This thesis asks whether locally-hosted open-weight Large Language Models (LLMs) can perform this task well enough to be useful, and how performance varies with model scale, …

Civil Rights Microviolations, Michael Kagan, Alissa Cooley Yonesawa

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Second-Class Asylum, Third-Country Danger, Michael Kagan

Scholarly Works

The Trump Administration has aggressively pursued a policy of deporting people who have been found to be in danger of persecution or torture in their countries of origin to third countries. It has primarily impacted people who have two types of what may be called second-class asylum, namely withholding or deferral or removal. This Article examines the structural problems posed by second-class asylum as defined in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The INA’s collection of tiered protected status for people in danger in their countries of origin was always illogical, though its incoherency was more manageable before 2025, when …

Memoir: The Brain, Neuroethics, And Bioethics, Leslie C. Griffin

Scholarly Works

This Essay examines how developments in neuroscience (or brain science) affect our views of law, medicine, ethics, and religion. Part I shows how lack of clarity about brain death can lead to premature organ donation. Part II argues that health care too often provides inadequate brain care and incomplete rehabilitation. Part III explains why recovery may be possible for those braininjured patients who are told it is not. Part IV demonstrates how the fear of a brain-injured patient oddly affects my perspective on Tort and Criminal Law, which are being influenced by neuroscientific advances. Part V examines the new developments …

Legal Ethics Of Ai Snake Oil: Navigating The Hype, Harm, And Hope Of Legal Ai, Drew Simshaw

Scholarly Works

This paper argues that the legal ethics of AI extend far beyond competence and hallucinations. It shows how AI often functions as a mirror, exposing deeper ethical questions about institutional incentives, lawyer wellbeing, access to justice, and AI's broader social and environmental impacts.

The Deceptive Rhetoric Of Dobbs V. Jackson, Kathryn M. Stanchi

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Insights Into Sustainability: Exploring Undergraduates' Understanding Of Food Energy Water Nexus Connections To Climate Change, Amanda D. Manzanares, Lydia R. Horne, Emily A. Royse, Caterina Azzarello, Meghann E. Jarchow, Daniel L. Druckenbrod, Nicholas L. Babin, Nurcan Atalan-Helicke, Shirley Vincent, Steven W. Anderson, Chelsie Romulo

SPS Student Publications

Purpose

Interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability programs integrate a diverse curriculum that exposes students to the interconnectedness of environmental systems, such as climate change and the Food-Energy-Water Nexus and fosters a holistic understanding of sustainability. However, students’ prior knowledge, alternative conceptions and knowledge gaps can impact student learning. Therefore, the purpose of this study aims to: 1) uncover how students’ knowledge about the relationships between food, energy and water systems relate to their understanding about climate change and 2) reveal what concepts students focus on and potential gaps and/or alternative conceptions in their knowledge. Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected data from 115 …

The Christ Of The Asbury Road, E. Stanley Jones

The Asbury Journal

This is an unpublished sermon, given by E. Stanley Jones on May 8, 1942, at 11:00 am at a special assembly at Asbury College. The day was named E. Stanley Jones day by the administration, and the 1942 yearbook was dedicated to Dr. Jones, who was also a member of the Board of Trustees. Jones had been asked to adapt the idea of his most well-known book, The Christ of the Indian Road, to his experience and knowledge of Asbury in Wilmore, Kentucky. He provided several interesting points to help ground Asbury’s theological position of holiness and build on that …

Hunters Of Men: A Tribal Reading Of The Missiological Motif In Luke 5:1-11, Themshang Horam

The Asbury Journal

This article presents an intercultural and contextual reading of Luke 5:1–11 from the perspective of the Naga tribes of Northeast India, proposing a reinterpretation of the traditional “fishers of men” motif as “hunters of men.” Grounded in the author’s cultural context—where, owing to the absence of large water bodies, fishing serves as a secondary means of subsistence while hunting remains central to social and spiritual life— this study contends that biblical metaphors risk losing their theological depth and communicative efficacy when removed from the ecological and cultural frameworks of the receiving community. Through exegetical analysis and intercultural hermeneutics, the paper …

A Tribal Hermeneutical Reading Of The Creation Narrative In Genesis 1:26-28, Enolyne Lyngdoh

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

The Rise And (Sudden) Fall Of The New York Magdalen Society: How A Methodist Doctor Upset The Entire City Of New York, Philip Hardt

The Asbury Journal

In the 1820s, several new interdenominational societies distributed Bibles and tracts, formed Sunday Schools, and launched missions in areas of the city that lacked a religious presence. Another society called the New York Magdalen Society (hereafter, NYMS) was formed on January 1, 1830, to rescue women from prostitution. To be sure, this society was greatly needed as this activity had been steadily increasing. Their primary focus was a dilapidated area known as the “Five Points.” Purchasing an asylum (i.e., a large house), they started to accept women who sincerely wanted to change. Yet, their first annual report, issued in July …

A Brief History Of Women At Asbury Theological Seminary, Robert A. Danielson

The Asbury Journal

Understanding the past roles of women within the 100-year lifespan of Asbury Theological Seminary is an important exercise in institutional history. Educational institutions frequently experience turnover in students, faculty, and administration at high rates. Institutional memory frequently is held by a few older members of the faculty and staff and more importantly by the archives of the institution. Institutional memory provides the foundation for changing policy decisions, understanding the institutional mission, and following how previous administrations dealt with a constantly changing cultural and social context. In the case of Asbury Theological Seminary, this paper explores an institution rooted in the …

Ghost Theology: Christology And Integral Christianity, Pamela Bruns

The Asbury Journal

Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory has gained in popularity within various disciplines. When applied to Christianity, the theory creates a distorted Christian narrative which must divorce Jesus from Christ. This paper explores the effects of an Integral approach on Christology, specifically. It looks at the concepts of Integral Christianity through the work of Richard Rohr, Paul Smith, and Steve Harper. It considers the way scripture gets reappropriated into the Integral Christian narrative and offers a corrective to this syncretistic understanding of scripture.

Positive Cosmology: On The Good Creation Into Which Christ Incarnated, Jason Horstman

The Asbury Journal

This article argues that a positive cosmology has been the majority report in the Christian tradition, which is to say that creation is good. Evidence of this report is highlighted from scripture, from the contemplative tradition, and from the hospitality tradition. Sin as a complicating factor in understanding creation as good is engaged, and a solution to this complication from the Christian monastic tradition is considered.

The Life And Ministry Of Dr. Kate C. Woodhull, Elaine B. Peters

The Asbury Journal

This paper examines the life and ministry of Dr. Kate C. Woodhull, the first female physician sent to China by the Woman’s Board of Missions, as a case study in women’s medical missions in late Qing China. Drawing on archival and published sources, it traces Woodhull’s medical training, her twenty-eight years of service in Fuzhou, and the integration of healthcare, education, and evangelism in her work. The study highlights both the cultural assumptions shaping her missionary outlook and her sustained advocacy for Chinese women, whom she trained as medical and Christian workers, leaving an institutional and social impact.