Digital Commons Network^™

A Living Epidemic: The Persistence Of Tuberculosis In Contemporary Indigenous Alaska, Sharon Kim , ‘26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Spn 316, Introduction To Hispanic Linguistics, Bernardita Chaigneau Castro

Open Educational Resources

The present syllabus includes the structure for an Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics class. The topics range from basic concepts in linguistics to the specific study of Spanish in the United States. The syllabus also includes different Open Access Resources in Spanish, as the class was thought to be taught mainly in Spanish.

Topic Modeling The Cuny Graduate Center's Dissertations And Theses, Michael Mandiberg

Open Educational Resources

This 4 week module is designed for Data Analysis, Data Visualization, and Digital Humanities courses at the MA/MS or advanced 400-level undergraduate level. It introduces students to textual analysis with topic modeling and requires a solid foundation in Python. The module uses Gensim and a Colab notebook to introduce a standard text analysis workflow used in Digital Humanities, archival research, and exploratory data analysis.

Students build a topic model describing 19,000 CUNY Graduate Center dissertations and theses. They work with an unexplored dataset to load and explore the data, prepare the corpus, train and evaluate a topic model, and interpret, …

Prevention Beyond Deterrence, Benjamin A. Barsky

Faculty Scholarship

This Article reconceptualizes preventive justice—the public safety paradigm that seeks to prevent harm before it occurs. Scholars have long documented how cities have advanced this paradigm through largely punitive measures, notably variants of broken windows policing, which posit that aggressive misdemeanor enforcement deters more serious crime. Yet in the aftermath of the 2020 George Floyd protests, and as underscored recently in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, these measures have faced a legitimacy crisis—prompting calls for nonpunitive responses to nonviolent incidents.

This Article establishes a preventive justice approach that advances health and safety without emphasizing crime deterrence. It draws on …

Health Regulations For 2026 Nh Fairs And Shows, Hannah Majewski

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Systemic And Contact Herbicide Usage Trends In Illinois Corn Production Systems, Paige E. Mckittrick

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Herbicide use is central to weed management in Illinois corn production; however, long-term changes in the balance between systemic and contact herbicides have not been well quantified at the statewide scale. This study analyzes herbicide trends in Illinois corn from 1982 to 2016 using secondary data from the USDA Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, paired with climate, regulatory, and herbicide resistance information. Herbicide active ingredients were classified into systemic and contact functional categories and grouped according to Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) mode-of-action (MOA) codes. For each survey year, total herbicide load (lb a.i./acre), functional proportions, MOA-specific contributions, and a …

Eyes Turn To Adoptees: A Critical Content Analysis Of Eyes That Weave The World’S Wonders, Becky Leathersich

Education Faculty/Staff Publications

In this article, Critical Adoption Studies, Asian Critical Race Theory, and the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) Rubric are applied to analyze Eyes That Weave the World’s Wonders (2024) by Joanna Ho and Liz Kleinrock, illustrated by Dung Ho. The article situates the picture book against trends in children’s literature and scholarship on Korean transracial adoption. A critical content analysis reveals the racialization of the adoptee, centering of the adoptive parents, and description of adoption as an act of love with a discussion of how the authorship, as well as the socioeconomic and geopolitical factors of adoption, impacted this picture …

Time Series Decomposition And Forecasting Of Alzheimer’S Disease Mortality Using A Kolmogorov-Zurbenko Filter, Jack D. Farrell

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Alzheimer’s disease mortality has substantially risen in recent history, placing a significant burden on public health infrastructure and highlighting the need for improved analytical methods to better understand mortality data patterns and offer reliable predictions. Time series methods often struggle to balance both accuracy and interpretability, which hinders the ability to gather meaningful insights from time series data. To address these limitations, this study applies the Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter to monthly U.S. Alzheimer’s mortality data spanning from 1999 to 2023 and decomposes the series into long-term trend, seasonal, and noise components on a logarithmic scale. Long-term trend accounts for 86.49% …

Studies Towards Chemical Synthesis Of Homogeneous Prion Glycoprotein, Baotong Tian

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative disorders initiated by conformational misfolding of the prion protein (PrP), which generates pathogenic conformers that propagate via templated conversion and accumulate as aggregates. Glycosylation can modulate the PrP folding energy landscape, thereby biasing folding trajectories and the distribution of resulting conformational states. Bank vole PrP contains two N-linked glycosylation sites, and disentangling the contributions of site occupancy versus glycan structure requires homogeneous, site-defined glycoforms. In contrast, biosynthetic expression typically produces heterogeneous glycoform ensembles due to multistep Golgi processing, precluding independent control of glycan identity at each site. Here we report a chemical synthesis strategy of …

Commencement Program 2026, Loma Linda University

Commencement Programs

CONTENTS

1 | Message from the President

3 | 2026 Events of Commencement

5 | The Academic Procession

6 | Institutional Administration

7 | Board of Trustees

8 | Significance of Academic Regalia

9 | University History Highlights

11 | Loma Linda University Health and Loma Linda University Honorees

The Programs, The School Honorees, and The Speakers

24 | School of Medicine

43 | School of Pharmacy

54 | School of Dentistry

72 | School of Public Health

85 | San Manuel Gateway College

91 | School of Allied Health Professions — Allied Health Studies, Cardiopulmonary Sciences, Clinical Laboratory Science, …

Elementary Teachers' Perceptions On Mtss, Inclusion And Instructional Pedagogy, Sarah Mccusker

All Capstone Projects

The purpose of the study was to examine elementary teachers’ perceptions of the multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) implementation process, their understandings of inclusion, and the ways these beliefs informed their pedagogy. To gain deeper insight into these dynamics, a phenomenological approach was employed, in which elementary educators were invited to participate in interviews that focused on the MTSS process in their school contexts. Findings revealed teachers’ interpretations of inclusive classrooms, their perceptions of MTSS frameworks, and the strategies they used to address students’ academic and behavioral needs while recognizing individual strengths. Teachers shared their beliefs about students who do …

Finding Aid For The Mississippi Politics Collection (Mum00316)

Archives & Special Collections: Finding Aids (alphabetical)

Artificially created collection on individual Mississippi politicians and the state’s politics in general.

Immigration And Nationality Law: Problems And Strategies | Third Edition (2026), Lenni Benson, Stepehn Yale-Loehr, Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia

Books

The third edition of Immigration and Nationality Law: Problems and Strategies has been updated significantly to capture changing immigration law and policy. The text's overall size has been reduced, but it continues to have in-depth coverage, from expedited removal to constitutional analysis, from nonimmigrant visas to humanitarian relief.

This book uses the "problem method," allowing the reader to focus on a series of problems and to apply statutory, administrative, and case law materials. Ethical considerations are woven throughout the text as is the opportunity to consider policy implications. This book is designed for both law students and attorneys, covering statutory …

On Dark Skinned Jesus Of Nazareth: Why Color Matters, Nicholas Berkel

MA Theses

This thesis examines the historical, religious, and cultural consequences of portraying Jesus as white within Christian art. Although Western art has overwhelmingly depicted Christ with white skin, archaeological, and contextual evidence supports a dark-skinned Jesus rooted in the ethnogeography of first century Palestine. The persistence of a White Jesus has shaped religious imagination and perception for centuries, reinforcing racial hierarchy and legitimizing systems of white supremacy. Through an interdisciplinary analysis combining biblical studies, Christian iconography, ethnography of ancient Semitic, Greco-Roman, and Egyptian peoples, medieval symbolism, modern mass-produced imagery, and Black thought, this study demonstrates how Jesus’ original complexion was gradually …

From Monasteries To The Market: The Legal And Spiritual Economies Of Himalayan Art In China, Hengshi An

MA Theses

In recent years, the Himalayan art market in China has shown a remarkable transformation, emerging as one of the most dynamic segments within the broader Asian art economy. While much of the global and domestic art market has stagnated, Tibetan and Himalayan artworks have achieved sustainable growth and high auction price with major collections been published, showing structural strength rather than speculative enthusiasm. This paper examines the drivers behind this phenomenon through a qualitative analysis of auction data, dealer networks, and collector behavior across key hubs in China such as Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. The findings suggest that …

Brokering Safety, Chinmayi Sharma, Thomas E. Kadri, Sam Adler

Faculty Scholarship

For victims of abuse, safety means hiding. Not just hiding themselves, but also their contact details, their address, their workplace, their roommates, and any other information that could enable their abuser to target them. Yet today, no number of name changes and relocations can prevent data brokers from sharing a victim’s personal information online. Thanks to brokers, abusers can find what they need with a single search, a few clicks, and a few dollars. For many victims, then, the best hope for safety lies in obscurity—that is, making themselves and their information harder to find.

This Article exposes privacy law’s …

An Empirical Study Of Malingering In Insanity Cases Across Twelve Decades, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

The last 120 years have seen a surge in the use of neuroscientific evidence in American criminal law cases, fueled by discoveries in brain science that have challenged the legal system’s assumptions about human thinking and culpability. One key assumption is that many defendants “malinger,” that is, feign or fake insanity or mental illness, to garner an acquittal or mitigated punishment. Likewise, when potential evidence that a defendant is malingering is introduced in court, it can have a pronounced and powerful negative effect on the defendant’s insanity claim, especially when juries and criminal justice actors are already skeptical of insanity …

Who Decides Who Gets Deported?, Mauricio Noroña, Peter L. Markowitz

Scholarly Works

As President Trump began his second term, he promised the largest mass deportation program in U.S. history, backed by unprecedented increases in immigration enforcement funding. Yet even at historically unprecedented resource levels, the government can reach only a fraction of the tens of millions of noncitizens now subject to deportation. So this Administration, like every administration before it, must make choices about whom to target—and every decision to deport someone necessarily entails an implicit or explicit decision to deprioritize someone else. But who makes those decisions?

Every modern presidential administration has tried to vest such choices in high-level, politically accountable …

When Clades Collide: Genomic Admixture In Blacklegged Ticks (Ixodes Scapularis) From The Great Plains, Kaylee S. Herzog, Zach Pella, Halie Smith, Dayna Mccormick, Lily Nuss, Amanda Brinkworth, Sujata S. Chaudhari, Kathryn Duncan, Kellee Sundstrom, Sydney Stein, Holly Black, Jose E. Pietri, Ryan C. Smith, Jeff Hamik, Roberto Cortiñas, Joseph R. Fauver

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

Ixodes scapularis ticks transmit a number of pathogens important to human health, including Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, the causative agent of Lyme disease. While I. scapularis is found across the Eastern United States, Lyme disease transmission is largely limited to the Northeast and Upper Midwest and is nearly absent in the South. This indicates that differences in northern versus southern clades of I. scapularis are associated with differences in Lyme disease transmission risk. Ixodes scapularis is undergoing range expansion, including into the Great Plains region of the United States. Determining where I. scapularis populations in the Great Plains originated can …

The Permeable Self: Five Medieval Relationships, By Barbara Newman, Laura Moncion

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Christine De Pizan: Empowering Women In Text And Image, By Charlotte Cooper-Davis, Kelsey Boor

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Colorectal Cancer Screening In Saudi Arabia: Current Challenges And Future Directions, Abdulrahman A. Aljabri, Abdulrahman G. Alharbi

Saudi Medical Journal

Abstract Colorectal cancer has become a major public health concern in Saudi Arabia. It is the most prevalent cancer among men and the third most prevalent among women. Although screening for people aged 45-75 is recommended by national recommendations, screening uptake is still below 10%, and less than 1% of older persons have a colonoscopy. With regional differences that vary from age-standardized rates of 3.2 per 100,000 in Jouf to 21.8 per 100,000 in Riyadh among men, approximately 29% of cases are detected at late stages. Therefore, we assessed the epidemiological, social, and health-related systemic structures preventing effective colorectal cancer …

Magnitude Of Abdominal Solid Organs Injuries Among Patients With Pelvic Fracture At King Abdullah Hospital, Bisha City, Saudi Arabia, Ali Ibrahim Alshehri, Mohammed Jalawi Karkaman, Nawaf Amer Alsoiry, Naif Abdulaziz Alqarni

Saudi Medical Journal

Objective: To access the magnitude of these injuries in patients with pelvic fractures at King Abdullah Hospital, Bisha, Saudi Arabia. Abdominal solid organ injuries are life-threatening and results in adverse health effects particularly to patients with pelvic fracture. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional retrospective hospital-based study that reviewed a total of 236 medical records of patients with abdominal organ injuries and pelvic fractures at King Abdullah Hospital, Bisha, Saudi Arabia. Cleaned data was coded and analyzed with the use of SPSS version 23 to drive key insights. Results: The study comprised of 236 patients in total. Approximately 38 (16.1%) patients had …

Targeted Neonatal Echocardiography And Neonatal Hemodynamics In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia: A One-Year Experience In Service Implementation, Abdulaziz Homedi, Kamal Ali Ali, Abdulrahman Almehaid, Mohanned Alrahili, Abdulrahman Mandurah, Mohammed Almahdi, Faisal Alamer, Eman Bazbouz, Shatha Algarni, Atheer Alshehri, Faisal Alsehli, Hanof Bakri

Saudi Medical Journal

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a newly established targeted neonatal echocardiography (TNE) and Neonatal Hemodynamics consultation service on the assessment and management of neonates. Methods: This is a descriptive retrospective cohort study that included all neonates who underwent TNE consultations in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit from October 2023 and September 2024. Clinical indications, diagnostic findings, and subsequent management were analyzed. Result: A total of 237 TNE consultations were performed for 105 neonates. The mean gestational age was 29.9 weeks, and the mean birth weight was 1433 grams. On average, 19.8 echocardiographic scans were performed per month. The leading …

Clinical Characteristics And Outcomes Of Patients With Amphetamine Associated Emergency Department Visits At A Tertiary Care Hospital In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Mohammed K. Alsharef, Mahdi Almutairi, Nouf Ababtain, Mohammed Alajmi, Abdulrahman Alrajhi, Faisal Alhusain, Mohammad Al Deeb

Saudi Medical Journal

Objective: To investigate the demographic and clinical profiles of patients presenting with amphetamine-related emergencies at a tertiary hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Amphetamine use is an escalating public health issue linked to a rise in emergency department (ED) visits. Methods: This retrospective study encompasses 14 years and focuses on individuals diagnosed with amphetamine-related toxicity. Results: Among the 659 cases studied, a predominant 96% were male, with over half (52%) aged between 19 and 30 years. Most patients (91%) were Saudi nationals. The leading cause of presentation was trauma, accounting for 24% of cases. This was followed by altered mental status …

Gender Differences In Sociodemographic And Clinical Characteristics Of Methamphetamine Use In Saudi Arabia, Halima M. Adam, Mohamed Abouzed, Ahmed H. Aljadani, Benayan B. Alrasheedy, Muath A. Alarfaj, Salwa R. Alshammari, Mohamed S. Almuqahwi

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To explore gender-related variations in sociodemographic factors, clinical presentations, and psychosocial characteristics among methamphetamine users in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted using the electronic health records of 1,181 patients (91% male, 9% female) treated at multiple Erada Mental and Addiction Centers across Saudi Arabia (2020–2024). Data on sociodemographic characteristics, methamphetamine use patterns, psychiatric comorbidities, and psychosocial functioning were collected and analyzed using validated tools, including the Addiction Severity Index, Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventory, and Quality of Life Scale. Results: Female participants were younger than males (mean age 25.3 vs 28.5 years; p < 0.001) and initiated methamphetamine at a later age (21.4 vs 19.2 years; p < 0.001). Females had greater proportion of daily use (65.4% vs. 60%, p = 0.035) but consumed smaller amounts per day (1.5 vs. 1.8 g, p = 0.041). They also exhibited higher rates of psychiatric comorbidities, including depression (50% vs. 30.0%, p < 0.001) and anxiety (40% vs. 20%, p < 0.001), and reported more severe psychosocial impairments, including lower quality of life (54.8 vs. 62.4, p < 0.001), higher unemployment rates (59.8% vs. 30%, p < 0.001), and more family conflicts (65.4% vs. 50%, p < 0.001). In contrast, Legal issues were more common among males (40% vs. 29.9%, p = 0.002). Conclusions: Female methamphetamine users demonstrate greater vulnerability with earlier onset, more psychiatric comorbidities, and worse psychosocial outcomes. Targeted interventions are needed for female methamphetamine users in Saudi Arabia.

National Heart Center/Saudi Heart Association 2025 Guidelines For Cardiovascular Diseases Prevention And Risk Assessment, Jamilah S Alrahimi, Laith Hussain-Alkhateeb, Ali M. Albarrati, Owayed M. Alshammeri, Talal S. Alghamdi, Ada M Al-Qunaibet, Nada A. Alnaji, Rasha A. Alfawaz, Waleed M. Alharbi, Waleed A. Alhabeeb, Fahad M. Alnouri, Adel A. Tash

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To develop an evidence-based clinical guideline for the prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in Saudi Arabia, tailored to local epidemiology and healthcare needs. Methods: A multidisciplinary task force comprising cardiologists, public health specialists, and epidemiologists from different healthcare sectors in Saudi Arabia developed the guideline. Evidence synthesis was based on a comprehensive literature review and adaptation of international guidelines, particularly the 2021 European Society of Cardiology recommendations, contextualized to the Saudi setting. Results: The guideline provides recommendations for both primary and secondary CVD prevention. Primary prevention emphasizes risk assessment incorporating genetic, lifestyle, and clinical factors, as well …

Required Learning, Voluntary Service: A Critical Look At Mandatory Cle And Pro Bono Options, Rima Sirota

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This chapter critically examines the intersection of mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE) and pro bono service in the United States, focusing on the growing practice of awarding MCLE credits for pro bono work. It argues that MCLE, widely justified as promoting lawyer competence, rests on a striking lack of empirical support and is structured in ways that undermine effective professional learning. A pro bono option for earning MCLE credit, introduced as an incentive to expand access to justice, has similarly failed to demonstrate measurable impacts on pro bono participation. Nonetheless, the pro bono option holds untapped potential because, if properly …

Comparing Strength Testing Measures And The Association Of Strength And Body Composition In Young Children, Abigayle R. Spong

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

Muscle strength is an important component of physical fitness; however, measuring it with isokinetic dynamometry (IKD) is expensive and requires dedicated space. Handheld dynamometry (HHD) provides a practical alternative for field and clinical settings. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare peak knee flexion and extension torque measured by IKD and HHD in 37 children (ages 5-11 years) and examine relationships with body composition. Participants completed a RAMPing protocol at 90^o knee flexion consisting of two warm-up contractions at 50% and 75% effort followed by three maximal voluntary isometric contractions. Body composition was assessed via DXA scans. …

Perceptions Of Sport Psychology Efforts And Access In Women's Wheelchair Basketball, Lindsay C. Cohen

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

As the field of sport psychology grows, services and training programs must evolve to properly serve the evolution of athletes seeking care. This could mean discovering new measures, testing different types of interventions, or developing programs that can better accommodate specific populations that are looking for sport psychology services. One such population is para athletes, and although they have expressed interest in learning more about the field of sport psychology and how to implement mental skills efficiently, athletes have reported a lack of access to sport psychology services and sport psychology consultants (SPCs) (Dieffenbach et al., 2009). The purpose of …