Digital Commons Network^™

Rural And Urban Disparities In Access To Glp-1 Agonists For Patients With Obesity, Christine J. Hackler-Moorman

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

The increasing interest in glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists, such as semaglutide, which are often prescribed as a first-line treatment for managing Type II diabetes, as well as for non-diabetic purposes—such as weight management and improving metabolic health—highlights their potential in preventive care. This promise inspires hope for a future where preventive healthcare is more effective and accessible to a wider audience. Nonetheless, significant geographic disparities in access to healthcare, especially between rural and urban areas, create obstacles that prevent numerous patients from reaping the benefits of these essential medications. In rural communities, challenges like cost, availability, and awareness are often …

How The Integration Of Bosnian Refugees In Saint Louis Is A Model For Success For Current Afghan Refugees And Future Resettlements In The U.S., Indira Kar

Senior Theses

Refugee resettlement and integration are vital in fostering inclusive communities, enriching local economies, and promoting cultural diversity while also offering displaced individuals the opportunity to rebuild their lives in safety. Considering the successful resettlement of Bosnian refugees in St. Louis, Missouri, starting in the 1990s, I explored what factors could be attributed to their positive integration outcomes. I found a combination of (1) policy, (2) social compatibility, and (3) cultural values that can be attributed to their thriving community and applied these factors to the recent resettlement of Afghan refugees in St. Louis. While Afghan refugees have found success in …

Dumy And The Nation: How Folklore And Folk Songs Help Compose A Distinct Ukrainian Narrative, Amy Herd

Senior Theses

Historiography and ethnography have played a critical role in the development of modern Slavic nationalisms, particularly in Ukraine. As these studies became increasingly popular in the nineteenth century, scholars and members of the bourgeoisie identified folk culture as the key component for the making of the modern nation. Viewed as an authentic window into national history and tradition due to their limited interaction with the modernizing world, rural folk offered the perfect opportunity to illustrate how Ukraine had always been distinct from Russia and its other historical oppressors. As folk culture fervor gripped the intellectual elite of Eastern Europe, however, …

Imperial Fabrication Of Ethnic Cleansing: Czarist Through Soviet Russian Practices And Policies Responsibility In The Ethnic Cleansing Of Georgians In Abkhazia., George Kane

Senior Theses

This thesis explores the direct correlation and connection between Goergia’s struggles against Russian imperialism and the ethnic cleansing of Georgians from Abkhazia that resulted from the 1990s Georgian-Abkhaz Conflict. After examining the historical and cultural ties of the Abkhaz as one of the many Georgian nationalities, this thesis examines the concerted effort by Czarist and Soviet Russia to separate the two identities in order to further imperial ambitions in the Caucasus region. This targeted separation over decades, along with direct Russian military support during the conflict, would then result in an ethnic cleansing taking place perpetrated by the Abkhaz against …

The Politics Of Perspective: A Comparative Analysis Of The Framing Of Political Violence In German Media Coverage Of Immigration Prior To The 2024 State Elections, Jillian Klostermann

Senior Theses

This study examines the role of German media in framing politically motivated violence and immigration in the lead-up to the 2024 state elections, focusing on three outlets: Thüringer Allgemeine, Die Zeit, and TAZ. Through comparative content analysis of coverage on key incidents, the research highlights how political leanings and editorial choices shape public discourse and influence societal attitudes. Findings reveal stark contrasts in local and national reporting, with local outlets reinforcing confirmation biases and national outlets offering broader narratives. The analysis underscores the critical impact of framing, from emotional appeals to policy-oriented discourse, on public perception and political outcomes. This …

Visibility Without Justice: The Wayuu’S Paradox Of Resistance Amid Marginalization And Systemic Violence, Courtney Kren

Senior Theses

The Wayuu, Colombia’s largest Indigenous group, endure systemic marginalization and various forms of structural, direct, and slow violence, which is compounded by preexisting vulnerabilities such as water scarcity, malnutrition, and displacement in La Guajira, a border region situated between Colombia and Venezuela. These challenges are worsened by state neglect, inaction, and environmental degradation caused by El Cerrejón, Latin America’s largest open-pit coal mine. Despite awareness of their suffering, both the Colombian state and Glencore, the company that owns El Cerrejón, perpetuate these harms, with the state hiding behind protective legal frameworks intended to protect and uphold the Wayuu’s rights but, …

Digital Voices Of The Arab Spring: Mainstream Media, Social Media, And Narrative In Egypt's Tahrir Square Protests, Sofia Nogueira Sanca

Senior Theses

This thesis questions and examines the dynamics between social media activism and mainstream media coverage during the Tahrir Square protests of the Arab Spring, focusing on how these platforms collectively shaped the global narrative and challenged the Mubarak regime's control over information. How exactly did these two types of media coverage work in tandem to contribute to the revolution's success? Through qualitative textual analysis of the events of January and February of 2011, it analyzes the tweets from activist Gigi Ibrahim alongside reports from The New York Times and Al Jazeera English to identify recurring themes, including corruption and suppression, …

“Stories That Are Silenced For Way Too Long” Silence On Sexual Violence During The Holocaust And The Importance Of Accurate Depiction Of It, Adele Blokh

Senior Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore and analyze the depiction of sexual violence during the Holocaust in scholarly research literature. Until recently, the topic of sexual violence during the Holocaust has been underrepresented or even silenced altogether. Although the Holocaust has been widely studied, due to the immense trauma and the stigmatization of sexual violence as a social taboo, sexual violence during the Holocaust has not been widely discussed, leaving a gap - sexual violence - in our collective memory of the Holocaust. This paper seeks to identify gaps in the representation of sexual violence in existing scholarship, …

Evaluating The Opportunities And Limitations Of Social Enterprises In Addressing Period Poverty In Rural India, Abigael Hartlieb

Senior Theses

Social enterprises play a significant role in advancing social justice and global health by employing innovative strategies to address health disparities within underserved communities. Period poverty, defined as the lack of access to feminine hygiene products, represents a global health challenge. Social enterprises have emerged as a tool to combat this issue in several countries, including India, but face barriers in widespread implementation in rural areas. This study evaluates the opportunities and limitations social enterprises have in combating period poverty in rural India with a focus on Goonj, a New-Delhi based social enterprise dedicated to bridging the gaps of resources …

What Are The Key Government And Economic Factors That Influence The Adaptation Of Western Human Rights Norms In China, India, And Turkey?, Carlota Rahola Funallet

Senior Theses

I.Abstract The adaptation of global human rights norms poses a significant challenge in diverse political and cultural contexts. In China, India, and Turkey, government policies, economic priorities, and cultural dynamics uniquely shape how these norms are engaged. China’s centralized governance prioritizes economic stability and collective rights, often at the expense of individual freedoms. In India, a democratic values and constitutional protections align with Western ideals, but caste and gender inequalities persist as systemic barriers. Turkey’s dynamic approach, influenced by secularism, religious tensions, and EU aspirations, reveals the impact of both external pressures and domestic political shifts. These case studies illustrate …

2025 Ursinus College Commencement Progam, Ursinus College

Ursinus College Commencement Programs

This Ursinus College Commencement program from 2025 contains the list of speakers, honors, awards and order of events for the day.

Fda Approval Of Cobenfy: A New Therapeutic Option For Schizophrenia, Brenna Hissong, Penlope Mazivanhanga, Alexander Defranco, Linda Azap, Haley Brown, Megan Rizo, Joshua Honaker, Samantha Mccord, Lindsey Ferraro

Pharmacy and Wellness Review

Schizophrenia is a complex illness characterized by behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dysfunctions. Common symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, cognitive decline, and social withdrawal. The disorder is related to structural brain abnormalities, neurotransmitter imbalances, and a combination of genetic and environmental elements, and affects about 24 million individuals globally. Currently, two medication classes are most commonly used to treat schizophrenia. These medications are first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs) and second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs). Due to the side effect profiles that both medication classes carry, research is being conducted for new drug classes.

Cobenfy (xanomeline/trospium chloride), also known investigationally as KarXT, is a new class of …

Spring Commencement: May 17, 2025, University Of North Dakota

UND Commencement Programs

UND Spring Commencement program from May 17, 2025.

Dancing With God: Jewish Prayer Through The Lens Of Dance/Movement Therapy, Lizzie Janssen

Expressive Therapies Theses

This Capstone Thesis literature review explores movement in Jewish prayer within the context of the Kestenberg Movement Profile. Jewish prayer, specifically the amidah, features swaying movements called shokeling that serve as an embodied component of conversation with God. Prayer movements and postures enhance the prayer experience, as described in Hasidic thought.The Kestenberg Movement Profile is a form of movement analysis that observes how movements can indicate a sense of connection and serve as an expression of needs.These observations suggest that using Authentic Movement in a Dance/Movement Therapy session may increase clients’ awareness of a their sense of attachment toward …

Organizing In The Hybrid Media System: Local And International Organizing In The Metoo Movement, Jenna Dole

Sociology ETDs

Movements today are operating in a hybrid media system, in which activists negotiate the use of traditional and social media. Although most of what we know of the MeToo movement comes from studies of the #MeToo campaign and online organizing, the movement has its foundations in local organizing and in the wake of the viral campaign additional local organizing efforts took place. Using semi-structured interviews with leaders of a local MeToo organizing group and Facebook posts from this local group and a large, international MeToo Facebook group, this study explores the role of local organizing coming out of an international, …

Gothic Gender And Colonized Women: A Gothic Feminist Reading Of Women As The Subaltern In Evelina And Northanger Abbey, Abigail Chandler

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Evelina by Frances Burney and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen are two woman-authored, Gothic texts that explore themes of feminism and coming of age as subaltern in a patriarchal context. The main character in each must enter the world and become disillusioned to the reality that they are treated as subhuman because they are women. The term subaltern refers to those living in the margins and their suppressed “potential for life and creativity, in given historical circumstances” (Pandey 4735), and primarily focuses on ethnic or racial oppression in postcolonial settings; however, this thesis explores the idea of women in patriarchal …

Synthesis Of Some New Substituted Pyridilimides From 2-Carboxy Nicotinic Acid By Reaction With Amines, And Evaluation Of Their Antibacterial Activity, Anwar Abdulghani Fathi, Yassir Shakeeb Al Jawaheri, Shaimaa Samir Ismaeel

Baghdad Science Journal

In this paper, we synthesized some new substituted pyridilimides in three different ways. Firstly, by the reaction of 2-carboxy nicotinic acid with some amino acids to form 2-substituted (5,7-dioxo-5,7-dihydro-6H-pyrrolo [3,4-b] pyridine-6-yl) acetic acid (1–2). In the next step, the resultant compounds were treated with phenylene diamine to form substituted 6-((1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl) methyl)-5H-pyrrolo [3,4-b] pyridine-5,7(6H)-dione (3-4). Secondly, 2-carboxy nicotinic acid, which was converted to anhydride (5), reacted with acetic anhydride and acetic acid. In the next step, two moles of (5) were used to react with some aliphatic or aromatic diamine to give substituted bis 5H-pyrrolo [3,4-b] pyridine-5,7(6H)-dione (6–11). Finally, (5) was …

A Pastoral Music Response In Support Of The Universal Apostolic Preferences Of The Society Of Jesus, Daniel Dangca

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

This thesis establishes the relationship between Catholic congregational song and the apostolic work of the Society of Jesus. The Society of Jesus is currently at the halfway mark of their ten-year plan guided by the Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs). These UAPs focus on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, marginalized communities, young people, and caring for the earth. Currently, there are no resources that exist that promote the UAPs through the lens of liturgical music. It is the hope that the suggested hymns, whether sung in the community or individually, deepen the spiritual journey of the participants as …

Airpower Theory, Close Air Support, And A New Approach To The Forward Air Controller In The Vietnam War, Morgan Mccrackin

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Since the Vietnam War’s conclusion, scholars have stubbornly concentrated on campaigns like LINEBACKER I and II instead of diverse close air support missions. The consequent ignorance of close air support’s maturity and forward air controllers’ contributions during Vietnam obscures the Air Force’s greatest success in Southeast Asia. A new way of looking at airpower in Vietnam is required as few historians have addressed the relationship between evolving close air support practices and United States Air Force (USAF) doctrine. These omissions must be addressed if scholars are to offer counterarguments to the historiographical primacy of interdiction. Otherwise, those who formulate Air …

An Exploration Of Panarctic Lake Formation And Methane Emission Since The Last Glacial Maximum, Laura Brosius

Biological Sciences

Polar ice cores show that atmospheric methane concentrations nearly doubled in response to rapid climate warming over the last deglacial transition. Since concentrations of this potent greenhouse gas are tightly coupled to the Earth’s climate system, understanding the climate­ ecosystem interactions that precipitated this event may help predict feedbacks to current and future warming. This work reconstructs panarctic lake areas and methane emissions to assess their contribution to global atmospheric methane budgets since the Last Glacial Maximum. In the first two chapters of my dissertation, I show that climate warming and deglaciation caused widespread lake formation across land surfaces poised …

From The Sea To The Classroom: Harmful Algal Blooms, Northern Sea Otters, And Engaging Curriculum, Emily Mailman

Biological Sciences

Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) consist of a myriad of phytoplankton that can produce multiple potentially lethal biotoxins, which are ingested by shellfish as they consume algae in their diet. HAB events can occur when sunlight, nutrients, temperature, and turbidity conditions combine optimally. These bloom events are expected to increase as ocean temperatures continue to rise. The present study takes a multifaceted approach to evaluate the concentrations of paralytic shellfish toxins (PST), in northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni), and provides a curriculum for students in grades 9-12 to support student’s conceptualization of microscopic phytoplankton and their roles in coastal ecosystems. …

“Umble” Vampirism: Socioeconomic Scapegoats And David Copperfield, J.R. Rizzo

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The narrative framing of David Copperfield is oriented in a way that ignores the flaws of its titular hero. Dickens’ autobiographical David Copperfield is compounded to entertain readers. His social mobility refines their perception of David into a middle class gentleman who is neither aristocratic, nor working class. It is David’s narration which helps facilitate such a companionship between himself and the reader, clouding any serious criticisms behind the guise of his charm. The doubling of bias layered within the novel’s narrative structure thereby poses David as a sort-of golden boy. That is, Dickens’ adoration for his protagonist, coupled with …

Electric Power Regulation For A Novel Riverine Hydrokinetic Energy Conversion System, Kawsar Ahammed

Engineering

Transportation of diesel fuel used to produce electricity for Alaska remote communities is highly expensive. Thus, people living in those remote areas pay a high rate for electric energy compared to the national average cost. The availability of renewable energy resources may help to minimize these high expenses. As many rural Alaskans live near rivers, hydrokinetic energy could be used as a renewable source of electric power. This renewable resource, if successfully harvested, has immense potential to help power Alaska remote communities and significantly reduce electric energy costs. This project aims to investigate the implementation of an energy conversion system …

Developing A Proof-Of-Concept Non-Scalable Active Vacuum Insulated Building Envelope Prototype, Kaarle P. Strailey

Engineering

Heating and cooling buildings consumes around 17% of global energy demand. Improved thermal insulation can reduce much of this consumption with positive implications for energy security and economic opportunity. For over 25 years vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) have been considered a highly promising thermal insulation solution for building envelopes. VIPs can potentially provide an order of magnitude greater insulative performance than common insulation materials with the same thickness. However, the adoption of VIPs in buildings is hindered by many factors: their relatively high costs, installation challenges due to fragility, inalterability, and limited dimensions; limited service life in comparison to buildings …

Optimizing Power Fluid In Jet Pump Oil Wells, Kaelin Ellis

Engineering

A method for optimizing power fluid to a network of jet pump wells is established. Jet pump performance is modeled by numerically solving a system of equations for specific throat and nozzle geometries. An upper boundary is established of the most efficient geometries for each well which creates a continuous function relating power fluid to oil production. Jet pump oil wells are segregated into networks which share a common power fluid surface pump. These boundaries are added together to create a non-linear objective function. To solve power fluid distribution in a network, a reduced Newton method is applied that incorporates …

Data-Driven Simulation Of Sustainable Residential Hvac Systems In Fairbanks, Ak, Joshua Young

Engineering

Residential heating comes at extremely high costs and with harmful air pollution in many Alaskan communities. In Fairbanks, the issue of air pollution has received special attention in recent years, specifically due to the high concentration of small particulate matter resulting from residential space heating. This thesis aims to address energy insecurity and air pollution in Fairbanks by proposing an improved residential HVAC system. A computer simulation was developed to model the operations of several different HVAC configurations for comparison with standard heating oil boiler and portable air conditioner systems. This Python model provided a means of simulating one year …

Fan-Side Upgrade To Fin-Fan Intercoolers Located At The Central Compressor Plant In Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, Heather Mckenzie

Engineering

This project proposes an upgrade to the Air-cooled Heat Exchangers (ACHE) known as the Intercoolers at the Central Compressor Plant located in the Prudhoe Bay oilfield on the North Slope of Alaska. The declining field is gas-limited for the majority of the year and the Intercoolers serve as a bottleneck for Field Gas Offtake (FGO). The current configuration incurs high maintenance costs, safety concerns, and operational inefficiencies. The scope of the proposed upgrade involves updating to a Tuf-Lite III fan blade, eliminating the existing gearboxes, and adding Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) control for the motor drive system. The VFDs enable …

Letter From Jeffrey Kadet To The Internal Revenue Service Re: Notice 2025-19, 2025-2026 Priority Guidance Plan, Jeffery M. Kadet

Articles

Based on my working experience with numerous clients that spanned over thirty years and my studies over the past twenty-three years both as an academic and in connection with my published articles and governmental submissions, I have identified a number of projects that should be considered a high priority for the Treasury and the IRS. These projects, which are attached as appendices to this letter, cover a number of areas. Importantly, I have not been a paid advisor for over a decade and a half. As such, my recommendations are free of any influence from potentially affected taxpayers. I do …

At The Crossroads Of Technology, Policy, And Society: Energy Transitions In Rural Alaska, Gwen Holdmann

Engineering

The future of energy in remote and rural communities is shaped by a complex interplay of technology, policy, and social structures. This dissertation explores why some regions--despite facing similar economic, geographic, and environmental constraints--have successfully developed renewable energy systems while others have struggled. Focusing on rural Alaska, this research examines the factors that drive or inhibit local energy transitions, considering historical institutionalism, governance structures, policy interventions, and economic incentives. Through a mixed-methods approach including case studies, qualitative comparative analysis, and statistical methods, this dissertation examines how energy subsidies and the pooling of resources--whether through shared infrastructure, cooperative utilities, or other …

Breaking Boundaries: The Function Of Supernatural Women In Arthurian Literature, Emma P. Allen

English

Women in Arthurian literature tend to be overlooked in favor of the knights. This thesis focuses on supernatural women in three texts: Parzival, Le Morte D’Arthur, and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Examining the behavior and actions of these women places the male protagonists’ behavior into a new light. Parzival is placed on his narratively correct path by Cundrie’s rebuke. Arthur is given Excalibur by The Lady of the Lake, and is further protected by Nimue, allowing him to survive until the text demands his death. The Mage, a new addition to the Arthurian literature, both protects and advises …