Digital Commons Network^™

The Right To Grow Old, Jamal Greene

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter considers the status of a constitutional “right to grow old” under the US Constitution. Understood as a “positive” right – ensuring a certain minimum quality of life to people as they face the challenges of aging – such a right may seem unavailing given the austerity in respect to such rights that many lawyers associate with the US constitutional tradition. This chapter shows this view to be premature, at least. Unlike the kinds of positive rights overtly rejected in prior cases, such as rights to certain forms of social welfare or to racial equality, a right to grow …

The Role Of Ai In Enhancing Teamwork, Resilience And Decision-Making: Review Of Recent Developments, Satyadhar Joshi

Harrisburg University Other Works

This paper explores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on organizational teamwork, decision-making, and resilience. This paper furthur reviews recent literature on the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in various organizational functions, focusing on its impact on innovation management, leadership paradigms, and organizational resilience. We provide groundwork required to enhance frameworks that can integrate cognitive scaffolding with antifragile team dynamics, employing behavioral economics and neurocognitive principles. We introduce methodologies for enhancing team resilience through adaptive AI systems, cross-training interventions, and pre-mortem simulation techniques. The framework addresses key challenges in confirmation bias mitigation, cultural dimension alignment, and vigilance decrement prevention. …

Exploring The Robustness Of The Effect Of Evo On Intention Valuation Through Replication: Supplemental Material, Yesugen Baatartogtokh, Kaitlyn Cook, Alicia M. Grubb

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

Supplemental material for the paper: "Exploring the Robustness of the Effect of EVO on Intention Valuation through Replication"

Identifying Cognitive, Affective, And Developmental Mechanisms Linking Threat And Deprivation With Adolescent Psychopathology, Ekaterina Sadikova, David G. Weissman, Maya L. Rosen, Elise Robinson, Liliana J. Lengua, Margaret A. Sheridan, Henning Tiemeier, Katie A. Mclaughlin

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

Background: The mechanisms linking early-life adversity with psychopathology over the life-course are complex. In this prospective study, we collectively examined cognitive, affective, and developmental mediators previously found to individually link childhood threat and deprivation experiences to adolescent psychopathology to identify the most potent mechanisms. Methods: Data came from a community sample of 227 children (mean child age 11.5 ± 0.5 years, 48.5% female) from the Seattle metro area with recruitment designed to reflect diversity in family income. Candidate mechanisms included self-rated pubertal development and task-measured attention bias to threat, emotion regulation, theory of mind, fear learning, inhibitory control, language ability, …

Advancing Multi-Agent Robotics Simulations Through Heterogeneous Reinforcement Learning In Isaaclab, Jacob R. Haight

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Robots increasingly operate in collaborative teams across domains such as search-and- rescue, warehouse automation, and autonomous driving—scenarios that demand advanced coordination strategies enabled by multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL). However, existing simulation frameworks often struggle to balance realism, speed, and scalability, especially when supporting diverse, heterogeneous robot teams. This research extends Isaac Lab, a high-performance robotics simulator, by integrating heterogeneous-agent reinforcement learning (HARL) capabilities. The result is a flexible and GPU-accelerated platform for training both homogeneous and heterogeneous robot teams in complex, physics-based environments. These enhancements significantly narrow the gap between simulation and real-world deployment for multi-robot systems.

Gone With The Flow: Flow Reduction Coincides With Reduced Metabolism And Standing Stock Of Benthic Algae And Macroinvertebrates In Desert Rivers, Chloe E. Lyles

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

River metabolism, the measure of energy flow in a river, is driven by hydrological and physicochemical regimes (e.g., temperature, turbidity, and nutrients). However, these regimes are increasingly altered by human water demand and climate change-driven drought. These stressors alter the magnitude, timing, and duration of critical spring-snowmelt floods with poorly understood consequences on ecosystem function, particularly in desert rivers. To investigate the linkages between flow reduction, river metabolism, and basal food resource productivity (i.e., algae and aquatic invertebrates), we measured metabolism and basal resource availability in seven desert tributaries with varying degrees of flow reduction during low-flow conditions in 2023 …

Fostering Educator Well-Being To Manage Job-Related Teacher Stress, Jennifer L. Ringelheim

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

The job-related expectations for effective classroom instruction expanded beyond teaching academics after the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased job-related teacher stress (Weisling, 2023). Using a convergent mixed-methods design, the researcher of this Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) identified a problem of practice as the demands of teaching post-COVID-19 on teacher well-being. In Phase 1 of this ISDiP, the researcher conducted end-user consultations, reviewed existing data, completed a root cause analysis, and reviewed scholarly literature to develop a working theory of improvement to manage teacher stress with self-care and regulation strategies. Phase 2 of this ISDiP aimed to understand to what …

The Grizzly, May 1, 2025, Kate Horan, Erin Ewing, Renee Washart, Claudia Tracy, Nathaniel Nerone, Sidney Belleroche, Adam Denn

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

The Grizzly Takes On CoSA! • Senior Alumni Award Honorees • A Goodbye • And a Hello! • Repair Cafe • Hillel: A Home for Many • Ursinus College 2024-25 Crossword • Sports Stars Shine at URSPYS • Ursinus Softball Battles Through Ups and Downs

Epistemic Dysfunction In American Politics: The Impact Of Misinformation On Knowledge Acquisition., Megan Crowley

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Political misinformation has become an increasingly prominent topic of discussion among scholars across disciplines, particularly in the wake of the 2020 American presidential election. Despite growing scholarly interest in this phenomenon, however, contemporary research has yet to examine misinformation alongside traditional epistemological theory. This thesis aims to remedy this gap by synthesizing classical epistemology, journalism and media research, and political science to investigate the impact of misinformation on political knowledge acquisition. To accomplish this goal, the analysis will focus on the justification condition, conceptualized according to both internalist and externalist perspectives. The internalism section will cast misinformation as a form …

Antiproliferative Effects Of Salvia On Breast Cancers., Allison C. Portaro

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in female adults, with 2.3 million new cases worldwide in 2020. Plants have been used in traditional medicine and are a potential source of pharmaceuticals. One example is the large Lamiaceae (mint) family. The Salvia genus, commonly known as the sages, is the largest genus in Lamiaceae with almost 900 known species. Salvia lyrata (lyre-leaved sage) has a history of Native American medicinal use to treat cancers and other ailments resulting in this plant being referred to as ‘cancer weed.’ Extracts were produced from the leaves of S. lyrata, S. lyrata …

The Effects Of Prenatal Cigarette Smoke Exposure On Developmental Milestones, Megan Jacobs

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

In Kentucky, a reported 12.7% of mothers smoke cigarettes during pregnancy. Nicotine readily crosses the placental and blood-brain barriers, with fetal blood concentrations reaching 15% higher than maternal levels. By stimulating and desensitizing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the autonomic nervous system, nicotine disrupts uteroplacental blood flow, potentially altering fetal growth and development.

To investigate the effects of prenatal cigarette smoke exposure (CSE) on developmental milestones, C57Bl6 mice were exposed to either cigarette smoke (CSE, n = 30) or filtered room air (Sham, n = 20) for 3 hours daily from two days before mating until the day before birth. Offspring …

The Publics Of Hannah Arendt And Jürgen Habermas, Andrew Heggie

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Hannah Arendt’s and Jürgen Habermas’s accounts of the public are notable and important cornerstones in contemporary western political philosophy. This thesis will offer characterizations of Arendt’s account of the public realm in The Human Condition, and Habermas’s account of the public sphere in The Structural Transformation of The Public Realm, comparing and contrasting these accounts to each other in order to highlight the uniqueness of each account; as well the possible contemporary political relevance of these accounts.

A Qualitative Study On Recruiting And Retaining Black, Veteran, In-Service Teachers In Rural Tennessee K-12 Public Schools, Paul Andrew Mcmillan

Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative, interpretive study was to explore the perceptions of Black, veteran, in-service teachers regarding recruitment and retention strategies in rural Tennessee K-12 public schools. This study addressed significant racial disparities in the Tennessee education system, where the percentage of Black teachers was notably lower than the percentage of Black students, particularly in rural schools. Data were collected from 20 Black, veteran, in-service teachers using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to examine the factors influencing their decisions to seek employment and remain in rural districts. Analysis of the data identified three key themes related to Research Question 1 …

How Graphene’S Berry Dipole Is Determined By Its Atomic Registry With A Substrate, Hannah K. Isbell

Physics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Since graphene’s discovery in 2004, it has been established as one of the most important materials in recent condensed matter history. Understanding its properties and potential uses has been the subject of intense scientific research around the world. Graphene’s unique physical properties allow it to serve a wide variety of purposes, from its everyday role in the formation of graphite in pencils to its more cutting-edge scientific functions in electronics and energy storage. Gaining a better understanding of graphene’s rich quantum landscape through geometric and topological phenomena, like Berry curvature and Berry dipole, could have significant implications for both theoretical …

A Mixed-Method Examination Of Social Media Influencers’ Source Characteristics In Sponsored Health Campaign Messaging: An Application Of Psychological Reactance Theory, Lauren Pick

Communication (PhD) Dissertations

Social media influencers (SMIs/influencers) are frequently used for marketing and public relations purposes (i.e., influencer marketing), but can be leveraged to avoid resistance to health campaign messages. Guided by psychological reactance theory (PRT), the purpose of this dissertation was to (a) uncover micro-influencer characteristics that mitigate reactance toward sponsored social media posts, (b) investigate whether influencers induce less reactance than non- influencers when disseminating sponsored health content, and (c) experimentally test whether influencer source characteristics mitigate reactance to sponsored health messaging. In Study One, focus groups with Gen Z Instagram users (N = 12) identified SMI use of controlling, “one …

Implications Of Biourbanism On Sustainable Business Strategy, Samuel Walsh

Graduate Theses - Engineering Management

Recently developed for urban planners to view cities through the lens of ecosystems and other complex natural systems, the Biourbanism model is a set of metrics to numerically assess the resilience and sustainability of urban systems. This model focuses on ten factors of urban sustainability, which include categories such as energy, infrastructure, and technology, and is intended to help cities achieve more holistic measures of their ability to realize resilience and sustainability goals. The premise of this Integrated Project is that businesses can also be viewed as complex natural systems. Hence, this project examines case studies to show how implementing …

Isolating The Causes Instead Of The Student: Building Belonging And Connectedness Among And With Students, Cheryl Ann Faga

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Embedded at the heart of the educational system is the teacher-student relationship. This qualitative Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) examines the impact of the teacher-student relationship on students’ sense of belonging in the classroom and the broader school culture and climate in an urban interdistrict high school magnet program. At the 2022 Association of Middle School Leadership, Houston Kraft, developer of Character Strong, explained that "If we know connection and belonging is a human need, we have to build systems and skills that support the acquisition of and development of connection before students ever feel safe to learn" (Simpson, …

Enhancing The University Of Arkansas' Operations Through Data Science, Aura L. Pinto-Avelar

Data Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

As universities navigate financial constraints and resource allocation challenges, data driven financial analysis has become increasingly important. Universities employ various methods to assess financial efficiency, predict future expenditures, and optimize student credit hour distribution. However, the approaches to financial analysis vary widely, with some institutions leveraging advanced predictive modeling and business intelligence tools, while others rely on traditional budgeting techniques and manual forecasting.

This thesis examines how the University of Arkansas' (“Uark”) financial analysis methods compare to those of other institutions and alternative data-driven approaches. Using four years of financial and student credit hour data, this study evaluates cost trends …

Lucky Charms: Leveraging Consumer Data Analysis For Strategic Decision-Making At General Mills, Katherine Page Thomas

Data Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This undergraduate thesis examines the application of data analytics in sales strategy and consumer insights from the perspective of a summer internship at General Mills. It gives an overview of the company’s background, industry position, and intern’s role within the sales organization. It outlines the personal learning objectives established before the internship and how they evolved through practical experience.

A central focus of the summer internship was the analysis of consumer demographics within the cereal category to enhance sales performance and optimize retail execution. Using the Data Science Analytics Process as a framework, this thesis details the problem statements, methodologies, …

Optimizing Fire Station Placement In Sugar Land, Tx: A Socioeconomic Risk-Based Approach, Alicia Gallemore

Data Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Fire station placement has a critical role in emergency response efficiency and community safety. Traditional optimization models focus on mainly the minimization of response times and the maximization of coverage. However, this approach may overlook potential socioeconomic disparities that can influence emergency demand. This study seeks to expand upon the existing project of zoning a fire station in Sugar Land, TX, by integrating spatial road network analysis and publicly available census data—including population density, median household income, and age-based vulnerability—into a Maximal Coverage Location Problem (MCLP) framework. Using a road network-based travel time with realistic constraints, the goal is to …

Attribute Based Assortment Using Machine-Learning, Hector Negron

Data Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Retail success is influenced by a store's demographic and environmental context, both of which impact item-level sales performance. This study applies machine learning techniques to optimize item allocation based on club attributes at Sam’s Club locations. By analyzing store- specific factors such as proximity to universities, income levels, and regional preferences, the research identifies patterns that contribute to product demand. The results offer insights into how clubs can enhance inventory decisions, improving sales outcomes while reducing inefficiencies. This study reinforces the value of data-driven retail strategies and presents a practical framework for implementing predictive models in a real-world business context.

Shortage To Surge - Studying The Post-Covid-19 Guitar Retail Market, Jed H. Kim

Data Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the most catalyzing events of the 21st century, leading to supply chain disruptions, lifestyle changes, and a massive shift towards digital technologies. During the COVID-19 lockdown, many people had more free time, and over 16 million individuals learned to play guitar in the first 2 years of the pandemic. According to a study by Fender, 62% of these new guitar learners cited the pandemic as their primary reason for learning the instrument. However, pandemic policies and supply chain disruptions meant that many guitar retailers were unable to satisfy demand, and backorders accumulated. After the …

Computer Vision In Soccer: Yolov11 Analytics Engine For Quantifying Game Strategy, Connor S. Maurer

Data Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Single-shot object detection capabilities significantly reduce computational overhead for real-time computer vision in sports analytics at 60 FPS. YOLO11’s lightweight CNN gives promising accuracy while meeting the low-latency demand of dynamic soccer matches. As data-driven approaches take over the sport of soccer, efficient player tracking systems become critical for informing coach’s strategies. I prototype the ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) process of data collected from a single- shot detection program and evaluate its viability for estimating player fatigue. YOLO11 detects players, the ball, and other characteristics, with the output transformed by homography to estimate the positions in the real world. These …

Reinforcement Learning, Modeling Markets, And Professional Basketball Free Agency, Jacob Cohn

Computational and Data Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

This dissertation presents a reinforcement learning-based approach to modeling and optimizing decision-making in professional basketball free agency and related economic environments. A Markov Decision Process (MDP) framework is introduced to capture the strategic interactions of NBA teams bidding for free agents under budgetary and roster constraints. To address computational scalability challenges, a reinforcement learning (RL) environment is developed, leveraging Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) to approximate optimal policies for team decision-making.

Empirical results demonstrate that the RL agent successfully learns strategic bidding behavior that aligns with dynamic programming benchmarks in simplified settings while scaling effectively to larger, intractable environments. The study …

The Art Of Disability And Identity: Using Arts-Based Methods To Examine The Relationships Between Disability, Identity, And Identity Development For Young, Disabled, Women In Higher Education, Amelia Holzer

Education (PhD) Dissertations

Within higher education, much of the research surrounding education and students with disabilities revolves around accommodations, and critiques of structural barriers to access. Further, disability within the context of higher education is often thought of through the lens of “service” and support for students with disabilities in higher education often takes a medical model approach of “curing” the student and “treating” their disability with accommodations (e.g., additional testing time), instead of acknowledging the environmental, social, and cultural factors within the classroom, or outside the classroom that may be causing the impairment. There is a noticeable gap in the higher education …

...Of Cabbages And Kings, Spring 2025, Emeriti Society, University Of The Pacific

Emeriti Newsletter: "...Of Cabbages and Kings"

"...Of Cabbages and Kings" is the newsletter of the University of the Pacific Emeriti Society. Read more about the Emeriti Society of Pacific by clicking here.

A Brief Social Skills Intervention And Its Effect On Elementary Students’ Social Behaviors, Elizabeth A. Kleitz, Namuna Sunar, Darson Rhodes, Carol Cox

Undergraduate Research (Journal)

Student social skill improvement interventions are primarily conducted at the school site. Students also need social skills to navigate out-of-school time, and more focus on the elementary level is advised. Successful interventions are developmentally appropriate for the age group and focus on skill building. In this study, puppetry was the developmentally appropriate strategy used to teach a social skills-building curriculum. Trained volunteers presented four short, weekly lessons on positive social skill development to elementary students attending their district’s afterschool program. Pre-post intervention, student social skill knowledge scores significantly improved, and afterschool teachers reported significant decreases in student emotional problems and …

Front Matter, Alesa Liles

Undergraduate Research (Journal)

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Acute Beetroot Juice Supplementation On Resting Cardiovascular Responses In Young Women, Manuel Munoz Ii, Robert L. Herron

Undergraduate Research (Journal)

Research has shown that acute supplementation with dietary nitrate will increase the amount of circulating nitrate, boosting NO bioavailability via the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway, providing enhanced vasodilation. There are limited dietary nitrate studies including young, healthy female participants. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of acute dietary nitrate, via beet root juice (BRJ) supplementation, on resting heart rate and blood pressure in young, healthy women. A total of 11 women (aged 18-22) performed a repeated-measures, placebo-controlled, counter-balanced, crossover design investigated the impact of dietary nitrate on the cardiovascular system’s resting measurements after one hour. All participants completed …

Associations Between Fruit And Vegetable Availability, Parental Feeding Practices, And Picky Eating During Toddlerhood, Naomi Popoolapade, Jennifer Barton

Undergraduate Research (Journal)

Picky eating has been associated with decreased diet quality among young children, thus exploring strategies that parents can use to decrease picky eating behaviors is crucial. In the present study, we sought to examine two objectives: whether 1) home availability of vegetables and fruit at 12 months is associated with picky eating at 36 months; and 2) parental feeding practices, particularly pressure to eat and restriction, at 12 months is associated with picky eating at 36 months. Longitudinal data were drawn from the [blinded for review] birth cohort (n = 468 families). At 12 months, research assistants and mothers completed …