Digital Commons Network^™

Promoting Scientific Impact At The Nih, Fred D. Ledley M.D.

CISI Publication

We are honored to offer our comments on Promoting Scientific Impact at the NIH in response to NOT-OD-26-087: Request for Information on Measuring and Rewarding Scientific Impact.

These comments are informed by my professional experience as the founding director of the Center for Integration of Science and Industry at Bentley University, which has a mission to “advance the translation of scientific discoveries for public value by engaging science, business, and policy in transdisciplinary dialogue, scholarship, and education.” Our approach is to bring together the perspectives of natural science, business, analytics, economics, law, and policy to better understand, and advance, the …

The Effect Of Hrv And Rpe Guided Special Exercises On Maximal Strength And Heart Rate Variability In 88-Kg Weightlifters, Zohad Fawzi Naji, Salih Mahdi Mukheef, Omar Khalid Yasir

Modern Sport

This research sought to assess the impact of specific exercise programs, which are dependent on the indicators of recovery and muscle fatigue, on the development of maximal strength and heart rate variability in 88 kg weightlifters. The study adopted an experimental one group pretest-posttest design. The subjects in this study included 10 weightlifters from Iraqi clubs such as AlJaish, AlShorta, AlKahrabaa and AlHashd AlShaabi who competed in the 2026 Iraqi Clubs Championship. This training program spanned over eight weeks and had three training sessions every week. In this training program, training loads were manipulated in accordance with recovery and muscle …

The Effect Of Divergent Thinking Strategy On Cognitive Intuition And Learning To Perform Some Volleyball Skills For Fifth-Grade Middle School Students, Fatima Naeem Abdullah Al-Aboudi

Modern Sport

The importance of this research stems from employing divergent thinking strategies to develop cognitive intuition and improve the learning of basic volleyball skills among middle school students, thus contributing to the improvement of learning quality. The research problem lies in the weak level of cognitive intuition and skill performance among fifth-grade middle school students, necessitating the search for a modern educational strategy to address this issue. The research aimed to build a scale for cognitive intuition, and to identify the effect of divergent thinking strategy on developing cognitive intuition and learning some volleyball skills. The researcher used the experimental method …

The Effect Of Distributed And Intensive Practice With Audio-Visual Feedback On 100 M Sprint Skill Learning And Motor Response Time, Mayada Hassan Hamza Hassan

Modern Sport

and the increasing use of audio-visual feedback in motor learning, limited studies have investigated their combined effect on learning the technical phases of the 100m sprint and motor response time among university students. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effect of distributed and intensive practice schedules supported by audio-visual feedback on sprint skill learning and motor response time among first-year students at the College of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, University of Babylon. The study addressed the need for organized practice methods and modern feedback strategies that consider practice distribution, rest intervals, and sensory feedback in motor learning …

Spartan Daily, August 19, 2026, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2026

Volume 167, Issue 01

Wille Zum Wald: Nietzsche’S Discovery Of Forest Bathing, Gary Shapiro

Philosophy Faculty Publications

In the fourth part of our “The Forest as a Living Foundation” series, the distinguished American Nietzsche scholar Gary Shapiro investigates new angles on Nietzsche’s bonds to the woods: the philosopher’s personal enthusiasm for what is increasingly called “forest bathing,” the science behind how this practice benefits body, mind, and spirit, and the sheer pleasure of breathing fresh air, in woodland and wherever else we can find it. Shapiro’s essay showcases why this particular Lebensraum matters, not just for our individual well-being, but for the health of the entire planet.

Exploring The Occupational Risks Among Human Service Professionals: A Trauma-Informed Approach To Caring For Others And Ourselves, Shaian Kong

Master of Arts in Human Services

It is known that human service practitioners are often expected to maintain empathy, compassion, emotional regulation, and professionalism during high-stress or uncertain situations. These experiences expose practitioners to a unique intersection of trauma. While helping others through their own trauma, practitioners may also experience symptoms such as intrusive thoughts, emotional exhaustion, sleep disturbances, hypervigilance, and avoidance despite not directly experiencing the traumatic events themselves. Current literature highlights these existing occupational risks that may hinder sustained career development, increased compassion fatigue, and affect workplace standards and support. With things like frequent increase in workloads, workforce shortages, and insufficient professional support, practitioners …

Implementation Readiness For National Cancer Survivorship Care Standards, Christiane J. El Khoury, Meera Gupta, Maryem Shirzadi, Heidi Dowst, Martha Mims, Maysa Abu-Khalaf, Hoda Badr

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

IMPORTANCE: Cancer survivorship care is a growing public health priority, yet delivery remains variable across health systems. The National Standards for Cancer Survivorship Care provide a framework for high-quality care, but little empirical evidence exists regarding health system readiness to implement these standards in routine practice.

OBJECTIVE: To assess implementation readiness for the National Standards for Cancer Survivorship Care and identify perceived barriers to implementation.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This real-time Delphi survey study was conducted from January to March 2025 at a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. Participants were multidisciplinary experts involved in cancer survivorship care delivery, care …

How Adults With Fasd Describe Spiritual Experiences And Faith Formation, Emily Hargrove

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) has been extensively studied in childhood and, more recently, in adulthood. However, little is known about how adults with FASD experience faith formation and spirituality. Spirituality has been recognized as a coping resource that promotes resilience and psychological well-being, yet these experiences remain largely unexplored among adults with FASD. The purpose of this study was to explore how adults with FASD describe their faith formation and spiritual experiences. Two research questions guided the study: How do adults with FASD describe their faith formation? and How do adults with FASD describe their spiritual experiences? James Fowler's …

Food Insecurity Among Freshman Male Collegiate Athletes At A Historically Black University In Maryland, Petita Cue Rentz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Food insecurity is an emerging public health issue impacting collegiate student-athletes enrolled at Historically Black Universities (HBUs). Recent research revealed that 63% of football players have reported some form of food insecurity which disproportionately impacts Black athletes at higher rates. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences and dietary behaviors of freshman male collegiate student-athletes who lacked access to food despite receiving athletic scholarships in a publicly funded HBU in Maryland. The research questions for this qualitative study focused on exploring the lived experiencing of Black male athletes who were experiencing food insecurity at an …

The Association Between The 24-Hour Activity Cycle And Academic Performance Of Online Graduate Students In The United States, Alia Ouali

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Online graduate students are a growing population in higher education. Nevertheless, only a few studies have investigated the associations between their academic performance (AP) and movement behaviors—physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep quality (SQ). Guided by the 24‑hour activity cycle framework and social cognitive theory, the purpose of this quantitative cross‑sectional study was to explore these relationships among online graduate students in the United States and examine how self-efficacy (SE) and social determinants of health (SDOH) influence them. The online survey, which included validated scales for all constructs, yielded 403 complete responses. AP showed a significant positive association …

Southeastern Michigan Firefighters’ Experiences With Their Organization’S Employee Assistance Program, Angela Patricia Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental health challenges among first responders require coordinated stakeholder efforts. Although employee assistance programs (EAPs) are commonly offered as workplace benefits, little is known about firefighters’ experiences with these programs and how they can be tailored to meet their unique needs. Existing literature suggested that EAP utilization among firefighters is influenced by program awareness, confidentiality concerns, organizational support, stigma, and the extent to which services are tailored to first responders’ needs. Using a generic qualitative design and policy feedback theory, this study explored southeastern Michigan firefighters’ experiences with EAPs. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 11 firefighters for semi structured …

Antiterrorism Policies And Curbing Youth Involvement In Violent Extremism In Nigeria, Timothy Melaye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nigeria continues to face significant challenges from extremist groups such as Boko Haram, unidentified militia groups, and bandits. The radicalization of youths has played a central role in the country's ongoing violent extremism and general insecurity. Efforts to curb youth radicalization remain largely unsuccessful and pose a major challenge in the country. The existing literature on curbing youth violent extremism focuses on the use of force, while other scholars argue for a complex interplay among economic, social, political, and environmental factors. They also considered that high illiteracy, lack of religious understanding, poverty, unemployment, psychological factors, and unstable family environments contribute …

Trust, Delegation, And Alignment In Human-Ai Decision Making, Erik O. Kimbrough, Brennan Mcdavid, Diba Vazirian

ESI Working Papers

This paper studies delegation to artificial intelligence in a setting where human principals retain the consequences of delegated choices. Participants wrote prompts instructing ChatGPT-4o mini how to choose on their behalf in three canonical economic domains: risky choice, intertemporal choice, and social allocation. We then elicited the compensation participants required to let the AI’s choices count for payment and compared participants’ own choices to choices generated from their prompts. The design produces two central empirical objects: a revealed measure of reluctance to delegate, captured by willingness to accept compensation for AI delegation, and a behavioral measure of alignment, captured by …

Analysis Of Early Menopause And Endometriosis Genetics Merit In Use Of Polygenic Risk Assessments For Prediction, Emily Solomon

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Endometriosis and Early Menopause are reproductive conditions that are under research in women's health. Both conditions impact a woman’s quality of life through severity of symptoms and associated risk factors and are influenced by genetic, hormonal and environmental elements. Both conditions have extensive and growing genetic knowledge that is being used to calculate either an increased or decreased risk of condition development. The array of genetic data shows promises in predicting risk for both conditions, as well as certain symptoms, to contribute to a personalized predictive tool to guide management of care. Endometriosis benefits from a potential polygenic risk assessment …

2026 Focused Update Of The Saudi Heart Association Guidelines On Best Practices In The Management Of Chronic Coronary Syndromes, Owayed Alshammeri, Halia Alshehri, Shukri Alsaif, Mirvat Alasnag, Fatema Qaddoura, Fahad Alqahtani, Yosra Abdulahad A Turkistani, Walid Alharbi, Adel Tash, Mohammad Alshehri, Khalid Al Faraidy, Waleed Alhabeeb

Journal of the Saudi Heart Association

Background: Chronic coronary syndromes (CCS) continue to impose a substantial clinical and economic burden in Saudi Arabia. Since publication of the 2022 Saudi Heart Association (SHA) CCS guidelines, important advances have emerged in diagnosis, pharmacotherapy, cardiometabolic risk reduction, antiplatelet management, and revascularization. This 2026 focused update selectively revises and clarifies key recommendations to reflect these advances within the Saudi context.

Methods: A multidisciplinary SHA expert panel conducted a structured review of randomized trials, meta-analyses, and relevant international guidance published since 2022. Updates were restricted to areas with substantive new evidence or evolving clinical practice. Recommendations were formulated through expert consensus …

Acervos Documentales De Puerto Rico Y El Caribe @ Upr-Río Piedras: On Designing Digital Strategies For Preservation And Access Of Unique Puerto Rican And Caribbean Studies Collections, Mirerza González-Vélez, Mila Aponte-González

archipelagos: a journal of Caribbean digital praxis

This paper documents Acervos Digitales de Puerto Rico y el Caribe @ UPR-Río Piedras, its origins, goals, activities and participants. It reflects on the team engagement with fundamental discussions regarding the use of Omeka in a Caribbean context, that resulted in the articulation and enactment of ethical principles for digital curation, as well as in its commitment for fundamental digital preservation efforts based on minimal technology requirements. The paper also provides an assessment of its continuity as a DH initiative committed to preserving, improving open access, and building capacity for the effective use of unique digitized humanities collections, and poses …

Agreements And Disagreements About The Roll Of Leadership Team Diversity In Strategic Change: A Critical Review Of Measurement And Empirical Inconsistencies, Amy C. Horner

Engaged Management ReView

Research examining the relationship between leadership team diversity and strategic change has produced inconsistent and often contradictory findings. This dissertation digest synthesizes prior research through a meta-analytic review of twenty-five studies representing more than 500,000 observations across multiple industries and countries. The results indicate that relationships between leadership team diversity characteristics and strategic change are generally small in magnitude and highly variable across studies.

Rather than reflecting a clear directional effect, these patterns point to a fundamental challenge in the existing literature: inconsistency in how key constructs are defined and measured. Strategic change is operationalized through a wide range of …

An Information Processing Framework For Lean Intervention Design In Nonprofit Food Bank Operations, Thanh Danh Nguyen

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Nonprofit food banks rely on rotating, minimally trained volunteers to make complex food sorting decisions, yet lean operations research rarely accounts for the cognitive limits these volunteers face on their first shift. This study proposes a Volunteer Information Processing Framework, grounded in memory and cognitive load theory, arguing that sorting errors stem from an “encoding gap”: volunteers have no prior long-term memory of category or expiration rules and must decide from scratch under working-memory constraints. Combining literature synthesis with field observation at Feeding Tampa Bay, the study evaluates two zero-cost interventions, dedicated group sorting and laminated visual guides, as external …

Trait Anticipatory Pleasure, Negative Affect, And The Stimulus-Preceding Negativity During Reward Anticipation, Rishana Amar, John L. Shuford, Gavin Heindorf, Harold A. Rocha, Peter E. Clayson

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Reward anticipation involves the processes engaged while awaiting a potentially rewarding outcome. The stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) is an event-related brain potential component that becomes more negative while individuals anticipate motivationally significant outcomes. We tested whether greater trait anticipatory pleasure predicted allocation of attention during reward anticipation (i.e., more negative SPN), and whether trait negative affect weakens that relationship. We hypothesized that greater anticipatory pleasure would predict more negative SPN and that this association would be weaker among participants with high trait negative affect. Participants (N = 83) completed the anticipatory pleasure subscale of the Temporal Experiences of Pleasure Scale, the …

Alterations In Intracellular Pathways By Structured Acoustics Across Mammalian Model Systems, Mary B. Holahan, A'Niya Jackson, Jose Rumbaut-Clark, Elaina Schuler, Arnav Chavda, Thanh Mai Nguyen, Junaina Nazneen, Ana Beatriz-Melgar, Sarah Hedenstad, Emily Hernandez

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Music can be defined as structured sound that serves as a “universal language” capable of influencing emotion, cognition, and social connectivity in humans. Its formal application into the medical profession began in the 20th century, following World War I and II.  Human subject research involving music therapy has since reported a myriad of health benefits such as those on emotional (e.g., anxiety, depression, and stress), neurological (e.g., cognitive impairment, sleep issues, and dementia), and physical well-being (e.g., pain, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia). However, the impact of such structured acoustics on biological processes at the cellular and molecular level remains unclear. Towards …

When Intensity Becomes Unpleasant: Content-Dependent Effects Of Arousal On Valence, Allison D. Nguyen, Ananya Ranganagoudar, Charvi Koniki

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Trait worry is associated with heightened negative interpretation of internal arousal, raising the possibility that individuals higher in worry may evaluate high-arousing experiences less positively. The most unpleasant and pleasant experiences are also the most arousing. However, individuals higher in trait worry may evaluate highly arousing experiences more negatively, depending on the content of the stimulus. This study tested whether trait worry moderates arousal and valence ratings and whether this association depends on image content.

Eighty-seven students passively viewed emotional and neutral images and provided arousal and valence ratings for images. Image content categories were generated by an AI classification …

Evidence-Based Guidance System For Data Science Teams Using Generative Ai Under Uncertainty, Kristoffer Ahlstrom-Vij

Defensive Publications Series

A method for implementing evidence-based guidance for a data science team using generative artificial intelligence under uncertainty is provided. The method includes reviewing existing evidence on generative AI in knowledge work, including empirical literature on productivity effects, cognition and skill formation, and human factors research on automation complacency and cognitive offloading. The method includes evaluating the existing evidence across parallel considerations and deriving a plurality of principles from the existing evidence. The principles include an accountability principle stating that accountability for work cannot be self-certified, an aggregation principle directing to read more but not think less, a writing reservation principle …

The Challenges Of Romantic Relationships In Contemporary Societies, Xavier Pillet

Defensive Publications Series

This document, produced with the assistance of ChatGPT o3, GPT-5 Thinking and Grok, is released under the Apache License 2.0. It is a voluntary defensive publication (prior art) and therefore enters the prior art upon release under the applicable patent statutes : EPC Art. 54(2) (European Patent Convention), French IPC Art. L 611-11 (French Intellectual Property Code), 35 U.S.C. §102(a) (United States Patent Act), Chinese Patent Law Art. 22(5) (両匡丢氡儡吡嘡丣刡氢), and Japanese Patent Act Art. 29(1) (闘旧避). This disclosure details technical systems, methods, and architectures spanning ethical matching, socio-ecological scoring, closed-loop UX, a!ective VR, safety/consent, intergenerational models, community optimization, data …

Exploring Elite Athletes’ Perceptions Of The Practice Of Mindfulness For Mental Health And Optimal Performance, Omar A. Sesay

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Elite athletes experience physical, cognitive, and emotional demands that affect athletic performance and personal well-being, increasing the risk for anxiety, depression, burnout, attentional difficulties, and maladaptive coping strategies. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has been examined for its effect on attentional control, emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, and stress resilience, but limited qualitative research has examined how elite athletes experience the practice of mindfulness. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore elite athletes’ perceptions of the practice of mindfulness for mental health and optimal performance. The theoretical framework draws from mindfulness theory and MBSR principles. Semistructured interviews were conducted …

Immigration Stress And Inequities Driving Diabetes Distress In Hispanic Adults: A Scoping Review, Rachell Nguyen

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Hispanic adults in the United States experience disproportionately high rates of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and co-occurring mental health conditions. These disparities are intensified by immigration-related stress, acculturation challenges, and minority stress, all of which contribute to heightened diabetes distress and reduced self-management capacity.

Purpose: This scoping review examined how immigration stressors, acculturation processes, and minority stress influence diabetes distress and mental health outcomes among Hispanic adults with T2DM.

Methods: Using Arksey and O’Malley’s six-step scoping review framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a comprehensive search of PubMed, CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE (OVID), and ScienceDirect identified studies published between 2015 and …

“Turn The Faucet”: Right-Wing Hydrosocial Imaginaries Of Irrigation Water In The Western United States, Alexander Reid Ross, Thien-Kim Bui, Alida Cantor

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

The second administration of United States President Donald Trump has taken an authoritarian, centralized approach to governance in the United States. Water management is one area in which the president has attempted to show dominance. This research theorizes President Trump’s concept of water in the United States West as a “hydrosocial imaginary” in which the release of water from rivers and reservoirs indicates virility, action, and power, instead of liberal cautiousness and prudence. By ordering the release of two billion gallons of water from California’s Central Valley into the dry Tulare Basin one hundred miles north of Los Angeles for …

We Don't See Race, We See Blue: A Case Study Of Police Unions As Racialized Organizations, Sarahfina Aubrey Peterson

Dissertations and Theses

In the late 1960s, police began to unionize. Today, they are the most well-organized labor force in the United States, with 70% to 80% of sworn officers now represented by a union. Though it has been decades, little scholarship has developed about how police unions affect policing. Much of the research that does exist uses race-neutral frames to address an organization steeped in racial history. This study aims to address this gap in scholarship, in part, by introducing race as a motivation for and explanation of organizational output.

This research applies Victor Ray's racialized organizations theory to police unions. I …

God's Will Or Man's? The Power Of Religious Rhetoric In Shaping Wartime Domestic Policy Preferences, Claire E. Brimhall

Undergraduate Honors Theses

How do individuals represent their religious beliefs in the political sphere? Is this impacted by levels of conflict in a given society? In times of war, people of faith often rally behind leaders and policies that diverge from the values upheld by their religious institutions. In fact, in many such cases, religious affiliation and church attendance are among the strongest predictors of support for these political actors.

This thesis examines two such cases where religious voters support policies that contradict the moral teachings of their faith, advancing a theory that a state’s appeals to religion can fundamentally reshape how believers …

Are 2d:4d Finger-Length Ratios Related To Bdsm Power Play Roles? An Exploratory Study, Phoenix R. Crane

Psychology and Neuroscience Faculty Publications

This study explored the relationships between 2D:4D ratio, a biological marker influenced by prenatal androgen exposure, and personality traits among members of the BDSM community. The 2D:4D ratio, calculated by dividing the length of the second (index) finger by the length of the fourth (ring) finger, is a non-invasive measure of prenatal exposure to androgens, with a smaller 2D:4D ratio associated with higher levels of testosterone exposure. Previous, albeit conflicting, research suggests that higher levels of testosterone are associated with dominance, aggression, risk-taking, and sensation-seeking. The present study draws on these findings to propose an androgenization of power play roles. …