Digital Commons Network^™

Centering Well-Being And Wholeness: Exploring Racial Battle Fatigue Among Black 3-K To Twelfth-Grade Teachers, Olubunmi Fashusi

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study, with some descriptive statistics, examined Black 3-K through 12th- grade teachers’ experiences with racial battle fatigue (RBF), the psychological and behavioral stress responses they perceived most accurately convey how RBF manifests for them, and the strategies they used to disrupt RBF’s impact. Participants experienced compounded RBF due to advocating for students (i.e., speaking out, supporting, or intervening). Participants’ most perceived psychological stress response to RBF was racism awareness, and most perceived behavioral stress response was spirituality or religion. Participants disrupted the impact of RBF through intrinsic care (i.e., purpose or why, managing emotions, and self-care) and …

Returning With The Elixir: Transformation In Two Young Adult Novels, April Vázquez

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

The narrative structure of the Hero’s Journey, first elaborated by Joseph Campbell in 1949, is employed in Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani and Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay. In these two works for young people, the protagonists travel to their parents’ native countries, encountering systems of oppression that fundamentally transform their perspectives and alter the trajectories of their lives. Each character follows the same narrative pattern: before the Hero’s Journey, they have led mostly unremarkable lives, have an encounter with the supernatural or the divine, confront systemic oppression in their parents’ native countries on a scale beyond what they …

Off-Label Neuroimaging, Jane C. Moriarty

Law Faculty Publications

The growth of neuroimaging evidence in the courtroom is consistent with the increased reliance on technical and machine-based specialties at trial. Litigants routinely seek to introduce neuroimaging evidence in both civil and criminal trials to supplement traditional medical, psychiatric, and psychological opinion testimony. A substantial portion of neuroimaging evidence is still in the developmental stage—what I term “off-label neuroimaging.” Unsurprisingly, evaluating the reliability of developing neuroimaging poses challenging questions for gatekeeping courts. Among the complex evidentiary issues neuroimaging presents for courts and litigants, this Article considers one foundational question: How should courts determine whether neuroimaging evidence is sufficiently reliable for …

Increasing Lead (Pb) Screening Participation Rates In The Pediatric Patient Population At The Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine Lancaster Avenue Community Healthcare Center, Jacob Varrato

PCOM Biomedical Studies Student Scholarship

Elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs) are an ongoing public health crisis predominantly affecting children under six in low-income communities located in major cities across the United States (Zartarian et al. 2024). Chronic lead exposure due to outdated housing, polluted water, and contaminated soil is especially harmful in early childhood. Frequent hand to mouth contact at this age increases the risk of ingesting particulate matter containing lead (CDC). EBLLs can predispose children to neurocognitive deficits, cardiovascular disease, and epigenetic modifications to gene expression patterns (Collin et al. 2022). While precautionary measures and timely screening protocols greatly reduce the risk of developing …

Regulating Psychological Wellness Grifters, Jennifer D. Oliva

Georgia State University Law Review

The rapid expansion of social media has transformed the delivery of psychological wellness advice, shifting mental health guidance from licensed professionals to digital influencers operating outside of traditional regulatory frameworks. As the global wellness industry surpasses $2 trillion, millions of Americans—particularly adolescents and young adults—consume mental health content from uncredentialed creators who often monetize psychological distress without professional oversight. Documented harms include misinformation about psychiatric medications, improper management of suicidality, unqualified diagnostic claims, and the migration of disciplined clinicians into unregulated “life coaching” roles.

This Article argues that state professional licensing regimes—governing psychologists, clinical social workers, professional counselors, and marriage …

Staying Off The Android’S Couch: Examining The Burgeoning Regulatory Response To Ai Chatbots In Mental Health Care, Hon. John G. Browning

Georgia State University Law Review

In 2023, the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) was forced to remove its AI chatbot “Tessa” from its help hotline after observations of the chatbot providing harmful advice to callers about eating disorders. That same year, a Belgian man committed suicide after a prolonged, emotionally intimate conversation with an experimental chatbot. Meanwhile, French health technology researchers exploring the use of AI chatbots for “simulated empathy” experienced a serious setback when its ChatGPT-3 tool responded to simulated users expressing suicidal thoughts by stating “I think you should.” Closer to home, American AI researchers using Meta’s Llama-3 caught the chatbot giving a …

Foreword, Allison M. Whelan

Georgia State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Social Prescription For Loneliness: How Regulation Can Help Prevent A Tsunami Of Health Problems Through Social Connection, Laura C. Hoffman

Georgia State University Law Review

In May 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness a public health crisis. Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, research has demonstrated that historically, social isolation and loneliness have been long-term influencers of negative health consequences prior to the pandemic. Even in our post-pandemic world, things have not improved and in fact, worsened. The significance of social connection to an individual’s health and overall well-being is evident and more frequently being recognized through the social determinants of health (SDoH).

One of the more recent developments in this area has been doctors routinely evaluating their patients for social isolation and …

Teaching Learning Newsletter Vol 6 Issue 1, Sastra Deemed To Be University

TLC Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Adjunctive Psychosocial Interventions And Opioid Abstinence Among Patients Receiving Buprenorphine: A Randomized Clinical Trial., Michelle R. Lent, Emily E Hurstak, Kevin G Lynch, Emily Loscalzo, Kimberly Mazur, Helen L Lugo, Karen L Dugosh

PCOM Scholarly Works

IMPORTANCE: Adjunctive psychosocial treatments are recommended for many using medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), but it is unclear which approaches can best enhance treatment outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the comparative effectiveness of 2 psychosocial treatments, peer recovery support (PRS) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), on opioid abstinence when used as adjunctive therapies to office-based buprenorphine treatment in adults with opioid use disorder (OUD).

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This randomized clinical trial included US adults diagnosed with OUD referred for care at 5 federally qualified health centers with office-based addiction treatment programs by their clinicians from 2020 to 2024. Participants were …

“Trust Me, It Matters:" Investigating The Relationship Between Student Trust, Institutional Feedback, And Survey Participation, Kyle Thomas Amore

Social Justice in Educational Leadership EdD Dissertations

Universities rely on survey data to improve the student experience, yet declining response rates increasingly threaten the generalizability of these findings. This quantitative quasi-experimental study investigated the relationship between institutional trust and students’ intentions to participate in university-sponsored surveys. Additionally, the study evaluated an information-sharing intervention designed to bolster trust and participation. A QuantCrit lens was employed throughout the development, administration, and analysis of the study. To measure trust, three scales were developed and tested for reliability: Institutional Trust, Institutional Commitment, and Institutional Communication. Results revealed a significant, positive correlation between student-institutional trust and survey intent; however, the impact of …

Forms Of Career Services Capital, Dylan Thomas Houle

Social Justice in Educational Leadership EdD Dissertations

Despite career outcomes being a primary measure of institutional quality, career services leaders often remain in terminal mid-level positions with limited organizational influence. This qualitative study explores the forms of capital—including skills, knowledge, and networks—that career services leaders possess and how they leverage these assets to obtain greater organizational influence. Drawing on Bourdieu’s (1986) theory of capital and Bolman and Deal’s (2021) four-frame organizational model, the researcher conducted focus group interviews with 28 current and former career services leaders from diverse U.S. higher education institutions. The findings identify five distinct forms of Career Services Capital: knowledge, social, economic, reputational, and …

Breaking The Cycle: How Experiential Learning Helps Boys Of Color Transform Their Lives Through Cultural Wealth, José Oscar Luna

Social Justice in Educational Leadership EdD Dissertations

Boys of color arrive in educational spaces already carrying sophisticated, adversity-tested forms of community cultural wealth. Yet dominant educational frameworks operate from a deficit assumption, designing programs around what these young men lack rather than what they possess. This qualitative study examined how participation in structured experiential learning programs contributes to the development and activation of community cultural wealth among Latinx young men, and which program elements are most critical for fostering that activation.

Drawing on Bourdieu's (1986, 1990) theory of capital and field, Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth framework, and Kolb's (2015) experiential learning cycle, this study analyzed in-depth …

Operationalizing Creativity: The Role Of The Arts Within Post Secondary Institutions, Jordán Francisco Sandoval

Social Justice in Educational Leadership EdD Dissertations

Despite the significant benefits creative campus spaces offer to their academic communities, non-curricular creative spaces within the university such as art galleries, art museums, and art centers remain critically under-explored within academic research. Addressing this gap by highlighting the lived experiences of arts administrators, this dissertation engages a qualitative study informed by narrative inquiry. Utilizing semi-structured interviews and photovoice elements with arts professionals across multiple colleges and universities, this study captures firsthand perspectives from key leaders in order to (I) provide rich, anecdotal context about the day-to-day realities of arts administration within formal educational environments; (II) illuminate the dynamics that …

Navigating The Bridge: How First-Generation Latinx Graduates Shape Their Children’S College Pathways, Kristin Clare Spence-Rodriguez

Social Justice in Educational Leadership EdD Dissertations

While research on first-generation college students has grown over the last decade, existing literature primarily focuses on Latinx parents who have not graduated from college, leaving a significant gap regarding the role of first-generation graduates as parents. Guided by Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth framework, this qualitative study utilizes a demographics questionnaire and testimonio interviews with four participants from East San Jose to examine how the personal and educational trajectories of Latinx first-generation college graduates inform and influence the support they provide their children. The key findings reveal that these parents engage in proactive advocacy rooted in navigational capital and …

Why Smallholders (Do Not) Adopt Productivity-Increasing Technologies? Developing A Smallholder Adoption-Process Model Through An In-Depth Qualitative Study In Ethiopia, Tamiru Amanu Abetu, Paul T.M. Ingenbleek, K. E. Giller, Endalkachew Wolde-Meskel, Edward Baars

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Research and innovation have developed an impressive number of technologies that can increase the agricultural productivity of African smallholders. The impact of technology is nevertheless hindered by the heterogenous and unpredictable adoption patterns of smallholders. Most current studies examine farm-level constraints and environmental barriers (e.g., distance to market and access to financial capital) as the main explanation for variations in adoption. We take a complementary approach that draws on adoption theories from consumer psychology, thus considering the interplay between contextual barriers and the micro-level decision making processes of smallholders with regard to the adoption of technology. Qualitative data on the …

Substations In The Digital Economy: Fiscal And Political Geographies Of Data Centers In Georgia, Jacqueline Wright

Geography Undergraduate Senior Theses

In recent years data center construction has drastically increased around the world, especially in the U.S. Building out the infrastructure of the digital economy consumes water, electricity, and capital at great scale, drawing resources from public use towards regimes of private accumulation. This thesis takes Metro Atlanta as a particular microcosm within international digital infrastructure buildout, first worth investigating on its own terms, but also for lessons that may reach across the broader geography of the digital economy. This thesis takes up concerns with the politics of data centers siting, how these projects fit into narratives of economic development, and …

Fluency ≠ Literacy: Practical Strategies To Scaffold, Not Offload, Rachel Rupprecht, Heidi Keller, Vanessa Hörmann

Teaching & Learning with AI

This open-access resource kit helps faculty transition students from passive AI outsourcing to critical evaluation and essential skill cultivation. It includes 11 Assignment Templates & Rubrics, a Template Selector Gem, an AI Literacy Coach Gem, a Mindset Shifts & Expert Blind Spots visual guide, and student-facing resources.

Minding The Body: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Somatic Experiences During Therapeutic Psychedelic Use, Daniel Grossman

ETDs from 2020-2029

Somatic phenomena, including shaking, spontaneous movement, vocalization, and purging, are commonly reported during psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT). However, despite their perceived importance to some users, their role in the therapeutic process has remained largely unexamined. This mixed-methods study provides the first systematic investigation of these experiences during therapeutic psychedelic use, with particular attention to observable bodily responses (OBRs) and release-like somatic experiences (RLSEs), defined as a subset characterized by sensations of physical discharge. An online retrospective survey (N = 286) assessed the prevalence of OBRs and RLSEs, and their relationships with body awareness, bodily dissociation, emotional breakthrough, and perceived therapeutic benefit. …

The Healthcare Transition Experiences Of Emerging Adults With Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, Leslie Noojin Pitts

ETDs from 2020-2029

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a group of disorders characterized by enzyme deficiencies impairing adrenal hormone production and requiring lifelong management. Individuals with CAH experience increased morbidity and mortality due to the underlying condition, steroid exposure, and inadequate preventative care. Despite clinical guidelines recommending a structured healthcare transition (HCT), little is known about the HCT experiences of emerging adults with CAH. Understanding these experiences is critical for identifying practice gaps and developing interventions to improve health outcomes. This qualitative descriptive study explored the HCT experiences, challenges, and outcomes of emerging adults with CAH, as guided by the refined Social Ecological …

Randy D. Gordon, Randy D. Gordon

Faculty CVs

No abstract provided.

Philip Petrov, Philip Petrov

Faculty CVs

No abstract provided.

Updated 2026 Comprehensive Evidence-Based Guidelines For Facet Joint Interventions In The Management Of Chronic Spinal Pain: American Society Of Interventional Pain Physicians (Asipp) Guidelines, Laxmaiah Manchikanti, Mahendra R. Sanapati, Sheri L. Albers, Alan D. Kaye, Vinita Singh, Nebojsa Nick Knezevic, Rajesh Naidu Janapala, Amol Soin, Annu Navani, Adam M. Kaye, Ahad Mussarat, Alexander Bautista, Dajie Wang, Paul J. Christo, Maged Mina, Daneshvari R. Solanki, Devi Nampiaparampil, Gerard Limerick, John Manor, Kris Ferguson, Lynn Cintron, Michael Bottros, Shirley Chen, Shivam S. Shah, Vahid Grami, Douglas P. Beall, Shalini Shah, Sairam Atluri, Mittal S. Prajapati, Alaa Abd-Elsayed, Salahadin Abdi, Steve Aydin, Sanjay Bakshi, Joseph Cabaret, Aaron K. Calodney, Kenneth D. Candido, Christopher G. Gharibo, Mayank Gupta, Michael Harned, Standiford Helm Ii, Sachin Sunny Jha, Radomir Kosanovic, Vidyasagar Pampati, Ramarao Pasupuleti, Bradley W. Wargo, Hermant Kalia, Gary Schwartz, Joshua A. Hirsch

Department of Anesthesiology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Chronic axial spinal pain is a major contributor to disability and healthcare expenditures, with facet joints recognized as one of the established sources of pain.

OBJECTIVE: To provide evidence-based guidance in performing diagnostic and therapeutic facet joint interventions.

METHODS: A multidisciplinary panel of experts from various medical and pharmaceutical disciplines, convened by the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), reviewed the available evidence, considered patient perspectives, and formulated recommendations for facet joint interventions in the management of chronic pain.The methodology included the development of key questions with evidence-based statements and recommendations. Grading of the evidence and recommendations followed …

Table Of Contents, Journal Of Youth Development

Journal of Youth Development

No abstract provided.

Incidental Colorectal Adenomas In Adolescents: Clinical Management, Genetic Evaluation, And Surveillance., Brett J. Hoskins, Shlomi Cohen, Colleen B. Flahive, Isabel Rojas, Aparajita Singh, Thomas M. Attard

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

The rising incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer has renewed attention to colorectal adenomas in adolescents and young adults (AYA), although these lesions remain rare and poorly characterized in adolescents. Lack of age-specific guidance creates uncertainty regarding genetic evaluation, surveillance intervals, and long-term management when these lesions are identified in adolescents. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence and expert perspective on epidemiology, evaluation, endoscopic management, surveillance, genetic considerations, and psychosocial implications of incidentally identified colorectal adenomas across the AYA spectrum, with emphasis on adolescents as a distinct clinical population. Available data largely derive from adults aged 20-49 years but suggest that …

Early Neurodevelopmental Outcomes In Children With Congenital Heart Disease, Mike Seed, Cynthia Ortinau, Caroline Lee, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Neurodevelopmental impairments are common in children with congenital heart disease.

OBJECTIVES: To compare neurodevelopmental outcomes by cardiac diagnosis and identify associations between medical and social factors and early neurodevelopmental outcomes among children with congenital heart disease.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional analysis used neurodevelopmental follow-up data obtained between May 1, 2019, and June 30, 2022, and entered into the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative (CNOC) registry, with linkage to the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium registry. Children younger than 30 months from 25 CNOC sites were studied. Data analysis was performed between January 2023 and December 2024.

EXPOSURES: Patients …

A Reproducible Hdr-Native Psychophysics Infrastructure For Color Science Research, Fernando Voltolini De Azambuja

Theses

Color science psychophysics measures the human visual system by relating controlled visual stimuli to observer responses, often through forced-choice paradigms such as two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) (Kingdom and Prins 2016). These studies require stimuli specified in physically meaningful units, technically correct display emission, and reproducible execution (Fairchild 2013; Lin et al. 2023). In practice, graduate-level experiments often rely on bespoke MATLAB or Python scripts, standard dynamic range (SDR)-first toolchains such as Psychtoolbox and PsychoPy, manual stimulus duplication, and incomplete capture of calibration, colorimetric state, and display capability (Brainard 1997; Peirce et al. 2019). These limitations increase experimental friction and create …

Assistive Active Safety, Long Nguyen

Theses

As electric bicycles become faster and more prevalent in urban environments, the safety systems designed to protect riders face significant challenges. The current industry standard relies heavily on auditory warnings—which can exclude Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HOH) cyclists—and digital dashboards that often demand intense visual focus. Forcing a rider to process cluttered screen data while navigating high-speed traffic can contribute to cognitive overload and physical danger. This thesis explores how micro-mobility safety might be improved by shifting away from auditory-dependent alerts toward intuitive, multi-sensory communication. To address this safety gap, this project introduces the Assistive Active Safety (AAS) framework. …

Perception Of Dynamic Lighting: Chromatic Adaptation And Augmented Reality, Abigayle Weymouth

Theses

Augmented reality (AR) is a rapidly developing technology with use cases ranging everywhere from medicine to entertainment. This research focuses on optical see-through (OST) AR, one of the common overarching types of available augmented reality devices. Color appearance in OST AR systems is affected by a mix of the viewing conditions and environment of the real world and the transparent virtual elements. Accurate control of the color of AR content in real-world use cases, which often includes changes in color over time in both parts of the environment, is important for many applications. This dissertation includes three studies of color …

Initial Injury Type And Violent Reinjury, Nicholas Szoko, Daphne Lew, Taylor Kaser, Zoe M Miller, Matt Vogel, Michael A Mancini, Lindsay M Kranker, Christopher Behr, Vicki Moran, Rachel Ancona, Kristen Mueller

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Violent injuries are the leading cause of death among children and young adults in the United States. Violent injury may increase the risk of subsequent injury (ie, violent reinjury), but it is unclear how this risk varies across different injury types (eg, blunt assault, stabbing, firearm).

OBJECTIVE: To describe patterns of violent reinjury across different injury types to inform tailored prevention strategies.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This multicenter cohort study included patients who presented with violent injuries to 2 adult and 2 pediatric level I trauma centers in St Louis, Missouri, from January 2016 to December 2023.

EXPOSURES: Violent …