Digital Commons Network^™

Maternal Sleep Disorders And Maternal And Birth Outcomes: A Retrospective Us Claims-Based Study, Anayeli Herrera Morales, Audrey C Choh, Cici X Bauer, Stefan A Czerwinski, Miryoung Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Sleep disturbances are commonly reported during pregnancy and have been associated with adverse maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes. However, self-reported sleep disturbances may not be accurately reflected in the prevalence of clinically diagnosed sleep disorders.

Methods: Using Optum's de-identified Clinformatics Data Mart Database, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 93,767 American women who were pregnant with singletons between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2021, to (1) determine the prevalence of clinically diagnosed sleep disorders and breathing abnormalities; (2) examine their associations with maternal health outcomes; and (3) examine their associations with birth outcomes. Sleep disorders and breathing abnormalities …

The Moderating Role Of Digital Multi-Sided Platform On The Firm Value Of Traditional Value-Chain Firms, Chee Pheng Lim

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation examines the strategic value and performance implications for traditional value-chain firms (TVCFs) that adopt digital multi-sided platforms (DMSPs) to augment their existing businesses. DMSPs facilitate interactions among multiple user groups through digital intermediaries, generating self-reinforcing network effects that enhance value creation, reduce operational and transaction costs, and enable collective innovation. Despite the prevalence of platform-based firms, 60% of global unicorns and 7 of the world’s 10 most valuable companies operate digital platforms, empirical research on the value-creation mechanisms of DMSPs remains limited. Anchored in the resource-based view and platform theory, this study investigates how DMSP moderates the relationship …

Determining Risk Factors And Rate Of Surgery After Collagenase Injections For Dupuytren Contracture, Ryan C. Cha, Juliet S. Chung, Sina Ramtin, Asif M. Ilyas

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

Purpose: Collagenase injections are a nonsurgical treatment for Dupuytren contracture, but their long-term effectiveness in preventing surgery remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the rate of surgical intervention following collagenase treatment and identify whether specific risk factors increase the likelihood of future surgical correction. Methods: This retrospective cohort study utilized the TriNetX US Collaborative network to identify patients diagnosed with Dupuytren contracture between January 2007 and September 2024. Patients initially treated with collagenase injections were identified using relevant current procedural terminology codes. Procedure-specific current procedural terminology codes were then used to determine which patients underwent a subsequent fasciectomy or …

Transforming The World With Reparations, Ingrid Wuerth Brunk, Monica Hakimi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This special issue of the American Journal of International Law—devoted entirely to reparations in international law—offers a range of perspectives on reparations for large-scale harms relating to colonialism, slavery, industrialization, and transboundary pollution. As the symposium authors describe, the gap between the reparations that justice might demand and the ones that international law provides is enormous. The international law for reparations does not come close to remedying such harms and is not poised to do so anytime soon.

Is There Life In The Ruins? A Look At Post-Sveen Contract Clause Jurisprudence, James W. Ely, Jr.

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Seven years ago, in Sveen v. Melin, the Supreme Court applied the prevailing multipart test and rejected a contract clause claim. The result was hardly a surprise. The Court has not invoked the contract clause to invalidate a state law in more than forty years. The decision broke no new ground and seemingly signaled that the Court was content with the current multipart test, one that appears calculated to uphold state regulatory authority rather than vindi- cate the rights of contracting parties. Justice Neil Gorsuch force- fully dissented in Sveen, insisting that the multifactor test "seems hard to square with …

Do Representative Payments Matter?, Brian T. Fitzpatrick, Colton Cronin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

For many decades, courts have awarded the representative plaintiffs who bring class actions an extra payment when the actions recover something for the class. It has long been thought that the payments are necessary to induce a class member to step forward and serve as a representative, and, without them, many class actions would go away. Indeed, we show that the payments had become all but ubiquitous in non-securities class actions. In 2020, however, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit became the only circuit to hold the payments unlawful. We test whether the Eleventh Circuit's decision …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Chelsea, Phillip Granberry, Florita Coto Tristán

Gastón Institute Publications

Established in 1989, the Massachusetts Legislature created the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy in response to a need for an improved understanding of the Latino experience in the commonwealth. Now in its 34th year, the Gastón Institute continues its mission of informing the public and policymakers about issues vital to the state’s growing Latino community and providing information and analysis necessary for effective Latino participation in public policy development. To learn more about the Gastón Institute, visit: www.umb.edu/gastoninstitute

Massachusetts' Latino Population: 2020-2040, Phillip Granberry

Gastón Institute Publications

Latinos have been a vital component of Massachusetts’ population growth since 1990. Their younger age structure has helped to offset the older age structure of the much larger non-Latino White population. As Latinos’ population crosses the 1 million threshold by 2030, their growth (even as it slows) will be faster than the commonwealth’s overall population change.

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Webster, Phillip Granberry, Florita Coto Tristán

Gastón Institute Publications

Established in 1989, the Massachusetts Legislature created the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy in response to a need for an improved understanding of the Latino experience in the commonwealth. Now in its 34th year, the Gastón Institute continues its mission of informing the public and policymakers about issues vital to the state’s growing Latino community and providing information and analysis necessary for effective Latino participation in public policy development. To learn more about the Gastón Institute, visit: www.umb.edu/gastoninstitute

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Lynn, Phillip Granberry, Florita Coto Tristán

Gastón Institute Publications

Established in 1989, the Massachusetts Legislature created the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy in response to a need for an improved understanding of the Latino experience in the commonwealth. Now in its 34th year, the Gastón Institute continues its mission of informing the public and policymakers about issues vital to the state’s growing Latino community and providing information and analysis necessary for effective Latino participation in public policy development. To learn more about the Gastón Institute, visit: www.umb.edu/gastoninstitute

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Boston, Phillip Granberry, Florita Coto Tristán

Gastón Institute Publications

The City of Boston Planning Department has found that Boston’s population was undercounted in the 2020 Census by as many as 25,000 people and that subsequent population estimates continue to understate the population.1 The Planning Department’s Research Division has developed a tool to display limited demographic data, but these population estimates are insufficient for purposes of this report.2 Therefore, this report uses 2019-2023 American Community Survey and may therefore undercount Boston’s population. Boston, the largest city in the Commonwealth, is home to an estimated 126,647 Latinos. This is the largest Latino population in the state, though other smaller cities (Lawrence, …

Bill Addressing Pope's Tax Issues As A U.S. Citizen Misses The Mark, Michael S. Kirsch

Journal Articles

From the Article

In this article, Kirsch looks at the language of the Holy Sovereignty Protection Act to consider whether it addresses and resolves various tax-related issues that arise from a U.S. citizen serving as pontiff, including income tax liability, the loss of a pontiff’s U.S. citizenship status, and the pope’s obligations for foreign bank account reporting.

Eternality Of Jesus Of Nazareth And The Meaning Of Three Of His Key Christological Titles: “Word”, “Only Begotten”, And “First Born” From The Dead (John 1:1), Olufemi I. Adeyemi

Faculty Publications and Presentations

TBD

Item 3: Assignment 1: Identity Maps And Intersectionality With The Environment, Suzanne Savaria

Suzanne Savaria, Postcards for the Environment: Pass It On

Students will continue to work with the identity map by creating a second layer with vellum sheet. In this iteration, they will explore where they intersect with and/or impact the environmental topics we are exploring in class. Through reflective writing and class discussion, students will complete three sentences as they continue to build their advocacy statements. These sentences begin: I believe, I think, I feel.

Asignación Dos: Representación En Redes Sociales De Los Representación En Redes Sociales De Los Partidos Políticos De Puerto Rico, Leila Rodriguez

Leila Rodriguez, Participación Cívica en/para Puerto Rico

El propósito de esta asignación es que los estudiantes analicen cómo los principales partidos políticos de Puerto Rico se representan a sí mismos en las redes sociales. Para ello, re-alizarán un análisis de contenido de las publicaciones de Facebook de cada partido. En esta tarea, los estudiantes desarrollarán habilidades de pensamiento sintético y analítico y apren-derán técnicas de análisis de contenido.

Item 4: The Anti-Blackness Of The Electoral College, Danielle Hodge

Danielle Hodge, Race, Communication, and Anti-Black Racism

This discussion activity examines the US Electoral College and its role in animating the anti-Black racism found in the voting systems and practices in the United States of America. Specifically, students are assigned two readings that explore how enslavement and anti-Black racism inform the foundation of the Electoral College. These texts guide students’ subsequent engagement with two videos (e.g., one from NPR and a second from the Harvard Kennedy School) that facilitate an in-class discussion.

Item 3: Redlining, Housing Segregation, And Anti-Black Racism, Danielle Hodge

Danielle Hodge, Race, Communication, and Anti-Black Racism

This discussion activity explores the relationship between anti-Black racism, redlining, and housing segregation. Students are assigned three texts that introduce them to anti-Black racism as a theoretical framework, highlight the distinction between anti-Black racism and other forms of oppression, and describe how segregation informs racist voting practices. These texts inform their subsequent engagement with two videos (e.g., one from NPR’s Code Switch and a second from NowThis) that facilitate and guide an in-class discussion.

Item 2: Strollin’ By Snl, Reflecting On Voter Suppression, Danielle Hodge

Danielle Hodge, Race, Communication, and Anti-Black Racism

This discussion-based activity focuses on voter suppression and its relationship to anti-Black racism. Students are assigned two readings that detail how Jim Crow-era laws impacted voting for African Americans intergenerationally and describe the history of Black voter suppression. These texts inform their subsequent engagement with two videos (e.g., one from ABC News and a skit from Saturday Night Live) that facilitate an in-class discussion.

Item 1: Syllabus, Danielle Hodge

Danielle Hodge, Race, Communication, and Anti-Black Racism

This syllabus critically examines, interrogates, and engages with anti-Black racism. Anti-Black racism is a distinct kind of racial oppression and discrimination against, imposed upon, and experienced by African Americans and Black people (i.e., people of African ancestry). Dr. kihana miraya ross describes it as a “theoretical framework that illuminates society’s inability to recognize our [black people’s] humanity—the disdain, disregard and disgust for our existence.” Consequently, anti-Black racism underscores and attends to the pervasiveness of anti-Blackness across time, contexts, cultures, communities, and societies, and is an ever-present ideological and epistemological system that is inextricable from white supremacy. This syllabus is organized …

Item 5: Fannie Lou Hamer’S America, Danielle Hodge

Danielle Hodge, Race, Communication, and Anti-Black Racism

This discussion activity introduces students to the voting and civil rights leader, Fannie Lou Hamer. They will read three texts that describe her life, locate her as a meaningful contributor to what we know as the Civil Rights Movement, and engage with her 1964 Democratic National Convention testimony. These texts inform students’ subsequent listening to Hamer’s testimony and watching of the full film, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America—both of which facilitate an in-class discussion.

Item 4: Assignment: Understanding Polls: A Hands-On Survey Activity, Michael Williams Jr.

Michael Williams, American National Government 100-200 Level Introductory Course

This activity demystifies opinion polls. It addresses the question, “Why are polls often wrong?” by guiding students to create and analyze a flawed survey. Students conduct a survey with common flaws and analyze results to understand how shortcomings skew results. The project explores the concepts of margin of error, sample size, bias, and framing.

Item 6: Activity: Finding Your Civic Fit, Michael Williams Jr.

Michael Williams, American National Government 100-200 Level Introductory Course

This activity introduces students to civic organizations and their importance in community building. The exercise guides students in defining “civic organization,” exploring interests, and researching civic organizations. Students identify local civic organizations and understand how these organizations contribute to the community.

Item 1: Syllabus Hssj 2200: Civic Leadership, Wendy Wagner

Wendy Wagner, Civic Leadership

This is a course in leadership studies that challenges students to consider the leadership development literature in civic contexts. It is also a service-learning course. While service itself is a form of civic participation, it's important to note that service-learning courses don't always focus on issues of civic identity and engagement as much as one might think. Civic learning is not an inherent outcome of all service-learning experiences. The literature in community engaged scholarship is clear that we do not achieve civic learning outcomes from simply adding ten “service hours” to an otherwise unaltered course. Instead, assignments and classroom discussions …

Item 4: Activity 3: Your Declaration Of Civic Engagement Values And Principles, Wendy Wagner

Wendy Wagner, Civic Leadership

The purpose of this activity is to help students develop critical thinking skills about civic engagement by analyzing both successful elements and limitations of common service approaches. Using Robert Egger's story as an example, students share their own experiences with community engagement. Students identify positive elements and critiques of typical community engagement projects and collaboratively establish a statement of values and principles that address these concerns.

Item 1: Syllabus: Postcards For The Environment: Pass It On, Suzanne Savaria

Suzanne Savaria, Postcards for the Environment: Pass It On

This curriculum is the first part of a Senior Capstone service-learning based course. The full course is an international-led faculty course that is taught in Portland, Oregon, and in various locations in the region of Catalonia, Spain. In this course, we address some of the important issues of climate change both at home and abroad. In this interaction, we will explore what is being done to address environmental issues in our cities, water, and food sources. In response, we will design, write, and send Postcards for the Environment, creating augmented reality postcards while developing our creative, advocacy, and civic engagement …

Item 6: Assignment 3: Improving Knowledge Of Puerto Rico Through Wikipedia, Leila Rodriguez

Leila Rodriguez, Civic Engagement in/for Puerto Rico (English)

The purpose of this project is for students to improve the content, scope, and quality of information about Puerto Rico in Wikipedia, the world’s largest encyclopedia. The project is conducted in collaboration with Wiki Education, which provides students with additional media and digital literacy skills and training. Students work on the project throughout the entire term.

Item 6: Assignment 2: The What, So What, Now What? Paper, Wendy Wagner

Wendy Wagner, Civic Leadership

This structured reflection assignment guides students through the analysis of a service-learning experience using the DEAL model of critical reflection. Responding to scaffolded prompts, students write a 4-5-page paper connecting their community service experience to broader course concepts, examining the social context and systems involved, and articulating their learning about civic responsibility and future action steps. Assignment is easily adapted from a paper to a presentation.

Item 4: Assignment: Advocacy Reflection, Natascia Boeri

Natascia Boeri, Advocacy in Action: Civic Engagement Through Social Sciences

This assignment encourages students to reflect on their understanding of civic engagement. The purpose is for students to reflect on their advocacy efforts and the impact on their understanding of civic engagement, evaluating both their individual contributions and overall learning.

Item 5: Assignment 1: Pathways To Public Service Presentation, Wendy Wagner

Wendy Wagner, Civic Leadership

This assignment asks students to research a local organization addressing a social issue of their choice, analyze which of the six Pathways to Public Service are represented in the organization's work, and identify alternative pathways through other organizations addressing the same issue. Students prepare a 5-minute presentation that demonstrates their understanding of diverse approaches to civic engagement and creates opportunities for their own civic participation.

Item 2: Activity 1: Chronicling America, Lisa Bratton

Lisa Bratton, African American Women in the United States

The purpose of this activity, which builds on Assignment Two, is to use primary sources to learn about key women and events. This activity can be done as a class or in small groups.