Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding The Ontological Argument Through Love: The Paradox Between Faith And Reason, Bill Goodson

Masters Theses

This thesis argues that while the ontological argument as presented by Saint Anselm of Canterbury offers a formal logical explanation for the existence of God, love is presented as the bridge that enables the skeptic and the believer to engage the argument from a relational and experiential perspective in joining faith and reason through God’s divine love. The paradox found therein is that love, being kind, generous, and caring, initially appears to be too soft for the hard truth and sheer facts of reason. The calling of the theologian is to expose the good news of his faith, and his …

Has Regional Hospital Autonomy Achieved Its Goals? Lessons Learned From Indonesia: A Systematic Review, Masyitoh Basabih, Indriaswari Widhakuswara

Kesmas

This study examined the impact of hospital autonomy implementation on the performance of regional public hospitals in Indonesia, particularly in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and governance. A systematic review of 32 peer-reviewed studies published between June 12 and September 6, 2023, was conducted using Garba Rujukan Digital and Google Scholar, following PRISMA guidelines. Studies addressing financial performance, service outcomes, and challenges related to implementing autonomy were included. The findings indicated that while autonomy led to improvements in infrastructure, service types, visit volumes, and hospital revenues, it had only a marginal impact on improving key health performance outcomes, such as service …

Spectrum Analysis Of Thermally Driven Curvature Inversion In Strained Graphene Ripples For Energy Conversion Applications Via Molecular Dynamics, James M. Mangum, Md R. Kabir, Tamzeed B. Amin, Syed M. Rahman, Ashaduzzaman, Paul M. Thibado

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The extraordinary mechanical flexibility, high electrical conductivity, and nanoscale instability of freestanding graphene make it an excellent candidate for vibration energy harvesting. When freestanding graphene is stretched taut and subject to external forces, it will vibrate like a drum head. Its vibrations occur at a fundamental frequency along with higher-order harmonics. Alternatively, when freestanding graphene is compressed, it will arch slightly out of the plane or buckle under the load. Remaining flat under compression would be energetically too costly compared to simple bond rotations. Buckling up or down, also known as ripple formation, naturally creates a bistable situation. When the …

Bringing The World To Hope: Ten Years Of The Kruizenga Art Museum, Kruizenga Art Museum, Alexandra Lewis

Kruizenga Art Museum Posters

A poster for the exhibition Bringing the World to Hope: Ten Years of the Kruizenga Art Museum held August 29–December 13, 2025. The exhibit featured highlights from the Kruizenga Art Museum's collections.

Telling Their Stories: Student-Curated Focus Exhibitions, Kruizenga Art Museum, Alexandra Lewis

Kruizenga Art Museum Posters

A poster advertising a focus exhibition of artwork selected by Hope College students. The exhibition was held from August 29-December 13, 2025 and featured student personal responses to artworks.

Public Benefits Cliffs And Asset Limits Harm The Economic Mobility Of Young Adult Workers, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard, Guangli Zhang

Center for Social Development Research

At its best, the public benefits system in the United States helps families avoid poverty’s most severe effects while also giving them a hand up. But the system also can keep working families in poverty. Workers may want to earn more money, take better jobs, or save for the future, but doing so can raise their income above program limits, causing workers to lose the benefits they and their families need to survive. This is known as the benefits cliff. This brief draws upon data from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility survey to explore how benefits cliffs and related …

New Faculty Guide, 2025, University Of Mississippi. Provost

New Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Relations Between Online Communication, Social Capital, And Well-Being In Chinese Preadolescents, Xiaotong Li

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

In the digital era, preadolescents (aged 9–12 years) increasingly use social media platforms for communication and social interactions. However, research on whether online communication contributes positively or negatively to preadolescents’ well-being is inconclusive. Moreover, the underlying mechanism linking preadolescents’ online communication and well-being remains unclear. Hence, the research objectives are twofold. First, based on the concepts of social enhancement perspectives and self-determination theory, this study investigates the bidirectional relations and potential mechanisms between preadolescents’ online communication factors (including frequency, online self-disclosure, online perceived responsiveness) with four targets (family members, real-life friends, online friends, and online strangers) and well-being (including subjective …

Enhancing Reliable And Energy-Efficient Uav Communications With Ris And Deep Reinforcement Learning, Wasim Ahmad, Umar Islam, Abdulkadhem A. Abdulkadhem, Babar Shah, Fernando Moreira, Ali Abbas

All Works

The rapid growth in wireless communication demands has led to a surge in research on technologies capable of enhancing communication reliability, coverage, and energy efficiency. Among these, uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) have emerged as promising solutions. Prior research on using deep reinforcement learning (DRL) to integrate RIS with UAV concentrated on enhancing signal quality and coverage, but it ignored the challenges caused by electromagnetic interference (EMI). This article introduces a novel framework addressing the challenges posed by EMI from Gallium nitride (GaN) power amplifiers in RIS-assisted UAV communication systems. By integrating DRL with quadrature phase …

Does Spirituality Mediate Or Moderate The Adverse Effects Of Occupational Stressors On Mental Health In Law Enforcement Officers?, Erika D. Keplinger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Law enforcement officers are often exposed to occupational stressors that can negatively affect their mental health and job performance. Spirituality has been thoroughly researched as a restorative method to improve physical and psychological health concerns. There has also been an increase in studies on workplace spirituality. The existing research on workplace spirituality suggests that incorporating spirituality into the workplace increases employee well-being and decreases stress and burnout. Unfortunately, research on police culture often neglects spirituality. There is little research to show how spirituality could mediate or moderate the adverse effects of mental health on law enforcement officers. This quasi-experimental, cross-sectional, …

Fire Officer Leadership: Understanding The Lived Experience Of New Firefighters, Tyler Ames

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative phenomenological study looked into how newer firefighters experienced working under fire officer leaders who utilized laissez-faire leadership tendencies. The goal of the study was to better understand what this kind of leadership looks like in the fire service and how it affects newer members in their day-to-day lives as well as emergency scenarios. Twelve firefighters from different departments across Utah were interviewed, and all participants had less than three years of experience. The interviews focused on the participants’ experiences, challenges, and feelings when working under this particular leadership style. Each transcript was reviewed and coded using an inductive …

Onboarding And Sense Of Belonging: A Moderated Mediation Analysis, Natalia Volkonsky

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Extensive research has examined the link between onboarding and employees’ sense of belonging, yet no known studies have explored whether the type of onboarding—delivered in-person, remotely, or through virtual platforms—affects this relationship. This quantitative, correlational study investigated how onboarding quality relates to employees’ sense of belonging, whether purpose in life mediates this relationship, and whether onboarding type moderates it. A sample of full-time employees (N = 112), onboarded within the past 12 months, completed validated measures assessing onboarding quality, purpose in life, and sense of belonging. Results showed a significant positive correlation between onboarding quality and sense of belonging. Purpose …

Youth Comorbidity Patterns And Research Domain Criteria (Rdoc)-Informed Factors: A Scoping Review Of Person-Centered Psychopathology Research, June Yung Kim, Wenxing Wei, Liat R. Johnson, Sarah Balser, Anne Marie Gruber

Faculty Publications

Purpose: High rates of comorbid psychopathology have driven a growing body of person-centered research to understand the grouping structure of youth comorbidity by identifying meaningful comorbidity patterns and validating them with neurobehavioral factors. The National Institute of Mental Health’s Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) offers an etiological framework for systematically identifying constructs organized around major functioning domains. This scoping review study mapped person-centered comorbidity studies and synthesized the RDoC-informed factors of comorbidity patterns. Materials and

Methods: We followed Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework. Five databases (e.g. PubMed and CINAHL) were searched. Twenty-five peer-reviewed studies examining comorbidity patterns in youth up to …

Ddos Attack Detection In Edge-Iiot Digital Twin Environment Using Deep Learning Approach, Feras Al-Obeidat, Adnan Amin, Ahmed Shuhaiber, Inam Ul Haq

All Works

The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and digital twins are redefining how digital models and physical systems interact. IIoT connects physical intelligence, and digital twins virtually represent their physical counterparts. With the rapid growth of Edge-IIoT, it is crucial to create security and privacy regulations to prevent vulnerabilities and threats (i.e., distributed denial of service (DDoS)). DDoS attacks use botnets to overload the target system with requests. In this study, we introduce a novel approach for detecting DDoS attacks in an Edge-IIoT digital twin-based generated dataset. The proposed approach is designed to retain already learned knowledge and easily adapt to …

The George-Anne Inkwell Edition, Georgia Southern University

The Inkwell

No abstract provided.

5539-181 & 182 Prospect Park W. Brooklyn Llc V. Rivera

All Decisions

In this licensee holdover, the tenant moved for summary judgment, arguing he was a "disabled person" under rent control regulations and thus only required to prove one year of co-residency for succession rights. The landlord argued against applying the broader definitions from the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), favoring the narrower standard of the original Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as applied in a prior appellate case. The court, however, ruled that whether the tenant is a "disabled person" is a triable issue of fact and that it may appropriately look to the ADAAA for guidance, …

Ras-Membrane Interaction And Oligomerization: There Is More Than Meets The Eye, Abraham C Sianoya, Vijay K Bhardwaj, Alemayehu A Gorfe

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Membrane association is fundamental to Rat sarcoma (RAS) function, driving both its physiologic signaling and oncogenic transformation. This review consolidates recent advances in the study of RAS-membrane interactions, emphasizing the molecular mechanisms underlying its membrane engagement and oligomerization. We first discuss the roles of RAS lipid modification and conformational diversity of its intrinsically disordered C-terminus in these processes, and we then examine the debate surrounding RAS dimerization and its potential role in the formation of higher-order oligomers. By integrating emerging insights into these issues, we offer our own perspectives on the driving forces of RAS oligomerization and propose potential new …

Covid-19 Prevention Behaviors Are Congruent Within Social Networks Of Disenfranchised Hispanic And Criminal Legal Involved Community Members, Victoria Umutoni, Khavita Bhavan, Nickolas Zaller, Amelia Knopf, Moctezuma Garcia, Russell A. Brewer, Makenna Meyer, Faye Taxman, O’Dell Johnson, Matthew Aalsma, John Schneider

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The COVID-19 (COVID) pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on people who have low income and identify as Hispanic or Latinx (PLIH) as well as those with criminal Legal Involvement (CLI). These two groups, and their intersection, are often disenfranchised from livable wage employment, basic social services, and healthcare, which are vital to prevent the spread of COVID. We examined baseline data from the Community Network-Driven COVID Testing of Marginalized Population in the Central US (C3) which included 1036 participants: 32.1% PLIH, 39.6% CLI, 10.6% who identified as both PLIH and CLI, and 17.6% who were neither PLIH nor CLI. …

An Audio Data-Driven Roadway Digital Twin And Its Underlying Framework For A Digitized Transportation Construction Environment, Anisha Deria, Pedro J. Chacon Dominguez, Yong-Cheol Lee, Jin W. Choi

Michigan Tech Publications

The increasing need to build and maintain transportation systems has led project managers to manage multiple projects simultaneously. Roadway projects often entail several miles of job site, making it difficult to keep track of progress and maintenance activities. To improve the situation, this study proposes an audio data-driven roadway digital twin framework for real-time and remote monitoring of construction projects. The latent characteristics of a digital twin required for establishing a digitized work environment were investigated. As a primary method of seamlessly linking virtual and physical environments, audio data classified and analyzed by deep neural network (DNN) has been employed …

Piezoelectric Dc Generator Through Sequential In-Phase Polarization Variation, Hyun Soo Kim, Sunghoon Hur, In Woo Oh, Chulwan Lim, Huimin Qiao, Hyung Jin Choi, Min Seok Kim, Dae Sol Kong, Jong Hoon Jung, Joonchul Shin, Seung Hyub Baek, Jun Chen, Chong Yun Kang, Jeong Min Baik, Yu U. Wang, Shashank Priya, Seong H. Kim, Yunseok Kim, Hyung Suk Oh, Kyung Hoon Cho, Jungho Ryu, Hyun Cheol Song

Michigan Tech Publications

Energy harvesting has drawn growing interest as a reliable power source for IoT applications, with piezoelectric materials notable for their high sensitivity and straightforward integration. Their robust mechanical-electrical coupling also makes them ideal for harnessing environmental vibrations or mechanical motions. Still, standard piezoelectric harvesters inherently produce alternating current (AC), necessitating complex rectification steps and leading to substantial energy loss. This work introduces a direct current (DC) harvesting method that employs a novel in-phase polarization strategy, enabling a stable, continuous DC output. This approach surpasses prior attempts that offered only low or pulsed DC signals, achieving an open-circuit voltage of 33.44 …

Epigenetic Modulation Of Bard1 To Enhance Anti-Vegf Therapy, Emine Bayraktar, Cristian Rodriguez-Aguayo, Elaine Stur, Sudhir Kumar, Lingegowda S Mangala, Nicholas B Jennings, Nazende Nur Bayram, Sara Corvigno, Amma Asare, Cristina Ivan, Mark S Kim, Thanh Chung Vu, Pahul Hanjra, Sangbae Kim, Adrian Lankenau Ahumada, Weichem Wu, Sanghoon Lee, Anna Szymanowska, Hulya Oztatlici, Marcos R Estecio, Ju-Seog Lee, Abhinav K Jain, Nidhi Sahni, John P Hagan, Stephen Baylin, Jinsong Liu, Gabriel Lopez-Berestein, Sunila Pradeep, Anil K Sood

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Despite the clinical use of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibodies (AVAs) in cancer therapy, resistance frequently develops, leading to disease progression. To address this, we identify a previously unknown role for breast cancer type 1 susceptibility protein (BRCA1)-associated RING domain 1 (BARD1) in modulating AVA sensitivity. Epigenetic modulation-via global and targeted DNA methylation-reveals BARD1 as a key regulator of angiogenesis. Sequential treatment with azacytidine overcomes AVA resistance in vivo. To enable precise epigenetic reactivation, we develop a liposomal CRISPR-deactivated Cas9 (dCas9)-TET1 system guided by BARD1-targeting single-guide RNAs (sgRNAs). This platform achieves CpG-specific demethylation of the BARD1 promoter, restores expression, …

Sharing And Preserving Sociolinguistic Corpora On The U.S.-Mexico Border, Katherine Christoffersen, Isabella Calafate, Julio Ciller, Ana M. Carvalho, Ryan M. Bessett, Brandon J. Martínez, Hannia Rojas Barreda, William Flores, Richard Quiroz

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Since William Labov outlined the methodology for the sociolinguistic interview in 1972, sociolinguistic corpora have been used widely in the field of sociolinguistics to study diverse speech communities and linguistic features. However, most of these invaluable sociolinguistic collections have been available only to the individual researcher or research group, and these data sets usually disappear from use with that individual scholar. More recently, there has been a push towards data sharing in sociolinguistics, reflective of data sharing and the open science movement in other fields. Still, accessible online sociolinguistic corpora are few and far between, in part due to the …

August 29, 2025 Minutes, Swosu Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Practice Of A Somatic, Mindful Christian Prayer And Breathing Practice On Public Speaking Anxiety, Robyn L. Middleton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This randomized controlled trial investigated the effectiveness of a mindful Christian prayer practice (The Jesus Prayer) combined with slow diaphragmatic breathing on communication anxiety. Participants (N = 80) included university students and members of the general public aged 18-60 who experience public speaking anxiety. Measurements included self-reported speech anxiety and heart rate variability (assessed via the WellHero app). Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed that the mindful prayer practice had no significant effect on participants' self-reported speech anxiety or RMSSD heart rate variability. A statistical trend of lower Baevsky’s Stress Index (another variable WellHero provided) was observed in the intervention group. This …

Learning Needs Of African American High School Students With Dyslexia Within An Inclusive, Co-Teaching Environment: A Holistic Single Case Study, Aigbovboise Ayo Ehabahe

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this holistic, single case study was to describe the experiences of special and general education teachers collaborating to support the learning needs of African American high school students with dyslexia within an inclusive, co-teaching environment. The theory guiding this study was Cole’s intersectionality theory on co-teaching, as it explains how the interactions and strategies between co-teachers influence the academic success of students with dyslexia. The central research question was: How do special and general education teachers describe their experiences collaborating with one another to support the learning needs of African American high school students with dyslexia within …

Lived Experiences Of Parents And Guardians Of Children And Adolescents With Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome And Disruptive Behavior Disorders In West Virginia, Christine A. Barnett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of parents and guardians of children and adolescents with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) and disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) in West Virginia. Guided by social constructivism, the study highlighted the significance of collaborative learning in understanding the connection between NAS and DBD. Using a transcendental approach, the research sought to provide insight and comprehension into participants’ experiences and perspectives. Participants were recruited through purposeful sampling, including convenience and criterion methods. Eight parents and guardians participated in one-on-one interviews. Data was analyzed using the Moustakas approach and Saldana’s in vivo coding method. Four themes emerged: …

Parental Internet Mediation: A Phenomenological Study, Jossie Marino-Vega

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Parental Internet mediation, which is the strategies parents use to control and supervise online content for children, has been transformed into a critical role due to the mixed outcomes of digital use. Baumrind's parental styles and Bandura's Social frameworks guide this study for its connection with parental mediation and children's learning. This qualitative research aimed to explore and describe how parents mediate and use the Internet concerning kids' development. Eleven mothers were interviewed with at least one student enrolled in kindergarten through 5th grade at an elementary school in Killeen, Texas. The data was analyzed using Moustakas's (1994) modification of …

Do Males Use Ai Tools Differently Than Female Students When Conducting Social Science Research?, Marsha A. Donaldson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quasi-experimental, cross-sectional, applied, relational study aimed to explore how male graduate students used AI tools differently from female graduate students when conducting social science research. The sample for the study was collected using the Prolific application. The inclusion criteria were that participants had to be adults aged 18 years or older, English-speaking, graduated between 2020 and 2024, social science majors, and had utilized AI tools in their research. The study’s total sample consisted of 210 participants, which were disaggregated into 50% female and 50% male participants. T-test, correlation, and regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between multiple …

Perceptions Of Divine Intervention In Suffering Impact On Meaningful Work Mediated By Posttraumatic Growth, Thomas E. Weil Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Burnout is a costly phenomenon, and creating a comprehensive model of wellness to increase resiliency to burnout is a complex task worth the endeavor (Eckleberry-Hunt et al., 2009). The negative correlation between self-care and burnout is well-known (Shanafelt et al., 2020). Models such as the psychological capital model (Youssef‐Morgan & Luthans, 2015) have provided insight into the relationship. Several findings since the inception of the psychological capital model indicate that other phenomena are involved in increasing resistance to counselor burnout. The positive relationship between meaningful work and counselor burnout resistance is well documented through peer-reviewed literature. Mental health professionals experience …

After His Likeness: The Holy Trinity And Creation Of Humanity, Chris Trevino

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation presents a comprehensive theological and interdisciplinary examination of the Holy Trinity (i.e., Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and its influence on human creativity, ethical development, and identity, as rooted in the Genesis creation narrative. Employing exegetical analysis of Genesis 1:26-27 alongside systematic theological synthesis, lexical‐theological study of צֶלֶם (ṣélem, image) and דְּמוּת (dəmûth, likeness), and historical‐doctrinal reflection on Chalcedonian definitions of the hypostatic union and kenosis, it develops a triadic framework that aligns the divine mind, heart, and will with human cognition, emotion, and volition. The study reveals that the threefold act of divine creativity (i.e., the Father’s …