Digital Commons Network^™

In Re: Caleb Mcgillvary

2025 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

Michael Gorrio V. Francis

2025 Decisions

USDC for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Marie Lamb V. Cvs Pharmacy Llc

2025 Decisions

USDC for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Tonnesha Kidd V. Lourdes Medical Center At Burlington

2025 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

Structural Racism And Mass Shooting Events In Mountain West Cities, 2015-2019, Mohit Pande, Nicole Diaz Del Valle, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet presents data on the link between social and demographic metrics of principal cities in four Mountain West metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs): Phoenix, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Denver, CO; and Las Vegas, NV. This fact sheet also reports the number of people affected by mass shooting events (MSEs) as originally reported in “Association Between Markers of Structural Racism and Mass Shooting Events in Major US Cities,” published by The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Surgery. The original article derives data from 865 MSEs across 51 MSAs in the United States.

Harlem’S Avenues For Agency: An Exploration Of Black Female Agency In Angelina Weld Grimké And Zora Neale Hurston’S Short Stories, Jessica Ellen Hartenbower

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores themes of Black female agency in selected short stories by Angelina Weld Grimké and Zora Neale Hurston. Pushing back against the belief that the Harlem Renaissaince was a movement solely for male artists, Grimké and Hurston write short stories that center Black women and their experiences. Through the avenues of bodily autonomy, the using or silencing of voice, the opportunity and ability to make choices, issues of justice, retribution, and vengeance, the holding of authority, and being empowered or disempowered, I examine the female characters’ exercising of their agency to varying degrees. I also discuss how religious …

Interactive Read-Alouds Of Translingual Texts As A Catalyst For Literacy Engagement Among Emergent Bilingual Elementary Students: A Case Study, Anna Handy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While the population of emergent bilingual students continues to increase in U.S. schools, the teaching force remains predominantly White and monolingual, with many educators underprepared in how to support emergent bilingual students’ literacy development or sustain their diverse linguistic practices. This is reflected in longstanding gaps in performance between monolingual and multilingual students on standardized assessments of reading. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore one possible approach to increase emergent bilingual students’ engagement during and response to literacy instruction: interactive read-alouds of children’s books that incorporate translanguaging. This study sought to describe and interpret how emergent …

A Ritual Of Institutions: The State Industrial School In Golden, Colorado And The Shaping Of American Youth, Cyndal Groskopf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the Colorado State Industrial School as a ritualistic institution that influenced boys aged 7 to 19 through Americanization practices between 1881 and 1930. By employing primary documentation, drone imagery, and LiDAR technology, the study examines how cultural and physical activities, along with personal statements, described and maintained the ritualized nature among these incarcerated youth. The findings reveal how institutional routines and activities reinforced narratives of American identity, particularly in relation to themes of personal identity, conformity, and agency. These rituals played a crucial role in institutionalizing cultural ideals and shaping the identities of marginalized youth. The research …

Movement As Metamorphosis: An Examination Of Transformative Learning In Dance, Whitney Egstad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using the arts-based methodology of Educational Criticism and Connoisseurship (Uhrmacher, Moroye, & Flinders, 2017) to examine the curriculum and pedagogy of a Colorado-based dance studio, this qualitative dissertation explores how transformative learning (TL) unfolds within the context of adult dance education. Grounded in Mezirow’s (1991) theory of transformative learning, the study investigates how dance becomes a medium for personal transformation, identity reconstruction, and emotional healing. Data collection included six hours of interviews with instructors and students and twelve hours of class observations, focusing on how adult learners experience curriculum not just as technical instruction, but as an embodied, relational journey …

Desire, Disobedience, And Drag: My Lesbian Fangirling Of Emily Dickinson, Aaron Copland, And Alena Smith, Nina Schifano

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Taking an interdisciplinary approach that sits at the intersection of musicology, literary studies, and queer studies, I undergo a queer reading of Emily Dickinson’s writings and subsequent interpretations of her works. I begin my analysis with a queering of genre, using archival evidence to consider the complex ways gendered genre norms affected how Dickinson wrote, how her works were edited and published, and how people have since read her. I then undertake a genre-queer reading of some of the writings that she sent to Susan Dickinson, her sister-in-law and lifelong love. I turn next to Aaron Copland’s 1950 setting for …

Dual Enrollment At The University Of Alaska, 2018-2024, Dayna Jean Defeo, Carolyn Tix, Trang C. Tran

CAEPR Reports

This paper details trends in dual enrollment participation and student outcomes at the University of Alaska.

Vandy Earns Top Prize In Auwcl National Health Law Writing Competition, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Nicholle Vandy, a rising 3L from Knox, Ind., has become the first Indiana University Maurer School of Law student to earn top honors at the American University Washington College of Law National Health Writing Competition.

Vandy’s paper, “True Man, Captive Mother: Abortion as a Fundamental Self-Defense Right,” was named the winning entry of the 10th annual competition, which encourages law students from across the country to write scholarly papers on current topics of interest relevant to health, food, and/or drug law.

An Auto-Criticism Exploration Of An International Transracial Adoption, Jessica M. Morganfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation explores the lived experience of international transracial adoption through the combined methodologies of auto-criticism and journaling. Using a first-person, insider-led approach, this study addresses four central research questions: (1) What experiences emerge when an adult adoptee reflects on their childhood as an international transracial adoptee? (2) How do identity development, cultural socialization, and experiences of racial and adoptive microaggressions intersect and influence an individual? (3) How does auto-criticism uniquely describe the international transracial adoptee experience? and (4) How might journaling serve as a research tool for data collection and analysis?

Daily journaling over a 30-day period functioned …

Optimizing Option Market Clearing, Juan Andrés Malaver Alvarado

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modern options markets clear each strike in isolation, leaving cross-strike arbitrage unexploited. This thesis applies a payoff-dominant clearing mechanism to realized trades—roughly 2 000 Cboe VIX option executions from June–November 2016—after classifying each trade’s side and bundling by expiration. Three optimization formulations are tested: a fractional linear program (LP), a mixed-integer LP, and a pure integer program. On a 10-core laptop every bundle solves in < 0.5 s. The LP captures the greatest surplus, yet the integer models recover nearly as much while filling whole contracts and holding only modest margin. Results reveal persistent, albeit small, inefficiencies in executed trades and demonstrate that an integral cross-strike auction could operate in real time. The accompanying C/Gurobi code is modular and readily extendable to early-exercise options. Trade-level evidence thus supports redesigning exchange clearing to consider the complete option book.

Reading Interventions In The Modern Era: Reconceptualizing The Utility Of Video Games, Senaida Mehmedovic

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Youth in the United States continue to have difficulty developing reading skills, with only 31% of fourth graders reading at a “proficient level” (NAEP Reading: National Average Scores, 2024). Youth struggling to develop reading skills often have reading anxiety (Chow et al., 2021; Martinez, 2019; Ramirez et al., 2019), which impacts their reading skill development even more (Mohammadpur & Ghafournia, 2015); the interwoven and cyclical relationship between reading anxiety and reading comprehension requires interventions to address these needs concurrently (Francis et al., 2019; Francis et al., 2021; Grills et al., 2012). The increased avoidance and paired aversion of reading-related tasks …

Effective Business Strategies And Regulatory Compliance Within Fintechs: A Qualitative Pragmatic Inquiry Study, Tranae N. Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective strategies to adapt to evolving regulatory changes can negatively impact financial technology (fintech) leaders’ capabilities. Fintech leaders who struggle to adapt to evolving regulatory changes are at risk of business instability. Grounded in stakeholder theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry project was to explore and identify effective business strategies used by fintech leaders to adapt to evolving regulatory changes. The participants were eight fintech leaders who effectively used strategies to adapt to evolving regulatory changes. Data were collected using semistructured interviews, public websites, and documents, current and archival. Using thematic analysis, five key themes were identified: (a) …

June 13, 2025 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

The Self That Practices Deeper Teaching: An Exploration Of Influences On Teacher Beliefs And Values, Kerstin L. Rowe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For decades, educators have called for “a fundamental redesign of the industrial-age classroom.” However, despite ongoing discourse around educational reform, the majority of teachers still use the industrial model of education while too few teachers implement deeper teaching practices which situate students as active learners in addressing complex, real-world challenges rather than being passive recipients of knowledge. Existing literature does not explore the influences upon the beliefs and values of teachers who create deeper learning experiences.

This qualitative study employs educational criticism and connoisseurship to illuminate the inner self of those who practice deeper teaching. Drawing on in-depth observations, interviews, …

Benefits Of Extended Unemployment Insurance On Post-Unemployment Outcomes, Alyssa Roche

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates how unemployment insurance (UI) affects individuals during and after unemployment. Drawing on historical evidence from recent recessions in the United States, publicly available data, behavioral insights, and mathematical modeling, it argues that the benefits of extending UI outweigh the potential costs. The analysis incorporates a wide range of sources, including empirical economic studies using regression models and psychology and business research that highlight behavioral responses to financial stress and job insecurity. By combining quantitative data with behavioral context, the thesis offers a more comprehensive understanding of how extended UI influences job search decisions, wage outcomes, and overall …

Father Jim Fitz, S.M., To Semi-Retire; Assist With Transition Of New Vp For Mission And Rector, University Of Dayton

News Releases

The University of Dayton today announced a leadership transition for its vice president for mission and rector position, a role central to upholding the University’s Catholic, Marianist identity.

Gbotuner: Autotuning Of Openmp Parallel Codes With Bayesian Optimization And Code Representation Transfer Learning, Kimsong Lor

Computer Science and Engineering Master's Theses

Empirical autotuning methods such as Bayesian optimization (BO) are a powerful approach that allows us to optimize tuning parameters of parallel codes as black-boxes. However, BO is an expensive approach because it relies on empirical samples from true evaluations for varying parameter configurations. In this thesis, we present GBOTuner, an autotuning framework for optimizing the performance of OpenMP parallel codes, where OpenMP is a widely used API that enables shared-memory parallelism in C, C++, and Fortran using simple compiler directives. GBOTuner improves sample efficiency of BO by combining code representation learning from a Graph Neural Network (GNN) into a BO …

Plasma Surrogate Markers Of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Correlate With Disease Severity In Patients With Moderate To Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Joni A Aoki, Frederik Denorme, Mark J Cody, David P Perry, John L Rustad, Samuel M Brown, Stephanie A Goldstein, Elizabeth A Middleton, Christian C Yost, Estelle S Harris, Nhlbi Prevention And Early Treatment Of Acute Lung Injury (Petal) Network Investigators

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Although studies have evaluated the presence of cell-free DNA and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the kinetics of NET formation during the early ICU admission and whether plasma NET markers correlate with clinical outcomes in patients with moderate-to-severe hypoxemia remain unknown. We sought to determine whether serial plasma NET marker levels in study participants collected over 48 h post enrollment predict disease severity and mortality in non-COVID-19 ARDS patients.

METHODS: We obtained previously collected plasma samples (trial enrollment, 24 h, 48 h) from 200 randomly selected ARDS participants in the completed Reevaluation of Systemic …

Culture And Environment: The Calling Lakes Ecomuseum As A Community Sustainability Initiative, Kace N. Anders

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Located in Saskatchewan, Canada, the Calling Lakes Ecomuseum, CLEM, is a community-based organization focused on water management and sustainability. Ecomuseums are holistic organizations that occupy landscapes, are responsive to community needs, conserve in situ heritage, and incorporate sustainability along with community development. The ecomuseum movement came from a need for holistic heritage management that disengaged with conventional museology and created space for communities to engage with their heritage in ways that promote community identity. This thesis analyzes the Calling Lakes Ecomuseum and how it utilizes the ecomuseum concept alongside environmental sustainability. Both semi-structured interviews and place-based field observations were used …

The Islamic Orient In Antebellum America: The Influence Of Edgar Allan Poe In Contemporary Arabic Literature, Sohaib Alkamal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation posits a comprehensive overview of the debate about Orientalism, particularly early American depictions of the Islamic Orient. The study investigates the antebellum American portrayal of the Islamic Orient, focusing on Edgar Allan Poe’s Orientalist readings. While Said’s Orientalism concentrates heavily on aspects of power in West-East relations throughout history, this study expands on several aspects of Said’s book. This study provides a new approach to exploring the field of Orientalism by giving a voice to Arabic sources that are absent in Said’s Orientalism and rarely known to Western audiences. Such sources are medieval Islamic sources, which include phantasies …

Representation Of Diseases And Health Care In Selected African Gyno-Texts, Rachael K. Aderoju

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the interdisciplinary field of literature and medicine through a feminist psychoanalytic lens, focusing on how Nigerian female writers represent illness, healthcare, and medical ethics in post-independence gyno-texts. Traditionally, scholarship in this field has centered on andro-texts (literary works authored by men), leaving a critical gap in the exploration of women’s perspectives. This research addresses that gap by analyzing nine prose works authored by Nigerian women, including texts by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ayobami Adebayo, Lola Shoneyin, and Samira Haruna Sanusi. These texts are examined for their portrayal of diseases such as infertility, cancer, bipolar disorder, and renal failure, …

Foldit Education Mode, Brett Schulz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Foldit education mode is a puzzle campaign within the protein folding video game Foldit. Education mode, initially designed as a classroom supplement for undergraduate biochemistry courses, has been expanded to provide a more comprehensive learning tool to players without a background in biochemistry. The edited and added levels teach players about protein biochemistry through playing puzzles designed to convey information and gameplay mechanics. The new Foldit education mode campaign features 49 levels grouped into 11 categories. The campaign has 6 new levels designed specifically for education mode and 4 levels adapted from the traditional Foldit campaign for use within education …

The Improvement Regime: Public Trusts, Real Estates, And India’S Urban Futurities, Anwesha Ghosh

Articles

Over the last two decades, since scholarly writing on India witnessed an “urban turn,” numerous historians have analyzed the role of the improvement trust in the redevelopment of Indian cities in the twentieth century, most specifically those of Bombay, Calcutta, and Delhi. This paper revisits and reassesses some of their key arguments to suggest that rather than studying the “failures” of the individual trusts to foster sanitary built environments, we should pay attention to the contingent workings of the city trusts that were constitutively designed for such failures. Using a comparative analysis of the Bombay and Calcutta improvement trusts, this …

The Motivating Factors Of A Multigenerational Workplace Based On Work Values And Reinforcements, Alaina Lister

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There are currently four generations in the workplace—Generation Z, millennials, Generation X, and baby boomers—each having its own values and motivations due to different life experiences. Leaders are facing new challenges regarding how to motivate each generation in relation to rewards, recognition, and work values. It was unknown whether there are empirical differences in motivation and leadership preferences based on generational cohort. The purpose of this study was to examine how the members of four different generations are motivated based on their preferred rewards and recognition, and the work values they hold. The targeted population were members of Generation Z, …

A Spatial Analysis Of Residential Photovoltaic Adoption In New Jersey: Focusing On 2020 With Trends Through 2025, Brandon Mcalister

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

This capstone project seeks to find the relationship between socioeconomic and demographic variables and their relationship to residential photovoltaic installations across New Jersey. The study consists of Geographic Weighted Regression Analyses to construct and socioeconomic index indicating the likelihood of photovoltaic adoption in New Jersey zip codes. Then using the index to predict future photovoltaic adoption across the state. The study found that socioeconomic and demographic variables can predict photovoltaic adoption within one year, but when placed in an index and used to predict future adoption trends, the model under predicts and extremely over predicts. While socioeconomic status is a …

Staff Council Minutes, Georgia Southern University

Staff Council Meeting Minutes & Agendas

No abstract provided.