Digital Commons Network^™

Core Skills & "Cool Tools" From The Third Generation Of Fcil Librarians, Meredith Capps, Clement Lin, Devan Orr, Alison A. Shea, Loren Turner, Latia Ward

Library Staff Publications

There have been three generations of foreign, comparative, and international law (FCIL) librarians in the United States (US) in the postwar era. FCIL librarians of the first generation were foreign lawyers who emigrated to the US after World War II. Those of the second generation were American lawyer-librarians who built the infrastructure of FCIL librarianship into what it is today. The third generation of FCIL librarians includes the authors of this article. We perform many of the same research tasks as our predecessors, but we do so primarily online through an ever-evolving array of new and emerging technologies. This article …

Cross-Facility Reliable Deep Learning Based Beef Marbling Assessment Via Unsupervised Domain Adaptation Regression, Samuel Vinson, Dongyi Wang

2025 Research Poster Competition

Beef is one of the most important sources of animal protein and plays a crucial role in daily diets to support muscle growth, energy production and overall health. Historically, each beef carcass was evaluated by 3-5 skilled United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) meat graders, which are still considered as the gold standard for grading. Since 2009, electronic imaging grading systems have been approved by the USDA and have been gradually adopted in the grading facilities. Accurate and consistent beef grading plays a critical role in maintaining the quality, market value, and consumer trust in U.S. beef products. The USDA …

The Hidden Verdict: Measuring Implicit Bias In Juror Decision-Making, Gina Dudley

Psychology | Senior Theses

This experiment examines the influence of implicit bias awareness on juror decision-making in cases involving Hispanic defendants. Explicitly, it tests three hypotheses: (1) bias-educated jurors will demonstrate lower conviction rates for Hispanic defendants, (2) these jurors will report higher confidence in their verdicts, and (3) they will show greater awareness of how their previous experiences influence their decision-making. This experiment uses a mock jury paradigm to investigate whether bias awareness interventions affect verdict decisions and juror confidence levels in cases with Hispanic defendants. Ninety participants were randomly assigned to receive or not receive implicit bias education before reviewing a case …

Community-Led Design Thinking Facilitators Guide, Jacqueline Roebuck Sakho

Books

This guide helps facilitate community planning sessions centering your neighbors’ voices, experiences, and solutions.

Multidisciplinary Lethal Means Safety Counseling Design And Implementation: Training And Identifying Barriers In A Children's Hospital, Cassandra L. Stegall, Brendon Carnell, Jaime M. Golden, Rupa Kapoor, John H. Fanton, Paul C. Mullan, Alexandra P. Leader

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Background

Access to lethal means contributes significantly to suicide completion. Lethal means safety counseling (LMSC) is an injury prevention strategy to limit access to firearms, medications, and other means of injury. Not previously evaluated in the trauma setting, this study aims to design and implement a standardized LMSC protocol for pediatric patient discharge education in emergency (ED), trauma, and inpatient psychiatry settings.

Methods

A single-center quality improvement study at an academic pediatric urban tertiary Level-one trauma center was performed from July 2023 to February 2024. Protocol was implemented for pediatric patients discharged from three departments: ED, surgery trauma service, and …

From Portraits To Bathwater: Desire, Imitation, And Violence In The Picture Of Dorian Gray And Saltburn, Kylie Marie Golden

All ETDs from UAB

This thesis examines the cycle of imitation within queer male desire in The Picture of Dorian Gray and Saltburn, arguing that both texts depict an unsustainable pattern in which protagonists mold themselves after an idealized other, leading to obsession, violence, and self-destruction. While Oscar Wilde’s novel encodes queerness within aestheticism and moral decay, Emerald Fennell’s film reconfigures these themes through class ambition and performative sexuality. I explore how both texts present imitation as a dangerous mechanism through which male characters construct their identities, only to find that their self-fashioning is ultimately untenable. This study positions Saltburn as a contemporary rewriting …

Detection Of Tetrahydrozoline In Alcoholic Beverage Residue Related To Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault Using Gc-Ms, Alyssa Simone Hampton

All ETDs from UAB

Drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) is an ongoing issue that remains significant in the United States and the World. DFSA can be either proactive or opportunistic, where a victim becomes impaired and is unable to provide consent. Common drugs found in DFSA cases are ethanol and cannabis. However, alternative drugs are increasingly being used to incapacitate a victim and enable a sexual assault. These include tetrahydrozoline (THZ), commonly found in over-the-counter eye drops, such as Visine®. Minimal research surrounds THZ, in which agencies may process case samples with a general drug screen, which may only detect common drugs, while THZ goes …

The Antiviral Treatment Of Bk Polyomavirus, Peter Alexander Kaul

All ETDs from UAB

A kidney transplant is the most common form of organ transplant in the United States. The waitlist of patients waiting for a kidney transplant totals over 80,000. In recent years, kidney transplants have been performed more than ever before, but the waitlist continues to grow. This is due to the constant addition of new patients being added, as well as, patients who obtained a kidney transplant, but their transplant failed and were added back to the waitlist. While the development of more specific and effective immunosuppressive drugs given to transplant recipients have reduced the cases of acute rejection, it has …

An Examination Of Psycho-Behavioral Risk And Resilence Profiles In People With Chronically Painful Knee Osteoarthritis, Daniel Kusko

All ETDs from UAB

The prevalence and impact of chronic pain are far-reaching and costly to our society. Chronic pain conditions are affecting many people in the US and abroad. Osteoarthritis (OA) is commonly referred to as a slow progressing degenerative disease that tends to develop over 10 to 15 years and can result in functional limitations and pain. Chronic knee OA is a common form of OA pain that affects many adults across the globe. Biopsychosocial factors are theorized to play an important role in how people with chronic pain may develop, exacerbate, or cope with pain. The goal of this project was …

Guts, Glory, And Gain: Exploring The Multifaceted Influences Of Physical Activity Behavior Among Adults With Crohn's Disease, Whitney Neal

All ETDs from UAB

Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, affecting approximately 1 million individuals in the United States. In addition to gastrointestinal symptoms, complications such as arthralgia, sacroiliitis, and osteopenia may diminish physical fitness and exacerbate disease burden. Physical activity is a promising complementary, non-invasive strategy for managing Crohn’s disease, yet few studies have examined outcomes across the entire activity continuum from sedentary behavior to vigorous exercise. This study sought to provide a nuanced understanding of activity patterns in adults with Crohn’s disease (n=47) by comparing them with age-, socioeconomic status-, and sex-matched healthy controls (n=45), exploring Social …

Adapting The Minority Stress Model Among Middle-Aged And Older Adults With And Without Hiv: Understanding The Interplay Between Minority Stress, Mental Health, And Sexual Risk Behaviors, Alexis R Long Thompson

All ETDs from UAB

This dissertation aims to adapt Meyer’s Minority Stress Model to understand the interplay between minority stress, mental health, and sexual risk behaviors among middle-aged and older adults with and without HIV. The study utilizes data from the MACS WIHS Combined Cohort Study, focusing on adults aged 40 and older. It examines the relationships between perceived stress, psychosocial factors (depression, substance use, social support), and sexual risk behaviors, considering the impact of minority identities such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and HIV status. The findings highlight significant differences in perceived stress, depressive symptoms, substance use, and social support across different intersectional …

Exploration Of Exhausted Cd8+ T Cell Subset Diversity During Chronic Viral Infection And Cancer: A Role For Gfi1, Oluwagbemiga Abiodun Ojo

All ETDs from UAB

Continued persistence of high antigen levels in chronic viral infection and tumor settings induces molecular adaptations in CD8+ T cells that has been termed dysfunction or exhaustion. Although exhausted cells exhibit profound loss of effector functions, the exacerbated viral titer and tumor burden in the absence of these cells highlights their crucial role in maintaining the balance between tissue pathology and antigen clearance. Exhausted CD8+ T cells are a heterogeneous pool with unique functions that contribute to virus or tumor control. Yet, we lack a complete understanding of the subset dynamics as the disease develops. Here, we provide detailed characterization …

Improved Survival With Phosphodiesterase-5 Inhibitor Use In Men With Male-Predominant Cancers: Real-World Large Database Study, Daniel Uralov, Sarah R. Harrington, Hani Samarah, Anika S. Walia, Marina Aweeda, Manal U. Mustafa, Parvesh Kumar, Andrew Briskin, Julian Jackson, Eric Mastrolonardo, Adam J. Luginbuhl

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers

INTRODUCTION: Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitors, commonly prescribed for erectile dysfunction, may exhibit immunomodulatory properties by reducing myeloid-derived suppressor cell activity and enhancing T-cell responses. This study evaluated the association between PDE5 inhibitor use and overall survival (OS) in male-predominant solid organ malignancies.

METHODS: Male-predominant solid tumors were identified using male-to-female incidence ratio ≥3:1 in SEER database: prostate, bladder, colon, esophageal, hypopharyngeal, laryngeal, tonsillar, and testicular cancers. Using the TriNetX Research Network, we compared male patients prescribed PDE5 inhibitors within 6 months of cancer diagnosis to those without PDE5 exposure. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed on demographic, clinical, and oncologic variables. …

Introduction To Literature Syllabus, Lesley Broder

Open Educational Resources

This asynchronous Introduction to Literature syllabus focuses on major literary genres, like fiction, poetry, drama, through open educational resources (OER) at zero cost to students (ZTC).

Social Science In Early Childhood Education Open Syllabus, Denise Farrelly

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus provides a week-by-week outline of resources for teaching early childhood social studies for preservice teachers at the associate's level.

Community, Placemaking, And Preservation: Historic Neighborhoods In West Palm Beach, Florida, Aislinn Cruz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historic preservation: the act of protecting landmarks and buildings, often through active participation with the community. The project aims to explore perceptions of those living in historical neighborhoods in West Palm Beach, Florida about:1) Neighborhood cultural connection, 2) Placemaking locations, 3) Relationship with the city, and 4) Knowledge of preservation projects. Using digital and in-person surveys, the project utilized Likert-scale and short-response questions to collect data. Results showed residents had mixed feelings about their cultural connection. Though a majority described their neighborhood positively, some negative responses came from a specific northern neighborhood. Locations of placemaking notably included parks and community …

Promoting Parent-Child Connectedness: Insights From A Parent Education Training., Bisola E. Duyile, Robyn Becker, Kate Papas, Shanta K. Pamphile

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose: This study explores the interrelationship of speech, language, and literacy development, parentchild connectedness, and children’s mental health when viewed as social determinants of health, specifically among families of children with developmental disabilities. Through interprofessional collaboration, researchers aim to identify effective strategies that parents can use to enhance their children’s communication skills and emotional well-being.

Methods: A mixed methods design was employed, involving a post-workshop survey completed by five mothers. The quantitative component included Likert scale items to measure satisfaction with social support. We also evaluated satisfaction with the workshop. The qualitative component comprised openended questions about newly learned tools …

A Systematic Review Of Reading Comprehension Assessment And Intervention In Minimally And Nonspeaking Autistic Children, Grace T. Clark, Madison Skibicki, Gabriella Pesantes

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Up to 25% of autistic individuals are minimally or nonspeaking and require augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). While literacy instruction for this group is increasing, limited research has examined their reading comprehension. This systematic review examined assessment and intervention practices targeting reading comprehension in autistic children who use AAC. A search of five databases yielded 586 articles, of which 6 studies met inclusion criteria. Studies were included if they featured autistic participants under 18 who were minimally or nonspeaking and addressed reading comprehension beyond single-word decoding. Findings varied widely in participant profiles, comprehension targets, and methodological rigor. There is a …

Orthographic Support For Verb Identification In Typically Developing Three-Year-Old Children, Grace T. Clark, Christina Reuterskiold

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Children, as young as four years of age, have demonstrated enhanced noun learning when presented with orthographic representations during word learning tasks. This study sought to determine if three-year-old typically developing children would demonstrate an orthographic facilitation effect during an asynchronous computer-based verb learning task. One-hundred ten children were taught 8 novel verbs by presenting videos of novel actions paired with novel labels in sentence frames. Four novel verbs were taught with orthographic support present and four were taught without orthographic support. Participants were exposed to the words a total of two times and then given a post-test to assess …

Verbs Are Tricky: Does Orthography Support Verb Identification In Typically Developing Children Ages 3–8?, Grace T. Clark, Gabriella Pesantes, Madison Skibicki

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose:
This study examined whether orthographic representations—seeing a printed word while hearing it—facilitate verb identification accuracy in typically developing children and whether developmental or literacy factors modulate this effect.

Method:
One hundred eight English-speaking children ages 3–8 years (M = 5.86) completed a web-based verb learning task through Children Helping Science. Participants were randomly assigned to an orthography-present or orthography-absent condition while learning six novel verbs paired with dynamic action videos. Accuracy during a two-alternative forced-choice test was coded from parent-verified pointing responses. Caregivers completed a literacy interest questionnaire, and children completed a letter–sound correspondence task. Multilevel logistic regression …

Town Of Lempster, New Hampshire, Incorporated 1767, Annual Reports For The Year Ending December 31, 2024, Lempster Town Representatives

Lempster, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Cnns And Transformers For Visual Understanding: From Feature Alignment To Image Captioning, Xuehao Liu

Doctoral

Deep learning has developed rapidly since the introduction of Deep Belief Networks during the past decade. As an area of machine learning, it still has many open challenges. Among these open challenges is the issue of transparency, with deep learning models known as black boxes. Both explainability of a model for understanding the decision making process, and the transparency of the relationship between the input and output are crucial for understanding a model. The understanding of models can build trust between AI systems and humans, verify models behavior, and identify potential biases or errors.

Navigating Human-Robotic Interaction Challenges In Teaching-By-Demonstration, Shakra Mehak

Doctoral

The advancement in interdisciplinary research domains, like robotics and HRI, presents a challenging task. It is an exception rather than the norm for research to extend beyond the boundaries of individual disciplines and encompass the challenges presented by other fields of study. This project is part of ”Collaborative Intelligence for Safety Critical Systems” (CISC), which is a Marie Curie Training Network funded by the European Commission to hire and train researchers with the expertise and skillset necessary to carry out the major tasks required to develop a Collaborative Intelligence system. The program encompasses four overarching themes: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Human …

Replik. The Serigraphy & Printing Lab., Beatriz Panduro Peiró

Grado en Diseño de Interiores

Teniendo en cuenta la ubicación de esta casa, una academia de impresión y estudio de diseño sería un negocio exitoso. replik. podría ofrecer cursos para adultos y adolescentes. Actualmente, este lugar está rodeado de varios edificios educativos relacionados con su programa. El más destacado es el IES Ramiro de Maeztu, uno de los pocos institutos de Madrid que cuenta con un plan de estudios orientado a las artes. Los jóvenes que asisten a este instituto tendrían la academia a poca distancia a pie.

INGLÉS

Taking into account the location of this house, a printing academy and design studio would be …

Housing Tetris, Nereida González Simón

Grado en Diseño de Interiores

El edificio en el que se llevó a cabo este proyecto está situado en la calle Jorge Manrique, número 10. Esta calle forma parte del complejo Colonia Parque-Residencia, una zona histórica de la ciudad de Madrid, perteneciente al distrito de Chamartín.

Este lugar, ubicado en el norte de la capital y cercano al centro de la ciudad, se ha convertido con los años en un espacio icónico, con un estilo e identidad propios. Se caracteriza por su equilibrio entre zonas comerciales, residenciales, espacios verdes y oficinas, creando una armonía única que brinda una alta calidad de vida a quienes lo …

Broader Consequences Of 17Α-Methyltestosterone-Induced Masculinization In Betta Splendens: Toxicological, Behavioral, And Morphometric Outcomes, Imee Rose E. Felipe, Alexandra May R. Rosario, Vijay Hanz A. Tuason

Journal Article

The 17α-methyltestosterone (MT) is a synthetic androgen widely applied in aquaculture, particularly in fish species like Betta splendens, where males have higher commercial value. While MT is effective for sex reversal, the broader physiological and behavioral consequences of MT exposure remain insufficiently characterized. This study evaluated toxicological, behavioral, and morphometric endpoints in B. splendens to provide an integrated assessment of the impacts of MT exposure. Immersion assays in fry (2 days post- hatch, dph) demonstrated clear dose- and exposure-dependent toxicity, with cumulative toxicity under continuous 48 h immersion while greater tolerance under discrete immersion (two 3 h immersion at 2 …

Isolation And Identification Of Lactic Acid Bacteria From Bee Body Parts Surviving High Temperature Exposure, Sean Derrick M. Oliquiano, Noel G. Sabino, Renard M. Zamora

Journal Article

Temperature stress can influence the composition and stability of microbial communities associated with bees; however, some lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains demonstrate tolerance to such environmental stresses, allowing them to persist and remain functionally active under challenging conditions. This study aimed to isolate and identify LAB associated with honeybees that are capable of surviving exposure to high temperatures. A total of 196 bee samples were processed under unheated and heat-treated conditions (80 °C for 10 min) to selectively recover thermotolerant bacteria. Cultivation on Yeast Glucose Starch Agar supplemented with nalidixic and pipemidic acid favored the growth of LAB under oxygen-limited …

Evaluation Of Bacterial Contamination On Flush Levers And Faucet Tap Handles In The Institute Of Biological Sciences Building Restrooms, University Of The Philippines Los Baños, Jan Patricia S. Estillore, Ronilo Jose D. Flores, Renard M. Jamora

Journal Article

Public restrooms provide convenience outside the home but are frequented by many users daily, creating a risk of microbial contamination on commonly touched surfaces such as flush levers and faucet handles. This study assessed microbial loads on these surfaces across genders and floors and aimed to isolate antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus species and characterize Enterobacteriaceae. Samples were collected from flush levers and faucet handles across three floors of Wing C, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. Results showed that faucet handles (7.9 × 109CFU/cm2) harbored higher microbial loads than flush levers (5.3 × 109CFU/cm2), and female …

Between Belief Belonging: Filipino Atheists’ Lived Experiences Of Cultural Negotiation, Prince Kennex R. Aldama

Journal Article

This study explores the lived experiences of Filipino atheists and how they negotiate traditional Filipino values in a predominantly religious society. Using a phenomenological thematic analysis, it draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews with seven self-identified Filipino atheists. The study examines how participants interpret and navigate values such as pakikisama (smooth interpersonal relations), utang na loob (debt of gratitude), hiya (propriety or shame), and kapwa (shared identity). Findings show that Filipino atheists do not reject these values outright but reinterpret them through secular moral frameworks grounded in empathy, responsibility, and relational care. Participants maintain social belonging through selective disclosure, pragmatic accommodation, …

Antibiotic Susceptibility Of Bacterial Contaminants In Tissue-Cultured Musa Acuminata ‘Lakatan’ And Musa Textilis ‘Inosa’, Brendell Philip B. Tejoso, Lourna Mae Q. David, Emmanuel L. Bernardo, Carlo Miguel C. Sandoval, Renard M. Jamora

Journal Article

Banana (Musa acuminata) and abaca (Musa textilis) are economically important crops in the Philippines. However, both crops are increasingly threatened by disease outbreaks, which can be mitigated through mass propagation using tissue culture techniques. Tissue culture propagation, however, is often compromised by bacterial contamination originating from either environmental or endophytic sources. In this study, bacterial isolates from environmental surfaces and tissue-cultured explants were characterized using morphological and biochemical profiling. Environmental isolates consisted of Gram-positive and Gram-negative short rods, whereas tissue culture contaminants were predominantly Gram-negative short rods and a single Gram- positive coccus. This morphological distinction suggests that the tissue …