Digital Commons Network^™

Erk1/2 Inhibition Alleviates Diabetic Cardiomyopathy By Suppressing Fatty Acid Metabolism, Erin Mclean, Caroline De Roo, Annabel Maag, Megan Coble, Jefferson Cano, Ruijie Liu

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

Background: Diabetes mellitus is associated with morphological and functional impairment of the heart primarily due to lipid toxicity caused by increased fatty acid metabolism. Extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) have been implicated in the metabolism of fatty acids in the liver and skeletal muscles. However, their role in the heart in diabetes remains unclear. In this study, we tested our hypothesis that pharmacological inhibition of ERK1/2 alleviates cardiac remodeling in diabetic mice through a reduction in fatty acid metabolism.   Methods: ERK1/2 phosphorylation in diabetes was determined both in vitro and in vivo. H9C2 cells were subjected …

Faculty Involvement In Decision-Making Within Florida's State University System: Understanding Perception, Role, And Participation In Shared Governance, Elaine R. Mitchum

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Shared governance is the collaborative responsibility of faculty, administrators, and governing boards to guide institutional decision-making in colleges and universities. Faculty participation is essential in high-stakes decisions, as their disciplinary expertise and practical experience help ensure that policies align with academic values and long-term institutional goals. This qualitative case study examines faculty perceptions, roles, and participation in shared governance across the twelve institutions within the State University System (SUS) of Florida. Guided by four research questions, the study explored: (1) how faculty describe shared governance; (2) how perceptions of their role vary; (3) how recent events within the Florida SUS …

Information Research At 30: Its Role As A Diamond Open Access Journal Supporting Scholarly Communication In Library And Information Science, Jungwon Yoon, James E. Andrews, Eunkyung Chung

School of Information Faculty Publications

Introduction. This paper examines the contributions of Information Research as a diamond open access (OA) journal within the library and information science field.

Method. The dataset was extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection.

Results. The journal’s commitment to geographical diversity, its sustained journal impact and its role as a scholar-led publisher were revealed.

Conclusion(s). The journal demonstrates the potential of diamond open access publishing while maintaining high impact and visibility.

The Influence Of Mental Skills And Social Support During The Injury Rehabilitation Process, Paige Kisley

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

Strengthening Social-Emotional Learning For Elementary Students Through Explicit Instruction, Miah Phalen

Honors Program Theses

Teaching social-emotional learning skills has been found to yield various behavioral and academic benefits for students, yet there has been limited research into effective instructional practices for teaching these skills. This qualitative study examined the extent to which specific explicit instruction elements are present in kindergarten lessons from three evidence-based SEL curricula: Kindness in the Classroom, Leader in Me, and Second Step. Each of these lessons was rated on a 0-2 scale regarding the presence of clearly established learning goals, lesson opening, modeling, guided practice, independent practice, opportunities for feedback, lesson closure, and skill sequencing. Results of this study indicated …

The Effects Of Short-Term, High Dosage Creatine Supplementation On Cognitive Measures Following Mental Fatigue In Healthy Young Adults, Olivia Van Meter

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

Addressing Perceived Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Attorney Discipline, Susan Saab Fortney, Heather Zirke

Faculty Scholarship

Perceived racial and ethnic disparities in attorney discipline threaten public confidence in the legal profession’s fairness and equity. This Article explores whether lawyers of color are subject to a disproportionate number of disciplinary actions. It draws on studies that reveal patterns of disparate outcomes tied to factors such as practice setting, representation during proceedings, and decision-maker bias. The authors assess how systemic issues may contribute to these disparities and highlights gaps in research and transparency. To address these challenges, the Article recommends a multi-faceted approach. This includes better collection and analysis of demographic data, procedural reforms to ensure equitable treatment, …

Original Discontent, William Magnuson

Faculty Scholarship

There are many theories of constitutional interpretation. Most, but not all, of them assert that, in interpreting the Constitution’s provisions, we should start by taking seriously the intentions of the enactors, meaning, roughly speaking, its drafters, defenders and ratifiers. This Article argues that, in doing so, judges, scholars and policymakers have underestimated an important feature of the process of constitution-making: the discontent of the enactors themselves with the Constitution they were enacting. Time and again, during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, during the penning of the Federalist Papers, and during the state ratifying conventions, the enactors expressed deep reservations about …

Rulemaking Petitions In A World Without Deference To Agencies: A New Lease On Life?, Daniel E. Walters

Faculty Scholarship

Often overlooked in the study and practice of administrative law, rulemaking petitions are means by which interested persons can prompt federal agencies to implement the statutes they administer in particular ways. After the Supreme Court’s 2024 decisions in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 144 S. Ct. 2244 (2024), and Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency, 144 S. Ct. 2040 (2024), rulemaking petitions are about to experience a renaissance—one that could reshape environmental law, should environmental advocates choose to leverage the procedure.

From Race-Conscious To Race-Neutral: The Next Generation Of Litigation Over Selective Admissions, Rachel F. Moran

Faculty Scholarship

In the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, there have been fierce debates over the meaning of colorblindness in the higher education admissions process. Setting the stage for these controversies are recent lawsuits challenging changes to admissions policies at selective public high schools. In these cases, the plaintiffs allege that although school officials relied on facially race-neutral criteria, their actions were motivated by a desire to improve the representation of Black and Latino students. According to the complaints, these revised policies are an impermissible form …

Digital Transformation Of The Maritime Labour Law : Srems Complaints & Claims Legal, Digital Solution, Case Study Of Morocco, Rida El Missaoui

World Maritime University Dissertations

This Master’s dissertation investigates the strong need to reform and digitalize the mechanisms of monitoring and follow-up of the on-board compliance on seafarer’s rights and obligations through a legal-digital tool.

Criminal Background Checks: Implications For Discrimination And Crime, Murat C. Mungan

Faculty Scholarship

Criminal background checks have recently attracted the attention of academics and policy makers alike. Recent laws and policies, like “ban the box” and expungements, focus on the availability of criminal background information as well as the permissibility of using this type of information. Quite surprisingly, policies about the content of the information –whose permissibility and availability are questioned by recent work– is not scrutinized as much.

In this article, I investigate the informational quality of existing background checks. For this purpose, I review the history and evolution of traditional criminal background checks. These checks rely on ‘rap sheets’ –documents containing …

New York Environmental Legislation In 2024, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

In 2024, New York State enacted several laws aimed either at dealing with the adverse impacts of climate change such as extreme heat and increasingl severe and frequent storms or at helping to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions to avoid or minimize the adverse impacts. The final bill signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in 2024 was the most high-profile of these laws — the Climate Change Superfund Act, which will require fossil fuel companies to pay for adaptation measures.

Other new laws last year related to extreme heat in schools and prisons, food waste, expanded polystyrene containers, community gardens, and native …

Loper Bright And The Great Writ, Anthony G. Amsterdam, James S. Liebman

Faculty Scholarship

Chevron deference is dead. The Court’s forty-year, seventy-decision experiment with Article-III-court deference to “reasonable” agency interpretations of ambiguous federal statutes failed, killed in part by concern that it unduly curbed the “judicial Power” to enforce the rule of law in the face of politics, partisanship, and mission-driven agency decision-making.

“AEDPA deference” lives. The Court’s twenty-five-year, seventy-two decision experiment with Article-III-court deference to “reasonable” state-court interpretations of the Constitution under the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act continues to relegate criminal defendants to prison or death, notwithstanding federal habeas judges’ independent judgment that the state courts have misread or misapplied …

In Search Of A State, Maeve Glass

Faculty Scholarship

This article offers a legal history of one of America’s earliest campaigns of state legislative resistance: the effort in Massachusetts to protest the national government’s perceived dismantling of an old Atlantic commercial order from 1803 to 1815. To date, scholars have either condemned this protest as a dangerous harbinger of the Civil War or vindicated it as an inevitable and salutary extension of the Founding. This article steers a different course. By focusing on the evolving language of protest and the complex hybrid of ideas and material realities from which this language emerged, this article illuminates how Federalist leaders who …

For Whose Benefit Is The Freedom Of Speech?, Vincent A. Blasi

Faculty Scholarship

In United States v. Alvarez, the US Supreme Court ruled that an official of a water district who introduced himself to his constituents by falsely stating in a public meeting that he had earned the Congressional Medal of Honor had a First Amendment right to make that demonstrably untrue claim. Audience members misled by the statement might well be considered to have a First Amendment interest in not being directly and knowingly lied to in that way. Other members of the community might be thought to have a First Amendment interest in public officials such as Xavier Alvarez telling …

Extended Program Notes For A Graduate Collaborative Recital, Myagmartseren Chinbaatar

Research Papers

This research paper offers extended program notes for a graduate collaborative piano recital performed on November 21, 2024, featuring works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, David Bennett Thomas, and Edvard Grieg. The recital presents three distinct musical eras, Classical, Contemporary, and Romantic, highlighting their unique styles and contrasts.

The program opens with Mozart’s Violin Sonata in G Major, K. 301/293a, an example of Classical elegance and balance, composed during Mozart’s early maturity. This is followed by Edifice by David Bennett Thomas, a contemporary work characterized by its emotional intensity and rich textures for bass clarinet and piano. The recital concludes with …

An Analysis Of Milk Hedging Effectiveness In Madison County, Illinois, Kelsey R. Knebel

Research Papers

This study examines whether Class III and Class IV milk futures contracts can effectively hedge farm-level milk prices and reduce exposure to price volatility. The price volatility for dairy farmers is a major issue and makes it difficult for them to stay afloat. With the constant changes in input costs combined with the instability of the prices the farmers receive, the dairy industry is very difficult. Using regression analysis, the relationship between farm-level prices and futures prices was evaluated throughout multiple models, including those accounting for seasonality. The results from the regression analysis indicate that both Class III and Class …

Comparative Analysis Of Hydration Status And Microbial Quality Of Tap Water Between Urban And Rural Settings In The Ashanti Region Of Ghana, Marina A. Tandoh, Priscilla Owusu, Claire-Rush N.A. Nkrumah, Veronica Tawiah Annaful, Chris Y. Asare, Samuel Selormi Attu

Food Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Maintaining proper hydration is crucial for human health, physiological functions, and cognitive performance. This study sought to determine the hydration status and the microbial safety of tap water in an urban setting (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Campus) and a rural community (Adjamesu) in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The water safety perception and hydration status of 171 study participants aged 10-61 years were assessed. Six taps were randomly selected at each site in triplicates, resulting in 36 water samples. The microbial quality of the water was assessed by testing for heterotrophic bacteria, coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella. …

Delivering A Drench Using An Injector: Worksheet, Amy Papineau

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Using Guided Notes To Provide Scaffolded Design As A Tool For Cognitive Efficiency And Conceptual Clarity, Ryan Schuffert

Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository

These supplemental learning materials streamline the learning process through a design that facilitates scaffolded learning by organizing focus on mastering macro-level concepts as a prerequisite to individualized details in content-dense courses.

Guided notes lead the learner on a path of discovering the depth of content while the layout encourages the development of discernment among multiple pathologies that share disease/disorder categorization.

This tool has helped students master the skill of chunked learning and has allowed them to implement this strategy, using these worksheets as a template, into multiple disciplines outside of pathophysiology.

Math Escape Room: A Virtual/Blended Problem‑Solving Adventure, Youssef Ibrahim

Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository

A narrative‑driven digital escape room turns secondary‑level mathematics review into a collaborative quest: students unlock successive “rooms” by solving algebraic, geometric, and data‑analysis challenges in Google Forms and Genially. Timers, conditional branching, and embedded hints sustain flow, while instructor analytics reveal misconceptions in real time.

Sexual Education, Sexual Self-Concept, And Behavior Of Adolescents: A Retrospective Study, Rachel Albanese

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Adolescence is a period within the lifespan of a human where sexuality is a key component of development; therefore, it is appropriate that adolescents are provided sexual education during this time. There continues to be a debate regarding sexual education; while some studies consider specific ways to provide sexual education, they do not compare the effect of differing sexual education (i.e., how and who provided sexual education) or lack of sexual education on risky sexual behavior and sexual selfconcept during adolescence. This study retrospectively examined the impact of sexual education on risky sexual behavior and sexual self-concept. It also explored …

Exploring The Relationship Among Postpartum Depression, Cognitive Distortions, And Relationship Satisfaction, Kylie A. Hastings

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Postpartum depression is the most prevalent psychological disorder experienced following childbirth, impairs daily functioning, negatively impacts child growth and development, and is linked to maladaptive parent-child interactions. Previous research also suggests a link among distorted thinking, depression symptoms, and interpersonal tension. The current study explores the interplay among postpartum depression symptoms, cognitive distortions, and relationship satisfaction among postpartum individuals. Researchers examined how specific thinking errors, including catastrophizing, mindreading, and labeling, are associated with depression symptoms and relational experiences in the postpartum period. Using a quantitative survey design, data were collected from 90 participants using validated instruments: the …

Fixing Mfw: Fairness And Vision In Controller Self-Dealing, Zohar Goshen, Assaf Hamdani, Dorothy S. Lund

Faculty Scholarship

The legal regime governing controlling shareholders relies on the ability of Delaware courts to police conflicted transactions under the stringent "entire fairness" standard of review. This review involves both implicit valuation – evaluating the transaction process, and explicit valuation – assessing the fairness of the transaction's financial terms. This Article reveals a critical flaw in this regime: courts cannot reliably engage in valuation when the transaction involves an entrepreneur's idiosyncratic vision for the company. As a result, there is a gaping hole in Delaware's framework for policing the fairness of controller transactions.

Delaware courts have developed guardrails to avoid judicial …

Power Training Impact On Running Ability After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Case Study, Sandra M. Tremblay Pt, Ms, Cws, Mscs

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Cheshire 4-H Presents 2026 Poster Info, Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Defining Spine Cancer Pain Syndromes: A Systematic Review And Proposed Terminology, Markian Pahuta, Ilya Laufer, Sheng-Fu Larry Lo, Stefano Boriani, Charles Fisher, Nicolas Dea, Michael H Weber, Dean Chou, Arjun Sahgal, Laurence Rhines, Jeremy Reynolds, Aron Lazary, Alessandro Gasbarrinni, Jorrit-Jan Verlaan, Ziya Gokaslan, Chetan Bettegowda, Mohamed Sarraj, Ori Barzilai, Ao Spine Knowledge Forum Tumor

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

STUDY DESIGN: Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVES: Formalized terminology for pain experienced by spine cancer patients is lacking. The common descriptors of spine cancer pain as mechanical or non-mechanical is not exhaustive. Misdiagnosed spinal pain may lead to ineffective treatment recommendations for cancer patients.

METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of pain terminology that may be relevant to spinal oncology patients. We provide a comprehensive and unbiased summary of the existing evidence, not limited to the spine surgery literature, and subsequently consolidate these data into a practical, clinically relevant nomenclature for spine oncologists.

RESULTS: Our literature search identified 3515 unique citations. Through …

The Influence Of The Microbiome On Radiotherapy And Dna Damage Responses, Aadil Sheikh, Michael A Curran

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent cancers in terms of diagnosis and mortality. Radiotherapy (RT) remains a mainstay of CRC therapy. As RT relies on DNA damage to promote tumor cell death, the activity of cellular DNA damage repair pathways can modulate cancer sensitivity to therapy. The gut microbiome has been shown to influence intestinal health and is independently associated with CRC development, treatment responses and outcomes. The microbiome can also modulate responses to CRC RT through various mechanisms such as community structure, toxins and metabolites. In this review we explore the use of RT in the …

Patient-Reported Outcomes During Pelvic Radiation Therapy: A Secondary Analysis On Sexual Function From Nrg-Rtog 1203, Kelsey L Corrigan, Rebecca Paulus, Ann H Klopp, Lari B Wenzel, Anamaria R Yeung, J Spencer Thompson, Desiree E Doncals, Vijayananda Kundapur, Nancy H Wiggers, Dasarahally S Mohan, Sharad A Ghamande, Shannon N Westin, Kara L Schnarr, Michael L Haas, David K Gaffney, Steven E Waggoner, Pamela J Vanderwall, Noha T Jastaniyah, Stephanie L Pugh, Lisa A Kachnic

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: NRG-RTOG 1203 reported that intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) reduced patient-reported GI toxicities in patients with cervical/endometrial cancer receiving postoperative RT, compared with 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DRT). We conducted a secondary analysis of patient-reported sexual function (PR-SF) among treatment groups to identify factors associated with sexual dysfunction.

Methods and materials: Patients on NRG-RTOG 1203 were randomly assigned to 3DRT versus IMRT and completed Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO)-Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) and FACT-Cx surveys at baseline, week 5 of RT, and at 4-6 weeks, 1 year, and 3 years after RT. Patient responses to FACT-Cx sexual function questions …