Digital Commons Network^™

Mississippi Library Association Annual Conference: 2025 Recap, Janessa Ullendorf

Mississippi Libraries

Recap from the 2025 annual conference of the Mississippi Library Association.

The Generative Turn: What Ai Doesn't Do And A Framework For Responsible Use, Deborah Lee

Mississippi Libraries

This column examines the limitations of generative AI as a foundation for responsible and informed use.  While much attention has been given to what AI can do, effective and responsible use depends on understanding what it does not do well.  For librarians as professionals grounded in information literacy, these limitations underscore the importance of critical evaluation and contextual understanding.  By recognizing both the capabilities and constraints of AI, librarians can better guide their communities in using these tools thoughtfully and effectively.

Slis Notes: Psst...Do You Have This Dirty Book?, Stacy Creel, Crystal Walker

Mississippi Libraries

Romance fiction is one of the most commercially successful and culturally significant genres in contemporary publishing, and this is not a one-year instance; it is a multi-year trend (Adams, 2026). In 2025, sales were up in the United States, and the growth was across platforms and formats—digital audio, e-books, and print. Two subgenres have sparked greater interest—romantasy and dark romance. Romantasy, the combination of romance and fantasy, has drawn new readers with the explosion of Sarah J. Maas, and dark romance, which gained some notoriety with Fifty Shades of Grey (2011) has seen strong growth and acceptance. In fact, the …

President's Page, Dawn Zimmerer

Mississippi Libraries

Update from the president of the Mississippi Library Association.

Front Matter

Mississippi Libraries

No abstract provided.

Full Issue: Volume 21, Issue 2 - Summer 2026

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

A publication for friends and colleagues of Jefferson’s Department of Surgery

In This Issue

Cover Story

Jefferson Transplant Institute Enters New Chapter of Innovation, Growth and National Impact - Page 1

Overview Science: Targeting the ‘Undruggable’ in Pancreatic and Other Cancers - Page 2

Clinical Integration Jefferson Trauma Surgeon and Resident Reflect on Honduras Medical Mission Trip - Page 2

In the Spotlight Joseph Boback, MBA - Page 2

Changing Lives Through Research Pilot Grant Lays Groundwork for New Standard in Ventral Hernia Recovery - Page 3

Please Welcome New Faculty - Page 3

Those Who Give Hollingsworth Family’s Gratitude …

Indian Independence, Unknown

Usher Burdick Papers

This editorial, titled “Indian Independence,” reflects on the historical and ongoing challenges faced by Native Americans due to colonization and federal policy and discusses the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ policy that allows tribes to govern themselves and gain independence from federal supervision, though it notes that full independence remains a distant goal. It addresses concerns about overprotection, undereducation, and the lack of viable opportunities for tribes to thrive economically, particularly in agriculture and ranching.

News In Brief

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

Geno Merli, MD, was honored with UNICO National’s Marconi Science Award at the 2026 Mid-Year Meeting in Atlantic City, NJ. Established in 1995, the award recognizes a living scientist who exemplifies Guglielmo Marconi's vast scientific and creative accomplishments.

On March 25, Talar Tatarian, MD, received a 2026 Barbara Berci Memorial Award for leadership growth and career development from the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons at the annual meeting in Tampa.

On April 30, Stanton B. Miller, MD, MPH, Executive Director of the Jefferson Center for Injury Research & Prevention (JCIRP), accepted a CeaseFirePA Keystone Courage Award on …

Hollingsworth Family’S Gratitude Endows A Lasting Legacy

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

Jefferson has been part of Kim and Steve Hollingsworth’s lives for decades. Kim’s healthcare consulting firm began partnering with Jefferson in the early 2000s to implement a new hospital-information system. Across three generations, family members have turned to Jefferson for medical care. Their philanthropic relationship with Jefferson spans years, as well. Through the Hollingsworth Family Foundation, they have supported the COVID-19 Better Together Fund, pancreatic cancer research and the naming of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Clinical Trials Family Gathering Area in the Honickman Center.

Their most recent gift – endowing the Hollingsworth Family Professorship in Surgery, which honors …

New Faculty

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

David G. McKeown, MD, MCh, MRCS, FACS, FASCRS, has joined the Division of Colorectal Surgery. Dr. McKeown earned his medical degree and a Master in Surgery (MCh) from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. In 2019, he graduated from our General Surgery Residency Program and then completed a colorectal surgery fellowship at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He is double board-certified in Colon and Rectal Surgery and Surgery. In 2024, Dr. McKeown returned to Jefferson Abington Hospital as an attending surgeon and recently transitioned to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he is also serving as director of the …

Pilot Grant Lays Groundwork For New Standard In Ventral Hernia Recovery

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

Over the past several years, the Department of Surgery Pilot Grant Program has supported a wide range of disease-oriented research among faculty and trainees. These projects explore ways to improve the quality and safety of surgical care. What follows is an update on one study funded in 2025 that has demonstrated meaningful progress and long-term potential to transform patient outcomes.

Study: Creation of an Evidence-Based Model for Physiotherapy-Enhanced Ventral Hernia Repair (IMPACT Study)

Patients who undergo orthopedic procedures, such as knee replacements, hip replacements or spine surgery, follow well-established rehabilitation protocols. The week-by-week progression is standardized, taught in physical therapy …

In The Spotlight

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

Joseph Boback, MBA, joined Jefferson in 2022 as a clinic operations assistant in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery. Although he initially viewed it as a “gap year” position before pursuing physician assistant (PA) studies, his manager had other ideas.

Recognizing his instincts with people and his potential as a leader, she encouraged him to apply for an open practice-manager position. He agreed, telling himself he’d give it a year or two. Within his first year, Boback had a change of heart.

“I think this is my calling,” he recalls realizing. He pivoted from PA school to Jefferson's MBA program, …

Jefferson Trauma Surgeon And Resident Reflect On Honduras Medical Mission Trip

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

For one week each February, Jefferson trauma surgeon Kris R. Kaulback, MD, trades the operating rooms of suburban Philadelphia for a surgical center in rural Honduras. While there, he performs procedures on patients who have often waited years, sometimes decades, for surgical care they couldn’t otherwise afford or access.

The annual medical mission trip, now in its fourth year, is led by Dr. Kaulback and Nina Kalawadia, MD, Chief of Anesthesiology at Paoli Hospital, and run through One World Surgery. This nonprofit operates a permanent surgical center on the grounds of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, a long-established orphanage on more than …

Science: Targeting The ‘Undruggable’ In Pancreatic And Other Cancers, Charles J. Yeo, Md, Facs

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

Scientific discoveries and advances often come in an unpredictable cadence. Over the course of my 40 years as a surgeon treating patients with pancreatic and related cancers, we have seen overall five-year patient survival rates improve more than six-fold from under 2% to over 13%. This improvement has its genesis in many areas – improved patient selection and surgical results, better imaging, advances in nursing and critical care and new oncologic treatment options. One area that has eluded progress for decades has been targeting the RAS oncogene mutations common in nearly all pancreatic cancers.

Therapeutic targeting of RAS with a …

Knowledge And Application Of Solar Energy As Alternative Power Source To Ict Facilities: A Case Study Of Minhaj University Lahore, Dr.Shahid Mehmood Dr., , Muhammad Faisal Mr., Ahmad Nawaz, Dr Allah Ditta Nawaz, Dr. Muhammad Aamir Hameed

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper is an exploration of the knowledge and utilization of solar energy to support ICT infrastructure at Minhaj University Lahore. In Pakistan, library operations and digital services can be disrupted due to power outages. In the survey, 87 scholars, students and library workers were surveyed about their awareness, experience and attitudes towards solar energy. The level of knowledge on solar energy was high as 100% of the respondents indicated that they are well informed about solar energy, 93.1 percent indicating that they can use it in the ICT sector. Nonetheless, large start-up costs, lack of equipment, and institutional barriers …

Jefferson Transplant Institute Enters New Chapter Of Innovation, Growth And National Impact

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

When James V. Guarrera, MD, joined Jefferson last summer as the Nicoletti Family Professor of Transplantation Surgery and executive director of the Jefferson Transplant Institute, he arrived with a clear conviction about what makes a transplant program succeed.

“Transplantation is the epitome of a team sport,” Dr. Guarrera says. “My charge is to take all of the talent and dedication already present at Jefferson and continue building on it clinically and academically, including making this a destination for innovation and training the next generation of transplant surgeons.”

Since his appointment, this philosophy has been translated into measurable momentum across the …

Toward The Significance Of Crevasse Orientation In Low And High Crevassed Regions On The Kennicott Glacier, Alaska, Usa, Claire A. Sturm

DePaul Discoveries

Supraglacial landforms serve as potential indicators of underlying bedrock morphology and glacier dynamics. The distribution and morphology of crevasses are closely associated with stress fields and ice-flow regimes, representing processes of stable glaciers, in contrast to their reduced occurrence in stagnant or receding ice masses. The orientation and density of crevasses influence a glacier’s ability to absorb solar energy, as they facilitate movement of meltwater down to subglacial rivers. Beyond the meltwater acting as a lubricant for basal sliding, the slope of the bedrock further impacts the local velocity and ice deformation of a glacier. The study of ice-fracturing mechanics …

Solvent-Free Ball-Milling Synthesis Of 1,2-Disubstituted Benzimidazoles, Zachary A. Jaffery, Katherine E. Christopher, Kyle A. Grice

DePaul Discoveries

The search for sustainability in chemistry has led to the development of the field of Green Chemistry, comprised by 12 guiding principles. Existing syntheses of benzimidazoles, a heterocycle widely used in medicinal chemistry, utilize methods with much room for improved sustainability. This work presents a solventless mechanochemical synthesis of 1,2-disubsituted substituted benzimidazoles from the condensation of phenylenediamines and aryl aldehydes. The effect of milling aid on yield and selectivity was investigated and montmorillonite K10 was determined to be the best milling aid. The purification protocol was optimized as well, with a heptane:EtOAc extraction and subsequent recrystallization from EtOH found to …

Peer Attachment And Popularity Among Adolescents: The Mediating Role Of Relational Aggression, Katherine S. Fosco, Bailee Hill, Yan Li, Michelle F. Wright

DePaul Discoveries

Popularity during adolescence may pose a challenging social barrier, involving the desire for exclusivity and the need for broader peer connections. This study investigated the longitudinal effects of peer attachment on popularity among adolescents and the mediation process of relational aggression, expecting that peer attachment would be linked to reduced relational aggression, in turn relating to lower popularity at a later time point. The research participants (N = 569) included adolescents between the ages of 11 and 15 in the United States with data collection occurring at three time points. The path from Time 1 peer attachment to Time 2 …

Measuring And Mapping Spatial Distributions Of Soil Lead Concentrations Along Chicago Parkways: West Ridge And Near South Side, Alyssa M. Kain

DePaul Discoveries

Lead is a heavy metal that can be found in every part of our planet. Human activities like the extraction of fossil fuels and degradation of construction materials can release lead into the environment, where it travels and accumulates in places like our soil or water. Despite efforts to lower the use of lead-based materials within the last fifty years, lead contamination remains as a threat to public health and safety. Elevated blood lead levels are known to cause a variety of health issues particularly for young children and pregnant women. This study aims to measure, map, and analyze the …

Healthcare Access And The Persistent Racial Disparities In Low Birth Weight, Zaheda A. Hussain, Yadanar Moe

DePaul Discoveries

Low birth weight (LBW), defined as less than 2,500 grams, is an influential factor contributing to infant mortality in the United States, with significant racial disparities between Black and White mothers. This study analyzed data from 3,054 Black and White mothers collected from the 2018 National Health Interview Survey to explore the association between access to medical care and LBW within different racial groups. The prevalence of LBW was 8.0%. Overall, mothers without a usual place of medical care had, on average, an 18% higher risk of LBW than those with a usual place (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 0.80–1.74). …

Greener Synthesis Of Pdi Ligands Using A Microwave Reactor, Gabrielle E. Leonhardt, Abbigale S. Holjes, Kyle A. Grice

DePaul Discoveries

Two pyridinediimine (PDI) ligands were synthesized using green chemistry principles to minimize environmental impact and maintain synthetic efficiency. Previous syntheses require hazardous solvents and long reaction times. The reaction was carried out with a safer solvent, ethanol, and more rapidly using a CEM Discover microwave reactor. The PDI ligand was chosen for the scaffold for the aromatic core and support for different aniline derivatives. Comparative investigation of aniline electronics showed that 2,6-dimethylaniline was more successful than the electron-withdrawing electronics of 2,6-dichloroaniline. Synthesized complexes were characterized with proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The environmentally conscious microwave reaction produced effective and reproducible …

From Landfill To Ladle: Using Open Lca To Calculate Food Diversion Impacts, Samantha Rodriguez

DePaul Discoveries

Food waste contributes to climate change because discarded food results in wasting embodied carbon from producing food. In addition to wasting embodied carbon, food that ends up in landfills emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. This life cycle assessment quantifies the carbon equivalent footprint of food donations from Costco to the Seton Soup Kitchen using OpenLCA. Two functional units were analyzed in this study. The first functional unit is one meal consisting of 500 grams of donated food that would otherwise be landfilled served to a Seton Soup Kitchen patron during one meal service. The …

Fish Tissue Digestion And Microplastic Polymer Identification Protocol Using Open-Source Ftir Database, Shawn L. Kissinger, Vick-Ariel Privert, Jason Bystriansky, Kyle A. Grice

DePaul Discoveries

Microplastic (MP) contamination in aquatic ecosystems poses significant concerns for environmental and public health, as seafood represents a critical food source worldwide. Despite increasing evidence of MP presence in marine organisms, efficient and accessible detection methods remain essential for characterizing contamination patterns and informing regulatory frameworks. This study extracted MPs from brain, gill, intestine, liver, and muscle tissues of gilt-head bream (Sparus aurata) and European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), two commercially important species from the Gulf of Cádiz, Spain, using a NaOH–HNO₃ chemical digestion protocol. Isolated particles were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, with …

Crystal Structural Analysis Of Medieval Human Bones Using Wide-Angle X-Ray Scattering, Selly Altangerel, Leslie Gracia

DePaul Discoveries

Female human second metacarpal (mc2) bones from a medieval cemetery at Wharram Percy, England, were studied using high-energy Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS) at beamline 1-ID of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. The age-at-death of 33 samples was determined from molar wear and classified into 3 groups:  18-30, 30-50, and 50+ years old.  Rietveld refinements of the WAXS data were performed to obtain lattice parameters of the hexagonal carbonated apatite phase (cAp). Individual fittings for cAp peaks 00.2, 00.4, and 31.0 were performed to obtain their widths and correlate them to collagen retention. For the three samples described …

Clearing The Air: Tracking Spatial And Temporal Pm2.5 Variability Along A Biking Transect In Chicago, Beau R. Rass

DePaul Discoveries

Fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) poses significant risks to human health and disproportionately affects marginalized communities in urban environments (World Health Organization [WHO], 2021; Tessum et al., 2021). Using low-cost mobile sensors, this study explored spatiotemporal PM₂.₅ concentration patterns along a north–south transect of Halsted Street in Chicago. A 2B Technologies Portable Aerosol Monitor (PAM) mounted on a bicycle was used to continuously record PM₂.₅ concentrations with associated GPS coordinates at approximately two-second intervals during 16 sampling events between 08-12-2025 and 10-05-2025. PM₂.₅ concentrations did not differ significantly among the South Side, West Loop, and North Side regions, contrary to the …

Depaul Discoveries Volume 15 Cover Art, Dina Khdair

DePaul Discoveries

No abstract provided.

Airworthiness, Cassandra Konz

Night Flight: Online Literary Journal

This poem deconstructs the concept of "airworthiness" from its technical definition to the broader concepts of worth, flight, and the forces that push us higher.

Education And Engagement, China Maritime Studies Institute

CMSI Quarterly Review

No abstract provided.

Cmsi Research In The News, China Maritime Studies Institute

CMSI Quarterly Review

No abstract provided.