Digital Commons Network^™

“Between Cultural Norms And Economic Survival: Navigating Egyptian Lower And Middle Income Women’S Challenges In The Informal Versus The Formal Work: “A Case Study From Cairo”, Rowan Mahmoud Abdelnazer

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the ongoing gender inequities experienced by low and middle-income women in Egypt’s formal and informal labor economy, specifically it is based in Cairo. Although there are many advances made globally on women's rights, yet women still face great challenges such as discrepancies in salary, fewer leadership roles and cultural expectations which put child-bearing duties before professional growth. On the one hand, flexible work for women in developing countries is through informal sector, which makes them vulnerable and serves as a source of their exploitation and insecurity (e.g., lack of social security; workplace hazards), on the other hand, …

An Evaluation Of English Language Textbook `Power Up 5' For Grade 5 In Private Schools In Iraq From The Teachers' Perspective, Ahmed Sameer Hashim

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

This paper evaluates the appropriateness of `Power Up 5' in Sterling schools in Iraq from the aspects of Design & Layout, Subject & Content, Activities and skills from the teachers' perspectives. The study followed the quantitative approach where a questionnaire was adopted from a previous study which was made regarding the same objectives and research questions. Adapted from \citebib10. The data were gathered by distributing the questionnaire to 55 English teachers in Sterling schools in Iraq through a 5 Likert scale questionnaire. The results of the analysis are generally in favour of the textbook regarding research questions and the appropriateness …

Towards The Poetics Of Artificial Intelligence: Disrupting Anthropocentrism In I Am Code: An Artificial Intelligence Speaks, Milad Ghazi Saeed

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force capable of restructuring anthropocentric assumptions of creativity, identity, subjectivity, and other human attributes. The current study aims to investigate how the poetics of AI firmly defies anthropocentrism through portraying Code-DaVincie-002, a generative model developed by OpenAI, as a self-aware subject. It also aims to inspect how AI, through the lens of Posthumanism, penetrates the barriers between organic and non-organic beings by performing cognitive processes that once were considered the exclusive domain of humans. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative textual analysis grounded in a posthumanist reading of selected poems from I …

The Family Structure In The Early Abbasid Era A Study Based On Al-Baladhuri’S Ansāb Al-Ashrāf, Mohammed Aajel Atiyah, Rasoul Jafarian

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

Al-Baladhuri’s Ansab al-Ashraf (Genealogies of the Nobles) acquires exceptional significance not merely for its documentation of events, but for revealing, through its internal narratives, the mechanisms employed by the nascent authority based on the logic of “domination” (Taghallub) and “private Asabiyyah” (group solidarity) to consolidate the phenomenon of the “political family.” The foundational history of the Abbasid Caliphate (132–158 AH) represents a sensitive transitional phase from a “broad revolutionary movement” toward “centralized family rule,” a transformation that serves as an accurate reflection of the “evolution of Asabiyyah” model in Ibn Khaldun’s theory. Focusing on sources from this period, this research …

Ethnography Of Languages Among Muslim Arabs Geographer, Alia Miri Qassem, Magda Jassim Hussein

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

Geographical works and writings based on travel and field study are among the most important sources for researching the cultural characteristics of a society, its way of life, and its lifestyle based on customs and traditions. Regarding the description of countries, the characteristics of their people, and their way of life, this laid the foundation for a research methodology known as the ethnographic method. This confirms that the Muslim Arabs were the first to lay its foundations, which begin with observation and repetition of observation, then collecting information and linking some of it together. This is the field of modern …

Thinking Through Critical Metaphor: A Semiotic-Cognitive Study Of Political Caricatures, Sarah Tariq Hashim, Mahmood Atiya Farhan

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

Political caricature serves as a powerful weapon that help caricaturists to reach their opinion to the public. They are used to criticize the political situations and highlight implicit discourse ideologies in a simple way. The current study explores critical metaphor in constructing ideological meaning in political caricatures from a semiotic-cognitive viewpoint. Although political caricatures have been widely studied, limited attention has been given to the interaction between visual signs and cognitive metaphor in shaping ideological interpretation. The findings show that these metaphors (verbal or visual) are not considered as stylistic tools but as ideological tools. Also, caricatures rely on critical …

The Effect Of The (Predict–Observe–Explain) Strategy On The Achievement Of Eleventh-Grade Students In Kurdish Grammar, Sabah Jalil Khaleel

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

The present study aims to investigate the effect of the (Predict–Observe–Explain) strategy on the achievement of eleventh- grade students in Kurdish grammar. To achieve this objective, the researcher selected a sample of eleventh-grade students from governmental daytime secondary schools in Kirkuk Governorate. The sample consisted of (50) students distributed into two classes. Class (A) represented the experimental group, comprising (25) students who were taught using the (Predict–Observe–Explain) strategy, while class (B) represented the control group, comprising (25) students who were taught using the traditional method. The researcher ensured equivalence between the two groups in several variables, including intelligence test scores, …

The Effect Of Differences In Rating Scales (Verbal, Numerical, And Verbal–Numerical) On The Psychometric Properties Of Personality Measures Among University Students, Doha Ismail Abdo Abdullah, Hind Subaih Rahim

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

The current study aims to investigate the impact of different rating scales (verbal, numerical, verbal-numerical) on the psychometric properties of personality measures. This was achieved by comparing the psychometric properties of the three versions of the scale. The results indicated the following:

1. There were statistically significant differences among the three versions of the scale in the item discrimination values, favoring the numerical version.

2. Statistically significant differences were found among the three versions of the immune personality scale in terms of the internal consistency values of the items, favoring the numerical version.

3. There were statistically significant differences in …

Experimentation In Iraqi Feminist Theatre- Selected Texts From The Theatre Of The Absurd, Sura Muthana Kadhim, Maha Farooq Abdul-Qader

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

The theatrical experimentation sought by creators is a deliberate and pre-planned endeavor aimed at advancing theatrical drama and awakening it from the slumber imposed by classical rules on the stage. It is a novel approach that transcends traditional forms, intending not to achieve commercial success, but rather to attain the desired artistic creativity inherent in the dramatic text. Consequently, the Absurd emerged as a result of revolutionary movements that rejected wars, the capitalist context, and everything that restricts human freedom. The Absurd was not an intellectual school of thought as much as it was a resounding outcry against classicism and …

Evaluating Generalization-Enhanced Behavioral Skills Training To Teach Firearm Safety Skills To Children With Autism, Victoria Alvarez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to the large number of firearm-related incidents and the high percentage of households that own firearms in the United States, it is crucial that children learn firearm safety skills. Although previous research has evaluated various procedures for teaching firearm safety skills to typically developing children, there is a limited amount of research evaluating these interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a generalization-enhanced behavioral skills training (BST) procedure, which included varied training settings and tangible reinforcers, to teach firearm safety skills to children with ASD. We evaluated generalization-enhanced BST and in …

Listener Factors In Integrating Syntax And Plausibility In Sentences Produced With Versus Without Stuttering, Gabriella L. Burgess Hayes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Development of communication-focused therapy for people who stutter requires better understanding of how stuttering impacts oral comprehension. One aim was to investigate how stuttering impacts listeners’ ability to integrate syntax and world knowledge (plausibility) in sentence processing. A second aim was to investigate how listener factors predict ability to integrate information in sentences with stuttering.

Methods: 224 adults heard 24 experimental sentences interspersed with 24 fillers. Experimental sentences included six plausible double-object dative (DO) constructions, six plausible prepositional dative (PD) constructions, six implausible DO constructions, and six implausible PD constructions. Implausible constructions served as analogues of communication breakdowns. Half …

Understanding The Impact Of Minority Stress On Mental Health Among Racially And Ethnically Diverse Adults: Insights From A Daily Diary Study, Ruba S. Rum

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Minority stressors are theorized to contribute to mental health disparities for racial and ethnic minority individuals. While prior research links distal (i.e., external) and proximal (i.e., internal) minority stressors to adverse psychological outcomes for racial and ethnic minority groups, most studies have relied on cross-sectional designs that limit understanding of the immediate and short-term effects of minority stressors and potential protective factors in daily life. To address this gap, the present study examined the within-person daily associations between distal (interpersonal and vicarious discrimination, microaggressions) and proximal (internalized stigma, anticipation of rejection, identity management) minority stressors and psychological outcomes. Racial and …

Gamma Belief Functions And Fuzzy Sets And Application To Combining Predictive Models, Liping Liu

University Research

Extending classic finite frameworks to continuous settings, this paper proposes the concept of gamma belief functions and gamma fuzzy sets. It shows that both the combination of gamma belief functions and the intersection of gamma fuzzy sets remain within the gamma family, enabling their application in combining gamma probability judgments in decision making and gamma regression models in ensemble learning. Using both simulated and real datasets, and under both constant and varying dispersion assumptions, experimental results show that the combined gamma regression models closely approximate the reference models learned from the full datasets, aligning with the objectives of bootstrapping. Notably, …

Adverbial Particles From A Semantic-Syntactic Perspective, Hasan Mohammed Mfreg

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

Adverbial particles are those words that constitute what I have called an adverbial compound. This adverbial compound is what grammarians know as semi-sentence that includes the adverb, prepositions, and names that follows them. I preferred to deal with these particles from a syntactic perspective that sees their structural and semantic function within the sentence system. I did not prefer to call these particles semi-sentences because I merely consider them representing a grammatical compound like the rest of the compounds that relate to the verb. These particles often represent a compound with the genitive following them, and sometimes they are just …

Rustamid Foreign Relations Through The Book Of Biographies By Dar Al-Din Al-Shamakhi (D. 928 Ah / 1522 Ad), Zahraa Saeed Fadhel, Ali Atiyah Sharqi

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

After the establishment of the Rustamid state, a phenomenon of vital importance in the history of the Middle Maghreb, where the efforts of the Ibadi Khawarij were completed, it formed a huge wall that protected the region of the Far Maghreb and Andalusia, so we find that the opportunity was available to the study to establish their state with all calm as a result of the security and stability that the region is experiencing, but the Rustamids had their role in granting the Abbasid state to the Aghlabids the right to establish their state, in creating a kind of balance …

The Development Of Distributive And Retributive Justice In Children, Maryam Rusly Faraj, Huda Kamel Mansour

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

The current research aims to identify distributive justice among children, and identify the significance of statistical differences according to the variables of age and gender, and identify retributive justice among children, and the significance of statistical differences according to the variables of age and gender. The research sample included (200) children (boys and girls), in the center of Baghdad Governorate, on both sides (Karkh and Rusafa), for ages (4, 6, 8, 10) years, with (50) children, both boys and girls, for each age group, equally divided between males and females. The researcher adopted the “Smith & Warneken, 2016”) tool, which …

The City Of Ābah During The Abbasid Era (132–656 Ah / 749–1258 Ce) A Historical Study, Abeer Mohsin Jawad Kadhim

Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences

Abeh, also known as Aveh, is a village located 70 kilometers west of Qom, on the outskirts of the area currently known as Jafar Abad, on the old Saveh Road, 30 kilometers away. Abeh was the first center of Shi’ism in Iran. Its people embraced Shi’ism due to their close relationship with the city of Qom. Since the third century AH, the city of Abeh has become a focus of attention for rulers of that era and others. The research is divided into two sections: Section One: Abeh in language and terminology, geographical location, religious aspects (including Shi’ism in Abeh), …

Where To Now With Privacy? A Systematic Literature Review With Human–Artificial Intelligence Synthesis (Slr-Hais), Moulik M. Zaveri, Ameet Pandit, Violetta Wilk, Steven D’Alessandro

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose – The development of digital technologies has led to changes in how consumers perceive privacy. This systematic literature review (SLR) aims to introduce human–artificial intelligence (AI) synthesis (HAIS) as a novel methodology for extending traditional SLRs. Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive review of the privacy literature is conducted to demonstrate the efficacy of the SLR with HAIS (SLR-HAIS) approach, using 149 articles published by top marketing journals on consumer privacy. The PRISMA approach is adopted as the organizing framework. In addition, the TCCM framework is applied in conjunction with Leximancer-driven HAIS analysis, which utilizes natural language processing techinques for thematic …

Proteomic Analysis Of Ammonia-Induced Stress In Chinese Hamster Ovary (Cho) Cell Cultures, David Ryan, Michael Henry, Christiana Kondylo Sideri, Esen Efeoglu, Paula Meleady

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Ammonia (NH₃) and its ionic form ammonium (NH₄⁺) are both metabolic waste products and essential nitrogen sources within Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell cultures. Although necessary for amino acid synthesis, excessive accumulation in the extracellular environment can exert stress, reducing cell proliferation and impairing the efficiency of recombinant protein production. Proper endoplasmic reticulum (ER) function is critical for CHO cells as biotherapeutic producers. Previous work has linked elevated ammonia concentrations to reduced productivity via altered N-glycosylation pathways, but its broader effects on ER biology remain unclear. In this study, we applied high-resolution mass spectrometry to perform a comprehensive …

Book Review: Chokepoints: American Power In The Age Of Economic Warfare, Jared Massie

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Edward Fishman

Reviewed by: Major Jared Massie

Economic tools are reshaping global power in ways military professionals cannot ignore. From sanctions to tech controls, modern statecraft is increasingly defined by financial and industrial leverage.

©2026 Jared Massie

Book Review: War In The Smartphone Age: Conflict, Connectivity And The Crises At Our Fingertips, Caitlan Fealing

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Matthew Ford

Reviewed by: Caitlan Fealing

This review of War in the Smartphone Age highlights Matthew Ford’s argument that mass smartphone use is transforming modern warfare. Using recent conflicts, the book shows how civilian-generated data and connectivity accelerate decision making and reshape the conduct of war.

©2026 Caitlan Fealing

Book Review: America’S Taiwan Dilemma: Allies’ Reactions And The Stakes For Us Reputation, Eric Setzekorn

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Authors: Michael A. Hunzeker and Mark A. Christopher

Reviewed by: Eric Setzekorn

This review of America’s Taiwan Dilemma: Allies’ Reactions and the Stakes for US Reputation highlights how Michael A. Hunzeker and Mark A. Christopher assess allied perceptions of US reliability in a Taiwan crisis. Drawing on extensive interviews with policymakers in Australia, Japan, and South Korea, the book argues these perceptions—rather than raw military power alone—will shape allied responses and the broader strategic outcome.

©2026 Eric Setzekorn

Book Review: The Boundaries Of War: Local And Global Perspectives In Military History, Stephen G. Harlan

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Edited by Lee L. Brice and Timothy M. Roberts

Reviewed by: Stephen G. Harlan, historian, 99th Readiness Division

The Boundaries of War: Local and Global Perspectives in Military History, edited by Lee L. Brice and Timothy M. Roberts, challenges traditional narratives by exploring how warfare is shaped by both local conditions and global forces. Through case studies ranging from ancient Rome to the World Wars, the book asks whether military history should be understood through regional uniqueness or broader transnational patterns. This thought-provoking collection redefines how we study conflict by bridging the gap between micro-level experiences and macro-level trends.

Book Review: A Violent Peace: A Global Military History Of The Interwar Peace, Ryan Wadle

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Edited by Ian Ona Johnson and Robert Clemm

Reviewed by: Dr. Ryan Wadle, John B. Hattendorf Center for Maritime Historical Research, US Naval War College

In A Violent Peace: A Global Military History of the Interwar Peace, editors Ian Ona Johnson and Robert Clemm challenge the myth of a tranquil interlude between the world wars by revealing a landscape of persistent and widespread conflict. Spanning four continents, the book uncovers forgotten wars, ideological clashes, and military transformations that shaped the global order long before 1939. This compelling volume reframes the interwar years as a violent and formative era, essential …

Integrated Decision-Support Framework For Enhancing Coastal Community Resilience Against Hurricane-Induced Hazards, Kooshan Amini, Tanmoy Palit, Abigail L. Beck, Jayant Patil, Tao Lu, Himadri Sen Gupta, Yousef Darestani, Et. Al

Michigan Tech Publications

Coastal communities face escalating threats from hurricanes, necessitating a shift from descriptive risk assessment to prescriptive, optimized portfolio planning to enhance resilience. This study introduces an integrated decision-support framework that couples high-fidelity, multi-hazard socio-physical system modeling with a multi-objective optimization model. The framework quantifies the cascading impacts of hurricane-induced wind, storm surge, and waves on a community’s interdependent buildings, transportation network, and detailed distribution-level electric power network (EPN), along with the resulting population dislocation and long-term recovery. It then identifies Pareto-optimal portfolios of mitigation strategies by simultaneously minimizing three conflicting objectives—economic loss, population dislocation, and recovery time—under various budget constraints. …

Autophagic Flux Blockade Under Hypocapnia Reveals Co2-Sensitive Regulation Of Autophagy-Lysosome Homeostasis

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Hypocapnia, a reduction in partial pressure of carbon dioxide (CO2), commonly occurs in clinical contexts such as mechanical ventilation, panic disorder, and brain injury, yet its impact on cellular homeostasis remains poorly understood. Given the central role of autophagy in stress adaptation, we investigated how low CO2 influences autophagic flux and lysosomal function. We found that hypocapnia induces autophagosome accumulation while impairing cargo degradation, indicating a blockade in autophagic flux. This response was accompanied by increased lysosome biogenesis but, paradoxically, reduced autophagosome-lysosome fusion and lysosomal proteolytic activity. Mechanistically, hypocapnia promoted TFE3 dephosphorylation and nuclear translocation, driving transcriptional activation of lysosomal …

Macropinocytosis Inhibition Attenuates Profibrotic Responses In Lung Fibroblasts And Pulmonary Fibrosis Models, Juan D Cala-Garcia, Alan R Waich Cohen, Elisa Ruiz-Echartea, Scott A Ochsner, Daniel C Kraushaar, Lindsay J Celada, Dandan Sun, Francesca Polverino, Cristian Coarfa, Neil J Mckenna, Konstantin Tsoyi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating chronic lung disorder with limited treatment options. Macropinocytosis is one of the key cellular processes involved in nutrient consumption from the extracellular environment under stress conditions. Here, we studied the role of macropinocytosis in experimental pulmonary fibrosis models. We found that macropinocytosis is increased in human lung fibroblasts (HLFs) derived from patients with IPF. The inhibition of macropinocytosis with 5-(n-ethyl-n-isopropyl)-amiloride (EIPA) inhibited profibrotic responses in IPF-derived and TGF-β1-stimulated HLFs and reduced pulmonary fibrosis in bleomycin-injured (Bleo-injured) mice. EIPA exerted its antifibrotic effects by regulating amino acid uptake, mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 …

Guideline On Stress Echocardiography - 2026, Marcelo Dantas Tavares De Melo, Daniela Do Carmo Rassi Frota, Silvio Henrique Barberato, Fabio Villaça Guimarães Filho, Harry Acquatella, Vera Márcia Lopes Gimenes, Jorge Alfredo Lowenstein, Ricardo H Pignatelli, José Maria Del Castillo, Joselina Luiza Menezes Oliveira, José Sebastião De Abreu, José Luis De Castro E Silva Pretto, Issam Shehadeh, Alex Dos Santos Felix, Mercedes Maldonado Andrade, Antônio Carlos Sobral Sousa, Maria Estefânia Bosco Otto, Andrea De Andrade Vilela, Pedro Gutierrez Fajardo, Liz Andréa Villela Baroncini, Cristiano Vieira Machado, Fábio Cañellas Moreira, José María Hernández Hernández, Marco Stephan Lofrano Alves, Samira Saady Morhy, Márcio Silva Miguel Lima, Miguel Osman Dias Aguiar, Wilson Mathias Junior, Letícia Dos Santos De Oliveira Rocha, João César Nunes Sbano, Barbara Athayde Linhares Martins Vrandecic, Fabio Roston, Arnaldo Rabischoffsky, Juliana Paixão Etto Rolim, Raphael Aparecido Barreto Da Silva, Guilherme De Rossi, Kamila Fernanda Staszko, Jolie Britt, Marcelo Luiz Campos Vieira

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Ultrasound-Enabled Refreshable Electrochemical Sensors For Cardiac Biomarker Monitoring, Elizabeth Zhanov, Connor Malone, Md Saifur Rahman, Ayse Akcan-Arikan, Limei Tian

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is the gold-standard biomarker for acute myocardial infarction, yet current laboratory-based high-sensitivity assays require centralized infrastructure, trained personnel, and serial testing, limiting their suitability for real-time or continuous monitoring in resource-limited settings. Point-of-care electrochemical sensors have shown promise for rapid cTnI detection, but their reliance on antibodies as biorecognition elements and redox mediator solutions, and single-use operation restricts practical translation. Here, we report an ultrasound-enabled refreshable electrochemical biosensor for sensitive, stable, and repeatable cTnI monitoring. The device employs a cTnI-specific peptide as the biorecognition element, providing enhanced stability during storage, transport, and operation. Label-free electrochemical impedance …

Perceptions Of Teachers In Inuit Nunangat On The Benefits Of Life-Promotional Activities On Inuit Youth To Reduce Suicide In Nunavut, Aramide Owoaje

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.