Digital Commons Network^™

Mental Health Rates Across Ethnic Groups In A Small Midwestern Christian University, Arianna Torres

Honors Theses

This study aims to find if there is a significant difference in depression, anxiety, trauma, and suicidality among students of different ethnic backgrounds at Andrews University. By focusing on ethnic disparities, this research aims to target the mental health issues rising among college students and bring to light the importance of cultural competency in relation to mental health. Results from this study may aid Andrews University in developing more inclusive and culturally responsive mental health services and inform broader discussions about mental health equity in higher education. It can also add insight into how mental health rates may vary by …

Behavioral Analyses Of Reproductive Behaviors Of The River Dolphin Tucuxi (Sotalia Fluviatilis), Jaden Wee

Honors Theses

This research project investigates the reproductive behavior of the tucuxi river dolphin (Sotalia fluviatilis), whose mating strategies are poorly documented. In 2022, over Lake Amanã, Brazil, Dr. Gonzalez-Socoloske captured drone footage of a natural mating event involving multiple tucuxi individuals, which provided us a rare opportunity to study their behavior. Using Behavioral Observation Research Interactive Software (BORIS), behavioral states and point events, such as intromission, proximity, synchrony, and periods of non-visibility, were coded and quantified, enabling statistical and graphical analyses that characterize the tucuxi’s social and reproductive interaction patterns. The results indicate that 30 intromission events occurred within the 13-minute …

Mechanisms Of Licochalcone A In Inhibiting Tumor Growth Via Lncrna-Cdc 42bpa-Ampk/Mtor Axis, Shi Zhan, Yao Meicun, Shi Xianyong, Tan Panpan

Food and Machinery

[Objective] To investigate the molecular mechanism by which licochalcone A inhibits colorectal cancer growth through regulation of the AMPK/mTOR signaling axis via long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs). [Methods] Human colorectal cancer HCT 116 cells and a nude mouse subcutaneous xenograft model were used. Cell proliferation was assessed by CCK-8 and EdU assays, and cell migration was evaluated by wound healing and Transwell assays. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was employed to detect the expression levels of proliferation- and migration-related markers, and Western blotting was performed to analyze the expression of proteins related to the AMPK/mTOR pathway. Differential expressed LncRNAs in HCT 116 cells …

Properties And Research Progress Of Deacetylated Konjac Glucomannan In Food Applications, Liu Kai, Zhang Ling, Wang Jing

Food and Machinery

Konjac glucomannan (KGM) is a natural soluble dietary fiber that is safe, biodegradable, and edible, with wide application in food and biomedicine. However, due to low plasticity and stability, KGM usually requires blending, physical, and chemical modification for production. Currently, deacetylated konjac glucan (DKGM) is used in food mainly as a food additive, food preservative, and health food. This review elucidates the KGM property changes before and after different deacetylation degrees, as well as the application progress and research status of DKGM in the food industry, with prospects for its development trends.

Extreme Connectedness Among Energy Transition Metals And Commodity Markets, Andrea Bastianin, Chiara A. Casoli, Evzen Fabio Kocenda, Xiao Li

Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei Working Papers

The global energy transition is reshaping commodity demand, yet its implications for commodity risk transmission remain unclear. We analyze connectedness among Energy Transition Metals (ETMs) – a subset of metals that are key inputs in clean energy technologies – energy commodities, and industrial metals using a Quantile Factor VAR framework. We document strong state dependence: spillovers are substantially larger in the tails of the return distribution than at the median. While crude oil remains influential, its dominance weakens post-Covid as ETMs, particularly base ETMs, gain centrality. A complementary event-study shows ETM-related policy announcements amplify spillovers in extreme regimes, indicating structural …

The Constitution Of 1787 Had No Bill Of Rights: What Were The Framers Thinking?, James L. Huffman

Mercer Law Review

In this Article, I recount the brief history from the Philadelphia Convention, during which scant attention was paid to a bill of rights, to the ratification of the Bill of Rights only four years later. Although the delegates to the convention made frequent reference to individual liberty as central to their mission, and several of the newly enacted state constitutions included bills of rights, there was no serious consideration given to including a bill of rights in the constitution proposed for ratification by the states. In response to the occasional suggestions during the convention for specific rights guarantees, most of …

No Principal Left Alone: Exploring Elementary Principals' Relationships With Their Full-Time Assistant Principals, Shauna Worthington

Theses and Dissertations

Elementary school principals are often the only administrator in their building; therefore they are left to face the adverse circumstances of their job without the support of an administrative colleague at their school. However, U.S. nationwide data suggests that school districts are more frequently hiring elementary assistant principals. This paper explores perceptions of elementary principals about the nature and dynamic of their relationships with their full-time assistant principals, including accompanying benefits and challenges. This qualitative inquiry utilizes an exploratory, descriptive, phenomenological approach and features the results of in-depth interviews with 20 elementary school principals in two large suburban public school …

Entwurzelt, Melanie Fischer

Theses and Dissertations

Entwurzelt (Uprooted) is an installation that explores the emotional landscape of displacement-trauma, grief, and the search for belonging in the aftermath of war and unrest. The vessels in this installation evoke the presence of a forest--each one a symbolic tree, rooted in memory and shaped by personal and collective histories. Being torn from the familiar means leaving behind everything except memories and carrying a void that may never be fully filled. Yet, in unfamiliar places, fragments of comfort can be found--echoes of what once was. For me, the forest is more than a memory--it is a bridge between past and …

Reinvesting In A Lived Experience Workforce: An Exploration Of Why Peer Support Specialists Leave The Field, Morgan Rae Pelot

Dissertations and Theses

Peer support specialists (PSSs) are individuals who use their lived experience of mental health challenges along with formal training to provide peer support to other individuals experiencing similar challenges. PSSs have only become integrated into the mental health care system within the last several decades. Recently, a study reported a trend of PSSs leaving the field of peer support, but there is a gap in the literature exploring factors that may influence this decision. This study examined if self-efficacy, motivations to join the workforce, and negative work experiences were related to workforce retention. A secondary cross-sectional analysis was conducted on …

Impact Of Parent Education Programmes On Confidence And Self-Efficacy In Parents Of Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review, Puja Padbidri, Veena Joshi, Hollie Hix-Small, Pooja Bhavarth Dekhane

Educator Licensure Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective:

Families of preterm infants can experience high stress during neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalisation, which interferes with the development of parenting confidence and self-efficacy through active engagement with their infants. Parent NICU support programmes provide guidance and education to build this connection. This systematic review examined the effects of parent education programmes on confidence and self-efficacy among parents of preterm infants.Design Systematic review in PubMed/Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Google Scholar and Web of Science.Setting NICU.Participants Parents of preterm infants.Intervention Education programmes offered to parents in the NICU.Main outcome measures Quantitative surveys measuring parent confidence or self-efficacy.Results 14 studies met …

The Varieties Of Substantive Due Process Experience: Obergefell, Dobbs And A State Constitutional Alternative, Lawrence Friedman

Mercer Law Review

As a guide to understanding—and applying—the doctrine of substantive due process under the Fourteenth Amendment, Obergefell v. Hodges seems to have enjoyed a relatively short reign. Less than ten years after the Supreme Court of the United States held that individuals enjoy a fundamental right under the Fourteenth Amendment to marry a person of the same sex, the Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization turned to a different approach to the task of identifying and enforcing unenumerated constitutional rights. Dobbs, like Obergefell, is not without its problems: where the substantive due process analysis articulated in Obergefell lacks rigor, …

Pronouns On The Clock: The Eleventh Circuit’S Broad Limitation Of Teacher Speech In Wood V. Florida Department Of Education, Carter E. Pannell

Mercer Law Review

Few settings test the limits of free speech more sharply than public schools, where questions of personal identity, government authority, and constitutional rights often intersect. Because the government has an interest in regulating what its employees do and say, First Amendment protections afforded to government employees are diluted in comparison to those afforded to private citizens. A contemporary example of this tension is the question of whether the government may regulate a public-school teacher’s use of pronouns or titles in their own classroom.

In 2023, Florida enacted a statute forbidding teachers from using pronouns or titles that differ from the …

The Troll On The Bridge: The Eleventh Circuit’S Ugly New Threshold Test Halts Substantive Due Process Claims In Their Tracks, Christopher C. Stiles Jr.

Mercer Law Review

The Bill of Rights established a series of fundamental American individual rights, from the freedom of speech to the right to a fair trial, that the federal government cannot violate. Yet, across a conceptual divide lies a landscape of other crucial rights the Framers never enumerated. Substantive due process is one legal mechanism that bridges that gap: extending the Constitution’s protection to these other fundamental rights. Grounded in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, substantive due process enables plaintiffs to sue for government violations of rights that, though unenumerated in the Constitution, are long-recognized by common law and essential for American …

Delusions Of Judicial Grandeur: State V. Wierson And The Return To Statutory Sanity, Max Jordan Katz

Mercer Law Review

Georgia’s insanity defenses have long reflected tension between accountability and mental illness. The State’s statutory framework, which preserves both a “mental incapacity” and “delusional compulsion” defense, reflects this tension. Yet for decades, the Supreme Court of Georgia’s decision in Bailey v. State imposed a judicial limitation: a defendant who “brought about” her own delusion through voluntary acts or omissions could not claim insanity. The court’s recent decision in State v. Wierson marks a turning point. In Wierson, the court considered whether noncompliance with psychiatric medication preempts the defendant from invoking statutory insanity defenses. Rejecting Bailey, the court reasserted the primacy …

Cheryl Stewart Earns Ummaa Teaching Award, Communications And Marketing

Campus News Archive

No abstract provided.

Opium Of The Masses: An Analysis Of Archeobotanical Research In The City Of Tábor, Czechia And How It Potentially Influenced Forms Of Radical Hussism, Sasha Gladding

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Opium of the Masses performs in depth analysis of the Hussite Wars–a time period lasting from 1419 to 1436, Jan Hus, Hussite factionalism, and archeobotany. This analysis proposes that there are numerous possible contributing factors to the development of the radical Hussite teachings and ways of life. The instability of the Catholic hierarchy and the dissenting teachings of Jan Hus also likely were contributors to the development of the unique sociopolitical and spiritual practices of the radical Hussites. It is also possible that the Hussite factions residing in the Czech (then Bohemian) town of Tábor utilized opium as an entheogen …

Patient-Provider Communication Among Deaf English Users: Disparities And Implications For Cancer Screening, Ciara Luttrell

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Early detection is one of medicine's powerful tools; routine cancer screenings can help diagnose cancer early and enable immediate treatment. Cancer screening and prevention efforts have accounted for 4.75 million (80%) cancer deaths averted between 1975 and 2020 for five major cancer types (NIH, 2025). Nevertheless, this powerful tool is not shared equally. Many deaf adults who use English still experience barriers and disparities. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to investigate how deaf English-using individuals in the United States interact with their healthcare providers and whether these interactions are associated with cancer screening interest among these populations. The …

A Platform For Acquiring And Classifying Low-Noise Electrocardiogram Signals For Applications In Cardiovascular Monitoring, Begmamat Berdimurodovich Dushanov, Narzullo Mamatov Dr.

Technical science and innovation

The early screening and continuous monitoring of cardiovascular diseases need effective acquisition and smart processing of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. In this article, we introduce a compact platform designed for the acquisition of low-noise ECG signals and classification of the signals using a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN). Our compact platform consists of a low-noise analog front-end (AFE), including an instrumentation amplifier and a chain of analog filters, along with a data acquisition component designed to ensure effective suppression of baseline wander and high frequencies. Our compact platform consumes a low amount of power and can therefore be used for continuous …

Opportunities And Barriers For Innovation At The Interface Of Engineering And Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Thomas S Howlett, Jacqueline G Parchem, Kelsey L Swingle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The development of safe and effective maternal-fetal therapeutics is significantly hindered by chronic underfunding, inequitable access to specialized care, and persistent sociopolitical stigmas surrounding women’s health. Addressing these challenges will require interdisciplinary collaboration between clinicians, scientists, and engineers to design accessible therapeutics for maternal-fetal healthcare.

April 3, 2026 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Senior Recital: Stacy Schroeder, Clarinet; April 3, 2026, Stacy Schroeder, Thaddeus Spencer, Ryan Rubio, Kaden Filson, Momoko Gresham

School of Music Programs

This is the one hundred and thirty-seventh program of the 2025-2026 season.

Kemp Recital Hall

April 3, 2026

Friday Evening

9:00 p.m.

Senior Recital: Brandon Campos, Cello; April 3, 2026, Brandon Campos, Zeph Mussman

School of Music Programs

This is the one hundred and thirty-fifth program of the 2025-2026 season.

Kemp Recital Hall

April 3, 2026

Friday Evening

6:00 p.m.

Table Of Contents

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, Devin B. Joiner

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Head Shot, Joanmarie Ilaria Davoli

Mercer Law Review

The prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment in the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires that execution methods avoid “superadding pain.” The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the imposition of a death sentence should include no additional pain beyond that needed to kill. That means, for example, that while pain may be inherent in the method of killing, torture is prohibited. As concerns about the pain involved in lethal injections has increased, states have begun executions by shooting inmates in the heart and by suffocation through gas mask. These methods have been used despite evidence that they superadd …

Still Uncertain After All Of These Years: Constitutional Rights Of Guantanamo Detainees Tried By Military Commission, Michael D. Ross

Mercer Law Review

This article explores whether Guantanamo detainees are entitled to constitutional protections at military commission trials. In 2006, Congress passed the Military Commissions Act (“MCA”). Its goal was to establish a fair system to try foreign detainees accused of war crimes. The ensuing nineteen years have revealed that the system needs reform. The most important cases, such as the 9/11 and U.S.S. Cole prosecutions, are still bogged down in pre-trial litigation that has lasted over a decade. But before policy makers consider reforms, they should know what constitutional protections apply at a military commission. Federal courts have not answered that question. …

New York Times V. Sullivan Protects Freedom Of The Press Against Seditious Libel, Not Against Personal Libel, Louis W. Hensler Iii

Mercer Law Review

Justice Clarence Thomas appears to be on a mission to reconsider the actual malice standard adopted sixty years ago by the Supreme Court of the United States in New York Times v. Sullivan. And Thomas has not been a lone voice crying in the wilderness—others also have questioned New York Times. While New York Times represents a big shift in the law for those cases to which it applies, the scope of its precise holding is relatively narrow—New York Times protects publications about the official conduct of public officials.

Moreover, focusing on the precise facts in the New York Times …

Deliberately Silenced, Rachel Kincaid

Mercer Law Review

The Prison Litigation Reform Act is celebrating its 30^th birthday this year. It was designed to make it harder for incarcerated people to file lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of their conditions of confinement and to restrict their remedies even when they do so successfully. It has been wildly effective at achieving those objectives. It has also propped up mass incarceration and facilitated the persistence of dismal conditions of confinement in carceral facilities in the United States.

The PLRA’s exhaustion requirement—arguably its most damaging provision—silences carceral voices without regard for the merit of their complaints. It does so by mandating …

Relational Histories: Exploring The Transmission Of Ceramic Technology In The Norton Sound Region Through Petrographic Analysis, Laurel Michelle Diciuccio

Dissertations and Theses

Ceramic technology in the Bering Strait region of the North American Arctic dates to approximately 2,500 BP and is broadly divided into two traditions: the Early Arctic (Norton, pre-1,500 BP) and the Late Arctic (Thule, post-1,500 BP). While Arctic ceramic studies have focused on raw material sourcing, vessel use, and cooking performance, this research investigates forming methods and ceramic fabrics to better understand their place in the technological behavioral chain. This approach fills a gap in the literature by centering on vessel construction and offers new insights from Norton Sound sites, including type sites Iyatayet and Nukleet.

Macroscopic and petrographic …

Globalne Łańcuchy Wartości – Perspektywa Publicznego Regulatora, Karol Gustaw Kopczyński

internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation)

Fenomen globalnych łańcuchów wartości skupia coraz większą uwagę regulatorów i prawników, a przepisy prawne coraz częściej zaczynają kształtować globalną produkcję. W ostatnich latach można zauważyć dynamicznie rozwijającą się tendencję uchwalania przepisów regulujących transgraniczną zrównoważoną produkcję. Niniejszy artykuł ma na celu przedstawienie zjawiska globalnych łańcuchów wartości z perspektywy publicznych regulatorów. Na wstępie artykułu przedstawiono podstawy teoretyczne koncepcji eksterytorialności lokalnego prawa, tj. teorii Efektu Kalifornii/Brukseli. Następnie opisano rozwój regulacji dotyczących globalnych łańcuchów wartości, zaczynając od mechanizmów soft law aż do wiążących regulacji państw o najsilniejszej pozycji. Aby ukazać w jaki sposób prawodawca widzi globalny łańcuch wartości, dokonano analizy prawnej wybranych aktów prawa …