Digital Commons Network^™

Predicting Tart Cherry Stem Water Potential Using Uav Multispectral Imagery And Environmental Data Via Symbolic Regression, Anderson L. S. Safre, Alfonso Torres-Rua, Kurt Wedegaertner, Brent Black, Brennan Bean, Burdette Barker, Matt Yost

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Tart cherry is an important fruit crop in Utah, where irrigation is essential due to arid conditions. Precision irrigation requires reliable indicators of plant water status, and stem water potential (Ψ_stem), is among the most sensitive though labor-intensive and spatially limited. This study develops Ψ_stem estimation models using high-resolution multispectral Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery combined with meteorological and soil moisture data, applying Symbolic Regression (SR). Results show a stronger correlation between optical bands and Ψ_stem during the pre-harvest period. Among 85 vegetation indices, the Red Chromatic Coordinate (RCC) index performed best (R² = 0.67). …

Lightweight And Resilient Cryptographic Protocols For Next-Generation Networking Systems, Saif Eddine Nouma

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The security of our increasingly interconnected world is strongly dependent on the strength and practicality of the cryptographic tools we deploy. As billions of embedded devices join the Internet of Things (IoT) and interact with remote cloud infrastructures for data processing, analysis, and actuation, they evolve into so-called digital twins. This rapid expansion introduces numerous attack vectors, particularly targeting constrained IoT devices, which greatly increase the attack surface and often become the root cause of large-scale infrastructure compromises. At the same time, the rise of quantum computing threatens the hardness of today’s intractability assumptions that underpin cryptographic primitives currently deployed. …

A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of Cognitive Overload In Manufacturing Engineers During Online Training In An Industrial Environment, Sarah J. May

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore experiences of cognitive overload among engineers in manufacturing during digital training in industrial environments. Engineers in manufacturing manage substantial physical and cognitive demands in order to maintain safe and efficient industrial environments. In addition to these responsibilities, engineers are often expected to engage in digital training within active work settings, frequently without physical or cognitive separation from job-related tasks. A qualitative research design was employed, with data collected from 10 participants and analyzed through triangulation and thematic coding. Data collection methods included a qualitative questionnaire, individual interviews, and a letter-writing …

Mitigating Uas Airspace Risks Through Policy Innovation, Christopher Daniel Sidor

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, have become an everyday part of our lives. Once a technology reserved for the defense industry, UAS are now widely available and affordable in the commercial market. These systems have been used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, route mapping, and kinetic deployment of munitions. In modern warfare, drones have been at the forefront, leveraging new tactics, techniques, and procedures to enhance lethality and destruction. The integration of fiber-optic (FO) connected drones, first-person view (FPV) technology, and 3D printed munition-dropping devices in particular demonstrates a dire need for legislative intervention. These …

Towards Sustainable Energy Storage: Evaluating The Performance Of Three Polymer Electrolytes For Zinc-Ion Batteries, Roya Rajabi, Shichen Sun, Buke Sun, Jamil A. Khan, Kevin Huang

Faculty Publications

Polymer electrolytes have been explored as an alternative to conventional aqueous electrolytes in zinc-ion batteries, particularly for flexible and wearable applications. Despite the increasing interest in polymer electrolyte-based zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), their development is still in its early stages due to various challenges. In this study, we investigated three promising polymer electrolytes: CSAM (carboxyl methyl chitosan with acrylamide monomer), PAM (polyacrylamide monomer hydrogel electrolyte), and p-PBI (phosphate-doped polybenzimidazole solid electrolyte) with Zn(ClO₄)₂ and Zn(OTf)₂, as electrolytes for zinc-ion batteries. The p-PBI solid electrolyte showed high mechanical stability and improved resistance to short-circuiting during cycling. The …

Towards Sustainable Energy Storage: Evaluating The Performance Of Three Polymer Electrolytes For Zinc-Ion Batteries, Roya Rajabi, Shichen Sun, Buke Wu, Jamil A. Khan, Kevin Huang

Faculty Publications

Polymer electrolytes have been explored as an alternative to conventional aqueous electrolytes in zinc-ion batteries, particularly for flexible and wearable applications. Despite the increasing interest in polymer electrolyte-based zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), their development is still in its early stages due to various challenges. In this study, we investigated three promising polymer electrolytes: CSAM (carboxyl methyl chitosan with acrylamide monomer), PAM (polyacrylamide monomer hydrogel electrolyte), and p-PBI (phosphate-doped polybenzimidazole solid electrolyte) with Zn(ClO4)2 and Zn(OTf)2, as electrolytes for zinc-ion batteries. The p-PBI solid electrolyte showed high mechanical stability and improved resistance to short-circuiting during cycling. The presence of carboxyl groups in …

Scheduling As An Organizational Capability, Felix Delmonte

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

This study synthesizes evidence on schedule governance as an organizational capability integrating Lean practices, BIM, Digital Twin, and AI to convert scheduling into continuous, data driven decision making that links front line observations to executive risk appetite and funding choices, showing how 4D/5D BIM, clash detection, automated material takeoff, and IoT enabled twins shorten planning horizons, reduce design errors by up to 80%, improve timeline adherence by 20%–30%, and, when AI is applied, further cut delays by about 18% and procurement costs by approximately $2.5 million; a four layer Integrated Lean–Digital Framework is proposed to align strategic intent, collaborative digital …

Retraction Notice: Reliability-Based Design Optimization Using Differential-Algebraic Equations, Iraqi Journal For Computer Science And Mathematics

Iraqi Journal for Computer Science and Mathematics

NOTICE OF RETRACTION FOR: Abed, Saad Abbas; Ghassan, Mona; Latef, Shaimaa Qais; and Hassan, Hind S. (2025) ``Reliability-Based Design Optimization Using Differential-Algebraic Equations,'' Iraqi Journal for Computer Science and Mathematics: vol. 6, Iss. 3, Article 8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52866/2788-7421.1280.
Available at: https://ijcsm.researchcommons.org/ijcsm/vol6/iss3/8.

Three-Dimensional Printing Of The Epineurium For Peripheral Nerve Repair: A Comprehensive Review Of Novel Scaffolds For Nerve Conduits, Alynah J. Adams, Iulianna C. Taritsa, Kaavian Shariati, Aaron Dadzie, Jose A. Foppiani, Maria Jose Escobar-Domingo, Daniela Lee, Angelica Hernandez-Alvarez, Kirsten Schuster, Helen Xun

School of Medicine Publications

Background: Nerve conduits are used to bridge peripheral nerve defects caused by trauma, iatrogenic injury, or oncologic disruption. Three-dimensional (3D) biomimetic scaffolds for peripheral nerve regeneration have advanced significantly in recent years, driven by improvements in printing technology and neuronal seeding techniques. We report on published designer conduits that can recreate the epineurium, a critical yet challenging-to-manufacture feature of nerve tissue.

Methods: A medical librarian conducted a literature search for our systematic review on EMBASE, Web of Science, and PUBMED, following PRISMA guidelines, for articles from January 2010 to January 2026 for the systematic review. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed …

The Ripple Effect: How The Hse Data Breach Shaped Public Opinion, Mugdha Srivastava, Abhishek Kaushik, Roisin Loughran, Fergal Mccaffery

Women+ in Early Career Research Symposium

The digital world is rapidly evolving, and healthcare systems now depend heavily on data-driven and connected technologies. While these tools bring many benefits, they also increase exposure to data breaches and cyberattacks, raising concerns about privacy, security, and trust. Although earlier research has focused on technical and policy solutions for data protection, less attention has been paid to how major cyber incidents influence public attitudes. This study addresses that gap by examining how a major cyberattack relates to people’s views on data security and trust in digital health. We surveyed individuals about their personal cybersecurity practices and their opinions on …

Beyond The Sayable: Wittgenstein, Theory Of Mind And Affective Simulation Of Llms, Haomiaomiao Wang, Lili Zhang, Tomás E. Ward

Women+ in Early Career Research Symposium

Wittgenstein’s distinction between what can be said and what can only be shown frames a limit of propositional language. Affect and aesthetic are not primarily matters of correct description but of how expressions function within shared forms of life. Large language models (LLMs), however, increasingly produce fluent language that resembles such understanding by reproducing the patterns through which people ordinarily talk about emotion and perspective.

This paper argues that apparent Theory of Mind (ToM) in LLMs is understood as competence in the publicly shared patterns of mental-state language, rather than as grounded understanding. Using abstract artworks, we show that LLMs …

Bridging Research And Practice: Your Guide To Implementing Evidence-Based Gender Equality Actions In Computing Education, Alina Berry

Women+ in Early Career Research Symposium

What if you could access proven strategies for promoting gender equality without spending months reviewing academic and grey literature? TechMate makes this possible. This free, open-access toolkit transforms scattered research into actionable guidance (actions) that anyone can use, whether you are a lecturer wanting to make your classroom more inclusive, a department head developing new policies, or a student advocate pushing for change. Actions are structured into four context-based categories and relevant subcategories. Each action comes with implementation instructions, where relevant, with ready-to-use templates, and links to the supporting evidence. While developed for computing higher education, TechMate’s research-driven approach is …

Engaging Older Adults Through Artefact-Driven Approaches For Ai Literacy Development: A Multi Stakeholder For Digital Inclusion, Paula Kelly, Mayank Parmar, Damon Berry, André Almo, Fatima Badmos, Peterson Jean

Women+ in Early Career Research Symposium

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes deeply integrated into modern ICT and e-Accessibility services, older adults face a growing "digital divide" often characterised by a lack of awareness regarding how automated AI systems frequently functioning as "black boxes" infiltrate and impact their daily lives. This paper presents a multimodal workshop model designed to foster critical AI literacy among older adults, transitioning them from passive recipients to active stakeholders. Utilising an Action Research framework, the study details the co-creation phase of a three-phase national Age- Friendly AI literacy initiative in Ireland. Central to the methodology is the use of tangible exhibits as …

When Irl Is Not An Option: Social Media Bans And The Exclusion Of Autistic Youth, Melanie Gruben, Ashley Sheil, Anne Ryan Duffy, Jacob Camillleri, Michelle O'Keeffe, Hazel Murray

Women+ in Early Career Research Symposium

After the roll-out of the social media ban in Australia in 2025, policy makers are considering psychosocial benefits and logistical implications. However, the needs of autistic people, who may rely more on the Internet for social connection earlier in life, should be taken into account. This white paper proposes a responsibility to support alternative means of social connection for autistic young people where bans are considered, as IRL (in real life) socialising is not always accessible.

Selfhealth: Continuous Semantic Intelligence For Privacy-Aware Lifelogging, Allie Tran

Women+ in Early Career Research Symposium

Lifelogging — the continuous digital recording of everyday experience through wearable cameras and sensors — has long promised benefits for memory augmentation, health monitoring, and lifestyle analysis. However, current systems follow a capture–store–retrieve model that delays analysis until after data collection, limiting their practical usefulness and creating significant privacy risks through prolonged retention of sensitive raw data. This paper argues that lifelogging should instead analyse data at the moment of capture, enabling timely, context-sensitive support and safer handling of personal information through privacy-by-design. We demonstrate the feasibility of this approach through SelfHealth, an early prototype system built on a custom …

A Human-Centred View Of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships Operations Using The Shell Model, Natasya Habibah, Paul Hegarty, Breda Kenny

Women+ in Early Career Research Symposium

The concept of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) has existed for decades and is advancing rapidly as a result of developments in artificial intelligence. Despite these technological advancements, human involvement remains essential to ensure safety and reliability. This study applies the Software, Hardware, Environment, and Liveware (SHELL) model to develop a human-centric framework for examining the integration of human elements with intelligent and automated technologies in MASS. The framework considers software, with particular attention to regulatory aspects; hardware, including general system and sub-system architecture; environmental factors, including both natural and artificial, as well as dynamic and static elements; and liveware, …

Comparative Time Series Forecasting Of Pedestrian Footfall In Dublin City Centre, Mercy Koech

Women+ in Early Career Research Symposium

Research on urban populations has turned out to be a significant field of study for a long duration.Forecasting pedestrian footfall is important for urban management,retail planning,crime analysis and evaluating the influence of public gatherings.With the rise of smart cities and the proliferation of sensor technologies there now exists a rich supply of data that offers unprecedented insight into the behaviour of pedestrain traffic.This study undertakes a comprehensive analysis of timeseries forecasting methods to predict pedestrian footfall trends in Dublin City Centre a key urban area with diverse spatial characteristics and high foot traffic variability.Using data collected via PYRO-BOX Counters sensors …

Enhancing Engineering Education For Students With Intellectual Disabilities Through Universal Design For Learning, Bree Jimenez, Ginevra Courtade

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This study explores the impact of a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) aligned engineering curriculum on teacher confidence and student engagement in special education classrooms, specifically focusing on students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The research investigates how the curriculum, combined with targeted professional development (PD), supports teachers in delivering high-quality engineering instruction. Through a mixed methods approach, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and classroom observations, data revealed significant improvements in teacher self-efficacy, particularly in areas such as scaffolding, differentiation, and accessibility. Teachers reported increased confidence in their ability to implement engineering lessons and foster engineering mindsets in their …

Supporting Data For Novel Approach For Quantifying The Impact Of Coherent Structures On The Turbulent Kinetic Energy Decay Rate, Tim Berk, Ankit Gautam

Browse all Datasets

This project investigates the influence of coherent structures on the decay of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). The work was conducted as part of the PhD research in Mechanical Engineering by Ankit Gautam at Utah State University.

Ai-Driven Mental Health Support For Caregivers Of Individuals With Alzheimer Disease: Systematic Literature Review And Development Of A Conceptual Framework, Sweta Sneha, Chandra Renduchintala, Isa Siddique, Evelina Sterling, Sweta Sneha, Nazmus Sakib

Faculty Articles

Background:Caregivers supporting individuals with Alzheimer disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) frequently encounter prolonged emotional strain, psychological distress, and social isolation, yet their needs are largely overlooked in current technological and clinical interventions. The special routines and obligations of caregivers of individuals with AD/ADRD are frequently not well-suited to the many artificial intelligence–driven (AI-driven) mental health solutions that are currently available. This reveals a critical need for sophisticated, customized solutions created especially to help the mental health of caregivers for patients with AD/ADRD.

Objective:To address the existing limitations of personalized mental health interventions, we aimed to identify existing literature on personalized …

Thermal Management And Lubrication Characteristics Of Tungsten Disulfide (Ws2) Vegetable-Based Nanolubricants, Jaime Taha-Tijerina, Dyana De Leon-Elizondo, Jade Mendieta, Leonardo Taha-Soto

Informatics and Engineering Systems Faculty Publications

Recent innovations with the aid of nanotechnology are more frequently seen in the industrial sectors. Lubricants are a high-end commodity resource used in many manufacturing processes; unfortunately, most of these lubricants are petroleum-based, which come with certain drawbacks, such as environmental aspects, handling issues and high costs. With the incorporation of nanostructures within fluids and lubricants, novel material alternatives are replacing conventional lubrication systems, maintaining the required thermophysical and tribological characteristics. This research provides an analysis of vegetable lubricant, castor oil (CO), and the effects of the incorporation of WS2 nanofiller at diverse filler fractions. A TEMPOS thermal analyzer device …

Molecular Origins Of Non-Frozen Water In Polyelectrolyte Brushes, Ali Dhinojwala, Saveen Jayaweera, Md Golam Kibria, George Mallinos

University Research

Polyelectrolyte brushes (PEBs) are promising coatings for reducing ice adhesion and regulating water freezing at interfaces, yet direct measurements of nonfrozen water retention at subzero temperatures remain scarce. Here, we investigate the freezing behavior of water confined in poly([2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium) (PMETA) brushes with chloride, iodide, and sulfate counterions using a custom-built low-temperature attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy system. Furthermore, we quantify the fraction of water that was present within the brush that does not freeze as well as the changes in polymer volume fraction within the brush as a function of temperature. Spectroscopic analysis of water vibrational modes reveals that PMETA …

Demonstration Of Coherent Optical Phase-Shift Keying With A Watt-Class 1550 Nm Tapered Diode Laser Amplifier For Free-Space Optical Communication Applications, Charlotte K. Duda, Aaron Cross, Chadwick Lindstrom, Julie Smith

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

High-power semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) are a promising alternative to erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), which typically amplify the weak signals used in free-space optical (FSO) communications. In this work, we demonstrate that an Aura TM SOA operating with 1 W output power can be used to transmit phase-shift key (PSK) protocols required of next-generation FSO communication networks. Firstly, we demonstrate successful transmission of binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) for bit rates up to 50 Gbps. Secondly, we demonstrate successful transmission of quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) for bit rates up to 100 Gbps. For both PSK protocols, we demonstrate comparable constellation error-vector …

Beyond Catalysts And Membranes: Using Cell Assembly And Operating Strategies To Significantly Improve The Performance Of Aem Electrolyzers, Mahmoud Amirsalehi, Venkata Sai Sriram Mosali, Mohammed Al-Murisi, Shaghayegh Bashiri, Hari Gopi, Pongsarun Satjaritanun, Benjamin Britton, Karen Swider-Lyons, Mustain E. William

Faculty Publications

Green hydrogen, produced through water electrolysis, is a key enabler of a low-carbon energy future, and anion exchange membrane electrolyzers (AEMELs) have emerged as a promising technology due to their potential for ultra-low-cost operation. However, achieving low cell voltage at high current densities and maintaining long-term durability remain key AEMEL challenges. To address these issues, most research efforts to date have focused on developing advanced catalysts and membranes. In contrast, the influence of non-material factors, such as cell assembly parameters and operating conditions, remains underexplored, even though they can significantly impact performance. This study investigates how such variables affect AEMEL …

Fiber Optic Polarimetric Stress Sensor Improvements, Maxwell R. Richter, Max Randall, Mark C. Harrison

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

The progression of diseases such as cancer has been correlated with tissue stiffness. For example, breast cancer tissue has been found to be stiffer than healthy mammary tissue. At present, stiffness measurement devices are not suitable for nondestructive, high-resolution measurements on small, delicate samples. We report a compact, portable, and sensitive fiber optic stress sensor that overcomes many of these limitations and is suitable for soft materials such as tissue. We demonstrate several improvements to a previous fiber stress sensor in physical hardware, software, and data analysis. We have designed and fabricated a custom enclosure to shield the sensitive setup …

What Is Passive And Active Release Retrofitting Rainwater Harvesting Systems?, Sarah E. Waickowski, Amy E. Scaroni, Beatriss H. Calhoun

Forestry and Natural Resources

Rainwater harvesting is the collection and temporary storage of rainwater for non-potable applications and stormwater management. Rainwater harvesting systems can be retrofitted with passive or active release to improve how well the systems manage stormwater runoff. This publication contains information that may be useful to municipalities, stormwater professionals, rainwater harvesting system owners and/or managers, homeowner associations, and stormwater educators, among others, on what is passive and active release, including their benefits and where to find more information.

Evaluating The Response Of Ageing Rc Bridge Piers To The 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake Using Bouc-Wen Hysteretic Models, Negin Fayaz, S. Kocakaplan Sezgin, E. Ahmadi, M. M. Kashani, M. Zaker Esteghamati

Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Research

This study examines the seismic response of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers subjected to ground motion (GM) records from the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake by comparing the impact of pulse-like versus no-pulse records. A suite of 300 nonlinear Bouc-Wen hysteretic models was developed to represent piers with varying nonlinear behavior. Each Bouc-Wen model was assessed under 24 pulse-like and 28 no-pulse GMs, resulting in 15,600 nonlinear time-history simulations. Subsequently, the relationship between Bouc-Wen parameters (i.e., period and yield displacement) and seismic responses (i.e., maximum displacement, residual displacement, and maximum acceleration) was analyzed. The results show that pulse-like records produce 5 times …

When The Student Surpasses The Teacher: Better Generalization In Ai-Based Seismic Waveform Quality Assessment Using Knowledge Distillation, Ali Namin, F. Jalaeifar, A. Kottke, M. Zaker Esteghamati

Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Research

This paper presents a knowledge distillation (KD)-based approach to reduce computational expenses and improve the generalizability of deep learning-based models for quality assessment of seismic waveforms. Using two different waveform datasets, teacher models are distilled into lightweight student models from two families of time-series-based and image-based models. Models from both student families are trained on a development dataset and evaluated on the testing portion of the development dataset, as well as on an entirely different external testing dataset. Results indicate that KD can provide student models with substantially reduced size (5%-10% of the teacher model's size) and latency while preserving, …

Sensing Negative-Cone Rotational Diffusion Of Dipole-Like Emitters, Yuanxin Qiu, Kaizhi A. Nie, Matthew D. Lew

Electrical & Systems Engineering Publications and Presentations

Fluorescence anisotropy and single-molecule orientation-localization microscopy (SMOLM) are powerful techniques that quantify the rotational diffusion of dipole-like emitters, which is important for sensing molecular interactions and chemical environments at the nanoscale. Numerous theoretical and experimental studies have thoroughly characterized single-molecule rotations even when those rotations are much faster than the detector integration time. Here, we extend the theory of measuring rotational diffusion to situations where a single dipole rotates uniformly everywhere outside of an isotropic cone of a certain size, termed a negative cone. This scenario corresponds to negative fluorescence anisotropy 𝑟 and has been observed in emitters exhibiting strong …

Dual-Function Plasmonic Structure For Logic Operations And Circular Polarization Detection, Marjan Bazian, Mark C. Harrison

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Many integrated photonic devices have a high potential for dual applications, making them more versatile components in photonic integrated circuits. In this study, we show that a plasmonic XOR gate structure, originally designed to perform logic operations, can also be used as a circular polarization detector. This multi-purpose capability stems from the phase-encoded input mechanism that controls the output response of the structure. We adapted this mechanism to select the output based on the polarization state of light. The design of this structure, utilizing the subwavelength field confinement of plasmonic waveguides, enables the integration of logic and detection functions into …