Digital Commons Network^™

Urban Landscape Recovery And Lulc Analysis: A Deep Learning Approach To Post-Extreme Rainfall Impacts In Dubai, Xin Hong

All Works

From April 14 to 18, 2024, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) experienced its heaviest rainfall in 75 years, resulting in widespread flooding across multiple emirates, including Dubai. This study utilizes high-resolution PlanetScope imagery and a U-Net deep learning model to assess the flood impact and analyze post-rainfall recovery patterns in Dubai’s urban landscape. By integrating Sentinel-2derived land use and land cover (LULC) data to refine the training dataset, a high-accuracy U-Net model was developed through transfer learning that effectively classified pre- and post-rainfall LULC. Post-rainfall LULC change detections indicate that 23.8 km² of land was flooded, which is equivalent …

Secure Frameworks For User Motion Data In Virtual Reality, Jayasri Sai Nikitha Guthula

Theses and Dissertations

Virtual Reality is an innovative technology transforming industries such as gaming, healthcare, and remote collaboration. The increasing deployment of these systems results in the continuous collection of telemetry data, including motion patterns, hand gestures, and spatial interactions. This data is valuable for enhancing user experiences and optimizing system performance. However, it also introduces significant privacy risks. Unlike traditional digital footprints, motion data captures fine-grained physical behaviors that can be linked to individual users, making anonymization ineffective in preventing re-identification.This research introduces secure frameworks for user motion data in virtual reality, each proposed framework addressing privacy preservation from a different angle. …

Magnetic Macro Pendulum Design And Real-Time Control Application: Simulation And Experiment, Hüseyi̇n Yildiz, Serdar Yilmaz, Yasemi̇n Poyraz Koçak, Erol Uzal

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Over the last decade, the number of studies in the field of magnetic micro robots has significantly increased due to expectations of performing microsurgery, drug delivery, and similar medical procedures. Magnetic micro robots have advantages over other types of micro robots in terms of having independent designs for rotor and stator structures. Magnetic micro robots can be controlled by magnetic fields and can be programmed to move in certain directions and to perform various functions. This paper implements the computer-aided real-time control of a single-arm micro-pendulum structure to (eventually) perform cell manipulation tasks. The mechanical structure, mathematical model, control circuit …

Some Nonparametric Tests For High-Dimensional And Functional Data, Bilol Banerjee

Doctoral Theses

The advancement of information technology and sciences over the last few decades has facilitated the collection, storage and analysis of huge data sets. Many of these data sets contain observations having large number of features, and in some cases, this number is comparable to or even much larger than the sample size. Many traditional statistical methods cannot be meaningfully used in such situations. We develop some inferential tools for such high dimensional data. In particular, we consider the two-sample problem and the problem of testing spherical symmetry of a multivariate distributions. We construct some nonparametric tests in these contexts and …

Re: Butte Mine Flooding Operable Unit Berkeley Pit And Discharge Pilot Project – June 2025 Monthly Discharge Monitoring Report, Mark Thompson, Dave Griffis

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Combination Of Irreversible Electroporation And Clostridium Novyi-Nt Bacterial Therapy For Colorectal Liver Metastasis, Zigeng Zhang, Guangbo Yu, Qiaoming Hou, Farideh Amirrad, Sha Webster, Surya M. Nauli, Jianhua Yu, Vahid Yaghmai, Aydin Eresen, Zhuoli Zhang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) poses a significant challenge in oncology due to its high incidence and poor prognosis in unresectable cases. Current treatments, including surgical resection, systemic chemotherapy, and liver-directed therapies, often fail to effectively target hypoxic tumor regions, which are inherently more resistant to these interventions. This review examines the potential of a novel therapeutic strategy combining irreversible electroporation (IRE) ablation and Clostridium novyi-nontoxic (C. novyi-NT) bacterial therapy. IRE is a non-thermal tumor ablation technique that uses high-voltage electric pulses to create permanent nanopores in cell membranes, leading to cell death while preserving surrounding structures, and …

Transformation With Genes To Improve Lipid Production And Barcoding To Identify Unknown Algal Species, Michelle T. Rada

Theses and Dissertations

With the rising demand for alternative fuels, algal-based biofuels are a promising, sustainable source that meets commercial interest while producing lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels. This thesis explored two studies, evaluating microalgae for their future potential in lipid yield for biofuel production.

The first study involved developing a cost-efficient electroporation protocol that allowed for the genetic transformation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using the pChlamy_4 vector, which supports future cloning of genes to enhance lipid production. Parameters affecting DNA uptake and integration into algal genomes were studied: the effect of cell density, the settings of the electroporation device, and …

Detection Of Oil Pollution On The Tigris River In Iraq Using Fluorescence And Reflecting Techniques, Ahmad K. Ahmad, Thamer M. Mohammed

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

In this study, a broadband light source (visible and ultraviolet) was used to name minerals via fluorescence spectra and estimate slick oil thickness, ranging from sub-millimetres, using the reflecting spectrum technique. Using a fluorescent technique, we obtained fluorescence spectra of the samples, converting and processing the signals to produce high-resolution data, which enabled the identification of the types of dissolved elements and oil slicks in the Tigris River, highlighting pollution sources and potential control measures. This system aims to show the faint signal in fluorescence samples collected from the cooling system outlet water throughout the refining process from AL-Dora (Baghdad) …

Trace Element Migration In Groundwater In Sandstone Aquifers In The Jurassic Coalfields: A Case Study Of The Guojiahe Coal Mine, Shi Longqing, Qu Xingyue, Cheng Hao

Coal Geology & Exploration

Background The Ordos Basin, a vital energy hub in China, contains considerable coal reserves. However, the environmental issues arising from coal mining warrant attention, especially given the fragile ecosystems of the Jurassic coalfields. Methods This study investigated the Guojiahe Coal Mine in Shaanxi Province. Based on measured concentrations of 31 trace elements dissolved in sandstone aquifers across varying geological ages, this study conducted a comparative analysis of the evolutionary characteristics of these trace elements between unmined reducing and post-mining oxidizing conditions using numerical simulations. Accordingly, it revealed the impacts of coal seam mining on trace element migration in groundwater in …

Research On Monitoring And Early Warning Systems For Mine Water: Progress And Prospects, Yin Shangxian, Ding Yingying, Lian Huiqing, Dong Donglin, Du Tong, Yin Huichao, Zhao Peng, Zhang Yi’An, Wang Xiong

Coal Geology & Exploration

Background Water disasters in mines are occasional accidents occurring due to the influence or triggered by mining-induced intense changes in geological bodies. The complexity, heterogeneity, and dynamics of geological bodies, coupled with the random and instantaneous nature of mining influence, lead to the uncertainty, instability, occasionality, and transience of water disasters in mines. Given that mine water monitoring and early warning serve as a prerequisite for advanced disaster prevention and control, their research and system construction hold great theoretical significance and practical value. Progress and Prospects Fighting against water disasters in mines is conducted throughout the development and utilization of …

Multi-Objective Allocation Optimization Model For Water Resources From A Coal Mine In The Inner Mongolia-Shaanxi Contiguous Area, Miao Hechao, Dong Shuning, Wang Hao, Yang Yuanyuan, Qiao Wei, Wang Xiaodong, Wang Dongqi, Fu Hongyang, Liu Yuting

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objective In China, as coal resource exploitation shifts gradually from eastern to western regions, coal bases in the western region play an increasingly notable foundational role in the basic energy supply in the national economy. However, due to its fragile ecosystems, the safe, efficient, and green coal exploitation of this region has long been challenged by the contradiction between the prevention and control of water hazards and the conservation of water resources. Therefore, advancing intelligent mine water control technology is identified as a crucial method to address the conflicts between coal mining and mine water in the western region. Additionally, …

Groundwater Rebound And Seepage Characteristics And Water Quality Evolution In A Sealed Mining Area In North China Type Coalfield, Yin Huiyong, Sun Dehui, Dong Fangying, Wang Fanhua, Zhang Lifeng, Wu Tao, Liu Chao, Zeng Yifan

Coal Geology & Exploration

Background The seepage field and water quality evolution associated with the groundwater rebound induced by the sealing of mining areas significantly affects the prevention and control of mine water hazards, as well as the recycling of water resources. Systematically elucidating the mechanisms underlying the seepage-hydrochemistry synergy of groundwater is recognized as a fundamental scientific issue for promoting the collaborative management and resource development of the water systems in mining areas. Methods Based on the engineering background of the sealed No.116 mining area in the Binhu Coal Mine, Zaozhuang, Shandong Province, this study investigated the groundwater rebound and seepage characteristics, along …

(Arise) Achievements In Research, Inquiry And Scholarship Exhibition 2025, Office Of Undergraduate Research

(ARISE) Achievements in Research, Inquiry and Scholarship Exhibition

Conference held at John A. Delaney Student Union on July 25, 2025

Conversion Relationships And Three-Dimensional Storage And Utilization Modes Of Four Water Resources In An Open-Pit Mining Area, Chen Tianci, Xu Zhimin, Sun Yajun, Fang Jie, Wang Qiangmin, Xiong Xiaofeng, Zhu Yuhao, Lu Zihan, Wan Fei

Coal Geology & Exploration

Background Open-pit coal mines in China are primarily distributed in arid and semi-arid regions such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. However, the contradiction between coal mining and groundwater resource conservation is increasingly prominent in these regions. Specifically, a substantial amount of mine water inflow produced during coal mining tends to lead to the further loss of groundwater resources within the influence range of a mining area. Concurrently, the failure of efficient mine water storage intensifies the regional water shortage.Methods This study investigated a typical open-pit coal mine in eastern Inner Mongolia. Using methods such as field survey and sampling, …

An Experimental Investigation Of Federal Messaging On Public Support For Enforcement- And Treatment-Based Approaches For Opioid Overdose Prevention In South Carolina, Lídia Gual-Gonzalez, Hunter M. Boehme, Peter Baker, Melissa Nolan Ph.D., Mph

Faculty Publications

Background

As the opioid overdose crisis continues to produce excessive morbidity and mortality in the United States, government agencies have applied various approaches to prevent overdoses, including law-enforcement efforts (e.g., arresting people who use drugs, interrupting drug traffickers, etc.) and treatment-based approaches (e.g., naloxone, medications for opioid use disorder, etc.). Public perception and support of these approaches are relevant for informing policy, allocating resources, and effectively implementing community interventions to prevent drug-related harms.

Methods

Using an embedded informational survey design, we experimentally assessed whether public support for strategies to prevent overdose in South Carolina is influenced by language from federal …

Re: Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Insufficiently Reclaimed Sites Sampling: Bres No. 84 Site Evaluation Summary Report (Dated April 11, 2025), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Comment Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Draft Final 2022 Unreclaimed Sites Sampling: Ur-06 Site Evaluation Summary Report (Dated April 1, 2025), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Comment Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Unreclaimed Sites Ur-22 Site Evaluation Summary Report (Dated April 2, 2025), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Comment Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Draft Final 2025 Residential Metals Abatement Program (Rmap) Valley Sand & Gravel (Builders Firstsource) Borrow Submittal #1 (Dated June 27, 2025), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Comment Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Draft Final 2022 Unreclaimed Sites Sampling: Ur-12 Site Evaluation Summary Report (Dated April 8, 2025), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Comment Letter For Bpsou Uncontrolled Surface Flow Areas Drainage C 30% Design Rawp (Dated June 23, 2025), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Improving Large Language Models’ Summarization Accuracy By Adding Highlights To Discharge Notes: Comparative Evaluation, Mahshad Koohi Habibi Dehkordi, Yehoshua Perl, Fadi P. Deek, Zhe He, Vipina K. Keloth, Hao Liu, Gai Elhanan, Andrew J. Einstein

School of Computing Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: The American Medical Association recommends that electronic health record (EHR) notes, often dense and written in nuanced language, be made readable for patients and laypeople, a practice we refer to as the simplification of discharge notes. Our approach to achieving the simplification of discharge notes involves a process of incremental simplification steps to achieve the ideal note. In this paper, we present the first step of this process. Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated considerable success in text summarization. Such LLM summaries represent the content of EHR notes in an easier-to-read language. However, LLM summaries can also introduce inaccuracies. …

The Sodium-Glutamate Antagonist Riluzole Improves Outcome After Acute Spinal Cord Injury: Results From The Riscis Randomised Controlled Trial Analysed Using A Global Statistical Analytic Technique, Michael G. Fehlings, Karlo M. Pedro, Mohammed Ali Alvi, Ali Moghaddamjou, James S. Harrop, Ralph Stanford, Jonathon Ball, Bizhan Aarabi, Paul M. Arnold, James D. Guest, Shekar N. Kurpad, James M. Schuster, Ahmad N. Nassr, Karl M. Schmitt, Jefferson R. Wilson, Darrel S. Brodke, Faiz U. Ahmad, Albert Yee, Wilson Z. Ray, Nathaniel P. Brooks, Jason Wilson, Diana S.L. Chow, Elizabeth G. Toups, Kevin E. Thorpe, Jiaxin Huang, Peng Huang

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) clinical trials typically rely on a single primary endpoint to assess drug efficacy. This strategy fails to adequately capture the full impact of treatment in heterogenous neurological conditions like SCI. A more patient-centric analysis requires assessment of neurological function, functional capacity, and quality of life, incorporating meaningful patient-reported outcomes. The global statistical test (GST) addresses this challenge using a unified statistical conclusion regarding the superiority of a treatment strategy over another by evaluating multiple trial endpoints simultaneously. Methods: The RISCIS trial (Safety and Efficacy of Riluzole in Acute Spinal Cord Injury Study) data was analysed …

How Effective Are Engineered And Non-Engineered Riparian Forest Restoration Projects In Providing Salmonid-Quality Habitat In The San Francisco Bay Area?, Alexander Ivanov

Master's Theses

Streams and their riparian zones in the San Francisco Bay Area have been degraded, severely harming salmonid populations in the region. Ecological restoration is a common approach to return stream function. Such restoration projects vary widely in intensity, from low-impact vegetation removal/planting to highly engineered projects involving structures and grading. This research investigated the effectiveness of streams restored using engineered versus non-engineered solutions in supporting salmonid habitat viability in San Francisco Bay Area streams. Fourteen streams, seven from each of the two types of restoration, were sampled in the wet and dry season in 2024, three times each season. Data …

Assessing The Adversarial Robustness Of Multimodal Medical Ai Systems: Insights Into Vulnerabilities And Modality Interactions, Ekaterina Mozhegova, Asad Masood Khattak, Adil Khan, Roman Garaev, Bader Rasheed, Muhammad Shahid Anwar

All Works

The emergence of both task-specific single-modality models and general-purpose multimodal large models presents new opportunities, but also introduces challenges, particularly regarding adversarial attacks. In high-stakes domains like healthcare, these attacks can severely undermine model reliability and their applicability in real-world scenarios, highlighting the critical need for research focused on adversarial robustness. This study investigates the behavior of multimodal models under various adversarial attack scenarios. We conducted experiments involving two modalities: images and texts. Our findings indicate that multimodal models exhibit enhanced resilience against adversarial attacks compared to their single-modality counterparts. This supports our hypothesis that the integration of multiple modalities …

Antibacterial Potential Of Tapanuli Orangutan (Pongo Tapanuliensis) Food In Batang Toru Forest Against Escherichia Coli And Salmonella Typhi, Herna Febrianty Sianipar, Wahyu Widoretno, Luchman Hakim, Rezi Rahmi Amolia, Fatchiyah Fatchiyah

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Diarrhea is a common disease affecting orangutans, primarily caused by Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi bacteria. To treat this disease, antibacterial food sources are essential as therapeutic agents for orangutans. The fruits consumed by Tapanuli orangutans include Campnosperma auriculatum, Agathis borneensis, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Castanopsis argantea, and Aglaia tomentosa. This study aims to examine the amino acid and phytochemical components with potential antibacterial properties in these five fruit species and their inhibitory effects on E. coli and S. typhi growth through cell lysis, observed using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The samples were tested for amino acids, phytochemicals, vitamin C content, …

Investigating The Impact Of Agent Openness On Planning In Multi-Agent Systems, Bala Subramanyam Duggirala

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Multi-agent systems (MAS) possess significant potential for modeling real-world scenarios requiring coordinated actions (like wildfire fighting or ridesharing) among autonomous entities or agents (e.g., wildfire fighting agents) in complex, dynamic environments. Effective decision-theoretic planning (where each agent must carefully consider both the immediate and the future situations or states, and coordinate with the other agents (neighbors) to evaluate what needs to be done at present) within MAS, especially multiagent planning, where the planning agent directly models its neighbors in order to estimate their optimal actions, is critical, yet challenged by factors like partial observability, openness, and diverse agent types with …

Zero Trust Architecture For Electric Transportation Systems: A Systematic Survey And Deep Learning Framework For Replay Attack Detection, Grace Muriithi, Behnaz Papari, Ali Arsalan, Laxman Timilsina, Alex Muriithi, Elutunji Buraimoh, Asif Khan, Gokhan Ozkan, Christopher Edrington, Akram Papari

Montclair State University Scholarship & Creative Works

Modern and autonomous hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), as complex cyber-physical systems, represent a key innovation in the future of transportation. However, the increasing interconnectivity and reliance on digital components expose these vehicles to significant cybersecurity risks. To address these challenges, Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) has emerged as a promising security framework. Operating on the principle of ‘never trust, always verify,’ ZTA offers a comprehensive approach to ensuring continuous trust verification in HEV systems. Despite its potential, the application of ZTA within cyber-physical vehicular systems remains underexplored, and its practical benefits and limitations are not yet fully understood by the engineering …

Re: Comment Letter For The Draft Final Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) 2022 Unreclaimed Sites Sampling: Ur-20 Site Evaluation Summary Report (Dated March 19, 2025), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Multiscale Modeling And Dynamic Mutational Profiling Of Binding Energetics And Immune Escape For Class I Antibodies With Sars-Cov-2 Spike Protein: Dissecting Mechanisms Of High Resistance To Viral Escape Against Emerging Variants, Mohammed Alshahrani, Vedant Parikh, Brandon Foley, Gennady M. Verkhivker

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has underscored the need for a detailed understanding of antibody binding mechanisms to combat immune evasion by emerging variants. In this study, we investigated the interactions between Class I neutralizing antibodies—BD55-1205, BD-604, OMI-42, P5S-1H1, and P5S-2B10—and the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using multiscale modeling, which combined molecular simulations with the ensemble-based mutational scanning of the binding interfaces and binding free energy computations. A central theme emerging from this work is that the unique binding strength and resilience to immune escape of the BD55-1205 antibody are determined by leveraging a broad epitope …