Digital Commons Network^™

Resilient Learning For Anomaly Detection In Smart Living Systems, Sahar Abedzadeh

Dissertations

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) rely on anomaly-based detection methods to ensure the integrity and security of critical infrastructures such as smart grids, smart water metering systems, and advanced metering infrastructures (AMI). Anomaly detection methods are commonly used to identify deviations from normal system behavior by establishing learned profiles and thresholdbased distinctions between benign and anomalous events. However, conventional frameworks often fail to account for adversarial data poisoning attacks, unlabeled unsafe events, and environmental noise—factors that distort training data, degrade detection accuracy, and increase false alarms. This dissertation proposes a resilient learning framework that mitigates these biases by integrating quantile regression, M-estimation …

Utilizing Drainage Induced Pfas Enrichment In Cascade Generated Foam For Efficient Removal At Wastewater Treatment Plants, Ethan Samuel Coffin

Dissertations

Observed trends in municipal solid waste landfills reveal a distinct disparity between per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) composition entering in waste, mostly as diPAP and FTOH, and leaching out as FTCA and PFCA. These patterns are elucidated by compiling PFAS compositions in paper, textiles, and carpet, with known precursor transformations that generate FTCA and PFCA in leachate. Landfill leachate is commonly discharged to wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), which are ineffective at degrading PFAS and only serve as key conduits and discharge points for PFAS to the environment. Foam fractionation has been identified as a promising technology for concentrating and …

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, Spring 2025, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Page 1 Dean's Message from Dr. Sen Subramanian
Page 2 Student Spotlights
Page 3 Kaushik honored, Three-Minute Thesis, & Ice Cores revealed
Page 4 Alumni Spotlight
Page 5 Day of Scholars
Page 6 Cyanide research, Record Research Expenditures, Adhikari awarded Miller Research Award
Page 8 Hanson Receives NSF Grant
Page 9 Snow Lab Research Team
Page 10 Faculty Awards
Page 11 Drone Day
Page 13 Khalaf Awarded Presidential Award

Common Terns (Sterna Hirundo) As Bioindicators For Atlantic Herring (Clupea Harengus) Distribution In The Gulf Of Maine, Logan R. Becker

Student Publications

Effective fisheries management is increasingly challenged by climate-driven shifts in species distribution and by a lack of data on early life stages of key forage fish species. In the Gulf of Maine, Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), a once economically dominant fishery species and a key prey species for many dependent predators, has declined due to poor early-stage recruitment and warming waters. Despite this decline, current trawl surveys do not inform early-stage Atlantic herring distribution due to mesh size limitations, leaving critical gaps in our knowledge. To address this knowledge gap, I used common terns (Sterna hirundo) …

Brother Nature: Pursuing Zero-Waster At Casa Maria, Isaiah Charles, Giuliana Porzio Cuenca, Tatiana Flores, Isabella Lopez, Antonio Martinez, Kelly Sawyers

Presentations - 2025

This presentation focuses on evaluating waste production and management at Casa Maria, a Marianist community on campus, with the goal of establishing baseline data and offering sustainability recommendations grounded in the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle. Insights from this initiative aim to inform broader sustainability efforts across the university.

Heartbeats And Algorithms: Black Pre- Med Students At The Crossroad Of Cardiology And Ai, Shuri Magdalene

Posters - 2025

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the healthcare landscape. • The underrepresentation of Black/African American (BAA) doctors is alarming with recent data of active physicians from the Association of Medical Colleges in 2021 has highlighted this underrepresentation of Black/ African American physicians in the U.S., with only about 5.7%1 of doctors belonging to this demographic, and cardiologists making up a mere 4.2% of this group1 .

Detection Of Microplastics In The Hindgut Content Of Zophobasmoriolarvae, Zoey Drexler

Posters - 2025

Microplastic and nanoplastic pollution is a growing environmental concern, with potential impacts on soil ecosystems and the organisms within them. Insects play a crucial role in soil health, and their digestive processes may influence the fate of microplastics in terrestrial environments.

Detection of micro- and nano-plastic particles in complex mixtures such as soil, sediments, and feces is difficult because these small particles often resemble particles of mineral or organic materials. One way to visualize them more specifically is by using Nile Red, a stain which is a dull blue when in aqueous on hydrophilic conditions, but which fluoresces bright red …

Exploring Electrical Impedance Tomography Techniques For Breast Cancer Detection In Three Dimensions, Emily Jean Mader Corcoran

Dissertations (1934 -)

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is an imaging modality whose reconstruction problem is severely ill-posed; large changes in the interior conductivity can present as small changes in the data. Due to this ill-posedness, reconstructed images generally have low spatial resolution. However, EIT remains a promising area of study for many medical imaging applications, including breast imaging. In this dissertation, a proof of concept study is discussed in Project 1: "Machine Learning for Breast Cancer Detection" wherein machine learning techniques are used to classify breast tumors as malignant or benign from simulated EIT voltage data. Promising results in terms of accuracy and …

User Perception For Usability And Security On New Technology And Online User Privacy In Real-Time Bidding, Subhash Rajapaksha

Dissertations (1934 -)

The digital advertising capabilities to reach users with personalized ads have been steadily improving over the last couple of decades. Automated mechanisms use efficient algorithms and a wealth of data to complete transactions between websites/apps and potential advertisers as part of what is known as programmatic advertising. Among the most prevalent protocols is Real Time Bidding (RTB), which selects ads for a user visiting a website in real-time through a series of messages within online ad exchanges. Such communications have the potential to carry detailed, personal information about users without their knowledge and have raised privacy concerns. RTB also poses …

2025 Research Day Program, Lincoln Memorial University

Research Day

This program contains poster presentation summaries from LMU's 2025 Annual Research Day conference.

Computational Investigation Of The Chemical Bond Between An(Iii) Ions And Soft-Donor Ligands, Naomi E. Rehberg

Honors Thesis

The nature of chemical bonding of actinide metal ions with arene and borohydride ligands is investigated through quantum chemical methods to understand how the transuranium elements differ from uranium with respect to their interaction with soft-donor ligands. Specifically, this study examines [An(arene)(BH₄)₃] complexes (An^Me₆; An = Np, Pu, U, arene = C₆Me₆). Density functional theory (DFT) shows that, when the complexes are neutral, electrostatic interactions dominate the interaction between the metal ions and the soft-donor ligands. Molecular orbital analysis, with both the DFT and the complete active space …

Editor's Introduction, Amy Mecklenburg-Faenger

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Editorial for Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council (2025) 26(1), special issue on Forum on AI and Honors.

Ai Responsibilization: Shifting The Burden Of Academic Integrity, Daniel A. Cryer

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Because AI text generators like ChatGPT give students unprece-dented power to outsource their work, concerns about academic integrity are escalating among instructors. This essay suggests that the proliferation of generative artificial intelligence in teaching and learning dramatically shifts the burden of academic integrity, typically shared between teachers and students, onto students. The concept of responsibilization, a defining feature of neoliberal societies in which individuals become responsible for costs and tasks once shouldered collectively, is a useful lens through which to view this new reality. Rather than policing students’ work, educators should recognize the new responsibilities conferred onto students by learning …

Teaching Ai Literacy Through Science Studies, Rhetoric, And Ethical Reasoning, Michael J. Klein, Philip L. Frana

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Building on the idea of productive troublemaking, this essay presents a team-taught interdisciplinary honors course that integrates science and technology studies, rhetorical analysis, ethical reasoning, and artificial intelligence policy. Rather than framing AI as a threat, this course invites honors students to experiment with AI technologies and develop competencies by analyzing AI as a social and subjectivity-shaping phenomenon—writing policy briefs, producing rhetorical analyses of science fiction, and completing self-paced AI literacy modules. Honors education is uniquely positioned to model responsible and human-centered uses of intelligent systems, thereby cultivating graduates who can both use and critically interrogate the AI tools that …

Analysis Of The Potential Impacts Of Brine And The Main Challenges Of The Water Importing Project From The Gulf Of California To Phoenix, Arizona (Arizona Water Project Solution), Alejandro Corral Hernandez

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

In December 2022, the Arizona Water Project Solution (AWPS) was presented to the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona (WIFA). The project proposes to develop, construct, and operate a Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) plant in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico, and transport potable water through a 200-mile pipeline to supply the city of Phoenix, Arizona, in the United States.

This study includes a cross-multiple-case analysis, incorporating expert data and information, to evaluate the brine impacts and challenges faced in developing the five operational SWRO plants in Israel and the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad plant in California, United States. By identifying patterns, …

Spatial And Equity Analysis Of The Xeriscape Conversion Rebate Program In Albuquerque, Nm., Claire Jordy

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

With increasing water scarcity concerns threatening water supplies, many cities in the Western U.S. are focusing more effort on their water conservation programs to reduce consumptive water use. The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (Water Authority) in Bernalillo County, NM has had several water conservation programs in place since the 1990s, and still, they aim to further reduce water consumption. The Xeriscape Conversion Rebate Program is one of the primary tools to achieve this goal, encouraging customers to convert their high water-use turfgrass lawns to desert-friendly xeriscaping by providing a one-time rebate on their water bill. This rebate program …

Intersectional Predictors Of Early Mathematics Identity Among Underrepresented Engineering-Interested Students, Douglas D. Havard, Adriana Quirós-Arauz

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This study examines the intersectional factors influencing early mathematics identity development among underrepresented secondary students (grades 9-10) with aspirations in engineering. Mathematics identity is a well-established predictor of long-term persistence in engineering, making its early formation critical to understanding student retention in the engineering pipeline. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner's bioecological framework, this study situates learning within nested layers of influence. Using data form the nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), which includes over 23,000 9th-graders, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted. The analysis examined intersections of race and gender identity across 16 variables spanning individual, micro-, meso-, …

Assessing Readiness For Transformation From Rulebased To Ai-Based Chatbot In Uae Healthcare: A Case Study Of A Rehabilitation Hospital In Abu Dhabi, Mubarak Alketbi

Theses

This study investigates the readiness for transforming rule-based chatbots to AI-based chatbots in UAE healthcare, examining a rehabilitation hospital in Abu Dhabi through quantitative research involving healthcare professionals (N=96) and technical analysis. Findings revealed positive perceptions of the current system alongside enhancement opportunities through AI capabilities, with perceived usefulness strongly correlating with behavioural intention, high service quality ratings for empathy and responsiveness, midcareer professionals demonstrating the highest AI acceptance levels, and system integration identified as the highest priority implementation area.

The research contributes to healthcare technology transformation knowledge in the UAE by providing a structured implementation framework addressing technical requirements, …

Monitoring Sand Migration In Al Ain City Utilizing Remote Sensing Techniques, Sanad Salem Mohammad Fareaa

Theses

Sand migration significantly impacts urban development, infrastructure, and ecosystems in arid regions such as Al Ain city, United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study employs advanced remote sensing techniques to monitor and predict sand dune migration across the Sieh Al Hama dune field, a critical area west of Al Ain. The research objectives include quantifying dune migration rates over three years (2018–2020) using monthly Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, identifying distinct dune fields, and analyzing the textural and mineralogical properties of dune sediments to infer their provenance. Field sampling from four dunes (Large Sabra Dune, Dune 1, Dune 2, and Dune 3) was …

Modeling Droplet Levitation Over A Heated Liquid Surface, Jacob E. Davis

Mathematics Theses and Dissertations

Research into the interactions between droplets and liquid surfaces is of importance for a number of practical applications. These applications range from spray cooling techniques in engineering, to infectious disease transmission, to the distribution of aerosolized pharmaceuticals and various challenges in particle transport in multiphase flows. In this study, we focus on the dynamics of a slowly condensing droplet, suspended above an evaporating liquid layer. The key objective of the present study is to formulate comprehensive mathematical models that describe the phenomena of diffusion and heat transfer occurring within this system. Using this, we model the flow around the droplet …

Building Trustable Methods For Group Recommendations: Advancing Fairness And Robustness Across Domains, Siva Likitha Valluru

Theses and Dissertations

On the internet, where the number of available choices for information is exponentially growing, there is a need to prioritize and deliver relevant results to users efficiently, on demand. Recommendation systems (RSs) address that need by searching through and filtering large amounts of dynamically generated information and providing users with recommendations tailored to them. These systems have primarily focused on (1) single-user models, where recommendations are tailored towards a specific individual, or (2) single-item models, where items are recommended based on a broader appeal to users and similarities in item metadata, in the past. In many real-world scenarios, however, recommendation …

Does Chatgpt-Permitted Assessments Help Students Generate Better Answers And Learn More?, Michelle L. F. Cheong, Yun-Chen Chen

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We discuss our methodology and implementation of ChatGPT-permitted assessments for a university-level spreadsheets modelling module. Through our quantitative data analysis, our students rated ChatGPT’s answers to be incorrect on average and thus will not help them generate better answers directly, representing low “Perceived usefulness” (PU), while they rated ChatGPT 3.5 with relatively high “Perceived ease of use” (PE). They gave a good “Behavioural intention” (BI) rating indicating that they were motivated to use it in future as they could still learn more about this module by using ChatGPT 3.5. We found that both PU and PE affected BI positively, with …

On Unraveling Student Resilience And Academic Performance In Higher Education, Aldy Gunawan, Ee-Peng Lim, Audrey Tedja Widjaja, William Tov, James Foo, Lieven Lode E. Demeester

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The transition period from pre-tertiary to higher education levels is critical. We explore the role of resilience by conducting a survey to investigate students’ resilience and the relationship with overall academic performance, learning experience, and well-being. This effort is part of an initiative to develop strategies for better student engagement in the academic program, enhance their resilience, and prepare them for a competitive job market. We conclude that (i) high-resilience students are associated with better life satisfaction and are likely to perform well academically, (ii) a favorable learning environment supports students to study and perform well in the university, and …

A Selective Vehicle Routing Problem For The Bloodmobile System, Aldy Gunawan, Samuel Alan Darmasaputra, Sy Hoang Do, Vincent F. Yu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Mobile blood collection has the advantage of greater reach compared to blood drives at fixed donation sites and is preferable for individuals with limited time or means of transportation. Bloodmobiles are widely used in healthcare logistics to increase the number of donors and donation frequency and to better match blood demand with collection. Bloodmobiles are stationed at predetermined locations, while shuttles are assigned to visit these locations to collect the donated blood. This problem is formulated as the Selective Vehicle Routing Problem under the Bloodmobile System (SVRP-BM). This research extends the Selective Vehicle Routing Problem with Integrated Tours problem (SVRPwIT) …

Code Of Faith: Programming Spirituality In The Digital Age, Caleb Martin

Senior Honors Theses

With the increasing pervasiveness of technology in our daily lives, it is critical to consider the potential effects on an individual's religious practices and beliefs from software applications developed within a religious framework. This thesis delves into the relationship between software development and religious experiences, examining the manner in which the creation, operation, and application of religious technology can mold and impact an individual's spiritual development. This thesis aims to inform the implementation of technologies with a nonsecular application, ensuring that they are developed with a deep respect for the nuances of religious experience. The findings of this study will …

Black Mothering And Environmental Justice Activism: A Black Ecofeminist Framework, Kayla N. Miller , '25

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Ai Usage On Employee Work Outcomes: The Mediating Roles Of Personal Control And Job Insecurity And The Moderating Role Of Ai Trust, Tiantian Wang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The widespread application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the workplace offers significant potential for process optimization andperformance improvement. However, the psychological mechanisms throughwhich AI usage affects employee outcomes remain underexplored. To address this gap, the present study investigated a sample of 170 employees froma media company in China, utilizing a three-wave longitudinal survey design. Specifically, this study examined how AI usage influenced employee creativity and task performance improvement through two mediatingmechanisms: the enhancement of personal control in problem-solving and the elicitation of job insecurity. Furthermore, the moderating role of trust in AI inthe relationship between AI usage and job …

Need Of Paradigm Shift In Cybersecurity Implementation For Small And Medium Enterprises (Smes), Shekhar Pawar, Hemant Palivela

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

The increasing digitization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has significantly increased their attack surface, creating opportunities for various cyberthreats. In the global market, there are various cybersecurity standards and frameworks available, but there are still many cyber news stories from each corner of the world talking about increasing sophisticated cyber-attacks among organizations. According to recent studies, one out of five cyberattacks is targeting SMEs. Even though SMEs are relatively smaller as individuals, they are responsible for maximum contribution towards the betterment of the global economy, including the highest role in GDP and various employment opportunities. As compared to large …

Blacktail Creek Energy Laboratories Metals & Mercury Laboratory Analysis Results With Hgl 2b Data Validation Qualifiers, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Draft Final 2024 Bpsou Subdrain Data Summary Report (Dsr), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.