Digital Commons Network^™

A Surface Wave Inversion Method Incorporating Interface Constraints And Its Application In The Assessment Of Ground Vibrations Caused By Mining-Induced Seismicity, Li Cheng, Qian Changbao, Liu Ying, Cheng Yi, Ni Shengjun, Yao Huajian

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objective In mining areas of western China, underlying interfaces with significant fluctuations affect seismic exploration accuracy while also posing challenges to the assessment of ground vibrations triggered by dynamic hazards such as mining-induced seismicity. To enhance the characterization of shallow velocity structures and to provide support for dynamic hazard prevention and control in mining areas, this study developed an inversion method incorporating prior information about geological interfaces.Methods A dense array consisting of 489 single-component and 108 three-component seismometers was deployed within a mining area in Longkou Town, Junggar Banner, Inner Mongolia. Accordingly, continuous ambient noise data for about one …

Cache Water District Conservation Program, Autumn Matthews

Spring Runoff Conference

Conservation and Education Programs.

Conservation Goals:

Increase community awareness through outreach, workshops, and community programs that support water conservation.

Expand and improve programs that encourage water savings and more efficient water use across the community.

Help residents save money by promoting water efficiency and reducing unnecessary water use.

Human Subject Studies For The Alignment Of Llm-As-A-Judge Evaluation Metric For Science News, Gabriel Vega Osborne

Knowledge and Creativity Expo

Science news has become an important vehicle to disseminate scientific breakthroughs, discoveries, and technological innovations. With the advancement of large language models and related AI models, it is possible to automatically generate science news from scientific papers, extending the reader population from domain scientists to a broader scope. However, how to evaluate the quality of the generated news warrants research. Traditional token based metrics have been shown to fail to evaluate the semantics and nuances of science news. Inspired by the fact that a major goal of science news is to educate readers with new knowledge, we thus propose knowledge …

Beyond The Survey: Performance Assessments For Higher-Order Sustainability Literacy In Higher Education, Gregory Vincent Massara, Courtney B. Ryan, Mary Ellen Mallia

Educational Policy & Leadership Other Graduate Student Scholarship

Purpose This study explores how a performance-based assessment measures students’ higher-order sustainability competencies in ways that multiple-choice or scaled-survey tools, common ways to assess sustainability literacy, may not.

Design/Methodology/Approach This exploratory case study created a performance task for a first-year honors writing and critical inquiry course. Students (n=9) analyzed a scenario across environmental, social, and economic domains. A rubric measured students’ abilities to address all three domains and articulate a feasible and balanced solution supported by credible evidence.

Findings Students demonstrated proficiency in defining the three sustainability domains but tended to struggle to balance them. Choosing scenarios in familiar local …

2025 San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative Annual Report, San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

The San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative is a network for public agencies that serves the San Diego region to share expertise, leverage resources and advance comprehensive solutions to facilitate climate change planning. By partnering with academia, nonprofits, and businesses, the SDRCC also works to leverage the profile of regional leadership. This is the 2025 San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative Annual Report.

Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Final Butte Hill Revegetation Specifications, Mike Mcanulty

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Large-Scale File Fragment Classification Via Multi-View Learning, Samuel Hildebrand

LSU Master's Theses

File reassembly is one of the most fundamental tasks in digital forensics, enabling recovery of data from potentially damaged storage media even when file system metadata is unavailable. This thesis reviews more than two decades of work in the realm of file carving, with a particular focus on fragmented file carving, which remains a focus of research, and file fragment classification, a principal component of fragmented file carving. This thesis serves a literature review of both file carving and fragmented file carving, surveys the massive amounts of data needed for the task of fragment classification and the datasets that serve …

Tornado Alley In A Changing Climate: The Eastward Shift, Kenny Reinhard

Best Integrated Writing

Reinhard argues that climate change is driving an eastward shift in Tornado Alley from the Great Plains toward the southeastern United States, increasing tornado frequency in more densely populated and less-prepared regions. It highlights how changing atmospheric conditions—such as increased moisture, instability, and wind shear—are contributing to this shift and emphasizes the need for improved preparedness and infrastructure in newly affected areas.

Enhancing Cyber Hygiene Among Communities Through Experiential Cyber-Security Awareness Programs, Dr Atul Bamrara, Partha Roy, Vishwanath Gargote, Khandu Thungon

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Human error remains the most frequently exploited vulnerability in the cyber-security ecosystem. Despite substantial investments in technical safeguards, cybercriminals increasingly rely on social engineering, misinformation, and emotionally manipulative tactics to compromise users. This study examines behavioral changes among participants who underwent structured cyber-security workshops addressing both conventional cyber hygiene practices and emerging digital threats. The training modules covered digital arrest scams, identity theft, sextortion, fake technical support fraud, fake social media profiles, online gaming related risks, and deep fake manipulation. The workshops were designed using interactive simulations, real world case studies, and hands on problem based exercises, with the explicit …

Housing Affordability Analysis Of Hillsborough County, Fl, Usa – Quantitative And Geographical Analysis Using Spatiotemporal Data, Bomin Koh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Housing affordability assessments rely on the 30 percent income method and generalized linear regression (GLR)-based hedonic price modeling. Both provide broad insights but fail to capture spatial heterogeneity in affordability challenges. This study upgrades housing affordability assessment approaches by incorporating the residual income method and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR). The primary objective of this study is to determine whether methodological improvements, residual income method and GWR, yield significantly different results and provide a more accurate and spatially adaptive understanding of affordability dynamics in Hillsborough County, Florida.

The 30 percent income method is widely used and classifies households as cost-burdened if …

Advancing Environmental Justice Through Chemical Education: Perspective From New Orleans’ Water And Air Quality Challenges, Ja’Lynn Keller, Sita Aggarwal, Rami A. Al-Horani, Morewell Gasseller, Navneet Goyal

Faculty and Staff Publications

New Orleans, Louisiana, faces profound environmental vulnerabilities arising from the convergence of industrial pollution, urban runoff, and climate change–driven weather events. This paper examines systemic challenges affecting water and air quality in the region, with particular focus on low-income and marginalized communities disproportionately burdened by environmental degradation. Drawing on educational and community-based monitoring initiatives at Xavier University of Louisiana and Southeastern Louisiana University, we highlight the integration of student learning with real-time data collection of contaminants such as fecal coliforms, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina revealed significant fecal contamination in sediment layers, …

Analysis Of Novel Cannabis Products Labeled As Containing Thc-Jd, Kaelas R. Munger, Carlton C. B. Bone, Killian M. Anreise, Robert M. Strongin

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective:

THC-JD (tetrahydrocannabioctyl) is a semi-synthetic cannabinoid with an eight-carbon C3 side chain, present in only trace amounts in hemp, requiring synthesis for commercial use. It has been promoted as potentially 19 times more potent than delta-9-THC, consistent with enhanced CB1 receptor affinities for cannabinoids with 7-8 carbon C3 side chains. While one peer-reviewed report identified THC-JD (tetrahydrocannabioctyl) in Japanese online products, an anecdotal report from the U.S. suggests mislabeling. Method: To inform regulatory efforts and consumer awareness and to address these discrepancies, this study chemically analyzed five U.S. commercial cannabis vape products marketed as containing THC-JD. Results: Utilizing GC-MS …

Addressing The Problems Of Data Variations, Quality, And Scarcity In Training Deep Neural Networks, Jian Sun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The performance of deep neural networks (DNNs) is strongly influenced by the characteristics and quality of the underlying datasets. This Ph.D. dissertation addresses three pervasive data challenges-imbalance, quality degradation, and scarcity-that commonly hinder the effectiveness of DNNs in computer vision (CV) and natural language processing (NLP) applications.

Class imbalance remains one of the most frequent causes of degraded model generalization. While Focal Loss effectively mitigates inter-class imbalance by assigning higher weights to minority classes, it struggles with intra-class imbalance, particularly in video datasets where longer clips dominate feature representation. To address this, I implement and utilize …

Secureai: Toward Experiential Security And Privacy Training For Ai Practitioners, Mujtaba Nazari, Eric Chan-Tin, Loretta Stalans, Mohammed Abuhamad

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence across industries has outpaced security and privacy training for AI practitioners. This paper presents methods, modules, and findings from an experiential training program designed to address security and privacy challenges in AI systems development and deployment. We conducted two program iterations: a comprehensive 12-workshop series (May-October 2024) and a condensed 6-workshop format (January-February 2025). The program combined expert-led panel sessions with hands-on laboratory activities, engaging 78 participants from diverse professional backgrounds. Evaluation through pre- and post-evaluation surveys and qualitative observations revealed improvements in cybersecurity knowledge and AI security awareness. Participants demonstrated enhanced ability to …

Science And Technology Communication And Construction Of China’S International Discourse System: Strategic Significance, Current Challenges, And Innovative Pathways, Haonan Du, Ting Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Against the backdrop of a new round of scientific and technological revolution with the ongoing restructuring of the global governance system, science and technology have become central to competition in national comprehensive competitiveness and struggles for international discourse power. China’s science and technology have achieved a historic leap from “catching up” to “running alongside” and even “leading in certain areas”, providing solid strength support for the construction of an international discourse system. However, the transformation of scientific and technological advantages into discourse advantages remains insufficient, and the international community holds a dual perception of China’s technological advancements—recognition alongside concerns. The …

Survival Politics On A Working Waterfront: Rules Change Faster Than Prices In The South Texas Shrimp Fishery, Owen Temby, Anthony R. Lima

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

In 2024–2025, the U.S. and Texas governments raced to save Gulf shrimp. Texas passed a truth-in labeling law for food service in restaurants. Federal agencies added antidumping and countervailing duty orders and new tariffs. This case follows Brownsville and Port Isabel, where dock prices slid while boats and crews aged. We frame the response as survival politics: urgent and improvised moves to keep a livelihood going even when imports set the price. Using legislative hearings, agency notices, local reporting, and port records, we show that rules reset faster than prices. Inventories, contracts, and supplier substitution delay any lift at the …

From Network Packets To Physical Consequences: Network-Level Spoofing And Loss Of Visibility In Industrial Control Systems, Lillian B. Beck

LSU Master's Theses

Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are the foundation of critical infrastructure as they provide resources like clean water, electricity, and natural gas to support our everyday functions. Given their essential role in modern society, the failure or compromise of ICS systems can lead to significant negative consequences and public safety impacts. Understanding how these systems can be targeted and exploited by malicious actors is necessary to improve their security and resilience.

This research examines how an attacker could manipulate a real-world ICS network by targeting a fully functional Natural Gas (NG) Compressor Station Platform that emulates real operations. This research led …

A Taxonomy Of Generative Models With A Focus On Diffusion Models And Denoising Techniques, Aditi Singh, Nikhil Kumar Chatta, Yuvaraj Vagula, Abul Ehtesham, Saket Kumar, Tala Talaei Khoei

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Diffusion models have emerged as a powerful class of generative models, demonstrating impressive results across visual domains such as image and video synthesis. This survey provides a comprehensive taxonomy of generative models, with a particular focus on diffusion models and their applications in enhancing visual fidelity for text-to-image and text-to-video generation. We discuss the theoretical foundations of diffusion models, including their formulation through stochastic differential equations, and analyze the forward noising and reverse denoising processes that enable stable training and high-quality generation. The survey further categorizes diffusion architectures, including pixel-space and latent-space models, and examines their design choices, training strategies, …

Graph Neural Networks Predict Anti-Epileptic Treatment Response In Non-Lesional Infantile Epileptic Spasm Syndrome, Karen K. Wurzel

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Background: With an incidence rate of approximately three out of 10,000 live births, Infantile Epileptic Spasm Syndrome (IESS) is a rare form of epilepsy with about 2,000 to 2,500 new cases in the United States annually. Each year, thousands of infants and families face uncertainty, often requiring multiple medication regimens before finding an effective treatment. This thesis uses pretreatment structural brain connectivity data to train Graph Neural Networks (GNN) to predict antiepileptic drug response in infants with IESS, aiming to reduce the trial-and-error approach and improve care for those with IESS. Method: The dataset used in this thesis contains de-identified …

Invitation To Fractional Calculus, Lyubomir I. Boyadzhiev

Open Educational Resources

These lecture notes are designed to provide the students who wish to become familiar with the basic concepts and methods of the Fractional Calculus (FC). The following features can be pointed out:  This text is prepared to be easily read and understood by students making their first steps into this topic. The lecture notes do not presume a background beyond standard college calculus curricula. Readers needing extra help will find tools for bringing their mathematical maturity up in the references and companion links;  The writing style is aimed to be direct and pragmatic. Precise mathematical language is used without excessive …

Geochemistry Of The Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous Limestone Of The Bilecik Formation In The Dümrek Area (Eskişehir, Western Central Anatolia): Implications For Depositional Environment And Paleotemperature, Asuman Kahya, Meti̇n Bağci

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous limestones of the Bilecik Formation are exposed near the village of Dümrek (Eskişehir Province) within the Sakarya Zone. Mineralogical analyses reveal that these limestones are predominantly composed of calcite and include intraclasts, fossil shell fragments, ooids, and peloids, cemented by sparry and micritic calcite. The U/Th, Ni/Co, V/(V+Ni), V/Cr, and Ce/Ce* ratios indicate that these carbonates were deposited in an oxic environment. Furthermore, the Mn/Sr ratios imply no diagenetic alteration, indicating preservation of the original geochemical signature. The PAAS-normalized REE+Y patterns of these limestones display depletion in light rare earth elements, a pronounced positive La anomaly (La/La* …

Neotectonics Of The Malatya Basin, Se Türkiye; Implications Of The Reactivations Of The Faults Of The Basin During 6 February 2023 Earthquakes Of The East Anatolian Fault System, Yaşar Ergun Gökten, Doğan Kalafat

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The Malatya Basin (MB) is a fault-controlled superimposed sedimentary basin situated in the SE of Anatolia, near and to the north of the East Anatolian Fault System (EAFS). The rock units ranging from the Permo–Carboniferous to the Upper Miocene form the basin’s basement. The thickening of the Upper Cretaceous–Upper Miocene sequence toward the Malatya Fault (MF), the basin’s northwestern boundary, indicates a dip-slip-dominated character for the MF and its control on the first-step sedimentation of the basin. The MF changes its character from dip-slip normal to the strike-slip in the Late Pliocene, and today presents a 1700-m left lateral offset, …

Numerical Study Of Porosity Effects On Temperature And Fluid Flow In Black Sea Gas Hydrates, Bahar Güvem, Doğa Doğan

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Numerical temperature and fluid flow simulations were conducted using ANSYS Fluent to investigate the influence of porosity variations on the temperature distribution within the gas hydrate layer. The study was carried out in the Black Sea region, where the gas hydrate deposits are of particular interest due to their potential for energy resources. The simulations explored various porosity levels within the hydrate layer to observe their effect on thermal behavior and fluid dynamics. The results revealed that porosity plays a significant role in modulating the temperature distribution within the gas hydrate layer, with lower porosity models exhibiting higher temperatures compared …

Effects Of Seismic Filters On Pretrained Cnn Models For Fault Detection: Application To The Delft 3d Seismic Volume, The Netherlands, Süleyman Alemdar, Ertan Pekşen

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Accurate mapping of faults from 3D seismic volumes is critical for identifying structural traps, assessing reservoir compartmentalization, and guiding drilling decisions. This study evaluates how common seismic conditioning filters affect both the visual quality of a production Delft 3D poststack time-migrated volume and the outputs of two pretrained 3D CNN fault detectors: UNet3D and FaultNet. Seven filters were applied independently—AJAX, DeSmile, SimpleDenoise, Dip-Steered Median Filter (DSMF), Edge-Preserving Smoother (EPS), Fault Enhancement, and Ridge Enhancement—and results were inspected across inline, crossline, time-slice, and full-cube perspectives. The analysis is image-driven, supported by high-resolution comparison figures and view-specific interpretations.Filters that suppress incoherent noise …

Integrated Dinsar And Hvsr Microtremor Analysis For Understanding Ground Deformation And Site Effects: Case Study Of The Bawean Earthquake (M6.5), Joshua Purba, Muhammad Fikri Hayqal Hiola, Ramadhan Priadi, Riska Yulinda, Iham Ilham, Rosa Amelia

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

This study investigates the seismic hazards of Bawean Island following a recent M6.5 earthquake using an integrated approach combining differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) and horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) methodologies. The DInSAR analysis revealed ground deformation characterized by subsidence up to 10 cm and uplift up to 8 cm, correlating with the region’s strike-slip fault dynamics. HVSR analysis provided insights into site amplification effects, identifying zones with low Vs30 values (153.77–454.72 m/s), high amplification factors (A0), and elevated seismic vulnerability index values (Kg). The dominant frequency (f0) on Bawean Island ranges from 0.64 to 17.76 Hz, with most areas …

Burdigalian–Langhian Flora Of The Çan–Etili (Çanakkale) Basin, Compared With Those Of Western Türkiye, Sari̇ye Duygu Durak, Mehmet Serkan Akki̇raz

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

A palaeofloristic study was carried out on Lower–Middle Miocene deposits of western Türkiye (Çan–Etili Basin). The sediments of the Çan–Etili Basin, which were obtained from measured sections, were deposited in a continental environment. The palaeovegetation of the Çan–Etili Basin (Kazım Oğlak and Keçiağılı successions) during the Early–Middle Miocene was mainly made up of evergreen and deciduous mixed forests (Castanea–Castanopsis, Cyrillaceae–Clethraceae, Engelhardia, Quercus evergreen-type, Quercus deciduous-type), riparian vegetation with high quantities of Alnus and conifers such as Pinus haploxylon-type, Pinus diploxylon-type, and undifferentiated Pinaceae. The reconstructed palaeoclimate data from the palaeoflora (pollen and leaves) imply a warm and temperate climate, with …

Ai Dependency Vs. Doctoral Identity: How Generative Ai Is Challenging The Development Of Independent Scholarly Thinking In Doctoral Students, Valerie A. Storey

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in higher education has altered the conditions under which doctoral students learn, research, and develop as scholars. Although doctoral student use of GenAI has accelerated rapidly, institutional frameworks for responsible and developmentally appropriate use have not kept pace. This paper examines a central paradox in doctoral education: the same tools that enhance research productivity may also weaken intellectual independence when used without guidance. Using a critical review methodology, the study synthesizes 47 sources on doctoral education, GenAI use, policy, and epistemic development. Three interconnected dimensions of risk emerged from the analysis: critical thinking …

Analysis Of Traditional Wisdom For Ecological Sustainability In Tanzania: A Case Study Of Metaphorical Source Domains In Pangwa Ritual Texts, Winne Stephen Mtega, Angelus Mnenuka

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Campaigns for ecological sustainability have gained a great currency in the contemporary academic discourse. Nonetheless, from time immemorial, Africans have pushed the ecological sustainability agenda through cultural taboos and regulated resource harvesting. Many African societies have embedded ecological consciousness in daily life expressions, and have intricately expressed it through literary and ritual texts. This study focuses on ecological awareness in the ritual texts of the Pangwa community. It analyses how environmental domains—such as land, seeds, and fruits—serve as the basis for metaphors in the Pangwa community to prove the use of wisdom to promote and sustain ecological practices (ecocriticism). The …

Ecomusicological Representation Of Climate Change And Environmental Sustainability In Selected Bongo Fleva Lyrics In Tanzania, Auson N. Wincheslaus

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This article critically explores how Bongo Fleva’s lyrics engage with environmental themes; and the interrelationship between nature and culture in the context of the Anthropocene. The data were purposively sampled from YouTube via content analysis, from which 50 Bongo Fleva songs were listened to, and only 10 environmentally-themed songs were analysed. Then, the selected songs were subjected to transcription (from oral to written form), translation (from Kiswahili into English), and close reading and textual analysis. The close reading of the selected songs focused on the employed aesthetic and rhetorical strategies, such as anthropomorphism, symbolism, antithesis, apocalyptic tones, solastalgia, rhetorical questions, …

Climate Change Vulnerability And Adaptation Pathways: Stakeholders’ Synergies In Building Climate Resilience In The Semi-Arid Area Of Central Tanzania, Helena Elias Myeya

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This article examines the perceived effect of climate change on cereal crop production and the responses of various stakeholders aimed at enhancing the resilience of smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of central Tanzania. A total of 366 household heads, 28 participants in focus group discussions (FGDs), and 8 key informants from Bahi and Kongwa districts in Dodoma, Tanzania, were involved in this study. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through a structured interview schedule, FGDs, in-depth interviews, and documentary reviews. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyse quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. The findings indicate that smallholder …