Digital Commons Network^™

Statistical Methods In Research, Horahenage Dixon Vimalajeewa

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This course portfolio documents the design, delivery, assessment, student-learning evidence, and reflective evaluation of STAT 801A-700: Statistical Methods in Research, an online asynchronous service course designed to introduce students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to foundational statistical reasoning and applied data analysis. The course is a non-calculus-based introduction to statistical methods used to answer research questions, with emphasis on collecting, organizing, describing, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. The course also emphasizes applications relevant to biology, agriculture, and other research-oriented fields. This is an online distance course aimed to develop students’ understanding of basic probability and statistical concepts, recognize the importance …

Course Portfolio: Elements Of Physics Phys 151, Evan A. Rich

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This course portfolio documents the instructional design, teaching methods, and ongoing assessment efforts for PHYS 151: Elements of Physics, an algebra-based introductory physics course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The course serves a broad undergraduate population, including architecture, construction management, and life science majors. The portfolio describes the teaching framework that integrates pre-lecture video preparation, active in-class engagement through iClicker questions, and collaborative weekly recitation sections, all unified around a structured six-step problem-solving approach. A central concern of the course is building students’ self-efficacy in physics, particularly among those with math anxiety or limited preparation. Two assessments are reported: a …

Koba-Nielsen Local Zeta Functions, Convex Subsets, And Generalized Selberg-Mehta-Macdonald And Dotsenko-Fateev-Like Integrals, Willem Veys, Wilson A. Zuniga-Galindo

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

The Koba-Nielsen local zeta functions are integrals depending on several complex parameters, used to regularize the Koba-Nielsen string amplitudes. These integrals are convergent and admit meromorphic continuations in the complex parameters. In the original case, the integration is carried out on the n-dimensional Euclidean space. In this work, the integration is over a variety of (bounded or unbounded) convex subsets; the resulting integrals also admit meromorphic continuations in the complex parameters. We describe the meromorphic continuation's polar locus explicitly, using the technique of embedded resolution. This result can be reinterpreted as saying that the meromorphic continuations are weighted sums of …

Matching Two Long Interferometric Pathlengths Using Low Temporal Coherence Light For Finding Hong–Ou–Mandel Dip, Keith A. Wyman, Noah S. Everett, Anil K. Patnaik

Faculty Publications

Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) dip from a biphoton source in a two-photon interferometer provides a myriad of quantum tools for quantum communication and sensing. But the stringent requirements for spatial coherence between the photon pair makes it prohibitively difficult to observe high-fidelity HOM dip in long-distance free-space implementations, e.g., for the photon pairs involved in quantum communication need to match the two path lengths within a few 10 s of micron because of the short coherence width of the two-photon wave-packet. While many techniques for the pathlength balancing of two interferometric arms have been studied and applied extensively, such balancing is further …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Organometallic Polymers And Their Cytotoxicity Towards Human Cancer Cell Lines, Paul Peter Slawek

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research aimed to synthesize organometallic polymers from dialkyl (methyl, ethyl, butyl, cyclohexyl, and octyl) and diaryl (phenyl) tin dichlorides and three organic monomers, dipicolinic acid (DPA), chloramphenicol (CH), and isomannide (IS), using interfacial polymerization. Structure-activity relationships were investigated through physicochemical characterization (light-scattering photometry, proton NMR, and IR spectroscopy) and cytotoxicity was evaluated against six human cancer cell lines (AsPC-1, PANC-1, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, HT-29, PC-3), with cisplatin serving as the reference standard.

Five DPA/tin polymers were synthesized, with IC₅₀ values in the range of 0.60–0.71 μg/mL. Their cytotoxicity was significantly lower than that of cisplatin (0.0023-0.044 μg/mL), suggesting that …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Synergistic Bioactive– Organometallic Condensation Polymers, Francesca Isabel Mosca

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on the synthesis and structural characterization of polymers with anticipated anticancer and antiviral properties by combining metal-containing Lewis acids, organotin dichlorides (R2SnCl2), Group 4 metallocene dichlorides (Cp2TiCl2, Cp2ZrCl2 and Cp2HfCl2), and triphenyl Group 15 metal dichlorides (Ph3AsCl2, Ph3SbCl2 and Ph3BiCl2), with biologically active Lewis bases, lamivudine, a synthetic nucleoside, and camphoric acid, a dicarboxylic acid, to achieve synergistic effect.

Five classes of polymers were synthesized using interfacial polymerization: lamivudine and organotin dichlorides, lamivudine and Group 4 metallocene dichlorides, camphoric acid and triphenyl Group 15 metal dichlorides, camphoric acid and organotin dichlorides, and camphoric acid and Group 4 …

A Protestant Response To The Pope’S Magnifica Humanitas On Ai, Derek Schuurman

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Pope Leo XIV released his first papal encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on May 25, a roughly 42,000-word document outlining a Catholic response to recent developments in AI. I had been eagerly anticipating this encyclical and spent much of the release day poring over the text. While there have been other Christian efforts to release statements about AI, this is the first comprehensive statement from the Catholic Church. What follows is a summary of the document, followed by my own response.

[Birds-Of-A-Feather] A Tri-Level Roadmap To Ai-Ready Universities: Strategy, Operations, Deployment, Sarah Forzetting, Rochelle Lundy, Ahmad Pratama, Karryl Kim Sagun Trajano, Antara Chakraborthy, Yasmine Wong

FORCE 2026

This panel discussion by three institutions will offer three approaches to conceptualizing and supporting AI use at the national, local, and individual levels.

Nanyang Technological University will frame the discussion by examining AI as a social good, highlighting how even advanced initiatives such as Singapore’s face equity gaps that risk leaving vulnerable populations behind. The panelist will further outline how information professionals and other key stakeholders can play a critical role in bridging these gaps in the pursuit of widespread public AI literacy. Stanford University Libraries will outline difficulties institutions have in operationalizing guidelines to help researchers bring a project …

Developing An Assessment Framework To Support Critical Evaluation Of Ai-Powered Academic Search Engines, Huajin Wang

FORCE 2026

As AI-powered tools are emerging in all aspects of research, it’s challenging for researchers, students, and librarians alike to assess the benefit, usefulness, and risks associated with a new AI-powered tool or AI-enhanced features of an existing one. To address this challenge, Carnegie Mellon University Libraries is developing a Tool Evaluation Framework to help users understand how AI-powered tools work, initially focused on AI-enhanced academic search engines. By evaluating criteria such as mechanisms for document retrieval, processes for content generation, and the quality of outputs, this framework guides users to carefully consider the strengths and weaknesses of a tool before …

Supporting Fair Practices In Scholarly Publishing With The Editorial Reference Handbook, Susanna-Assunta Sansone, Allyson Lister, Rebecca Taylor-Grant, Matthew Cannon

FORCE 2026

Co-produced by academics and publishers (incl. CUP, Cell Press, EMBO Press, Taylor & Francis, GigaScience Press, OUP, PLOS, Springer Nature), the Editorial Reference Handbook (https://publishers.fairassist.org) assists scholarly publishers in supporting the sharing of digital research objects and in operationalising FAIR research practices by addressing gaps in editorial workflows, policy implementation and stakeholder alignment. The Handbook comprises three interrelated components—a checklist, detailed guidance documentation, and a flowchart—intended primarily for in-house editorial staff while also providing value to reviewers, authors, and service providers.

Beside this practical collaboratively developed product, the Handbook is also a socio-technical pilot to improve the culture …

Ten Years Of Tuwhera: A Commitment To Sustaining Open Access Publishing, Donna Coventry

FORCE 2026

Tucked away, far from the conference circuit, is a part of the world which doesn’t tend to make the headlines when it comes to open access initiatives. New Zealand and by extension, the South Pacific, is a region struggling with a history of colonisation and trying to make systematic change around decolonisation - open access to research about ‘our place in the world’ is vitally important. 

Ten years ago Auckland University of Technology’s library (Te Mātāpuna) made the decision to start hosting Diamond open access journals. Starting with two established journals, the service was named Tuwhera which can be translated …

Asian Open Research Data And Its Potential For Ai: Bridging The Digital Divide Through Strategic Data Sharing, Mark Hahnel, Simon Porter

FORCE 2026

The growing momentum for open research data in Asia intersects with global advances in artificial intelligence (AI). Open data policies and infrastructures are increasingly recognized as critical enablers of research equity, reproducibility, and innovation. This talk examines the current state of open academic data, highlights economic and scientific arguments for its adoption, and explores the transformative potential of Asian open data ecosystems in powering AI-driven discovery. Drawing on global examples such as the Protein Data Bank and emerging health datasets, the discussion positions Asian institutions to leverage open strategies that simultaneously meet compliance mandates, enhance visibility, and accelerate breakthroughs in …

Managing Ai Bot Access To Open Scholarly Infrastructures, Petr Knoth

FORCE 2026

The rapid rise of generative AI has created unprecedented demand for large, high-quality research corpora. Open access repositories and other open scholarly infrastructures have therefore become primary sources for AI bots, because they host research that is not universally reliable, but remains far more evidence-based than most web content. This is both an opportunity and a strain: repositories are now more valuable than ever, but machine traffic brings sustainability, capacity and policy challenges. Repositories may be able to scale, but who should fund that scaling, and under what conditions?

The core dilemma is how to curb abusive high-load bot activity …

Beyond The Launch: Seven Years Of Sustaining An Open Educational Resource After The Grant Ends, Susan Gardner Archambault

FORCE 2026

This presentation shares seven years of lessons from maintaining Project CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), an award-winning, open-access platform where librarians and educators share adaptable information literacy assignments. Launched in 2016 with grant support and strong community engagement, CORA saw early success: international page views across 150+ countries, 200+ shared assignments and teaching resources, and community-building features like "adapt this assignment" and leaderboards.

But when funding ended in 2018, Project CORA entered what many open projects experience but few discuss publicly: the precarious post-grant phase, when initial funding and enthusiasm fade but infrastructure still needs support. Annual contributions dropped …

Ab-Initio Investigation Of 2d Materials For Voc-Based Cancer Biomarker Detection And Hydrogen Storage Application, Ibrahim J.M. Alghoul

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

This dissertation is motivated by two driving forces:
(i) the need for biosensors for early cancer diagnosis, and
(ii) the need for hydrogen storage materials to support a future energy hydrogen-based economy.
Throughout this thesis, both challenges were addressed using computational methods based upon density functional theory (DFT), as implemented in the Vienna Ab-initio Simulation Package (VASP), ab-initio molecular dynamics (AIMD), and thermodynamic analysis.

On the side of cancer biomarker detection, exhaled breath containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been shown to offer the analysis of a promising non-invasive diagnostic strategy. This thesis explored the functionalization of two distinct 2D …

[Birds-Of-A-Feather] Understanding And Handling Software Plagiarism In The Age Of Generative Ai, Daniel S. Katz, Scott C. Edmunds

FORCE 2026

Computing and software have supported research since their inception, and continue to play a significant role in knowledge production. However, the means of communicating research methods and results were developed long before computing existed, and the research community lacks best practices for documenting computational research elements transparently, reproducibly, and reusably.
Publishers are now more accepting of the inclusion of software (typically, source code) associated with submitted manuscripts, and many want to support processes to vouch for the integrity of software just as they do for other content, such as ensuring that ethical and legal concerns such as authorship, plagiarism, copyrights …

Diamond Open Access Journals In India: Status, Sustainability And Challenges, Mallikarjun Dora, Kanagasabai K, Raj Kishor Kampa

FORCE 2026

Open-access publishing has transformed scholarly communication in recent decades. The share of OA articles between 2014 and 2024 increased by 26%, from a modest 14% in 2014 to 40% in 2024. OA journals have evolved over time and exist in various models based on funding mechanisms, including the Gold, Green, Hybrid, and Diamond models. While OA publishing emerged in response to scientific inequality, middle- and low-income countries face the barrier of high Article Processing Charges (APC), which hinder them from publishing in those journals (Alperin, 2022). The Article Processing Charges are part of the Gold and Hybrid OA models, where …

Can Ai Help In Systematic Reviews? A Comparative Study Of Manual, Ai-Assisted, And Ai-Dominant Workflows For Librarians And Researchers, Aster Zhao

FORCE 2026

Systematic reviews are essential to evidence-based research but are often time-consuming and labor-intensive, for researchers to conduct, and for librarians to participate in, or teach. The rapid advances in Generative AI and AI-powered research tools, have created a growing interest in whether these technologies can assist—or even automate—parts of the systematic review process. However, questions remain about their effectiveness, reproducibility, and potential bias. This study explores the role of GenAI tools in the early stages of a systematic review: from literature discovery and screening, up to the identification of included studies.

We propose a comparative case study of one systematic …

Genai In Qualitative Data Analysis: Framework-Guided Prompt Engineering In Library Research Practice, Debby R. Wegener

FORCE 2026

As Generative AI (GenAI) tools become increasingly integrated across the research lifecycle, researchers need practical, reproducible methods for the responsible use of these technologies. This presentation will demonstrate a systematic approach to using GenAI for qualitative data analysis through a case study of thematic coding in a library website usability study at the Singapore Institute of Technology.

Drawing on prompt engineering frameworks like CLEAR, this session will illustrate how structured prompts can maintain academic rigour and enhance the reliability of GenAI-assisted analysis. The presentation will walk through the complete workflow, that is, from initial data preparation and tool selection to …

Using Ai-Assisted Programming To Develop Research Services Tools For Research Impact, Open Access Publishing & More, Gary Lee

FORCE 2026

Academic libraries play a vital role in scholarly communication, As research practices become more data‑driven and interdisciplinary, librarians can help scholars by creating and sharing flexible, customizable tools that align with local workflows and user needs.

AI Assisted programming (sometimes called “vibe coding”) offers a new way for librarians without extensive programming knowledge to develop such tools . This allows previously non-expert librarians to go from conceptual goals to working applications by rapid prototyping, experimentation, and roll-out, resulting in service innovation and improvement.

This presentation illustrates how librarians at HKUST have explored vibe coding with tools like GROK, POE, and …

[2026 Honorable Mention] Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, Daylyn R. Reese

Ethnic Studies Research Paper Award

This research offers unique insights into the creation and development of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary (N.M.S.) with a focus on indigenous populations’ roles (primarily Chumash and Costanoan). In this episode, I analyze what makes this NMS different from every NMS precluding it, how it recognizes a new goal in conservation (thrivability), and the areas in which improvements still must be made to authentically include and honor indigenous voices.

Obstructions To Some Injective Oriented Colourings, Russell J. Campbell, Nancy E. Clarke, Gary Macgillivray

Theory & Applications of Graphs

Each of several possible definitions of local injectivity for a homomorphism of an oriented graph $G$ to an oriented graph $H$ leads to an injective oriented colouring problem. For each case in which such a problem is solvable in polynomial time, we identify a set $\mathcal{F}$ of oriented graphs such that an oriented graph $G$ has an injective oriented colouring with the given number of colours if and only if there is no $F \in \mathcal{F}$ for which there is a locally-injective homomorphism of $F$ to $G$.

The Connected Vertex Cover In Graphs, Kamran Mirasheh, Elham Mirashe, Ebrahim Vatandoost

Theory & Applications of Graphs

This paper presents tight bounds and characterizations for the vertex cover number and the connected vertex cover number of graphs. In particular, we identify all graphs for which βc(G) = |V (G)| − 1, proving that these are exactly the cycles and complete graphs. The analysis employs tools such as the degree matrix and the Rayleigh quotient to derive new and sharp upper bounds.

The $K$-Total Bondage Number Of A Graph, Jean-Pierre Appel, Gabrielle Fischberg, Kyle Kelley, Nathan B. Shank, Eliel Sosis

Theory & Applications of Graphs

Let \(G=(V,E)\) be a connected, finite undirected graph. A set \(S \subseteq V\) is said to be a total dominating set of \(G\) if every vertex in \(V\) is adjacent to some vertex in \(S\). The total domination number, \(\gamma_{t}(G)\), is the minimum cardinality of a total dominating set in \(G\). We define the \(k\)-total bondage of $G$ to be the minimum number of edges to remove from \(G\) so that the resulting graph has a total domination number at least \(k\) more than \(\gamma_{t}(G)\). In this work we establish general properties of \(k\)-total bondage and find exact values for …

Hyper Face-Magic Graphs, Ross Belgram, Donald Mcginn

Theory & Applications of Graphs

For a planar graph G of order n, let F(G) be the set of all faces of G embedded into R 2 , including the exterior face. A bijective vertex labeling f : V (G) → {1, 2, ..., n} induces a face labeling f ∗ : F(G) → N defined by setting f ∗ (F) equal to the sum of all labels of the boundary vertices of F. The graph G is said to be hyper face-magic if there exists a vertex labeling whose induced face labeling is constant. In this paper, we state properties of hyper face-magic graphs …

Flip It And Reverse It: Probing Consistency Of Llm World Knowledge Under Logical Transformations, Rhianna Smith

Computer Science Senior Theses

When assessing the extent to which someone truly understands the topics they discuss, you might ask them a series of questions that examine their knowledge from different angles. As Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly integrated into real-world tasks, they are often required to reason through ambiguous and uncertain scenarios that rarely have a single correct answer. In these settings, their usefulness is contingent on more than accuracy alone. Rather, it depends on the strength of the reasoning that underlies their responses. This begs the question: how might we extend these types of tests to LLMs? We formalize this informal …

Fabrication Of Two-Dimensional Optoelectrical Devices, Holly Walworth

Honors Projects

Optoelectrical devices enable the exploration of interesting quantum states observed in two-dimensional (2D) condensed material systems. 2D materials, such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, exhibit unique electronic properties, including the Fractional Quantum Anomalous Hall effect (FQAHE). The realization of the FQAHE offers a pathway toward topological quantum computing via non-Abelian anyons. Still, fabricating high-quality 2D optoelectrical devices remains a significant experimental challenge. Using mechanical exfoliation and stacking techniques within an inert argon environment, we attempted to fabricate optoelectrical devices using twisted molybdenum ditelluride (tMoTe2) and gallium telluride (GaTe). Three devices were successfully assembled; however, structural defects including hexagonal boron …

Investigating How Llm Trading Agents Integrate External Signals, Rohan Ray

Computer Science Senior Theses

Large Language Models are increasingly deployed in systems that assume more information leads to better decisions: RAG pipelines inject retrieved documents, tool-augmented agents call external APIs, and multi-model architectures route signals between specialized components. Whether this holds when both the information and the outcomes are noisy, and decisions compound over time, has received limited empirical attention. This thesis tests that assumption on LLM-based trading agents. Using StockBench (Chen et al., 2025) as our benchmark, we ran 150 backtests across 2 frontier LLMs (Kimi K2 and Qwen3-235B-Instruct), 12 augmentation strategies, and 5 random seeds, over 82 trading days — a period …

The Malaugh Operations And The Quadratic Invariant Gaps Of $\Si_4^C$, Forrest M. Hilton

ETDs from 2020-2029

Connected Julia sets of polynomials generally correspond to laminations, sets of chords of the unit disc that reflect the dynamics of the Julia set. If the circle is measured in revolutions and the polynomials studied are of degree $d$, then the dynamics on the lamination is given by the covering map $\sigma_d(t) := td \pmod 1$ where chords are mapped by their end points. Every lamination has at least one laminational invariant set, which is loosely an invariant complementary component of the lamination. That set has a significant impact on the shape of the Julia set. James Malaugh showed how …

2026 June 04- Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.