Digital Commons Network^™

An Exploration Of Image Segmentation Techniques For Real-Time Product Detection, Andrew C. Dunton

Master's Theses

Recent progress in LLMs enables advanced multimodal understanding, but their high computational cost necessitates monetization strategies like interactive advertising. While bounding boxes show promise for this concept, they can lack precision and visual appeal. Image segmentation offers a superior solution but faces a dual problem: traditional models demand scarce, costly training data, and open-vocabulary segmentation models like SAM are class-agnostic, unable to semantically identify a "consumer product" object class. In this research, we address these limitations by: 1) developing the Prompt-Guided Inpainting Framework (PGIF), which injects negative prompts to generate robustly annotated synthetic segmented product images; 2) investigating the Class-Agnostic …

Spartan Daily, November 19, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 37

Spartan Daily, November 18, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 36

Building Consensus For School Librarian Collaboration: A Delphi Study, Pamela C. Harland, Susan D. Ballard, Rachel V. Small

Learning Hub

This Delphi study engaged 38 national experts in school librarianship to develop a consensus-based model of school librarian collaboration (SLC) that reflects current practice. Through three iterative rounds the panel achieved strong consensus on a definition of SLC, a framework representing a continuum of collaborative practice, and necessary conditions for success. The resulting definition of SLC is "an educator-to-educator partnership to enhance student learning through complementary expertise that develops over time and is built on mutual trust, shared goals, and open communication." The seven levels continuum of SLC are: Autonomy, Curation, Contribution, Coordination, Integration, Partnership, and Assurance. These levels allow …

Spartan Daily, November 13, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 35

Spartan Daily, November 11, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 34

Spartan Daily, November 6, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 33

Spartan Daily, November 5, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 32

Spartan Daily, November 4, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 31

Broadening Workforce Participation In Transportation: Challenges And Strategies, Jodi Godfrey, Stephanie Ivey

Mineta Transportation Institute

Attracting and retaining a diverse, skilled workforce remains one of the most pressing challenges in the transportation industry. A new MTI-led California State University Transportation Consortium report examines why workforce participation gaps persist and identifies practical strategies organizations can implement to address them. Drawing on an extensive literature review, a nationwide industry survey with 996 respondents, and in-depth interviews with 15 transportation professionals, the study highlights both the barriers and the solutions to workforce participation. The findings emphasize that open dialogue, intentional investment, and inclusive workplace policies can help transform industry culture, making transportation careers more appealing to a broader …

Fresno’S Scribbles Bike Path: A Master Plan For Active Transportation, Holly Sowles, Uris Giron

Mineta Transportation Institute

The Fresno Scribbles Bike Path Master Plan, which represents a commitment to equitable active transportation and social infrastructure, is designed to enhance the quality of life for Fresno residents by providing safe, comfortable, and accessible biking and walking paths while promoting sustainability and fostering a sense of community. This report details the Intelligent Design Visualization Lab’s (IDVL) ongoing contribution to the Fresno City Scribbles Bike Campus initiative. This multifaceted urban intervention seeks to promote bike and pedestrian safety, enhance environmental resilience, and active transportation infrastructure through design, serving as a form of placemaking. In collaboration with the Fresno State Transportation …

Use Of Polymer Fiber To Improve Mechanical Properties Of Hma Containing Recycled Asphalt Pavement (Rap), Ashraf Rahim, Shadi Saadeh, Hani Al Zaraiee

Mineta Transportation Institute

A great percentage of highways and roads in California are constructed with Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA), and, as California infrastructure ages, these highways and roads must be maintained and rehabilitated. Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) is considered an excellent alternative to virgin (raw, unprocessed) materials because it reduces the use of virgin aggregate and binder. Also, the use of RAP decreases the amount of construction waste placed into landfills. This laboratory study investigated the effect of two different commercial polymer fibers on the mechanical properties of HMA with RAP. Three different HMA with RAP mixes were used in the study. One …

Spartan Daily, October 30, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 30

Spartan Daily, October 29, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 29

Spartan Daily, October 28, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 28

Do Sustainability Reports Contain Financially Material Information?, Suzanne Haley, Matthew Shaffer, Richard Sloan

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Recent years have witnessed significant growth in corporate sustainability reporting. Yet existing research provides mixed evidence on the information content of these reports for investors. We examine the stock market reaction to the announcement of a sample of US corporate sustainability reports incorporating Sustainability Accounting Standards Board metrics that are intended to provide financially material information to investors. Using standard measures of information content, we cannot find compelling evidence that these reports provide a significant amount of new information to investors. Further analysis of a subset of common metrics indicates that they are either financially immaterial or preempted by traditional …

Spartan Daily, October 23, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 27

Spartan Daily, October 22, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 26

Tracking Removed And At-Risk Government Information, Molly Blake, Sanga Sung, Ben Amata, Jenny Mcburney

SJSU Open Access Conference

The current U.S. administration is intentionally undermining public access to information as well as scholarly research by removing documents, reports, datasets, images, and language from government websites. In doing so, this administration is withholding publicly-funded information that we have a right to access, including data from government-sponsored research, historical information about marginalized groups, and speech transcripts. In removing these materials, the government is also deliberately sabotaging research related to topics it does not like, such as LGBTQ health, COVID, and climate change.

It is difficult to grasp the scope of this problem: how do we know when something is gone, …

Algorithmic Collusion Among Ev Charging Stations With Independent Reinforcement Learning Agents, Yulin Zeng, Yiheng Zhao, Yuanliang Li, Yefeng Yuan, Jie Gao, Hepeng Li, Xiao'ou Yang, Hohyun Lee, Yuhong Liu, Jun Yan

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Recent advancements in reinforcement learning (RL) have significantly enhanced the autonomous decision-making capabilities of energy systems. In the realm of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, operators aim to autonomously learn optimal pricing strategies based on local observations and user behavior. Traditional multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) approaches often assume cooperative settings with reward sharing or communication, real-world EV charging infrastructures are typically decentralized and competitive. This paper investigates the potential for tacit collusion in such realistic, non-cooperative environments. By leveraging decentralized MARL, we show that independently trained agents can still exhibit emergent collusive behaviors. Our findings highlight a critical need for …

Spartan Daily, October 21, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 25

Exploring The Role Of Culture And Bilingualism In Programming Activities: Lessons From African Educators, Emma R. Dodoo, Katharine Childs, Ethel Tshukudu

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The delivery of culturally relevant content in K-12 computing education is widely recognized as essential for engaging students and fostering meaningful learning experiences. However, in many African contexts, K-12 computing teachers feel unprepared to address this need. Course materials often fail to reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of the students they serve. In this study, we conducted participatory design sessions with education stakeholders, including primary and secondary school teachers, to develop culturally relevant programming activities for a national programming outreach initiative in Botswana. Our findings emphasize the importance of relatable examples and a balanced approach to integrating cultural elements …

Contextualizing Introductory Computer Science: Insights From African Faculty, Ethel Tshukudu, Ismaila Temitayo Sanusi, Oluwakemi Ola, Sally Hamouda, Linda Marshall, Oluwatoyin Adelakun-Adeyemo, Emma R. Dodoo, G. Ayorkor Korsah, Sandani Luvhengo, Jack Parkinson

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Contextualizing computer science education has been recognized as a key factor in enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes. This study investigates the initial perceptions of university computer science faculty in Africa regarding the benefits, adoption challenges, and institutional support required for the successful integration of contextually relevant materials into introductory computer science (CS1) courses. Faculty then assessed a set of previously developed contextually tailored materials, grounded in Banks' Additive Approach to curriculum reform and aligned to the CS curricula 2023. The research adopted qualitative methods, gathering data through open-ended surveys from 22 CS faculty across 9 African countries. Thematic analysis …

Phase Transitions In An Ising Model Of Agent Expectations In Financial Markets: Analytics And Numerical Results In One And Two-Dimensional Network Topologies, Marko Raseta, Steven D. Silver, Alina Bazarova

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

We cite correspondences between dynamics in competitive markets and information theory in the objective of recovering signal from noisy information sequences. In financial markets, this objective has been examined as recovering signal on phase transitions between ordered and disordered states of agents in the market. These transitions have been indicated to denote critical points in time series of market price. Although there is a noteworthy background in information theory in the study of the dynamics of the Ising model in this manuscript, we pursue a different modeling approach. Whereas phase transitions in a multicomponent model of market states have previously …

The Symbiotic Harm Of A Criminal Record, Ericka B. Adams, Elsa Y. Chen, Sarah E. Lageson

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Having a criminal record significantly alters a person’s life chances, decreasing their opportunities for employment, housing, student loans, voting, public benefits, and more. The collateral consequences of criminal convictions, or the civil restrictions that follow criminal convictions, are well documented. However, because individuals are connected to families and communities, it is impossible to isolate the effects of punishment to only the persons holding criminal records. Instead, the effects of criminal records might be best understood as a set of symbiotic harms, marked by relational and interdependent effects. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 59 expungement-eligible persons and 69 community representatives, this …

Spartan Daily, October 16, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 24

Spartan Daily, October 15, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 23

Spartan Daily, October 14, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 22

Transgender And Nonbinary People's Perceptions Of Their State Context, Gender Minority Stress, And Mental Health: A Mixed Methods Study, Devon Kimball, Jae A. Puckett, Mihael Macbeth, Debra A. Hope, Richard Mocarski, L. Zachary Dubois

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Transgender and nonbinary (TNB) people experience gender minority stressors that adversely affect their mental health and wellbeing, all of which are shaped by sociopolitical contexts. We explored TNB participants' (N = 150) perceptions of how affirming their state was and associations with minority stress and mental health variables. Qualitative themes included: (1) Degrees of stigma depend on who you are; (2) Stigma persists even with small positive advancements; (3) Cis people take an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach to TNB people; and (4) It's in the air we breathe: Cissexism is an individual, cultural, and structural issue. Across …

Sensing The Pulse Of A Data Stream In Real Time, Vishnu S. Pendyala

Open Educational Resources

In an era where data never sleeps, streaming algorithms offer a powerful toolkit for extracting meaningful insights from high-velocity data flows. This talk explores some foundational techniques that enable efficient, real-time analytics with minimal memory requirements. The algorithms covered include a clever bit-based strategy for approximating the count of 1s in a sliding window, ideal for binary streams where space efficiency is paramount. Another algorithm helps estimate statistical moments (mean, variance, skewness) using compact sketches, enabling a deeper understanding of stream distributions without storing the entire dataset. One other algorithm identifies trending items with exponential decay, giving more weight to …