Digital Commons Network^™

Racing To The Polls: A Comparative Analysis Of Election Administration Systems Between The United States And Canada, Anna Kuhlman

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

Federal elections in the United States are conducted almost entirely at the state-level with no assistance from an electoral management body. The current federal election administration procedures lead to lower voter participation rates compared to other industrialized nations, specifically when considering Canada. Canadian federal elections are administered entirely through a national electoral management body, and Canadian voters are subjected to uniform procedures throughout the country. On the other hand, American citizens living in different states have significantly different voting experiences. By comparing the legal frameworks governing voter registration in both countries, this article will explore how processes such as automatic …

Equality, Morality, & Religious Liberty, Mitchell F. Crusto

SMU Law Review Forum

On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that the use of a specific race-conscious “tool” in the admission decisions of public and private colleges to achieve diversity is unconstitutional. However, in his nuanced opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts seemed to renew the Court’s commitment to the anti-discrimination vision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its progeny. Furthermore, the Court’s decision provided the possibility of an exception for its stated restriction, that is, for military service academies. Nonetheless, the Court’s ban on a race-conscious tool is expected to have a substantial, negative effect on the application and enrollment …

Crypto Regulation (And De-Regulation) In The U.S. And E.U. And The Effects Of Each On Consumer Protection And Illicit Transactions, Bella Alonzo

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

The United States and the European Union face a wide disparity in regulation tactics for cryptocurrencies. With the recent rollout of the world’s first comprehensive crypto-asset regulation framework, the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) has further exacerbated incongruities with the U.S.’s comparatively hands-off, scattered regulation strategy. The lack of uniform market regulation not only challenges compliance efforts, but it leaves critical gaps that have proved harmful for investors and opportune for criminals. Prioritizing international regulatory harmonization could result in continued growth of digital assets and a safer, more stable global crypto market, but the path forward is tense …

Donald Trump And The Collapse Of Checks And Balances, David M. Driesen

SMU Law Review Forum

This Essay analyzes Donald Trump’s erosion of checks and balances during his presidency and how President Trump will likely seek to complete their collapse if he regains power. Its First Part shows that congressional willingness to check presidential abuses of power declined during Trump’s presidency and will likely get much weaker in a second term. It also shows that President Trump figured out how to evade checks and balances from Congress in his first term and examines his plans to further usurp congressional powers. Part Two looks at the judicial role in facilitating or checking presidential power through a lens …

Enhancing Shap With Multi-Core Parallelization And Distributed Computation, Matthew David, William Jones, Hayley Horn

SMU Data Science Review

In recent years, the adoption of complex machine learning algorithms, often perceived as “black box” models, has grown exponentially across various disciplines. However, the lack of understanding regarding how these models come to their predictions often fosters skepticism and mistrust. In response to the demand for transparency and interpretability, Explainable AI techniques, such as SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), have emerged as powerful tools for comprehending and trusting these algorithms. However, SHAP has an exponential computational demand O( x2 ), where x is the number of features. This becomes increasingly problematic with the larger datasets standard in most industries. Many frameworks …

Remote Court Hearings (Past, Present, And Future): Arizona’S Next Steps For A New World To Enhance Access To Justice, Samuel A. Thumma, Marcus W. Reinkensmeyer

SMU Law Review Forum

In this article, the Arizona Supreme Court COVID-19 Continuity of Court Operations During a Public Health Emergency Workgroup (“Plan B Workgroup”) provides an update from its prior efforts, building on the Post-pandemic Recommendations: COVID-19 Continuity of Court Operations During a Public Health Emergency Workgroup, 75 SMU LAW REVIEW FORUM 1 (2022). This article focuses on the Plan B Workgroup’s February 2022 Recommended Remote and In-Person Hearings in the Arizona State Courts in the Post-Pandemic World and developments after those Recommendations. The article highlights the consideration and adoption of the Recommendations by the Arizona Judicial Council and the Arizona Supreme Court, …

Constraints On Solar Axions Using The Profile Likelihood Ratio Method With The Supercdms Experiments, Shilun Liu

Physics Theses and Dissertations

Dark matter plays an essential role in understanding modern physics and particles beyond the Standard Model. Evidence suggests that dark matter accounts for approximately 85% of the universe’s matter, and 26.8% of its mass-energy composition. Key candidates for dark matter include unidentified subatomic particles like Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) and axions. The Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) employs direct detection methods to identify these elusive particles using cryogenic technologies. Su- perCDMS Soudan is the latest completed CDMS experiment in Minnesota, in preparation for the next phase experiments of SuperCDMS SNOLAB in Sudbury, Canada. At SNOLAB, the Cryogenic Underground …

Computational Study Of Protein Dynamics And Allostery Through Molecular Modeling And Machine Learning, Sian Xiao

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studies the complexities of protein dynamics and allostery, presenting methodologies that leverage combined computational approaches, including molecular modeling and machine learning, to investigate these phenomena.

Protein dynamics bridge conformational ensembles and their corresponding functional states. It further plays a critical role in a wide range of biological processes. Therefore, studying protein dynamics is essential for understanding how proteins fulfill their biological functions. Allostery plays a pivotal role in biological processes, acting as a fundamental mechanism through which proteins transmit signals and regulate their activity. Despite its critical importance in biology, the specific allosteric mechanisms governing most proteins remain …

An Experimental Study On Mixed Hydrocarbon Gas On Transport Through Subsurface And Atmospheric Interfaces With Application To Natural Gas Pipline Leak Dection And Quantification, Richard Kolodziej

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Natural gas (NG) production and usage as a fuel source have surged in recent years, becoming a critical component of the global energy system and requiring extensive belowground pipeline infrastructure. Leaks in belowground pipelines release fugitive methane (CH₄) emissions, posing significant environmental, safety, and economic risks. Effective leak detection and quantification (LDAQ) methods are essential for identifying and measuring leaks to enable timely repairs and accurately address these threats. However, few studies have characterized the effectiveness of current and advanced LDAQ survey methods for belowground NG pipelines, with existing work often limited to technology-centric evaluations or studies of …

Multisensory System For Probing Scattering Media, Muralidhar Madabhushi Balaji

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

There are numerous problems in the physical sciences wherein the scattering of light fundamentally limits our ability to perceive and reason about objects within the visual field. Examples include navigation in foggy weather, detecting hidden contraband/explosives, detecting diseased regions in agricultural produce, and detecting tumors within tissue. In all these scenarios, the scrambling of light paths due to scattering reduces the ability to locate embedded objects and identify their spatial or spectral features.

Existing approaches address the challenge by augmenting optical sensing modalities with complementary techniques that do not rely on optical phenomenology, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or …

The President’S Criminal Immunity, Amandeep S. Grewal

SMU Law Review Forum

This Article addresses a monumental question that the Supreme Court will soon decide: does the President enjoy criminal immunity for her official acts? This Article argues that she does.

The potential criminal immunity for official acts has drawn exceptionally sharp critiques. Some scholars believe that the immunity is nonsensical, absurd, or downright offensive. Judge Florence Pan of the D.C. Circuit even posited that criminal immunity would allow the President to murder her political enemies with SEAL Team Six.

This Article shows that the critics are profoundly mistaken. Criminal immunity for a president’s official acts finds a strong foothold in Supreme …

Multi-Class Emotion Classification With Xgboost Model Using Wearable Eeg Headband Data, James Khamthung, Nibhrat Lohia, Seement Srivastava

SMU Data Science Review

Electroencephalography (EEG) or brainwave signals serve as a valuable source for discerning human activities, thoughts, and emotions. This study explores the efficacy of EXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) models in sentiment classification using EEG signals, specifically those captured by the MUSE EEG headband. The MUSE device, equipped with four EEG electrodes (TP9, AF7, AF8, TP10), offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional EEG setups, which often utilize over 60 channels in laboratory-grade settings. Leveraging a dataset from previous MUSE research (Bird, J. et al., 2019), emotional states (positive, neutral, and negative) were observed in a male and a female participant, each for …

Building Effective Large Language Model Agents, Sydney Holder, Shreyash Taywade

SMU Data Science Review

The advancement of large language models (LLMs) has significantly expanded the influence of artificial intelligence across various sectors. This paper explores building LLM agents to power applications and examines what is necessary to build an efficient and helpful AI assistant. The research investigates the core components necessary to create specialized agents, facilitate collaboration in problem-solving, and improve human task performance. The development and application of tools designed to augment the capabilities of LLM agents are also explored. The paper addresses the potential risks of the unknowns, such as hallucinations, which can compromise the success of agent-based solutions within LLM applications. …

Enhancing Customer Support Operations Through Gpt & Q-Learning: A Model Study, Adam Alidra, Bob O'Brien, Dalton Young

SMU Data Science Review

Abstract. “Growth strategies that are purpose-led, customer-centric, experience-driven, data/AI-enabled, and technology-scaled require new mindsets…” (Cornfield, 2021). What can we take from this? Business growth and customer experience are inextricably tied together. Therefore, thriving, as an organization, is dependent on reimagining enterprise operations through modern, scalable data and AI technologies. Our study aims to enhance support operations with emerging AI capabilities, including OpenAI’s LLM models, built on self-attention mechanism transformer architecture, and tailored for business needs through prompt engineering. Our research uses Markov Decision Process and the Q-learning algorithm to evaluate synthetically created support incidents. Through this set of methods, our …

Unveiling The Nexus Of Cellular Quality Control: Exploring The Interplay Between Ribosome-Associated Protein Quality Control And Mitochondrial Quality Control Pathways, Foozhan Tahmasebinia

Biological Sciences Theses and Dissertations

In eukaryotic cells, the intricate interplay between cellular quality control mechanisms is crucial for maintaining homeostasis and safeguarding the integrity of vital processes, spanning from macromolecule synthesis to the renewal of entire cellular organelles.

Disruption of these networks can lead to severe diseases such as metabolic disorders, underscoring the interconnected nature and feedback control mechanisms inherent in biological systems, including cellular quality control systems. This interconnectedness extends to the intricate communication between organelles, enabling coordinated functioning and adaptation to changing cellular conditions, particularly in response to stressors.

While the exact mechanisms governing these communications within cellular quality control systems remain …

Moral Agency In Flux: Rohingya Refugees Envisioning And Establishing A “Good Life” In Dallas, Texas, Nusaiba Chowdhury

Anthropology Theses and Dissertations

This ethnographic project explores how refugee-serving staff and Rohingya refugees navigate the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which focuses on refugees achieving self-sufficiency as its main metric of success. The goal of this research is to understand how refugee-serving staff perceive self-sufficiency, which is seen as synonymous with achieving a “good life,” and how Rohingya refugees envision and establish a “good life” in Dallas, Texas. This study is oriented around the historical and current experiences of securitization faced by Rohingya refugees, their experiences in the United States, the neoliberal design of the USRAP, the issues that refugee-serving staff have …

Unified In Christ, David Morris

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Statement of the Question/Problem

The United Methodist Church is facing a season of incredible struggle. The modern American United Methodist Church is facing a crisis of Division during this season of disaffiliation and restructuring. Division within church is not a new phenomenon. In fact, it is not new in the Methodist tradition. This repeating cycle of denominational fracture begs the question, “why does division in the church happen, and how can we avoid it in the future?” Currently the United Methodist Church is dividing supposedly over the issue of human sexuality. I would argue these divisions do not solely rely …

A Genetic Screen To Identify Cell-Specific Inhibitors Of Microexon Splicing In The Unc-13 Transcript In C. Elegans, Saad Ali

Biological Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Microexons, which are unusually short (<31 nucleotides) exons, have recently emerged as highly conserved features of genes expressed in the nervous system. Generally, microexons have been thought to be included (spliced in) in neuronal cells and skipped (spliced out) in non-neuronal cells. However, in our lab, we have discovered that certain microexons are included in certain neuronal cells but skipped in other neuronal cells, which reveals more complexity to microexon regulation. Therefore, I performed a forward mutagenesis screen that takes advantage of a bicolor splicing reporter in the unc-13 gene expressed in olfactory neurons to discover regulatory effects by which microexons can be skipped in specific neuron types.

Discrete Element Method Investigation Of The Dynamic And Seismic Response Of Embedded Geotechnical Systems, Ahmed Khamiss, Usama El Shamy

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the seismic response of various embedded geotechnical systems utilizing the discrete element method (DEM). Embedded geotechnical systems play a crucial role in enhancing the stability and resilience of various structures as they provide solid foundations for infrastructural elements such as buildings, bridges, and transportation networks. The behavior of various embedded systems such as tunnels, pier foundations, and wind turbine foundations is investigated when subjected to seismic loading. In the first study, the seismic response of tunnels constructed in a deposit of granular soil of depth greater than 20 m is examined. Three-dimensional discrete element method simulations were …

Participation In The Martyred Christ: Augustine Of Hippo On Martyrdom And Martyr Veneration, Matthew Esquivel

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

In Augustine’s North Africa, when the likelihood of being a martyr virtually disappeared, various practices of martyr veneration were the means by which the church communed with the martyrs, obtained their intercessory aid, and experienced miracles associated with their relics. Augustine reflected upon the meaning of martyrdom in the midst of two unique contexts: 1) the socio-political context, in which the Roman empire had ceased persecuting the church and had adopted Nicene Christianity as the official religion of the empire, and 2) the ecclesial context, which included the martyr veneration practices inherited from preceding generations and the competing claims to …

Systemic Racism Transformed To Shalom Justice., Bobby West

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

ABSTRACT

April 27, 2024

SYSTEMIC RACISM TRANSFORMED TO SHALOM JUSTICE

This study examines the pervasive culture of systemic racism in the church and non-church communities and its impact on America. It argues how culture and systemic racism impact marginalized people (particularly African Americans and brown people) through policies and systems related to money, employment, education, health care, etc. Providing a description or argument for systemic racism formation offers a historical context of changes to shalom justice (society race in the image of God), relational and unilateral power with, power to, power within transformation from injustice to Shalom justice. An exploration …

Essays On The Application And Improvement Of The Geographical Economics Models To Policy Analysis: The Case Of Road Infrastructure In Central America, Ignacio Penagos

Economics Theses and Dissertations

The novel models of Geographical Economy have analyzed the effects on the distribution of economic activity over the area of a given region, generated by different socio-economic shocks. For example, the costs of migrating from one place to another, as shown in Desmet et al. (2018). A key advantage of such models is that, given the structural definition of the market interactions, they can first create counterfactual scenarios based on the economic fundamentals. And second, a broad set of variables can account for that impact. These dynamic spatial general equilibrium models embody features such as measures for amenities, trade and …

Queerform/Ing, Matthew Solon-Lee Weimer

Art Theses and Dissertations

My artwork is situated within and around vessels and the Queer Homoerotic World and explores sexuality as a Demisexual within them. This is accomplished through the two processes of my creation, Minivague and Queerform/ing: balancing sexual tension and explicit expression, while subverting traditional norms and stereotypes with queerness to distance oneself from stereotypical Gay Art. Altering/emphasizing makes the artwork more romantic, lighter, whimsical, softer, and tender than the figure/s and the situations actually are. The process is also emphasizing what one sees or wants to be seen. The Pink Boy becomes a celebration of intimacy of any form. I discuss …

Neuro-Symbolic Commonsense Reasoning With Resistance To Data Poisoning: A First-Order Logic And Sub-Symbolic Embeddings Framework, Bryce Shurts, King-Ip Lin

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Commonsense reasoning has long presented a hurdle between conversational agents and their ability to naturally engage with humans in conversation, as the infinitely dimensional nature of a dialogue’s topics presents a significant reasoning challenge in the study of Natural Language Understanding (NLU). Such a system must conceivably be able to act as a generalizable system for evaluating and reasoning about commonsense statements, problems, and queries: in this way, the agent can attempt to quantify the reasonability of a given input. We attempt to address this through the integration of an explainable neuro-symbolic system that leverages Logical Tensor Networks (LTNs) and …

Let All The People Worship: Applying Inculturation In A Multicultural Community, Darrell St. Romain

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

The United States of America is growing more diverse, and its houses of worship are embracing this diversity to engage congregants and build membership. There is a tool to help worshiping communities to espouse diversity of cultures, namely Liturgical Inculturation. Liturgical inculturation, as defined by Anscar Chupungco, is the process whereby the texts and rites used in worship by the local church are so inserted in the framework of culture, that they absorb its thought, language, and ritual patterns. Incorporating the goals and functions of liturgical inculturation, worshiping communities can begin to re-evangelize themselves and celebrate unity through diversity.

This …

Plenty Good Room: Using Negro Spirituals To Bridge The Racial Divide, Darnell Allen St. Romain

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

In 2020, the United States experienced a global pandemic and the murder of Mr. George Floyd. With the murder of Floyd, many churches were confronted with the racial divide in the United States. This thesis is a response of one community, the Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Plano, Texas. Using the folk song of Black Americans, namely the Negro Spirituals, as the foundation of an ethical-theological framework, this thesis poses one way for addressing the anti-Black structure prevalent in the Catholic Church in the United States of America. This work progresses from despair to hope, addressing the link between …

Making Old Things New Again: The Northridge Psalter, With Antiphons Based On Lessons From The Revised Common Lectionary, Bryan Scott Page

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

Responsive psalmody is one of the primary musical vehicles for presenting the Psalms in worship by choir and congregation. Existing responsive psalmody features congregational antiphons with texts derived directly from the psalms. Working with the Revised Common Lectionary, this thesis presents fifty newly written and composed antiphons with texts derived from the accompanying RCL lessons. The goal of this method is to emphasize prophetic connections between the Old Testament lesson and Gospel lesson via the antiphons. This thesis also features a history of lectionary development, a detailed account of the creative process, rubrics for presenting the responsive psalmody in worship, …

Class Of 2024 Graduation Ceremony For The Degree Of Juris Doctor And Advanced Degrees, Southern Methodist University Dedman School Of Law

Law School Commencement / Hooding Programs, 1942-present

No abstract provided.

School Leaders Supporting Undocumented Asian And Black Students, Lorena Tule-Romain

Education Policy and Leadership Theses and Dissertations

There are 5.6 million K-12 students who are either undocumented or living with at least one undocumented parent (Passel & Cohn, 2018). In 2021, FWD.us estimated that approximately 620,000 K-12 students are undocumented; 34% of these students migrated from countries in Asia, sub-Saharan African, and Caribbean countries. These students have unique needs in schools, such as support for lower frequency language services, wraparound supports, and classroom curricula that should account for their cultural heritages and traditions. While scholars have conducted research on the largest group of undocumented students, Latinx, existing knowledge of the students coming from Asian and African countries …

Ending Arkansas’ First Appearance Crisis, Malia N. Brink, Pamela R. Metzger, Claire Buetow, Terrence Cain

Deason Center Reports

Arkansas law is clear: every arrested person has the right to an attorney’s help the first time they see a judge. But across the state, people often face a judge at first appearance without a lawyer by their side. Even worse, a shortage of attorneys means people sometimes wait months for a lawyer’s help. The Constitution promises that every person in jail will have access to the courts and to counsel. Yet far too often, Arkansas allows people to languish in jail alone, afraid, and undefended.

This policy brief outlines research-based solutions for Arkansas to honor the Constitution’s promises by …