Digital Commons Network^™

On Large Language Models In National Security Applications, William N. Caballero, Phillip R. Jenkins

Faculty Publications

The overwhelming success of GPT-4 in early 2023 highlighted the transformative potential of large language models (LLMs) across various sectors, including national security. This article explores the implications of LLM integration within national security contexts, analyzing their potential to revolutionize information processing, decision-making, and operational efficiency. Whereas LLMs offer substantial benefits, such as automating tasks and enhancing data analysis, they also pose significant risks, including hallucinations, data privacy concerns, and vulnerability to adversarial attacks. Through their coupling with decision-theoretic principles and Bayesian reasoning, LLMs can significantly improve decision-making processes within national security organizations. Namely, LLMs can facilitate the transition from …

Exploring Emotion Classification Of Indonesian Tweets Using Large Scale Transfer Learning Via Indobert, Connor Shaw, Phillip M. Lacasse, Lance E. Champagne

Faculty Publications

Business, political, and other social structures create strong motivation to understand the attitudes, motivations, feelings, and emotions of a population of interest. Social media is a rich source of self-disclosed information by individuals from all walks of life about virtually every domain of the human experience, but the vast quantity of data is impossible to effectively analyze without advanced natural language processing algorithms. This research creates a transfer learning based emotion classification model for Indonesian language Twitter data. Transfer learning consists of two steps: pre-training and fine tuning. Three variations of Indonesian Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (IndoBERT) are tested …

New Method Of Impact Localization On Plate-Like Structures Using Deep Learning And Wavelet Transform, Asaad Migot, Ahmed Saaudi, Victor Giurgiutiu

Faculty Publications

This paper presents a new methodology for localizing impact events on plate-like structures using a proposed two-dimensional convolutional neural network (CNN) and received impact signals. A network of four piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) was installed on the tested plate to acquire impact signals. These signals consisted of reflection waves that provided valuable information about impact events. In this methodology, each of the received signals was divided into several equal segments. Then, a wavelet transform (WT)-based time-frequency analysis was used for processing each segment signal. The generated WT diagrams of these segments’ signals were cropped and resized using MATLAB code …

Forb Diversity Globally Is Harmed By Nutrient Enrichment But Can Be Rescued By Large Mammalian Herbivory, Rebecca A. Nelson, Lauren L. Sullivan, Erika I. Hersch-Green, Eric W. Seabloom, Elizabeth T. Borer, Pedro M. Tognetti, Peter B. Adler, Lori Biederman, Miguel N. Bugalho, Maria C. Caldeira, Juan P. Cancela, Kenneth J. Elgersma

Faculty Publications

Forbs (“wildflowers”) are important contributors to grassland biodiversity but are vulnerable to environmental changes. In a factorial experiment at 94 sites on 6 continents, we test the global generality of several broad predictions: (1) Forb cover and richness decline under nutrient enrichment, particularly nitrogen enrichment. (2) Forb cover and richness increase under herbivory by large mammals. (3) Forb richness and cover are less affected by nutrient enrichment and herbivory in more arid climates, because water limitation reduces the impacts of competition with grasses. (4) Forb families will respond differently to nutrient enrichment and mammalian herbivory due to differences in nutrient …

Mirrors For Pacific Islander Children: Teaching Resilience Through Culturally Adapted Bibliotherapy, Isabel Medina Hull, Elizabeth Cutrer, Paul H. Ricks, G. E. Kawika Allen, Kendra M. Hall-Kenyon, Lorena Seu, Kristopher J. Urbina, Melia Fonoimoana Garrett

Faculty Publications

Pacific Islander youth face disproportionately high rates of suicide and mental health challenges, yet culturally appropriate interventions remain scarce. This study investigated whether culturally adapted bibliotherapy could effectively promote resilience in American Samoan children by incorporating culturally relevant stories and coping strategies. Through collaboration with on-island Samoan cultural brokers, we developed and implemented culturally adapted stories and lessons designed to resonate with the experiences of children in American Samoa. The study employed a mixed-methods approach with 34 American Samoan children aged 5–13 years, using observations, adapted card sorts, and forced-choice procedures to measure responses to the intervention. The results demonstrated …

The Southern Miss Bower Academic Center: A Recent Academic Library-Athletics Partnership, Blake Denton

Faculty Publications

In 2019, A. Blake Denton published a literature review that identified and described 35 partnerships between academic libraries and athletics programs at higher education institutions in the United States, 20 of which were established for library marketing and development purposes. Recognizing that the literature documenting marketing and development partnerships was dated, he published a study in 2021 that provided updated, more comprehensive accounts for eight participating institutions and an analysis of the evolving nature of their relationships over time. This third article analyzes the partnership at the University of Southern Mississippi that resulted in the relocation of the athletics program’s …

Enhancing Mucus Flow And Clearance By Grafting Zwitterionic Hydrogel Films To Luminal Surfaces, Ryan Horne, Caleb Escudero, Morgan Ellerman, C. Allan Guymon, Marlan Hansen

Faculty Publications

Objective

To determine the effects of zwitterionic hydrogel films on mucus contact angles, flow, and stasis with respect to medical polymer surfaces, both flat and tubular.

Methods

A zwitterionic hydrogel thin film was photografted onto medical rubber surfaces and compared against non-zwitterionic hydrogel thin films and untreated surfaces to determine its impact on mucus contact angles, mucus flow on sheets and tubes, and mucus plugging.

Results

Zwitterionic and conventional hydrogel films significantly reduce the mucus contact angles and the tilt required to initiate mucus flow on sheets and in tubular systems. Preliminary experiments show that these films may also shorten …

Trans-Arg: Predicting Antibiotic Resistance Genes With A Transformer-Based Model And Pretrained Protein Language Model, Mohd Manzar Abbas, Amit Ranjan, Aixin Hou, Supratik Mukhopadhyay

Faculty Publications

Antibiotic resistance presents an emerging challenge to global health by reducing the efficacy of antibiotics administered to treat bacterial infections. Traditional approaches for detecting antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) involve alignment-based sequence similarity techniques, which are time-consuming and resource-intensive. This signifies the necessity for developing advanced computational methods to detect ARGs early. To address this challenge, we introduce Trans-ARG, a novel multi-head attention transformer-based model designed to predict potential ARGs. Our approach leverages the pretrained ESMFold model to extract embeddings from protein sequences, capturing intricate structural and functional information. Protein sequences labelled as ARG or non-ARG were used as the dataset. …

Older Adults’ Health, Ethnicity, And Daily Life, Hyunsook Kang, Mihae Bae

Faculty Publications

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between ethnicity and daily functional disabilities among older adults, focusing on Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs). The analysis uses data from the 2020 National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) survey, which included a sample of individuals aged 57-85 (n=3,005). Respondents provided information on their demographic background (e.g., income, gender, race, age, health, retirement, and marital status) and socioeconomic characteristics through telephone interviews.

The study hypothesized that ethnic differences would be evident in perceived difficulties with ADLs and IADLs in later life. To assess these relationships, …

Sensitivity Of Spatial And Temporal Precipitation Patterns To Aerosol Loadings During An Extreme Precipitation Event, Wenjia Cao, Robert V. Rohli, Paul W. Miller

Faculty Publications

Aerosols are important modulators of the precipitation-generating process, with their concentrations potentially affecting the precipitation process in extreme events. Existing literature suggests that, through microphysical processes, additional aerosols lead to a larger number of smaller cloud droplets, which eventually redistributes the latent heat and the precipitation process. This research addresses the question of how sensitive the spatial and temporal patterns of heavy precipitation events are to aerosol concentration. National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) final (FNL) data were used as input to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, to simulate the case study of …

Good Language For Dispute Resolution Bots And Humanoids, John Lande

Faculty Publications

In developing the AI tool, the RPS Negotiation and Mediation Coach, I had to give it strict instructions to use certain terms and avoid others so that it doesn’t use lots of problematic dispute resolution jargon on the internet. This short article lists those terms.

The article points out that, just like bots, humanoids need to be trained. It is especially important to teach good dispute resolution language to law professor, law student, and practitioner units. Many of these humanoids are stuck on defective codings such as “facilitative” and “evaluative” mediation, which are like contagious malware. Humanoids generally can “learn” …

The Artificially Intelligent Rps Negotiation And Mediation Coach, John Lande

Faculty Publications

This document describes the artificially intelligent RPS Negotiation and Mediation Coach (“RPS Coach”) tool, which is an outgrowth of the Real Practice Systems (RPS) Project. It is designed to help many different users perform numerous tasks including (1) attorneys anticipating challenges, strategizing, and representing clients, (2) mediators enhancing preparation, communication, and decision-making, (3) disputing parties making better decisions, (4) ADR program administrators developing clear rules, policies, and materials, (5) educators and trainers teaching practical theory and skills, and (6) students and trainees learning practical theory and skills.

RPS theory and practice is designed to help attorneys and mediators help their …

Hd-Tacs Over The Left Frontal Aslant Tract Entrains Theta Activity Associated With Speech Motor Control, Karim Johari, Fatemeh Tabari

Faculty Publications

Transient disruption or permanent damage to the left Frontal Aslant Tract (FAT) is associated with deficits in speech production. The present study examined the application of theta (4 Hz) high-definition transcranial alternating current stimulation (HD-tACS) over the left SMA and IFG –as a part of FAT- as a potential multisite protocol to modulate neural and behavioral correlates of speech motor control. Twenty-one young adults participated in three counterbalanced sessions in which they received in-phase, anti-phase, and sham theta HD-tACS. In each session, 4 Hz stimulation was applied over the left IFG and SMA, and subsequently EEG data was recorded while …

The Application Of Non-Invasive Neuromodulation In Stuttering: Current Status And Future Directions, Mehdi Bakhtiar, Karim Johari

Faculty Publications

Non-invasive neuromodulation methods such as transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), have been extensively utilized to enhance treatment efficacy for various neurogenic communicative disorders. Recently, these methods have gained attention for their potential to reveal more about the underlying nature of stuttering and serve as adjunct therapeutic approaches for stuttering intervention. In this review, we present existing research and discuss critical factors that might influence the efficacy of these interventions, such as location, polarity, intensity, and duration of stimulation, as well as the impact of combined behavioral training. Additionally, we explore implications for future studies, including …

Urban Sprawl Drives Heterogeneous Flood Exposure Patterns Along Socio-Demographic Gradients: A Case Study In The Amite River Basin During The 2016 Louisiana (Usa) Floods, Israt J. Tama, Thomas Douthat, Kevin Smiley, Rebeca De Jesús Crespo

Faculty Publications

The impact of floods may be exacerbated due to urban sprawl, which leads to residential development in naturally flood-prone areas. In the United States (US), urban sprawl has been historically tied to racial segregation, while flood-prone suburban development has been facilitated by flood insurance. While previous studies have found links between flood exposure and socio-demographic inequities, no research has addressed this question by looking at watershed-level segregation and the location of properties relative to flood-prone areas. We evaluate socio-demographic patterns of flood impact during the 2016 Floods in Louisiana (LA), USA, and whether these impacts differed inside or outside the …

From The Mountains To The Beach: Water Purification Ecosystem Services And Recreational Beach Use In Puerto Rico, Maya Corridore, Rebeca De Jesús Crespo, Mariam Valladares-Castellanos, Thomas Douthat

Faculty Publications

Recreational beach use is important for coastal economies and is influenced by water clarity, a trait that may be maintained by water purification ecosystem services (ESs). However, few studies have addressed these linkages. In this study, we ask the following questions: (1) Do watershed-scale water purification ecosystem services influence coastal water quality? (2) Does coastal water quality help explain beach visitation rates? To address these questions, we focused on Puerto Rico (PR), where coastal tourism has economic and cultural importance. We estimated water purification ESs using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST), coastal water quality using long-term …

Structural And Magnetic Properties Of Cotemo O6, Yu Li, Jared Coles, Xin Gui, Hyowon Park, Yan Wu, Xinglong Chen, Jing Han Chen, Xiaoping Wang, Huibo Cao, Shane Stadler, Omar Chmaissem, David P. Young, Stephan Rosenkranz, John F. Ditusa

Faculty Publications

We have conducted a comprehensive investigation into the magnetic properties of the chiral multiferroic material CoTeMoO6. In contrast with the previous claim of canted antiferromagnetic order with ferromagnetic components [Y. Doi, J. Solid State Chem. 182, 3232 (2009)10.1016/j.jssc.2009.09.008], our investigation reveals an antiferromagnetic ground state with compensated moments, providing an interesting platform for exploring exotic material properties. Through careful measurements of magnetization under a series of applied fields, we demonstrate that there exist two sequential field-induced magnetic transitions in CoTeMoO6, with one occurring at Hc1=460 Oe along the a axis, and the other at Hc2=1.16 T with the field along …

Religious Nationalism: Narendra Modi’S 2019 Election Victory Speech, Nihar Sreepada

Faculty Publications

The ideology of nationalism is permeating and ascending across societies, eventually manifesting materially in several nations across the world. In this essay, I analyze the religious manifestation of nationalism within the context of India’s Hindu nationalism. I argue that Modi, in his 2019 election victory speech, constructs a grand narrative of Hindu nationalistic unification by positioning himself as a Hindu sanyasi (ascetic) and by alluding to Hindu mythologies. First, I present the historical context of India’s Hindu nationalism (Hindutva). Second, I explicate the formation of an ideological discourse through Kenneth Burke’s focus on identification and the constitutive rhetoric of calling …

Trends In Scholarly Communication, Eleta Exline

Faculty Publications

Slides from a presentation on scholarly communication developments to the UNH Retired Faculty Association.

Legal Residency Status And Its Relationship With Health Indicators Among Syrian Refugees In Lebanon: A Nested Cross-Sectional Study, Marie-Elizabeth Ragi, Hala Ghattas Ph.D., Berthe Abi Zeid, Hazar Shamas, Noura Joseph El Salibi, Sawsan Abdulrahim, Jocelyn Dejong, Stephen J. Mccall, The Caep Study Group

Faculty Publications

Background Failure to possess or renew legal residency permits increases the burden on a vulnerable refugee population. It risks detention or deportation, and hinders access to basic services including healthcare. This study aimed to examine the association between legal residency status and health of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon.

Methods Data were from two independent nested cross-sectional studies collected in 2022 through telephone surveys. In the first study, all Syrian refugees aged 50 years or older from households that received humanitarian assistance were invited to participate. The second included all adult Syrian refugees residing in a suburb of Beirut. The …

Million-Dollar Mysteries: Recent Complex Patent Cases Lost To Rule 36, Dennis D. Crouch

Faculty Publications

This article examines the Federal Circuit's continued use of Rule 36 summary affirmances to dispose of complex patent cases without written opinions. Through analysis of eight recent Rule 36 cases decided in early 2025, the author demonstrates that sophisticated legal issues involving millions of dollars are being summarily affirmed despite presenting novel and important questions of patent law. The cases discussed involve design patent evidentiary standards, jury trial rights for hybrid legal-equitable claims, analogous art determinations, claim construction, written description requirements, and PTAB procedural issues. The author argues that while the court may be avoiding difficult cases with complex factual …

Joyful Justice, Alexandra Kogl

Faculty Publications

Political Science is not an obviously joyful discipline, and wrestling with injustice in the classroom is not an intuitive way to open the door to joy. But when students and professor alike practice compassion for victims of injustices (such as sexual violence and white supremacy) and for each other, they sometimes find the kind of common ground that allows joy into the room. Treating one another as peers in a community aimed at seeking to understand what justice is and what it feels like, we experience justice as beautiful, shared work that we can practice at a small scale, setting …

Cross-State Travel For Cancer Care And Implications For Telehealth Reciprocity, Erika L. Moen, Qianfei Wang, Lingbo Liu, Fahui Wang, Anna N.A. Tosteson, Rebecca E. Smith, Lauren Cowan, Tracy Onega

Faculty Publications

Importance: Patients often travel for cancer care, yet the extent to which patients cross state lines for cancer care is not well understood. This knowledge can have implications for policies that regulate telehealth access to out-of-state clinicians. Objective: To quantify the extent of cross-state delivery of cancer services to patients with cancer. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study analyzed fee-for-service Medicare claims data for beneficiaries (aged ≥66 years) with a diagnosis of breast, colon, lung, or pancreatic cancer between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2020. Analyses were performed between January 1 and July 30, 2024. Exposure: Patient rurality. …

An Integrated Global-To-Regional Scale Workflow For Simulating Climate Change Impacts On Marine Ecosystems, Kelly Ortega-Cisneros, Denisse Fierros-Arcos, Max Lindmark, Camilla Novaglio, Phoebe Woodworth-Jefcoats, Tyler D. Eddy, Marta Coll, Elizabeth Fulton, Ricardo Oliveros-Ramos, Jonathan Reum, Yunne Jai Shin, Cathy Bulman, Leonardo Capitani, Samik Datta, Kieran Murphy, Alice Rogers, Lynne Shannon, George A. Whitehouse, Ezekiel Adekoya, Beatriz S. Dias, Alba Fuster-Alonso, Cecilie Hansen, Bérengère Husson, Vidette Mcgregor, Alaia Morell, Hem Nalini Morzaria Luna, Jazel Ouled-Cheikh, James Ruzicka, Jeroen Steenbeek, Ilaria Stollberg, Roshni C. Subramaniam, Vivitskaia Tulloch, Andrea Bryndum-Buchholz

Faculty Publications

As the urgency to evaluate the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems increases, there is a need to develop robust projections and improve the uptake of ecosystem model outputs in policy and planning. Standardizing input and output data is a crucial step in evaluating and communicating results, but can be challenging when using models with diverse structures, assumptions, and outputs that address region-specific issues. We developed an implementation framework and workflow to standardize the climate and fishing forcings used by regional models contributing to the Fisheries and Marine Ecosystem Model Intercomparison Project (FishMIP) and to facilitate comparative analyses across …

What's The Matter With Batna? It's Misleading And Doesn't Help Advance Parties' Important Interests, John Lande

Faculty Publications

Many dispute resolution experts misunderstand the concept of BATNA (the best alternative to a negotiated agreement), believing that it is the most favorable possible outcome if the parties don’t settle. In fact, BATNA isn’t an expected result. It’s a course of action, not the value resulting from the course of action.

Attorneys often make unrealistic predictions of court outcomes because of inherent uncertainty and cognitive biases. Moreover, parties have many intangible interests that aren’t included in estimates of BATNA values.

This article offers suggestions for attorneys and mediators to advance clients’ interests by better understanding and valuing non-settlement outcomes.

Development And In Vitro Evaluation Of A Lignin-Plga Nanocarrier For Florfenicol Delivery, Emilia Trif, Carlos E. Astete, Sumit Libi, Emoke Pall, Septimiu Tripon, Cristina Coman, Diana Olah, Adrian Valentin Potârniche, Cristina M. Sabliov, Constantin Cerbu

Faculty Publications

Florfenicol (FF) is a widely used antimicrobial in veterinary medicine because of its broad antimicrobial activity, although it has certain limitations and raises concerns about the development of antimicrobial resistance genes. These limitations highlight the need to explore novel drug with controlled release systems to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of FF, while minimizing the potential for resistance development. This study introduces an innovative approach for the design, synthesis, and evaluation of lignin-poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA)-FF nanoparticles. By leveraging the properties of PLGA and lignin, this study aimed to augment the solubility, stability, and bioavailability of FF, thereby enabling dosage reduction and …

Counseling Students’ Perceptions Of Support During The Covid-19 Crisis: A Qualitative Study., Breahannah Hilarie, Galaxina G. Wright, Lea H., Laurie O. Campbell

Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the counseling programs in clinical instruction, mentorship, and student’s perception of the university. The qualitative data presented in this paper identifies eight counseling students’ beliefs of support during their time in counseling program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was obtained through semi-structured interviews. An interpretive phenomenological analysis resulted in four themes: including higher education response, personal resources, emotions in crisis, and transitions in crisis.

Guardrails Needed For Social Science Research, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

In an article written for a legal audience, The Most Dangerous Branch of Science?: Reining in Rogue Research and Reckless Experimentation in Social Welfare, (Dwyer, 2022), I illustrated this phenomenon by describing what has happened in the child welfare world in recent decades. In the article, I recommend legal reforms to address the problems, including mandating a more robust IRB [institutional review board] review, broadening the concept of unethical research, treating policy experimentation as research subject to ethical rules, and authorizing lawsuits against those who purchase or conduct intentionally skewed studies that result in harmful policy innovations. I offer here …

A Plea For Private International Law (Conflict Of Laws), Michael S. Green

Faculty Publications

In this essay, author Michael S. Green discusses private international law and its importance in a law school's curriculum. After a brief summary of the history of private international law, the essay traces the disappearance of private international law courses in American law schools and proposes reasons as to why this trend may be occurring. The essay closes with reasons why it is a mistake to remove private international law from course offerings and requests that law schools reintroduce the topic.

Irrigation And Society In The Upper Río Grande Basin, U.S.A: A Heritage Of Mutualism, José A. Rivera Ph.D

Faculty Publications

The acequias of the upper Río Grande are more than just irrigation canals. They also allocate and manage water for the community of landowners in the system. After four centuries of use, the acequias persist into modern times with their founding principles intact: self-government, local autonomy, internal rules for operating procedures, and a strong sense of mutualismo or communal responsibility. They have endured since Spanish colonial settlement and have maintained continuity of a water culture surviving political-administrative changes under three sovereigns, Spain (1598-1821), Mexico (1821-1848), and the United States (1848-Present). Despite stressors of climate variability, demographic changes, urbanization, and economic …