Digital Commons Network^™

Deterministic Global 3d Fractal Cloud Model For Synthetic Scene Generation, Aaron M. Schinder, Shannon R. Young, Bryan J. Steward, Michael L. Dexter, Andrew Kondrath, Stephen Hinton, Ricardo Davila

Faculty Publications

This paper describes the creation of a fast, deterministic, 3D fractal cloud renderer for the AFIT Sensor and Scene Emulation Tool (ASSET). The renderer generates 3D clouds by ray marching through a volume and sampling the level-set of a fractal function. The fractal function is distorted by a displacement map, which is generated using horizontal wind data from a Global Forecast System (GFS) weather file. The vertical windspeed and relative humidity are used to mask the creation of clouds to match realistic large-scale weather patterns over the Earth. Small-scale detail is provided by the fractal functions which are tuned to …

Do Biblical Impurity Rules Literally Apply Today?, Roy Gane

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Judges Should Be Discerning Consensus, Not Evaluating Scientific Expertise, David S. Caudill, Harry Collins, Robert Evans

Faculty Publications

One of the most constructive critiques of the Daubert admissibility regime is Professor Edward Cheng’s recent proposal for a new Consensus Rule in the Federal Rules of Evidence. Rejecting the notion that judges and juries have the capacity to evaluate scientific expertise, Cheng’s proposal would eliminate Daubert hearings—and judicial gatekeeping concerning expert testimony—and require judges and juries, in their verdicts, to follow consensus in the relevant scientific community. Significantly, Cheng argues that judges and juries would have an easier time identifying consensus than they have in deciding between experts who disagree.

We find Cheng’s emphasis on consensus compelling, and …

Research: Why Do It?, Tom Goodwin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Antimicrobial Screening Of Pecan Shell Extract And Efficacy Of Pecan Shell Extract-Pullulan Coating Against Listeria Monocytogenes, Salmonella Enterica, And Staphylococcus Aureus On Blueberries, Karuna Kharel, Karolina Kraśniewska, Małgorzata Gniewosz, Witoon Prinyawiwatkul, Kathryn Fontenot, Achyut Adhikari

Faculty Publications

Pecan shell is considered an agricultural waste; however, it contains various bioactive compounds with potential inhibitory effect against microorganisms. This study evaluated the antimicrobial efficacy of pecan shell extract (PSE) in vitro using disc-diffusion method and in vivo on blueberries as an antimicrobial coating using pullulan. For in vitro study, 5 and 10 % of aqueous (A-PSE) or ethanol pecan shell extract (E-PSE) incorporated into pullulan film were tested against different bacterial and fungal strains. Pullulan film disc was used as control. The diameter of growth inhibition (mm) around discs was measured. For in vivo study, PSE-P (5 % w/v …

Examining Mechanical Property Differences In Concrete With Natural And Synthetic Fiber Additives, Walid Fouad Edris, Sammy Elbialy, Ayman El-Zohairy, Ashraf Mohamed Soliman

Faculty Publications

The rapid growth of Natural Fiber Laminate (NFL) innovation is a direct response to environmental challenges, positioning these materials as superior alternatives to synthetic fiber composites. This paper delved into the outcomes of an extensive experimental study investigating the influence of sisal fiber (SLF), banana fiber (BF), and glass fiber (GF) on the mechanical and microstructural characteristics of concrete. The water absorption curves were established for sisal fiber concrete (SLFC), banana fiber concrete (BFC), and glass fiber concrete (GFC). Furthermore, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) observations were conducted to perform microanalysis and failure analysis of the tested specimens. The results revealed …

Can Listeners Differentiate Varieties Using Prosodic Information? Lect Identification In A Persona-Matching Task, Nicole Holliday, Rachel Steindel Burdin, Paul Reed

Faculty Publications

Sociolinguists and lay people have long been interested in the mechanisms by which dialect and speaker identification occur. The current study aims to test whether realizational differences found in production studies are salient factors in identification of different lects, as well as to examine differences between groups in identification. In this study, listeners were instructed to match clips containing H* and L+H* pitch accents with specific personae who represented speakers of five lects of interest (African American English, Jewish English, Appalachian English, Southern English, and Midwestern English). Listeners from different groups (Appalachian, African American, Jewish, and those who were not …

Direct Precipitation Of Siderite In Ferruginous Environments, A Grengs, G Ledesma, Y Xiong, S Katsev, S W. Poulton, E D. Swanner, C Wittkop

Faculty Publications

Siderite (FeCO 3 ) is often assumed to precipitate from dissimilatory reduction of Fe-(oxyhydr)oxides, but geochemical and mineralogical analyses from ferruginous (anoxic, Fe-rich) Canyon Lake, USA, suggest Fe-carbonate represents a direct early precipitate unrelated to substantial oxide burial.X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy of sediment trap materials and an anoxic sediment core indicated a mixture of Fe(II) and Fe(III) in water column particulates and ferruginous surface sediments, while all Mn phases were reduced.About 60 cm below the sediment-water interface, Fe-Mn carbonates were detected by X-ray diffraction and XANES, while Fe extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra were best …

Can Listeners Differentiate Varieties Using Prosodic Information? Lect Identification In A Persona-Matching Task, Nicole Holliday, Rachel Steindel Burdin, Paul Reed

Faculty Publications

Sociolinguists and lay people have long been interested in the mechanisms by which dialect and speaker identification occur. The current study aims to test whether realizational differences found in production studies are salient factors in identification of different lects, as well as to examine differences between groups in identification. In this study, listeners were instructed to match clips containing H* and L+H* pitch accents with specific personae who represented speakers of five lects of interest (African American English, Jewish English, Appalachian English, Southern English, and Midwestern English). Listeners from different groups (Appalachian, African American, Jewish, and those who were not …

Direct Precipitation Of Siderite In Ferruginous Environments, A Grengs, G Ledesma, Y Xiong, S Katsev, S W. Poulton, E D. Swanner, C Wittkop

Faculty Publications

Siderite (FeCO 3 ) is often assumed to precipitate from dissimilatory reduction of Fe-(oxyhydr)oxides, but geochemical and mineralogical analyses from ferruginous (anoxic, Fe-rich) Canyon Lake, USA, suggest Fe-carbonate represents a direct early precipitate unrelated to substantial oxide burial.X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy of sediment trap materials and an anoxic sediment core indicated a mixture of Fe(II) and Fe(III) in water column particulates and ferruginous surface sediments, while all Mn phases were reduced.About 60 cm below the sediment-water interface, Fe-Mn carbonates were detected by X-ray diffraction and XANES, while Fe extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra were best …

Investigating Turbulence Distribution In The Lower Atmosphere Using Time-Lapse Imagery From A Camera Bank, Benjamin C. Wilson, Santasri R. Bose-Pillai, Jack E. Mccrae, Steven T. Fiorino, Robert P. Freeman, Laura R. Slabaugh

Faculty Publications

The atmosphere’s surface layer (first 50–100 m above the ground) is extremely dynamic and is influenced by surface radiative properties, roughness, and atmospheric stability. Understanding the distribution of turbulence in the surface layer is critical to many applications, such as directed energy and free space optical communications. Several measurement campaigns in the past have relied on weather balloons or sonic detection and ranging (SODAR) to measure turbulence up to the atmospheric boundary layer. However, these campaigns had limited measurements near the surface. We have developed a time-lapse imaging technique to profile atmospheric turbulence from turbulence-induced differential motion or tilts between …

Maternal Care Utilization And Provision During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Voices From Minoritized Pregnant And Postpartum Women And Maternal Care Providers In Deep South, Ran Zhang, Tiffany Byrd, Shan Qiao Ph.D., Myriam E. Torres Phd, Msph, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Jihong Liu Sc.D.

Faculty Publications

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected maternal care services especially for minoritized individuals, creating challenges for both service users (i.e., African American and Hispanic pregnant/postpartum women) and maternal care providers (MCPs). Guided by a socioecological framework, this study aims to investigate the experiences of African American and Hispanic pregnant and postpartum women, as well as MCPs, in accessing and providing maternal care services during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Deep South.

Methods

We conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 African American women, 20 Hispanic women, and 9 MCPs between January and August 2022. Participants were recruited from Obstetrics and Gynecology …

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Analysis Of Tourmaline: Protocols, Procedures, And Predicaments, Nancy J. Mcmillan, Barbara L. Dutrow

Faculty Publications

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an appropriate choice of analytical tool for analysis of complex minerals because it is rapid, requires little sample preparation, and acquires major and trace element compositional information on all naturally occurring elements at concentrations above their intrinsic levels of detection for the specific analyte material. Tourmaline, a complex borosilicate mineral supergroup, was chosen as a test mineral due to the complexity of its major and minor element composition. Four analytical issues were investigated during project development: (1) the spacing between analytical laser shots to avoid analysis of the recast from previous laser ablations, (2) the …

Structural Homology Of Mite Profilins To Plant Profilins Is Not Indicative Of Allergic Cross-Reactivity, Andrea O'Malley, Sahana Sankaran, Avery Carriuolo, Kriti Khatri, Krzysztof Kowal, Maksymilian Chruszcz Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Structural and allergenic characterization of mite profilins has not been previously pursued to a similar extent as plant profilins. Here, we describe structures of profilins originating from Tyrophagus putrescentiae (registered allergen Tyr p 36.0101) and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (here termed Der p profilin), which are the first structures of profilins from Arachnida. Additionally, the thermal stabilities of mite and plant profilins are compared, suggesting that the high number of cysteine residues in mite profilins may play a role in their increased stability. We also examine the cross-reactivity of plant and mite profilins as well as investigate the relevance of these profilins …

Exploring The Impact Of The Aging Effect On Inferred Properties Of Solar Coronal Mass Ejections, F Regnault, Nada Al-Haddad, Noé Lugaz, Charles J. Farrugia, Bin Zhuang, Wenyuan Yu, A Strugarek

Faculty Publications

In situ measurements of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) when they pass over an interplanetary probe are one of the main ways we directly measure their properties. However, such in situ profiles are subject to several observational constraints that are still poorly understood. This work aims at quantifying one of them, namely, the aging effect, using a CME simulated with a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical code. The synthetic in situ profile and the instantaneous profile of the magnetic field strength differ more from each other when taken close to the Sun than far from it. Moreover, out of three properties we compute in …

Exploring The Impact Of The Aging Effect On Inferred Properties Of Solar Coronal Mass Ejections, F Regnault, Nada Al-Haddad, Noé Lugaz, Charles J. Farrugia, Bin Zhuang, Wenyuan Yu, A Strugarek

Faculty Publications

In situ measurements of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) when they pass over an interplanetary probe are one of the main ways we directly measure their properties. However, such in situ profiles are subject to several observational constraints that are still poorly understood. This work aims at quantifying one of them, namely, the aging effect, using a CME simulated with a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical code. The synthetic in situ profile and the instantaneous profile of the magnetic field strength differ more from each other when taken close to the Sun than far from it. Moreover, out of three properties we compute in …

Management Of Aphids On Winter High Tunnel Crops, Samantha A. Willden, Allison Zablah, Anna Wallingford, Laura L. Ingwell

Faculty Publications

High tunnels offer several benefits to specialty crop growers including crop protection and season extension. Although crops are actively grown in high tunnels during the winter, few management recommendations exist for winter pests that are actively feeding and reproducing in this protected environment. This study evaluated the efficacy of three commercially available predators used for the augmentative biological control of aphids, Adalia bipunctata, Orius insidiosus, and Chrysoperla carnea, in combination with OMRI-approved pesticides labeled for aphids on spinach and strawberry. Pesticides included PyGanic (pyrethrin), Neemix (azadirachtin), and Sil-MATRIX (Potassium silicate). Laboratory and field experiments indicate high survival of biocontrol agents …

Management Of Aphids On Winter High Tunnel Crops, Samantha A. Willden, Allison Zablah, Anna Wallingford, Laura L. Ingwell

Faculty Publications

High tunnels offer several benefits to specialty crop growers including crop protection and season extension. Although crops are actively grown in high tunnels during the winter, few management recommendations exist for winter pests that are actively feeding and reproducing in this protected environment. This study evaluated the efficacy of three commercially available predators used for the augmentative biological control of aphids, Adalia bipunctata, Orius insidiosus, and Chrysoperla carnea, in combination with OMRI-approved pesticides labeled for aphids on spinach and strawberry. Pesticides included PyGanic (pyrethrin), Neemix (azadirachtin), and Sil-MATRIX (Potassium silicate). Laboratory and field experiments indicate high survival of biocontrol agents …

Study Of Interface Charges Between In-Situ Grown Dielectric And Gan/Algan Hfet Structure By Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition, Muhammad Hassan Tahir, Nifat Jahan, Md Ghulam Zakir

Faculty Publications

The integration of an oxide layer in metal-oxide-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MOSHFETs) plays a crucial role in minimizing gate leakage current and enabling wider gate voltage swings. In this study, we present the fabrication and characterization of GaN/AlGaN heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) capped with a Ga₂O₃ dielectric layer. The oxide was deposited via an in-situ process within a single MOCVD reactor without vacuum interruption. Our findings demonstrate that the in-situ capped HFETs exhibit a significantly lower interface charge density of 4 × 10¹² cm⁻² compared to 1 × 10¹³ cm⁻²·eV⁻¹ observed in ex-situ grown counterparts. These results highlight the …

Study Of Indium-Silicon Co-Doped Gallium Oxide For Effective N-Type Doping, Muhammad Hassan Tahir, Nifat Jahan, Md Ghulam Zakir

Faculty Publications

We present the research efforts to achieve effective n-type doping in gallium oxide (Ga2O3), an ultrawide bandgap semiconductor, grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The application of semiconductors for power electronics requires wide and ultrawide bandgap materials that can be doped to create higher electron (n-type) or hole (p-type) densities. Ga2O3, with a bandgap of 4.9 eV, is an emerging and promising material. The bandgap of Ga2O3 is much higher than other wide bandgap material that have been adopted by or in the process of adoption by the industry for power electronics. However, the doping of Ga2O3 has some …

Gallium Oxide Based Avalanche Photo Detector, Muhammad Hassan Tahir Mr, Nifat Jahan, Md Ghulam Zakir

Faculty Publications

Gallium oxide (Ga₂O₃), an ultrawide bandgap semiconductor with a bandgap of 4.6 eV and a high critical electric field of 10.3 MV/cm, offers strong potential for high-performance avalanche photodetectors (APDs). This project explores the design and characterization of a Ga₂O₃-based APD featuring doped and undoped epitaxial layers optimized for high electric field generation and low thermal conductivity, enabling stable operation in high-temperature environments. Simulation results show a uniform electric field of 1 MV/cm under a 100 V applied bias, while material characterization confirms excellent surface smoothness with a mean roughness of ~1.1 nm and an electron mobility of 21.7 cm²/V·s …

Exploring The Coronal Magnetic Field With Galactic Cosmic Rays: The Sun Shadow Observed By Hawc, R Alfaro, C Alvarez, J C. Arteaga-Velázquez, K P. Arunbabu, D Avila Rojas, R Babu, E Belmont-Moreno, K S. Caballero-Mora, T Capistrán, A Carramiñana, S Casanova, P Colín-Farias, U Cotti, J Cotzomi, S Coutiño De León, E De La Fuente, C De León, D Depaoli, R Diaz Hernandez, J C. Díaz-Vélez, M Durocher, M A. Duvernois, K Engel, C Espinoza, K L. Fan, N. Fraija, N. Fraija, J. A. García-González, F. Garfias, A. Gonzalez Muñoz, M. M. González, J. A. Goodman, J. P. Harding, D. Huang, F. Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, A. Iriarte, S. Kaufmann, A. Lara, J. Lee, H. León Vargas, A. L. Longinotti, G. Luis-Raya, K. Malone, O. Martinez, J. Martínez-Castro, J. A. Matthews, P. Miranda-Romagnoli, E. Moreno, M. Mostafá, A. Nayerhoda, L. Nellen, T. Niembro, R. Noriega-Papaqui, N. Omodei, E. G. Pérez-Pérez, C. D. Rho, D. Rosa-González, E. Ruiz-Velasco, James M. Ryan, H. Salazar, D. Salazar-Gallegos, A. Sandoval, J. Serna-Franco, A. J. Smith, Y. Son, R. W. Springer, O. Tibolla, K. Tollefson, I. Torres, R. Turner, F. Ureña-Mena, E. Varela, L. Villaseñor, X. Wang, I. J. Watson, E. Willox, S. Yun-Cárcamo, H. Zhou

Faculty Publications

Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) are charged particles that reach the heliosphere almost isotropically in a wide energy range. In the inner heliosphere, the GCR flux is modulated by solar activity so that only energetic GCRs reach the lower layers of the solar atmosphere. In this work, we propose that high-energy GCRs can be used to explore the solar magnetic fields at low coronal altitudes. We used GCR data collected by the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov observatory to construct maps of GCR flux coming from the Sun’s sky direction and studied the observed GCR deficit, known as Sun shadow (SS), over a …

Exploring The Coronal Magnetic Field With Galactic Cosmic Rays: The Sun Shadow Observed By Hawc, R Alfaro, C Alvarez, J C. Arteaga-Velázquez, K P. Arunbabu, D Avila Rojas, R Babu, E Belmont-Moreno, K S. Caballero-Mora, T Capistrán, A Carramiñana, S Casanova, P Colín-Farias, U Cotti, J Cotzomi, S Coutiño De León, E De La Fuente, C De León, D Depaoli, R Diaz Hernandez, J C. Díaz-Vélez, M Durocher, M A. Duvernois, K Engel, C Espinoza, K L. Fan

Faculty Publications

Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) are charged particles that reach the heliosphere almost isotropically in a wide energy range. In the inner heliosphere, the GCR flux is modulated by solar activity so that only energetic GCRs reach the lower layers of the solar atmosphere. In this work, we propose that high-energy GCRs can be used to explore the solar magnetic fields at low coronal altitudes. We used GCR data collected by the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov observatory to construct maps of GCR flux coming from the Sun’s sky direction and studied the observed GCR deficit, known as Sun shadow (SS), over a …

Celebrating 10 Years Of Apa Accreditation, Carole Woolford-Hunt

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Changing The University, The Church And The World Through Risk Prevention And Health Promotion, Duane C. Mcbride

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Collaborative Publications, James L. Hayward, Shandelle M. Henson, Vanessa I. Corredera, L. Monique Pittman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Bibleonlinelearner: Learning In The 21st Century, Oliver Glanz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Center For Teaching And Learning, Anneris Coria-Navia

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Case For A Canadian Panel On Multi-Jurisdictional Class Proceedings, Preston Jordan Lim, Justice William Hourigan

Faculty Publications

In Hryniak v Mauldin, the Supreme Court called for a cultural shift to promote timely and affordable access to the civil justice system in Canada. The failings of the civil justice system with respect to class proceedings are particularly troubling. The authors focus on multi-jurisdictional proceedings, which are procedurally complex and notoriously slow-moving, and on past efforts by the bar and bench to render these proceedings more efficient. For the most part, existing reform measures are discretionary, ad hoc, and premised on the consent of all the parties. Whereas cooperation is currently an option under the various reform measures, cooperation …

Totoro: A Scalable Federated Learning Engine For The Edge, Cheng Wei Ching, Xin Chen, Taehwan Kim, Bo Ji, Qingyang Wang, Dilma Da Silva, Liting Hu

Faculty Publications

Federated Learning (FL) is an emerging distributed machine learning (ML) technique that enables in-situ model training and inference on decentralized edge devices. We propose Totoro, a novel scalable FL engine, that enables massive FL applications to run simultaneously on edge networks. The key insight is to explore a distributed hash table (DHT)-based peer-to-peer (P2P) model to re-architect the centralized FL system design into a fully decentralized one. In contrast to previous studies where many FL applications shared one centralized parameter server, Totoro assigns a dedicated parameter server to each individual application. Any edge node can act as any application's coordinator, …