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A Tribute To Frank Delno Holland, Jr. (1924-2023), Sigma Gamma Epsilon National President (1970-1975), Paleontologist, And Friend, John M. Erickson

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

Frank Delno Holland, Jr., was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, on March 6, 1924. All family and friends, including his students and professional acquaintances, knew him as Bud. His parents were Frank D. Holland and Francys Bell Holland. His paternal grandparents, O.B. and Laura Holland were North Dakotans who had homesteaded in Sargent County during the 1880s, but had relocated to Kansas in 1903. Bud had a rural upbringing on the outskirts of Leavenworth, graduating in 1942 from Leavenworth High school. It seemed natural that he would follow in his father’s footsteps by attending the University of Kansas (KU) so Bud …

The Compass - Volume 95 Issue 2 - Complete Issue, Scott R. Beason

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Dr. Don C. Steinker (1936-2026), Paleobiologist, Teacher, Editor, And Mentor, Margaret M. Yacobucci, Susan T. Goldstein, Ronald E. Martin

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

Dr. Don C. Steinker, Professor Emeritus of Geology and Paleobiology, died at the age of 89 in Bowling Green, Ohio, on February 5, 2026. During his remarkable 43-year career at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), Don played a pivotal role in developing the Paleobiology specialization within the Geology undergraduate degree program, mentored generations of students, and served as advisor for the Beta Upsilon chapter of Sigma Gamma Epsilon (SGE) from 1969 until his retirement in 2010. In this brief memorial, we will highlight some of Don’s most important contributions to BGSU’s geology program, the field of foraminiferal paleobiology, geoscience education, …

Beyond The Poster Session: Turning A Scientific Poster Into A Publishable Manuscript, Scott R. Beason

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

Scientific posters are often treated as the final product of an undergraduate research project. After months of fieldwork, laboratory analysis, data processing, and interpretation, a student prepares a poster, presents the work at a departmental symposium or professional meeting, rolls up the poster, and moves on to the next stage of their career. The research, however, does not necessarily need to end with the poster session. A well-developed scientific poster already contains many of the fundamental elements of a scientific manuscript: a research question, scientific context, methods, results, figures, interpretation, discussion, and conclusions. Converting a poster into a manuscript therefore …

Front Matter, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

No abstract provided.

Old Rulings, New Reasons, Jack Boeglin

Michigan Law Review

When the Supreme Court does away with a longstanding legal principle, what should become of the hundreds, if not thousands, of precedents across the judicial system that rely upon it? Does some residual precedential value continue to attach to a decision even after its reasoning has been rejected? Or should it be overturned unless it can be upheld on a new, independently persuasive legal basis?

These are the questions courts must ask when deciding whether to “reharmonize” precedent. A court reharmonizes a past decision by supporting it on alternative grounds that better fit with changing legal or factual understandings.

The …

Two Cheers For Cox V. Sony, Christopher A. Cotropia, James Gibson

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment marks the first time in twenty years that the Supreme Court has addressed contributory infringement in copyright law. But rather than engage with the extensive appellate case law produced over those years, the Court instead chose to focus exclusively on the two forms of contributory infringement it had discussed in its own decisions: liability for intentionally providing a technology used for infringement by a third party, and liability for intentionally inducing the infringement of a third party. That’s it. The ruling contemplates no other form of contributory liability.

At first blush, then, the …

Editorial, Julia Coffman

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Front And Back Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Climate Change Evidence: Driving Value-Added Use For Better Decisions, Tim Larson, Marina Lahowin, Sarah Hanck

The Foundation Review

This article examines the evolving ecosystem of climate solution evidence tools and distinguishes the different functions they serve, including evidence aggregation, assessment of evidence strength, comparison of solution options, spatial targeting, policy benchmarking, and adaptive management.

Drawing from research on evidence-informed policymaking and climate decision science, the authors identify persistent barriers to evidence use, including misalignment with decision needs, deep uncertainty, institutional incentives, and limited capacity for collective sensemaking.

The article argues philanthropy’s greatest leverage lies not in increasing the supply of evidence alone, but in strengthening the systems through which evidence is interpreted, governed, and embedded in decision processes. …

Evidence And Learning Amid A Climate Crisis: Six Promising Frontiers For Advancing Practice, Tim Larson, Shawna Hoffman, Marina Lahowin

The Foundation Review

The effects of the climate crisis are intensifying each year, just as the global context for mitigation, adaptation, and resilience efforts grows increasingly complex. Against a backdrop of urgency, resource scarcity, high uncertainty, and politicization, evidence is arguably more crucial than ever for informing climate action.

The potential of evidence for climate action has not been fully realized, leaving tremendous value on the table. This article argues that the challenge is not driven by a shortage of evidence, but rather by a mismatch between dominant evidence and learning practices and what decision-makers need.

In response to the question “how can …

Full Issue

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

From Rhetoric To Reality: Piloting Conversation-Based Reporting On Systems Change, Laura Rana Englert

The Foundation Review

The Climate Emergency Collaboration Group (CECG) is a philanthropic regranter aiming to unlock the power of international moments and systems to deliver a step-change in global response to the climate emergency. Both CECG’s work and the systems to which it contributes are characterised by complexity, non-linearity, and unpredictability.

CECG transformed its approach to reporting from traditional written reports using predetermined indicators to a conversation-based reporting (CBR) process prioritising depth over breadth and meaningful two-way exchange. CECG uses CBR to explore collective contributions to system change and drive evidence-informed decision-making.

This article provides a practice-based case study of CECG’s experience piloting …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Complex Social Change: Lessons From Ford’S Climate Change Program, Subarna Mathes, Bess Rothenberg, Kelsey Simmons

The Foundation Review

This article offers a detailed account from within the Ford Foundation of what it takes to subject a complex social change strategy to genuine evaluative scrutiny. Drawing on the work of the Foundation’s Office of Strategy and Learning (OSL) and its evaluation of the Natural Resources and Climate Change program, it describes what shifts in strategy and learning were necessary, what was required organizationally, and what changed as a result.

The article delves into the evaluation process itself, including how OSL balanced the needs and perspectives of Ford leadership, program staff, and grantee partners. It shares how OSL centered equity …

Philanthropy And The Climate Crisis: Learning And Evaluation To Drive Decision-Making And Identify Emergent Opportunities, Lindsay Hanson, Rosy Kalfus, Courtney Lee

The Foundation Review

To us, strategic learning is an adaptive approach to using evaluation and other data to directly affect decision-making and action.

An early focus on building relationships and accountability to specific outcomes and values — including establishing baselines and plans for regular reporting and interpretation — laid the groundwork for decision-making in later stages of the Climate Solutions program’s lifecycle.

Increasingly rapid data feedback loops informed the Climate Solutions program’s strategy pivot, decisions, and collaboration with grantees and funder partners.

Engagement in strategic learning and use of evaluation to drive decision-making improved with practice, as illustrated by the Climate Solutions team’s …

More Than The Sum: A Collective Vision For The Future Of Strategy, Monitoring, Impact, Learning And Evaluation (Smile) In Climate Philanthropy, Marta Arranz, Rees Warne, Olivia Deich, Amelia Abdelrazik

The Foundation Review

Organizations funding climate work must learn quickly and make urgent decisions despite uncertainties and low levels of control. Within climate philanthropy, sharing learnings widely and using evidence for decision-making are crucial.

The authors argue the “evaluation” field is both misdefined and underleveraged. In a shift away from accountability and siloed learning within organizations, they propose redefining the evaluation profession as SMILE (Strategy, Monitoring, Impact, Learning, and Evaluation).

After three years of building field-wide learning infrastructure, the authors reflect on the field’s progress and offer recommendations to the climate philanthropy ecosystem.

Climate Breakthrough's Impact And Learning System: A Case Study, Olivia Deich

The Foundation Review

Climate Breakthrough makes one-time, multi-million-dollar, multi-year, flexible grants to climate strategists. The portfolio is collectively aimed at achieving an outsized emissions reduction goal. There are no strategy pillars, and grantees are from across the globe. This model, paired with Climate Breakthrough’s guiding values, opens the door for impact and learning work focused on iteration and learning.

In practice, grantees identify a small set of key performance indicators themselves; they share emissions reduction estimates for their work that are important but not dominant; they have abundant impact and learning resources; and the funder gains a wealth of data from which to …

Feedback Loops In Practice: A Case Study On Evaluating A Climate Collaborative, Mansi Shah, Amy Sherwood, Abbie Turiansky, Drew Koleros, Axum Teferra

The Foundation Review

Philanthropic support to address the climate crisis has grown substantially, yet it remains unclear how effectively philanthropies are learning from their investments, from each other, and from other actors about what generates meaningful impact. Evaluations have come under scrutiny, as conventional approaches often struggle to account for complexity and provide the timely insights needed for adaptive management.

In this article, the authors present the learning journey of a complex, systems-focused climate philanthropy initiative that uses structured feedback loops as an evaluation design. They describe how these loops were implemented over a two-year evaluation; discuss the choice of complexity-aware methods; and …

Spend-Down To Scale Up: Limited-Life Giving In The Climate Crisis, Madeleine C. Mckinnon, Samuel Rogers, David Gunsberg, Emma Mcintosh

The Foundation Review

This article shares first-hand experiences of a charitable foundation operating under a spend-down model, illustrating how a fixed time horizon shapes philanthropic and programmatic behavior. The authors discuss three conditions that a spend-down horizon reliably forces: the imperative to fund quickly, collaboratively, and boldly on shared goals; the discipline to concentrate capital with strategic focus; and the emphasis on learning and collaboration as both a means to optimize for impact now and to sustain and scale impact over the long term.

Authors explore the influence of these conditions in a series of case studies working towards a clean energy transition …

Powerful Pulpits: Black Preachers As Cultish Leaders In The Axman Murders, 1909-1912, Lauren N. Henley

Interdisciplinary Journal of Leadership Studies

Southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas experienced a series of disturbingly similar ax murders from November 1909 to August 1912. In nearly every case, a black family living within a mile of the Sunset Limited line of the Southern Pacific Railroad was brutally slaughtered in their own home, victims of a surreptitious assailant. Eventually, a young black woman would take credit for some of the crimes, ushering in the language of “religious fanaticism” as a potential motive. This confession sparked an intense period of criminalization of black male preachers, with a particular focus on Pentecostal leaders in southwestern Louisiana. This article …

Leader-Follower Formation-Based Leader Velocities Estimation Via Adaptive-Τ Tustin Differentiator, Zeyad A. Karam, Mohammed Y. Hassan, Amjad J. Humaidi

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

This work develops a leader–follower formation for differential-drive mobile robots with an explicit estimator for the leader's velocities. Firstly, a leader robot position-variance-adaptive, under-rate-limited differentiator provides forward speed and yaw-rate estimate for the leader velocities, using exponentially weighted increment variances that drive a convex one-sided mapping to provide adaptive time constants for this estimator. Secondly, the control stack couples three layers: first layer, a nonlinear body-frame kinematic law for leader tracking, with orientation corrections handled via a smooth bounded function sin(eθ)/eθ to eliminate singularities near zero error. Second layer, a formation-preserving follower controller based on …

Adaptive Intelligent H-Infinity Controller Design For Mimo Nonlinear Systems Under Asymmetric Input Saturation, Mohammed Qasim, Hazem I. Ali, Omar Farouq Lutfy

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

This paper details the design of a robust adaptive intelligent guaranteed cost H-infinity controller, tailored for MIMO nonlinear systems subject to external disturbances, parametric uncertainties, and asymmetric input saturation constraints. The adaptive intelligent part of the proposed controller consists of a Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFNN) with bounded output to respect saturation constraints and a robust adaptive law for RBFNN weights estimation. This part serves to estimate the system's uncertain nonlinearities and external disturbances. The guaranteed cost H-infinity is designed based on Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs) to address the system parameter uncertainties and bounded RBFNN estimation errors, as well …

Enhancing Gru With Long-Short Attention: A Case Study Of Saudi Stock Market Prediction, Hussein Samma, Qusay Shihab Hamad, Ali Salem Bin Sama, Adnan Bakather, Khaled Alhashash

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

Predicting stock market movements accurately is a challenging task due to the inherent complexity and volatility of financial markets. In recent years, deep learning techniques, particularly the Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), have shown promising results in financial time series prediction. However, capturing the most relevant information from large volumes of data remains a critical challenge for improving prediction accuracy. This work introduces an attention-enhanced GRU model for forecasting the Saudi stock market. The proposed model integrates attention mechanisms to dynamically prioritize different input patterns, enabling the network to focus on the most relevant information for prediction. Two types of attention …

Generative Artificial Intelligence-Driven Augmentation With Deep Feature Fusion Model For Rare Disease Detection And Classification, V. Kavitha

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

Rare disease detection focuses on identifying rare health conditions that affect a tiny fraction of people. Detection is challenging because symptoms are often ambiguous and information is limited. In recent years, retinal diseases have become a serious problem worldwide. Progressing a computer-assisted diagnosis (CAD) method is highly beneficial and functional for ophthalmologists. Proper detection and treatment can save eye vision. Deep learning (DL) has advanced across various scientific fields and is leveraged for numerous healthcare tasks. This research presents a Generative Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Adaptive Feature Fusion Network for Rare Retinal Disease Detection (GAIAFF-RRDD) technique assists ophthalmologists by allowing early and …

Glycemia Regulation In Type 1 Diabetes Using Artificial Pancreas Systems: One Decade Review Of Positive Control Approaches, Luay Thamir Rasheed, Ahmed Sabah Al-Araji, Taghreed Mohammadridha

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

An artificial pancreas (AP) is a biomedical device that mimics the natural glucose-regulation process carried out by a healthy pancreas. This device consists of three parts: a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), a control algorithm, and an insulin pump. These three parts work together by continuously monitoring blood glucose concentration (BGC) and adjusting insulin delivery to maintain normoglycemia while minimizing the occurrence of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. While several review studies have addressed control strategies for AP systems, limited attention has been given to the fundamental positivity constraint of insulin delivery and its systematic impact on controller design and performance. This paper …

Power-Efficient Target Tracking And Coverage In Under-Provisioned Wireless Visual Sensor Networks, Muna M. Jawad

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

Due to their ability to detect the physical environment, directional sensors have attracted a lot of attention in wireless visual sensor networks (WVSN). These sensors perform two key functions: communication and sensing. A WVSN comprises numerous configurable limited fields of view sensors, comprising distinct angular sectors, arranged with multiple targets randomly scattered in the same surrounding region. Therefore, there is a critical need to improve the network's lifetime and reduce power demand while providing complete target coverage. This paper looks at under-resourced visual networks with an inadequate number of sensors to match applications' needs and develops a viable model to …

Fractal Circularly Polarized Leaky-Wave Antenna For X-Band Cubesat Communication, Ghufran Kh. Mahmood, Ahmed M A Sabaawi

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

This study presents the design and optimization of a circularly polarized fractal leaky-wave antenna (LWA) designed for X-band CubeSat communication systems. The proposed antenna is based on a via-less substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) structure. It utilizes composite right-/left-handed (CRLH) transmission-line principles to achieve a high-impedance boundary and enhanced radiation performance. The work focuses on optimizing the antenna structure for operation at 8 GHz by investigating the effects of key design parameters, including the slot width (W_s), bent length (L_s1), inter-slot spacing (d_slot), and number of periodic unit cells (n). Antenna performance is evaluated in terms …

Improving Performance For Dco-Ofdm Based Vlc Via Convolutional Coding And Viterbi Decoding, Maha F. Shatti, Samir M. Hameed, Atheer A. Sabri

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

The reliability of Visible Light Communication (VLC) is affected by several parameters, the most significant being high peak-to-average power ratio(PAPR) and nonlinear distortion. This study presents an adaptive direct current O-OFDM (DCO-OFDM) based VLC system as a solution, which integrates error correction the Convolutional coding and Viterbi decoding (by hard and soft decision methods) with a PAPR reduction technique that combines Vandermonde-like Matrix (VLM) precoding with a nonlinear companding transform (NCT). This proposed system enhances resistance to channel impairments, thereby reducing BER while maintaining the gains of PAPR reduction. Moreover, examined the system under realistic VLC propagation conditions both Line …

Cost-Efficient High-Capacity Radio Over Fiber (Rof) Transmission: Integrating Coarse And Dense Wdm Techniques, Hilal A. Fadhil, Fadia N. Hummadi, Feras N. Hasoon, Haider J. Abd, Hussein A. Kazem

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

Using Radio over Fiber (RoF) has expanded lately to the point where a key component of it link between central office and base station would be useful from the whole industry. As the market grows towards communication products of ultra-high-speed, like 5G applications, capital expenditure (CapEx) is crucial. The two primary types regarding wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) techniques Dense WDM and Coarse WDM are integrated in the presented work to create cost-effective, new design paradigm for RoF. The suggested system is tested and put into use at 10 Gbps data transmission rate. In addition, it describes how the two systems-based …