Digital Commons Network^™

Recursive Artificial Intelligence Training And The Homogenization Of Discourse, Sam Hemesath

Political Science Honors Projects

As Large Language Models (LLMs) begin to produce text on the internet, the same repository from which training data for LLMs are scraped, LLMs will start to train on data they produced. What will happen to future models when LLMs are trained on their own text? Scholars have raised concerns about the possibility that LLMs homogenize language and discourse. These concerns are further exaggerated as LLMs begin to infect their own repositories, marking a turn from human-produced training data sets. In this paper I simulate a recursive training loop by prompting a popular open-source LLM with 1000 prompts and using …

Melodizing Modern Power: Giacomo Puccini And The Demands Of Thematic Development, Claire Kelly

Music Honors Projects

This paper examines Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s processes of thematic development in three operas, La Bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), and Il Tabarro (1918). Puccini’s thematic development has been a point of contention for many musicologists and critics. Critics of his own time found his thematic development style to be inconsistent; some regarded his melodies as fragmented and lacking cohesion. Since then, biographers and critics such as Michele Girardi, Mosco Carner, and Alexandra Wilson have reiterated and re-examined these claims. Taken together, my three case studies conclude that Puccini’s multivalent style of thematic development is meant to depict the various effects …

Adaptive Rational Approximation In Dynamic Economic Models: A Novel Application Of The Aaa Algorithm To Economic Growth, Adaye Sosthene Yvan N'Guettia

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

I study adaptive rational approximation for fixed points that arise in infinite-horizon dynamic programming. I integrate the Adaptive Antoulas–Anderson (AAA) algorithm into Bellman- and Euler-based fixed-point solvers by recomputing a barycentric rational interpolant at each update. In addition to standard AAA, which selects support points from interpolation residuals, I study a residual-weighted variant in which Bellman,Euler, or KKT diagnostics act as secondary weights on the greedy pivot rule. This alignment of approximation adaptivity with the underlying equilibrium conditions can concentrate degrees of freedom in regions of steep curvature, sharp transitions in localbehavior, and other localized features that typically degrade polynomial …

An Analysis Of The Effects And Implementations Of The Early Literacy Grant In Arizona, Alicia Severiano Perez

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

Over the years, states have implemented Science of Reading (SoR) frameworks to address low literacy levels. The Early Literacy Grant (ELG) in Arizona funds and supports such frameworks for schools serving low-income students. This paper is the first to explore the grant through interrupted time series modeling to evaluate effectiveness and text analysis to understand its implementation. We do not find clear evidence of positive effects caused by the grant, other than some cases, such as Yuma County. Schools typically allocate funds toward salaries and hiring instructors. These findings raise questions about whether its allocations should be closely monitored.

Level Sets For Lehmer Codes Of Pattern Avoiding Permutations, Avery Sinclair

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

We study the poset structures for two families of pattern avoiding permutations. An n-permutation is a list of the numbers [n]={1,2,...,n}. A permutation is 321-avoiding when it does not contain a decreasing subsequence of length 3. A poset (partially ordered set) is a set such that some elements can be compared with one another. Using Lehmer codes, we define a poset for 321-avoiding permutations. We then fully describe the six lowest levels of this poset. We then consider the analogous poset for 123-avoiding permutations (which don't contain an increasing subsequence of length 3) and fully describe the three lowest levels.

Unsustainable Stories: Agricultural Knowledge On The Great Plains, 1880-1934, Philomena Shuffelton-Sobe

History Honors Projects

This thesis explores stories about how people farmed and learned about farming on the Great Plains from 1880-1920 through three inter-connected narratives: the Allotment system, agricultural education programs at federal Indian Boarding Schools, and the rapid rise and fall of the Dry Farming movement. These systems were built on stories about how people should live with and on the land that promoted unsustainable, destructive ways of farming and knowledge production. This scholarship places Assimilation Era agricultural education for Native and non-Native farmers within the context of the increasing reliance on systems and science and the institutionalization of agricultural knowledge.

Blue Space As Amenity And Disamenity: Disparity In Interstitial Water Bodies, Mara Pirone

Geography Honors Projects

Access to environmental amenities is distributed unevenly across urban areas, often due to discriminatory institutional practices such as redlining and racial covenants. Urban blue spaces (lakes, streams, rivers) can serve as either an environmental amenity or dis-amenity, depending on development and investment strategies. This paper explores how institutional racism, measured by variables such as historic redlining and racial covenant practices, shapes access to blue space as an amenity in the Twin Cities. Our results show that access to large, well-maintained, and well-invested blue space is distributed unevenly. Studying this relationship shows how cities continue to promote environmental injustice in interstitial …

Covid-19, Politicization, And Vaccine Hesitancy: A Spatiotemporal Analysis Of Non-Medical Exemptions In Minnesota, 2014-2024, Benjamin Arnold

Geography Honors Projects

Vaccination rates have declined due to the growing hesitancy by many parents to vaccinate their children, signified by an increasing amount of non-medical exemptions. While there has been previous spatial analysis of exemption patterns as a threat to herd immunity, there has not been much post-COVID. This analysis provides a modern analysis of changing exemption clustering in Minnesota, while also considering the impact of public health being increasingly politicized. We used kindergarten vaccination data for 1475 elementary schools to analyze the evolution of clustering and predictors of NMEs across space and time in Minnesota, from 2014 to 2024.

News Clipping, Naacp Sponsors Baby Contest

Eartha M. M. White Textual Material

Newsclipping: Article regarding Mrs. Frances Lewis, vice-president of the Southwest Area Conference of NAACP branches, at the Maricopa branch meeting held July 5th at the Bethlehem Baptist Church. Mrs. Lewis announced a statewide baby contest. Undated.

Data For Effect Of Simple Motor Repetition On Inverted Pendulum Control: Exploring Age-Related Variations, Kimia Kiani, Qiushi Fu

Research Data and Datasets

This dataset contains data from a human motor-control experiment investigating how prior motor repetition influences subsequent control and learning of a virtual inverted-pendulum task in young and older adults. Participants performed the inverted-pendulum task using a robotic interface and completed either force-based or movement-based repetition training between task blocks. The dataset includes measures of pendulum control performance, task progression, training condition, hand, and age group. These data support the study “Effect of Simple Motor Repetition on Inverted Pendulum Control: Exploring Age-Related Variations.”

Somewhere Far And Somewhere Near: A Short Story Collection, Jizelle Villegas

English Honors Projects

Somewhere Far and Somewhere Near is a short story collection that positions body horror, “where corporeality constitutes the main site of fear, anxiety and disgust,” alongside Gloria Anzaldúa’s concept of la facultad, or “see[ing] deeper realities within surface phenomena,” which is heightened in the Latina body. Stories range from depicting realistic body horror like cancer and disordered eating to the grotesque and supernatural, like spirits and vampires. I draw on Latina speculative fiction writers, Tejana scholars and my own lived experiences to explore how location and identity presses upon the emotional and psychological stakes of my Latina characters

Virtual Sensing And Ai Method For In-Cabin Airflow (Q) Estimation And Closed-Loop Hvac Control, Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

Vehicle HVAC blower control is typically open-loop, using commanded voltage or PWM duty cycle and assuming a fixed relationship to delivered airflow. In reality, airflow reaching the occupant depends on duct losses, filter loading, blower/compressor efficiency, altitude, air density, and vehicle variation. Since comfort depends on actual vent airflow (i.e., not blower voltage),this method estimates delivered airflow (Q = A·v, m³/s) through physics-based and AI sensor fusion using existing vehicle signals, then closes the control loop on estimated Q rather than commanded voltage.

Artificial Intelligence Driven Insights And Predictions For A Television Application, Neetesh Mittal, Vivek Kushwaha, Vivek Yadav, Saravanan Santhamoorthy Theckyam

Defensive Publications Series

Traditional data analytics for television applications rely on manual, dashboard-centric models that track historical user activity. These traditional data analytics for television applications fail to explain underlying user behaviors or to correlate multiple simultaneously launched features with core business objectives. To address these limitations, the disclosed technology describes an autonomous analytical system that utilizes a distributed client-server architecture that hosts a hierarchical multi-agent backend built on an orchestration framework. A supervisor agent coordinates specialized domain engines to execute targeted statistical, performance, and viewership analysis algorithms over read-only television application databases. Communication under strict End-User Credential (EUC) zero-trust security and under …

Visual Representation Of Ai Agents Replacing Inactive Users In Chat Interfaces, Ramprasad Sedou, Punit Pandia

Defensive Publications Series

Chat-based communication platforms use visual identity markers such as profile pictures and avatars to identify message sources. When users become temporarily or permanently unavailable, AI (artificial intelligence) agents may generate responses on their behalf. However, displaying the original user's avatar for AI-generated messages may mislead recipients into believing they are communicating with the human user, while replacing avatars with generic AI icons may obscure user identification in group settings. Disclosed are systems and methods for visually representing AI agent activity within chat interfaces through modified avatar presentations that combine elements of the original user's visual identity with indicators of AI …

Caldwell Cmhre-Ω1.2 Open-Hardware Modular Thermal Stabilization, Direct-Liquid-Cooling, And Waste-Heat Utilization Research Platform, Michael Victor Caldwell Mr.

Defensive Publications Series

The Caldwell CMHRE-Ω1.2 is a modular open-hardware research platform for evaluating direct liquid cooling, thermal stabilization, phase-change buffering, low-grade thermoelectric energy recovery, gyroid-inspired flow distribution, localized vortex/impingement heat-transfer enhancement, and adaptive thermal control.

CMHRE-Ω1.2 uses a controlled 100–500 W electrically metered copper heater block as a chip analog. A primary, conventional liquid-cooling loop is always available to remove the full thermal load safely. Optional research modules operate in bypassable side streams so no experimental energy-recovery module becomes a mandatory thermal bottleneck.

The platform incorporates selected practical elements from the posted CIERS-TEG v3.0 disclosure: detailed metering and control architecture, copper-foam-enhanced PCM, …

Systemic Progress Regeneration Protocol (Sprp), Volodymyr Kotegov

Defensive Publications Series

This protocol defines the mandatory rules for the creation, evaluation, acceptance, and long-term stewardship of engineering work by parties that voluntarily adopt it.

The protocol exists to counteract a fundamental process: the spontaneous decay of civilizationally critical engineering knowledge. Its objective is not the production of superior individual artifacts. Its objective is the sustained growth of the survivable mass of engineering knowledge — the quantity of knowledge that remains comprehensible, reproducible, and extensible after complete institutional rupture, generational turnover, and loss of external infrastructure.

The protocol claims no universal authority. It applies only to nodes and Inheritance Lines that have …

System And Method For Swarm-Directed Autonomous Fleet Training And Assessment Across Vehicle Domains, Eric Zavesky

Defensive Publications Series

A system and method for coordinated autonomous vehicle fleet training and assessment across vehicle domains is disclosed. The system comprises a networked fleet of autonomous vehicles operating as self-directed agents with built-in self-preservation, each vehicle configured to receive semantic scenario constraints, interpret and fill gaps using autonomous driving intelligence, independently detect collision risk, and coordinate evasive maneuvers with other vehicles without blindly trusting central commands. A training orchestration engine transmits semantic constraints at multiple specificity levels without specifying complete trajectories. A distributed safety protocol layer implements a three-level detection hierarchy enabling any vehicle or system level to trigger coordinated safety …

Ciers‑Teg V3.0 Thermal Cascade Waste‑Heat Recovery System, Michael Victor Caldwell Mr.

Defensive Publications Series

CIERS‑TEG v3.0 is an open‑hardware, research‑grade thermal‑energy recovery architecture designed for high‑density compute environments such as AI GPU clusters, power‑electronics arrays, and industrial process lines. The system captures waste heat at the chip level, routes it through a controlled thermal cascade, and converts portions of that heat into electrical power, stored thermal energy, and useful low‑grade utilities. Unlike single‑stage thermoelectric approaches, CIERS‑TEG v3.0 maintains exergy across multiple descending temperature stages using microfluidic extraction, gyroid thermal spreading, phase‑change buffering, condensation‑based utility recovery, and parasitic pump‑energy harvesting.

The architecture integrates several previously independent open‑hardware subsystems: Arachne‑Chip ULTRA‑REAL for direct‑die microfluidic heat capture; …

Autonomous Flameless Thermochemical Heating Boiler With Gravity Feed Of Encapsulated Composite Metal Fuel Briquettes, Passive Bimetallic Ash Removal And In-Situ Catalytic Hydrogen Recombination, Volodymyr Kotegov

Defensive Publications Series

The invention relates to autonomous heating systems for residential and small commercial buildings, specifically to flameless thermochemical boilers utilizing controlled exothermic reactions between a solid composite metal-based fuel, water vapour and atmospheric oxygen. The boiler is classified under IPC classes F24H 1/00, F24V 30/00, C01B 3/08, F23C 13/00 and C10L 5/40. It represents a combined system for heat generation and a specialised solid composite fuel manufactured from processed industrial waste. Once initiated, the boiler operates passively in a self-sustained mode and requires only minimal electricity during a brief start-up phase.

Deterministic Predictive State (Dps) Architecture For High-Latency Interplanetary Command And Control, Volodymyr Kotegov

Defensive Publications Series

Round-trip light-time delays between Earth and Mars routinely reach 20–40 minutes. Under these conditions conventional transactional databases and consensus protocols either lock up or time out.

This paper describes a practical architecture that avoids the problem by running identical, bit-for-bit deterministic simulators on the ground and on the spacecraft. All calculations use software fixed-point arithmetic. Both sides share the same atomic-clock timeline (corrected for relativity) and the same sequence of pseudorandom seeds. When delayed telemetry arrives via DTN, the ground side rewinds its state to the timestamp of the data, merges the real measurements with CRDTs, and fast-forwards the simulation …

Path-Diverse Optical Mesh With Erasure Coding (Pdomec): A Non-Line-Of-Sight Tolerant Architecture For Free-Space Optical Inter-Satellite Links, Volodymyr Kotegov

Defensive Publications Series

Free-space optical links in satellite constellations deliver high bandwidth but are vulnerable to short-duration blockages caused by orbital debris, atmospheric turbulence, cloud cells and pointing jitter. Conventional link-level retransmission (ARQ) fails on long inter-satellite baselines because the propagation delay exhausts buffers and collapses throughput.

This paper describes a framing-layer architecture that tolerates such blockages without retransmissions or mechanical re-pointing. Incoming data are collected into fixed-length frames, expanded by erasure coding (Reed-Solomon or rateless fountain codes) with a configurable over-provisioning ratio, and the resulting shards are injected simultaneously across multiple spatially separated optical terminals on the same node. The receiving node …

Association Between The Number Of Remaining Teeth And Oral Frailty In Older Adults, Wei-Chun Lin

Articles in Press

No abstract provided.

Resins And Three-Dimensional Printers In Manufacturing Direct-Printed Dental Aligners, Wei-Chun Lin

Articles in Press

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Facial Marker Position On The Accuracy Of Dental Facial Scanning, Wei-Chun Lin

Articles in Press

No abstract provided.

Anemia, Hematinic Defificiencies, And Hyperhomocysteinemia In Gastric Parietal Cell Antibody-Positive And -Negative Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis Patients, Chun-Pin Chiang

Articles in Press

No abstract provided.

Exosomes Derived From Bone Substitute-Induced Gingival Mesenchymal Stem Cells Promote Angiogenesis, Liangkun Xie

Articles in Press

No abstract provided.

Anemia, Hematinic Deficiencies, Hyperhomocysteinemia, And Serum Gastric Parietal Cell Antibody Positivity In Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis Patients With Vitamin B12 Deficiency, Chun-Pin Chiang

Articles in Press

No abstract provided.

Anemia, Hematinic Defificiencies, Hyperhomocysteinemia, And Serum Gastric Parietal Cell Antibody Positivity In 430 Patients With Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis, Chun-Pin Chiang

Articles in Press

No abstract provided.

An Artificial Intelligence Assisted Framework For Automated Quantified Root Canal Curvature Measurement On Periapical Radiographs, Shih-Lun Chen

Articles in Press

No abstract provided.

Distributed Fault-Tolerant Ephemeris Synchronization (Dftes) For Autonomous Satellite Constellations, Volodymyr Kotegov

Defensive Publications Series

Large satellite constellations need continuous, high-precision knowledge of every node’s position and velocity to keep cross-links aligned and to perform collision-avoidance manoeuvres. Dependence on ground-based space situational awareness or GNSS creates a single point of failure that can be jammed, denied or simply out of contact.

This paper describes a fully decentralized software architecture that lets a constellation maintain a consistent ephemeris map using only inter-satellite links. Each satellite runs a local orbital propagator and keeps a state matrix for the whole constellation. When two nodes establish a link they exchange compact state vectors together with an explicit Epistemic Confidence …