Digital Commons Network^™

Machines Make Mistakes Too: Planning For Ai Liability In Contracting, Mark Sayre, Kyle Glover

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

Recent advances in artificial intelligence have set off a frenzy of commercial activity, with companies fearful that they may fall behind if they are unable to quickly incorporate the new technology into their products or their internal processes. At the same time, numerous scholars from the machine learning community have warned of the fundamental risks that uninhibited use of artificial intelligence poses to society. The question is not whether artificial intelligence will cause harm, but when, and how. The certainty of future harm necessitates that legal scholars and practitioners examine the liability implications of artificial intelligence. While this topic has …

New Record Of Leucistic Blue Catfish, Ictalurus Furcatus (Siluriformes: Ictaluridae) From The Black River, Lawrence County, Arkansas, C.T. Mcallister, H.W. Robison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The Blue Catfish, Ictalurus furcatus (Lesueur), the largest North American ictalurid, inhabits deep watersheds, impoundments, and main channels and backwaters of medium to large rivers, over mud, sand, and gravelly substrate. Its native range includes the Mississippi River basin from western Pennsylvania to southern South Dakota and southwestern Nebraska south to the Gulf of Mexico and in Alabama, Florida, The Rio Grande drainage of Texas and New Mexico (Page and Burr 2011). In Arkansas, I. furcatus is found throughout the Arkansas, Red, and Mississippi river drainages and has been stocked by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission into reservoirs throughout …

Agentes Artificiales En Las Juntas Corporativas, Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci, David Cordero-Heredia, Carlos A. Carillo-Jaramillo

Faculty Works

Miles de afios atras, empresarios romanos gestionaban negocios conjuntos a traves de esclavos altamente inteligentes de propiedad comun. Los esclavos romanos no tenfan plena capacidad legal y eran considerados propiedad de sus duefios comunes. Ahora, las corporaciones buscan delegar la toma de decisiones a maquinas superinteligentes mediante el uso de inteligencia artificial en las juntas corporativas. La inteligencia artificial podrfa asistir, integrar e incluso reemplazar a los directores humanos. Sin embargo, el concepto de usar inteligencia artificial en las juntas directivas esta, en gran medida, inexplorado y plantea varios problemas. Este artfculo arroja luz sobre los desaffos legales y de …

Bar-Code Variable: A Novel Approach To Efficiently Find Interaction Effects, Lee Sak Park

Theses and Dissertations--Statistics

This paper introduces the bar-code variable, a novel method for processing a sequence of binary explanatory variables efficiently in the linear regression modeling framework. Represented as an integer or a sequence of bits, the bar-code variable captures infor- mation on original binary variables and their potential interaction effects. Utilizing the bar-code variable, the study explores streamlined feature selection in linear re- gression modeling with binary explanatory variables. The paper demonstrates how the bar-code variable, through re-parameterization, facilitates the transition from cell means estimates, µ̂, in the cell-means ANOVA model to coefficient estimates, β̂, in the linear regression model, and vice …

On Generative Models And Joint Architectures For Document-Level Relation Extraction, Aviv Brokman

Theses and Dissertations--Statistics

Biomedical text is being generated at a high rate in scientific literature publications and electronic health records. Within these documents lies a wealth of potentially useful information in biomedicine. Relation extraction (RE), the process of automating the identification of structured relationships between entities within text, represents a highly sought-after goal in biomedical informatics, offering the potential to unlock deeper insights and connections from this vast corpus of data. In this dissertation, we tackle this problem with a variety of approaches.

We review the recent history of the field of document-level RE. Several themes emerge. First, graph neural networks dominate the …

Difs And Bayescluster: Novel Methods For Single_Cell Rna Sequencing Analysis, Kun Liu

Theses and Dissertations--Statistics

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has transformed our understanding of cellular heterogeneity and gene expression dynamics. Despite its potential, the inherent noise and sparsity of scRNA-seq data pose significant challenges in clustering cells into biologically meaningful groups. This dissertation addresses these challenges through two novel methodologies aimed at enhancing the accuracy and robustness of scRNA-seq data analysis.

First, we introduce the Differential Feature Selection (DIFS) framework, designed to improve the identification of differential features in scRNA-seq data. DIFS employs a two-stage marker identification process. In the first stage, a modified Dip Test is used to filter and identify genes with significant …

Utah Growing Water Smart: The Water-Land Use Integration Guidebook For Southwestern Utah, Kelly Kopp, Joanna Endter-Wada

Utah Growing Water Smart

The Utah Growing Water Smart workshops bring together teams of key community staff and water and land use planning decision makers to help build a more resilient and sustainable water future. The workshops use a range of public engagement, planning, communication, and policy implementation tools to help community teams realize their water efficiency, smart growth, watershed health, and water resiliency goals.

This 3^rd edition of the Utah Growing Water Smart curriculum guidebook was prepared for the workshop focused on the Washington County Water Conservancy District service area and held on the campus of Southern Utah University in Cedar City, …

Proxy Taxes: Taxing The Wrong Person Can Be The Right Policy, Linda Sugin

Faculty Scholarship

Congress seems unable to fix the inequities and inefficiencies that riddle the tax law. This article suggests such a new strategy for building a better tax system that Congress should find politically possible. It proposes taxing the wrong taxpayer for the right reasons-to raise revenue and improve fairness. It introduces a conceptual and theoretical framework for provisions that are already in the Internal Revenue Code, explaining why they should be understood as examples of "proxy taxes," and proposes that proxy taxes can solve many intractable problems in the law.

“Proxy taxes,” as defined in this article, impose liability on taxpayers …

Late Holocene Fire History Reconstruction Of Beaver Lake In The Northwest Lowlands Of The Olympic Peninsula, Grace Mckenney

All Master's Theses

Fire is an essential component of the landscapes and forests of the Pacific Northwest, including the temperate rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula. Previous fire history reconstructions from the peninsula show that fire return intervals varied throughout the postglacial period, primarily in response to climatic changes and corresponding shifts in vegetation. However, much less is known about the fire history of the low-elevation forests of the Olympic Peninsula and the role of cultural fire regimes in these environments. The purpose of this study was to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental history of a low-elevation study site, Beaver Lake, located in the northwestern part …

The Genetic Diversity Of An Endangered Buttercup, Ranunculus Triternatus, Ryan Garcia

All Master's Theses

Ranunculus triternatus, a rare endemic species of the Columbia River Gorge, faces conservation challenges due to its limited range and fragmented populations. This study assesses the genetic diversity of R. triternatus and compares it with its widespread congener, Ranunculus glaberrimus, using inter-primer binding site (iPBS) markers. Genetic data from 80 individuals across eight populations were analyzed using Nei’s genetic diversity, Shannon’s diversity index, and AMOVA. Results showed R. triternatus had higher genetic diversity than western populations of R. glaberrimus, with eastern populations of R. glaberrimus displaying greater diversity than western ones. PCA, UPGMA, and STRUCTURE analysis revealed …

Towards An Engaging And Integrated Climate Change Pedagogy, Noor Ul Ain, Fozia Parveen, Nighat Rabbani, Afsana Shaheen

Books

Note Three years ago, we embarked on a journey to create open and free resources for teachers. We were overwhelmed by the positive response to each of our publications, whether in the form of activity booklets, dictionary, fiction, or early childhood lesson plans.
We were fortunate to receive a grant under the Climate Action Fellowship project from the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar. Initially, the project aimed to create a resource booklet of lessons and activities focused solely on climate change and climate change pedagogy. However, as we progressed, we realized the importance of first meeting with teachers to understand their …

Higher-Order Integrable Models For Oceanic Internal Wave–Current Interactions, David Henry, Rossen I. Ivanov, Zisis N. Sakellaris

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

In this paper, we derive a higher-order Korteweg–de Vries (HKdV) equation as a model to describe the unidirectional propagation of waves on an internal interface separating two fluid layers of varying densities. Our model incorporates underlying currents by permitting a sheared current in both fluid layers, and also accommodates the effect of the Earth's rotation by including Coriolis forces (restricted to the Equatorial region). The resulting governing equations describing the water wave problem in two fluid layers under a “flat-surface” assumption are expressed in a general form as a system of two coupled equations through Dirichlet–Neumann (DN) operators. The DN …

Beach Erosion And Recovery Since Hurricane Ivan In 2004 Along A Headland-Bay Coast In Treasure Beach, Jamaica, Elandé Engelbrecht

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Anthropogenic climate change is causing sea-level rise and shoreline changes that threaten the environment and economy of coastal communities in Caribbean Island nations. To assess this risk, this study quantifies shoreline changes at Treasure Beach in St. Elizabeth Parish on the south coast of Jamaica from 2001 to 2023. The effects of storm events on erosion were also assessed. Over 10 km of shoreline are assessed with about half being sandy pocket beaches ranging from 300 to 900 m in length, separated by rocky headlands and beach rock outcrops. Sand beach erosion trends since 2001 are assessed for seven sandy …

Cognitive Reflection And Socioeconomic Status Predict Children's Explanations Of Inequality, Mykee Vives

University Honors Program Senior Projects

Research suggests children who prefer internal over external explanations of inequality (e.g., innate ability differences vs. structural racism/sexism) are more likely to develop social biases. Adults with greater cognitive reflection (i.e., analytic thinking) and socioeconomic status (SES) are sometimes less likely to engage in internal reasoning about social groups. We investigated whether cognitive reflection and SES similarly predict children’s explanations of inequality. Five to 12-year-old children (N = 162) completed Rizzo et al.’s (2021) explanations for inequalities task for the domains of race and gender. In this task children chose between internal (“because of who they are on the inside”) …

Forming A More Perfect Union With Blockchains And Nfts: Why The United States Should Embrace An E-Government, Alexandria Labaro

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

This Note analyzes blockchain and non-fungible token (“NFT”) technology in the government, emphasizing the benefits of technological integration for improved data security and streamlined bureaucratic processes. It follows the growing popularity of “e-government” practices across the globe and considers factors associated with integrating blockchain and NFT technology in U.S. governmental procedures.

Good Readers, Good Writers, And Ai: Tool, Collaborator, Author?, Katherine Jung

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) systems have revolutionized the world of creative writing. Beyond providing simple grammar or spelling assistance, the most advanced of these systems can now play a collaborative role in the writing process, increasing productivity while pushing content in new and surprising directions. AI-generated creativity raises compelling questions in the context of copyright law, which has long been predicated on the assumption of human authorship. The capacity of AI to one day generate writing at a level of mastery on par with human beings complicates traditional notions of creativity, the protection of which the entire copy …

Algorithmic Dead Hands: What Is Dead May Never Die, Zachary L. Catanzaro

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Can we transcend death? By harnessing large language models and the invasive data harvesting of surveillance capitalism, AI systems now offer testators unprecedented posthumous control over property and heirs. These algorithmic ‘dead hands’ promise a seductive form of digital immortality, but if left unchecked, they threaten to spawn a novel breed of perpetuities. This technology risks birthing a digitized techno-feudal Necrocracy marked by inalienable property, extreme wealth consolidation, and the dead’s perpetual dominion over the living.

While modern reforms have weakened the common law’s traditional hostility to dead hand control, these reforms failed to anticipate technologically embodied intentionality persisting beyond …

Enhancing Rural Science Education Through School District-University Partnership, Venicia A. Ferrell, Alexis S. Tharpe

Center for Educational Partnerships Publications

This instrumental case study describes the steps taken to establish and implement a university–school partnership to improve rural science teachers’ content knowledge and teaching practices and students’ achievement in elementary science and high school biology courses. Our research questions explored the impact of professional development and place-based learning on student outcomes, with the study’s methodology involving needs assessments, teacher training, and continuous support through modeling and coaching. The findings include gains in achievement and substantial gains in science education. The findings have implications for the design, implementation, and evaluation of university–school partnerships designed to build teachers’ capacity to deliver high-quality …

2024-2025 Undergraduate Bulletin, Rochester Institute Of Technology

RIT Digital Archives

No abstract provided.

Quantitative Characterization Of Non-Bonded Interactions In Proteins Affecting Human Health And Disease, Maher Mansur

Dissertations

Non-bonded interactions are fundamental forces that govern molecular relationships between two or more molecules. These interactions contribute to the stability of complex biological structures like DNA, RNA, and proteins, and control various biological processes. Almost all of these processes are significantly influenced by protein-protein and protein-ligand intermolecular interactions. Here, the interactions of various proteins with other proteins, peptides, and/or ligands were quantified computationally to tackle human health-related problems. For estimating the intermolecular interactions, a number of computational approaches including protein structure modeling, molecular dynamics simulations, molecular docking, ensemble docking, semi-empirical methods, etc., were used. The basics of Molecular Mechanics and …

Benefits Of Quadratically Tapered Flexures For Mems Resonators And Gyroscopes, Brian Grantham

Dissertations

An investigation into the benefits of quadratically tapered flexures for MEMS resonators and gyroscopes is performed and compared to the traditional non-tapered flexure design. Quadratically tapered flexures exhibit constant strain along the outer edge of the flexure whereas non-tapered flexures have significant stress concentration near the base of the flexure. The investigation considers peak stress, thermoelastic damping (TED), nonlinearity, and sensitivity to manufacturing variations. The impact of inside corner fillets on peak stress, TED, and resonant frequency is also investigated. Five new anti-phase lever mechanism (APLM) configurations for resonators and gyroscopes are designed and analyzed using CoventorWare 10. Fabrication experiment …

Developing Geopolymer-Based Adsorptive Materials For Nutrient Removal From Agricultural Runoff And Drainage, Gabrielle Jacquelle Savoir

Dissertations

With the rise of population placing strain on food supplies and the failure of current prevention strategies to mitigate effects of agricultural pollution, research is needed to develop new technologies for the removal and recovery of nutrients from agricultural runoff and drainage. Geopolymer, an alkali-silicate material polymerized within an acidic or alkaline medium, is promising as an adsorptive substrate due to its multifaceted customizability, cost effectiveness, and adsorptive properties. Hence, the objective of this research was to develop porous metakaolin (MK) geopolymer based adsorptive materials with high affinities for phosphate and ammonium/ammonia to act as nutrient control within agricultural runoff …

Nonlinear Dynamics Of Acoustic Fluctuations In One-Dimensional Ducts With And Without Unsteady Combustion, Swarnalatha Kathalagiri Vasantha Kumar

Dissertations

The overall objective of this research is to analyze the nonlinear dynamics of combustors in one dimensional Cartesian coordinate. This research was carried out in four parts, with each successive part building on the previous one. The first part begins with investigation of the coupled nonlinear evolution of acoustic modes in a quasi 1-D duct with axially inhomogeneous mean velocity and mean thermodynamic properties. A novel modification of the Krylov--Bogoliubov method of averaging (KBMA) is developed to analytically solve the modal-amplitude equations that are linearly and nonlinearly coupled with both quadratic and cubic nonlinearities. Approximate analytical solutions based on the …

The Role Of Surface Processes In Modulating Land-Sea Breeze Circulation : An Observational And Numerical Modeling Study In Java, Georgios Priftis

Dissertations

In the Maritime Continent (MC), sea and land breezes (SLB), shaped by its numerous islands, are key drivers of the tropical climate. Island morphology, terrain, land cover, and orientation relative to prevailing winds affect these breezes and associated convection. While research has largely focused on larger islands, smaller islands like Java remain understudied. Java features a mountainous chain with several gaps and experienced significant land use and land cover changes (∆LULC) over the past two decades. This dissertation aims to: 1) adapt observational methods to detect mesoscale boundaries in numerical models, 2) analyze the role of Java’s topography and cloud- …

Hydrogen Molecule Adsorption On Heptazine Carbon Nitride Nanosheet Decorated Rh, Ir, Pd, And Pt Elements For Hydrogen Storage Application, Piyawat Amornthatri

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In this work, the hydrogen storage and sensing potential of pristine and metaldecorated heptazine carbon nitride nanosheets (hg-C3N4-NS) was investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Decoration with platinum-group metals-Rh, Ir, Pd, and Pt-was examined in two stable configurations: an off-center coordination site (Group 1) and a pore-center site (Group 2). Hydrogen adsorption was studied stepwise from one up to three H2 molecules per system to simulate the natural accumulation process. The results revealed that pristine hg-C3N4-NS exhibits only weak physisorption, whereas metal decoration markedly enhances adsorption strength. Among all systems, Ir-hg-C3N4-NS1 and Rh-hg-C3N4-NS1 showed the most exothermic adsorption energies …

Andrews University Press 2024 Booklist, Andrews University Press

Booklists

No abstract provided.

Hypothetical Mistakes: Hedging Wrong Answers With Conditional Language., Jessica Sujata Chandras

UNF Faculty Research and Scholarship

This article analyzes American high school students hedging incorrect responses to teacher-initiated questions in IRE (Initiation-Response-Evaluation) format using conditional language and hypotheticals in ways that facilitate an affiliative stance between students and their teacher. Scholarship on hedging details its use to approximate responses as a shield against doubt and criticism or as collaborative communication, whereas stance is a grammatically encompassed expression of attitudes related to the content of a message. This study brings together theories of stance, hedging, and conditional language use to outline how errors can be a student-initiated pedagogical tool to deepen explanations and engagement. To broaden understanding …

A Generalization Of The Graham-Pollak Tree Theorem To Even-Order Steiner Distance, Joshua Cooper, Gabrielle Tauscheck

Faculty Publications

Graham and Pollak showed in 1971 that the determinant of a tree’s distance matrix depends only on its number of vertices, and, in particular, it is always nonzero. The Steiner distance of a collection of k vertices in a graph is the fewest number of edges in any connected subgraph containing those vertices; for k = 2, this reduces to the ordinary definition of graphical distance. Here we show that the hyperdeterminant of the kth order Steiner distance hypermatrix is always nonzero if k is even, extending their result beyond k = 2. Previously, the authors showed that the k-Steiner …

Conceptualizing Language Ideologies About Education: Exploring Perceptions Of Multilingualism Among Marathi Speakers From India, Priya M. Dabak, Jessica Sujata Chandras

UNF Faculty Research and Scholarship

Perceptions of multilingualism have an impact on the educational choices of urban Indians and larger policy decisions around language in education in the Indian state of Maharashtra. By surveying 150 speakers of Marathi, the official language of the state and mother tongue, or first language of survey respondents, perceptions of multilingualism reveal conceptual assumptions and biases that can be uncovered through cognitive-linguistic analysis. Unprompted, survey respondents drew connections between multilingualism and education, underscoring language ideologies, or beliefs about languages which motivate urban Maharashtrians' educational decisions. Education is the stage upon which multilingual speakers in India express their aspirations and anxieties …

Collectivism And Efficacy: Relationship To Academic Performance In Early Adolescents, Richvinder Kaur

Selected Full-Text Master Theses 2021-

This study explored the mathematics efficacy beliefs of 270 South Asian (Indo American) immigrant and Anglo American nonimmigrant 7th grade students. Self-efficacy beliefs strongly predicted mathematics performance for both cultural groups, but there were differences between the 2 groups in the sources of self-efficacy, the predictiveness of the secondary motivation variables. It is argued that the Indo American students are more vertical or hierarchical than the Anglo-American students and that comparison with others strongly influences their motivation beliefs and the formation of their efficacy beliefs. Self-efficacy in some cultures may be more other-oriented than is typically seen in Western cultures. …