Digital Commons Network^™

Multi-Criteria Analysis Of Municipal Solid Wastes Treatment Scenarios: The Case Of Arusha City, Tanzania, Edwin N. Richard

Tanzania Journal of Science

Selection of the most effective municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment option is crucial for sustainable MSW management, but it remains a challenge in most cities of developing countries. More often, the decision-makers make the selection of the treatment options without economic (ECs), and environmental (ENCs) cost evaluations. Consequently, the selected technologies fail to suit the local conditions of the concerned areas and they become a high burden activity to manage. Therefore, this study aimed to use the multi-criteria analysis approach based on the ELECTRE method to analyse the most effective MSW treatment option in terms of ECs and ENCs costs …

"Arbitrary And Fortuitous"? The Revival Of Territorialism In American Choice Of Law, Lea Brilmayer, Fred Halbhuber

San Diego Law Review

When the conflict of laws revolution swept away the First Restatement in the mid-twentieth century, it took with it many of the ideas associated with traditional choice of law theory. Territorialism was one such collateral casualty. The close association between territorialism and the disgraced First Restatement methodology made it an obvious target. However, the real problem was not territorialism but rather the First Restatement’s system of “vested rights,” its endorsement of a “general common law,” and its system of inflexible rules.

A more successful challenge to territorialism was the claim that territorialism produces “arbitrary and fortuitous” results. This assertion has …

A Phenomenological Study Of Persistence For Black Women In Mathematics Doctoral Programs, Shushannah Marie Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the doctoral persistence experiences of Black women mathematicians. Guided by McGee’s fragile and robust mathematical identity framework, the research design followed Moustakas’ qualitative transcendental phenomenological approach. The researcher explored the contributing factors to the phenomenon guided by the central research question, “What are the doctoral persistence experiences of Black women mathematicians?” The study involved 11 Black women participants who hold or were within one year of holding a doctoral degree in mathematics and were selected to ensure diversity and representativeness. Data collection encompassed three methods: a mathematical identity development timeline, one-on-one …

Greenland Summer Blocking Characteristics: An Evaluation Of A High-Resolution Multi-Model Ensemble, Linh N. Luu, Edward Hanna, Dilkushi De Alwis Pitts, Jacob Maddison, James A. Screen, Jennifer L. Catto, Xavier Fettweis

All Works

Atmospheric blocking is a phenomenon that can lead to extreme weather events over a large region, yet its causes are not fully understood. Global climate models show limitations in representing Northern Hemisphere blocking, especially its frequency, and decadal variability in Greenland blocking in summer in the recent decades. In this study we evaluate the ability of high-resolution (HighResMIP) Earth System Models (ESMs) to simulate summer blocking over the Greenland area, using different but complementary methods to describe the characteristics of blocking. We find that the HighResMIP ensemble can reproduce the spatial pattern of Greenland blocking events, albeit with systematic biases, …

Immuneapp For Hla-I Epitope Prediction And Immunopeptidome Analysis, Haodong Xu, Ruifeng Hu, Xianjun Dong, Lan Kuang, Wenchao Zhang, Zhihong Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Advances in mass spectrometry accelerates the characterization of HLA ligandome, necessitating the development of efficient methods for immunopeptidomics analysis and (neo)antigen prediction. We develop ImmuneApp, an interpretable deep learning framework trained on extensive HLA ligand datasets, which improves the prediction of HLA-I epitopes, prioritizes neoepitopes, and enhances immunopeptidomics deconvolution. ImmuneApp extracts informative embeddings and identifies key residues for pHLA binding. We also present a more accurate model-based deconvolution approach and systematically analyzed 216 multi-allelic immunopeptidomics samples, identifying 835,551 ligands restricted to over 100 HLA-I alleles. Our investigation reveals the effectiveness of the composite model, denoted as ImmuneApp-MA, which integrates mono- …

Editorial: Artificial Intelligence And Cybersecurity In Pervasive Computing, Ji-Jian Chin

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Pervasive computing, or ubiquitous computing, is rapidly increasing in capacity and capabilities. With the Internet of Things (IoT) becoming an integral part of daily life and the growing availability of edge computing resources, automation guided by data is advancing applications in healthcare, manufacturing, automotive, and other areas. It's natural that pervasive computing will intersect with artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity. AI can improve detection, prediction, and anticipative responses to human needs, while cybersecurity addresses topics like misuse prevention, ethics, policies, and governance. This issue features seven articles on these intersections, including four AI articles exploring natural language processing and computer …

Typology Of Atmospheric Conditions Leading To Dam Overtopping In The Eastern Us, Hodo I. Orok, Deanna Hence

I-GUIDE Forum

Statistical characterization of reanalysis datasets during over 300 hydrologic dam incidents between 2003 and 2022 will create a detailed typology of weather systems associated with dam overtopping in the eastern United States. Dam overtopping poses significant risks to infrastructure and public safety, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of the multi-scale atmospheric conditions that lead to such events. To better account for the natural flow of water to the affected dams, we will adopt a watershed-focused Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on regional atmospheric data collected from ERA5 alongside USGS streamflow and Stage IV precipitation observations to enhance understanding of high-risk weather conditions. …

A Critical Assessment Tool For Social Studies, Lisa Andries D'Souza

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Faced with endless online social studies lessons, teachers often become overwhelmed sifting through vast resources. Teachers must develop skills to make professional decisions about the value and quality of pre-made curriculum materials. This investigation explores CAT (Critical Assessment Tool) for evaluating pre-made instructional materials to support cultural and linguistic responsiveness and instructional support for all learners. CAT focuses on identifying, modifying, and adding pedagogical materials to be relevant and responsive to the learners in the classroom.

Collaborative Professional Development Featuring Innovative Curriculum Materials, Cory Callahan

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Here I synthesize two research investigations (Callahan, 2018, 2019) that comprise a continuing line of inquiry into the potential of innovative curriculum materials and sustained collaboration as a professional development program to help in-service teachers understand and implement a complex model of social studies instruction. This article features an original innovative curriculum material and specifically explores the question: To what degree can a collaborative professional development program featuring innovative curriculum materials help social studies teachers understand and implement a powerful social studies approach? Findings suggest the professional development program and its innovative curriculum materials helped teachers promote substantive pedagogical thinking …

Searching For The Path To A More Perfect Union. A Book Review Of Educating For Democracy, Tiffany Berman, Aaron Mccullough, Rabih Murr, David Adams

Democracy & Education

Educating for Democracy presents Walter Feinberg’s vision for the democratic aims of education. Feinberg argues that the evolutionary nature of democracy should be met with a citizenry capable of critical reflection. Education for democracy, then, entails the development of cognitive and affective habits that underpin this critical reflexivity. However, Educating for Democracy asserts that such education should be embedded across curricular areas and not limited solely to civics education. In this review of Educating for Democracy, we begin by providing a broad overview of Feinberg’s foundational arguments presented in the opening chapters. Next, we identify specific themes developed in these …

Enhancing Democracy Through P-20 School-University Partnerships In Teacher Education: Implications For Educational Leaders, Rebecca West Burns

Democracy & Education

The purpose of this paper is to share how schools and universities can partner intentionally through Professional Development Schools to enhance democracy by answering the questions: (1) What is it about Professional Development Schools, as robust school-university partnerships, that give voice to teachers to enhance democracy, particularly in a high-stakes accountability climate? and (2) How can schools and universities create robust partnerships to empower teachers’ voices in a high-stakes accountability climate? The paper argues that educational leaders in schools and universities must change their mindset and their practice to form partnerships in ways that rethink teacher preparation, induction, and professional …

Democratic Practices As Part Of Mathematical Modeling In Schools, Lisa Steffensen, Inger Elin Lilland, Shengtian Zhou

Democracy & Education

We focus on how democratic practices occur during the modeling activity “The Candy Bag of Dreams.” With democratic practices, we refer to approaches supporting inclusivity and active participation aimed at empowering students. We investigated one group of preservice teachers implementing an optimizing modeling activity during practicum in two fifth-grade classes, where students modeled their dream candy bags. Students engaged in mathematical modeling where mathematics was embedded in their social context, and they negotiated meanings and developed perspectives. Through this, they experienced lived democracy by actively engaging in and through democratic practices.

We found democratic practices such as students inviting peers …

Fostering Music Teacher Identity Development Through Mentoring Dialogues, Angela M. Munroe

Visions of Research in Music Education

In a prior investigation I focused on the cooperating teacher’s perspective during mentoring dialogues, reflecting on their role as a mentor (Munroe, 2021). Other researchers have focused on what the student teacher learns from the conversation, but not specifically on teacher identity development (Fernandez & Erbilgin, 2009; Tsui et al., 2001). In this study I recorded mentoring dialogues between three pairs of student teachers and cooperating teachers. Using stimulated recall interviews (Ericsson & Simon, 1999), I asked the student teachers to reflect on their perceptions of the cooperating teacher’s mentoring role and their teacher identity. I determined cooperating teachers’ mentoring …

Tradeoffs Of Generalization, Kyra M. Abrams, Peter T. Darch

I-GUIDE Forum

Models used in geospatial data science are often built and optimized for a specific local context, such as a particular location at a point in time. However, upon publication, these models may be generalized beyond this context, reused in research simulating or predicting other times and places. Without sufficient information or documentation, bias embedded in these models can in turn result in bias in the reuser’s research outputs. Drawing on a long-term qualitative case study of aging dams researchers and developers of models used by these researchers, we find significant documentation gaps. We combine a literature-based genealogy with interviews with …

Inter-Provincial Spatial Coupling Of Paddy Fields In China Has Accelerated The Water Consumption, Wenguang Chen, Wencai Zhang, Ming Lei, Ruqian Zhang, Zhenting Zhao, Enyi Xie, Jing Zhao, Xiangbin Kong

I-GUIDE Forum

Rice trade has played a significant role in ensuring global rice consumption security. However, the spatial coupling of paddy fields based on rice trade can also transfer ecological environmental effects and threaten the sustainability of local systems. As the largest rice producer and consumer in the world, as well as one of the countries with the lowest per capita water resources, studying the inter-provincial rice flow in China and its water resource utilization efficiency is of great significance for ensuring national rice security and water resource security. Research has found that, China's rice consumption decreased by 11.97 Mt from 2000 …

Sustainable Cities; A Case Study Analysis Of Chesapeake, Va, Blaizen B. Bloom

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper is a case study analysis of the City of Chesapeake, VA. Its purpose is to examine the influence between the City's actions and its impact on the Chesapeake Bay. Additionally, an analysis of future climate change impacts on the City of Chesapeake and the Chesapeake Bay in building an environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable City.

Uniqueness Of Maximum Points Of A Sequence Of Functions Arising From An Adapted Algorithm For ‘The Secretary Problem’, Boning Wang, Giang Vu Thanh Nguyen

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper is aimed at a sequence of functions that is extended from an adaptive algorithm of the classical ‘secretary problem’. It was proved in Nguyen et al. (2024) the uniqueness of maximizers of a function sequence that represents the expected score of an element in a ‘candidate’ sequence. This function sequence is indeed considered as a special case of an extended function sequence that corresponds to the case α = 0. More specifically, we are motivated to prove the uniqueness of maximizers for this extended function sequence in the case α = 1. Nevertheless, the corresponding proof is rather …

An Introduction To The Time-Independent Schrödinger Equation And Methods To Solve It, Vu Giang, Alex Gnech

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

The Time-Independent Schrödinger Equation is a linear elliptic PDE that describes quantum-mechanical systems. Its significance in the science of submicroscopic phenomena, particularly quantum mechanics, is as central as Newton’s laws of motion are to classical mechanics. This study uses various methods, including novel neural networks and finite difference schemes, to solve the one-dimensional two-body equation.

Asymptotic Expansion Of A Maier-Saupe Type Potential Near The Nematic-Isotropic Transition Point In Liquid Crystals, Ryan P. Oneill, Giangvuthanh Nguyen, Xiang Xu

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

In this paper we study a Maier-Saupe type bulk potential (Maier & Saupe, 1959) in the Landau-de Gennes free energy in the Q-tensor theory modeling nematic liquid crystal configurations. This potential was originally introduced in Katriel et al. (1986), which is considered as a natural enforcement of a physical constraint on the eigenvalues of symmetric, traceless Q-tensors. More specifically, we present a rigorous derivation of the asymptotic expansion of this singular potential near the nematic-isotropic transition point up to the 4-th order.

Outdoor Educational Opportunities And Movement Breaks Effect On Mental, Social, Emotional Health Of Adolescents, Nathaniel Ballard

Graduate Teacher Education

This paper examined research intent on the purpose of studying how educational leaders may support the mental, social, and emotional health of adolescents through incorporating outdoor educational opportunities and movement breaks in the classroom. The qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches used, delve into the ways of incorporating movement in the classroom through brain breaks, utilizing outdoor education opportunities, and the effects technology can have. These concepts and tools can work together to support the mental, social, and emotional health of adolescents as well as to promote greater academic growth. However, they must be utilized appropriately for intended success. The …

Impact Of Coaching On Teacher Development And Student Achievement, Sean Weiland

Graduate Teacher Education

This paper examined research on the job-embedded professional development (PD) of teacher coaching. It offered insights into which aspects of a coaching program are the most effective in positively influencing teacher efficacy and student development. Research focusing on the characteristics of coaches, coaching in various educational settings, and different coaching models were explored. The studies occurred at schools throughout the world and included students from elementary through high school. The teachers and coaches had varying years of experience and represented many grade levels and subjects. From the studies, researchers determined a few key attributes successful coaches possess. Additionally, the studies …

A Plugin-Based Unreal Engine Adapter For Hla-Based Distributed Simulation, Mei Yang, Peng Wang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: With the wide application of game engine-based simulation in transportation, military and other fields, the demand for interoperability between game engine and traditional simulations is becoming increasingly strong. For the HLA-based integration of Unreal Engine and the traditional simulations, a plugin-based Unreal Engine adapter for distributed simulation is designed, which enables the rapid development of Unreal Engine federate and the efficient integration. The simulation shows the feasibility of the plugin-based Unreal Engine adapter.

Research On Sequential Design Methods For Satellite Combat Simulation Tests, Yanlin Wang, Zhijun Cheng, Zichen Wang, Jian Zhong

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Aiming at the problem that satellite monitoring mission simulation tests cannot take into account the number of sample points and model accuracy in the complex test space, a hybrid sequential test design method for satellite simulation tests based on sample density and local nonlinearity is proposed. Voronoi division is used to describe the density of discrete point distribution, and the nonlinearity is measured with the help of Taylor expansion and sample point neighborhood gradient information. The two are combined to calculate the hybrid metrics, and the sample points are ranked and new ones are added until the stopping criterion …

Improving Nsga-Iii Algorithm For Solving High-Dimensional Many-Objective Green Flexible Job Shop Scheduling Problem, Yigang Xu, Yong Chen, Chen Wang, Yunxian Peng

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Aiming at the poor initial solution quality and low local search efficiency of NSGA-III in solving the many-objective flexible job shop scheduling model, an improved NSGA-III (NSGA-III-TV) is proposed. Based on MSOS encoding, the different mixed initialization strategies are adopted for OS and MS chromosomes to improve the quality of initial solutions. Based on the critical path, an improved N6 neighborhood structure is used for neighborhood search, which effectively reduce the completion time and reducing search randomness. Three effective mutation operators are employed to expand the search space and improve the convergence capability in the later stages. Test results …

Multi-Objective Energy-Efficient No-Wait Flow Shop Scheduling Based On Hybrid Discrete State Transition Algorithm, Cong Wang, Jiaying Yu, Hongli Zhang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: A hybrid discrete state transition algorithm (HDSTA) is designed to solve the energyefficient no-wait flow shop scheduling problem (EENWFSP) minimizing makespan and total energy consumption. According to the characteristics of the problem, the coding method of job sequence and speed matrix is designed, and the heuristic algorithm is used to obtain the high-quality initial solution. According to the properties of EENWFSP, solving and allocating four discrete operators. The swap, shift and symmetry operators are embedded in secondary state transition are used for job sequence optimization, and the substitute operators are used for machine speed optimization. The speed substitute strategy …

Adaptive Recognition Method Of Capability Boundary Parameters For Unmanned Autonomous Systems, Jinwen Li, Peng Wang, Youmei Pan, Xinyao Hui

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: To effectively cope with the dimension curse in simulation testing and reduce the number of simulations times needed in the traditional full-space parameter traversal, it is necessary to obtain specific simulation data to accurately reflect the modeling characteristics of the test data to obtain the informative and representative samples of the original data with a smaller number of simulations. A digital simulation test model for adaptive recognition ;/of capability boundary parameters for UAS is proposed. The model is initially constructed with a good point set with a multi-weight structure; In combination with an adaptive kernel function boundary point recognition, …

Operational Effectiveness Analysis Method Based On Spherical Fibonacci Lattice, Weiran Guo, Jiahao Zhou, Xiang Huang, Xin Zhao

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: An operational effectiveness modeling and computing method based on spherical Fibonacci lattice is proposed to address the low simulation accuracy and computational efficiency of large-scale sampling for traditional latitude and longitude grids. The formal description of operational effectiveness in command information systems and the generation method of spherical Fibonacci grid points are provided. A command information systems capability analysis framework is constructed, which focuses on ensuring the continuous mission support and uses the responsibility area of combat tasks as a reference. Through a top-down system design approach, a layered and decoupled combat effectiveness computing framework is proposed which studies …

Ground Robot Relocation Method Based On Uav Point Cloud Map, Hongzhi Huang, Kai Yan, Changfeng Liu, Jianwen Wang, Bin Luo

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: In response to the challenge of relocalization in air-ground collaborative systems without the support of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and the associated issues of insufficient accuracy, a coarse-to-fine relocalization algorithm based on a three-dimensional point cloud map is proposed. The algorithm eliminates the influence of invalid point clouds from the sky and ground through index filtering, performs coarse localization by extracting global features from the point cloud and applying truncated least squares estimation, and then employs voxel-based iterative closest point (ICP) for precise optimization to obtain the more accurate localization results. A ground robot localization and autonomous navigation …

Fear, Distress, And Dissociation: Correlates Of Physiological Hyporeactivity After Interpersonal Victimization, Natalia Kecala

Dissertations

Background and Objective: Despite consistent findings of high reactivity to trauma cues in PTSD, there exists a consistent subset of physiological nonresponders who exhibit more complex and severe posttraumatic symptomatology. Research has identified different patterns of defensive reactivity representing Fear (core) and Distress (complex) PTSD symptoms. However, no studies have directly compared responders and nonresponders on physiological and clinical symptoms posttrauma.

Method: 66 adult women who had experienced first-degree sexual or physical assault within the last month were categorized using heart rate reactivity (HRR) to two personalized trauma scripts. Participants exhibiting negative HRR to both scripts were classified as nonresponders …

Research On Application Of Intelligent Indication Signs In Improving Efficiency Of Crowd Evacuation, Heng Niu, Yanbin Han, Liang Li, Weilin Chen, Sijie Niu, Qingtao Hou

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Aiming at the low emergency evacuation efficiency of dense crowds in confined spaces, a crowd evacuation guidance model based on intelligent signs is constructed in this paper. A balanced congestion strategy to optimize the signs layout and a social network search-based sign guidance weights optimization method are proposed to improve evacuation efficiency. Simulation experiments show that the optimized intelligent sign layout can effectively alleviate the local congestion during evacuation and reduce the time consumption of pedestrians caused by congestion. The optimized intelligent sign guidance weights can further balance the utilization rate of exits, which is conducive to making full …