Digital Commons Network^™

Carbon Nanotube-Enhanced Nanolubricants: Stability And Performance Improvements For Automotive Use, Sherif Elsoudy

Mechanical Engineering

Nanotechnology has been a promising technology over the years. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are one of the principal technologies that are developed in the nanotechnology sector. This study investigated the implementation of CNTs as additives in automotive lubricants, focusing on their impact on performance metrics. The dispersion of CNTs in lubricants is influenced by several factors, the most critical of which is the dispersion stability. Key findings include improved dispersion stability of CNTs in lubricants through adding surfactants like oleic acid, which effectively managed the aggregation issues. The CNT-enhanced lubricants exhibited superior tribological, thermophysical and rheological properties compared to the bare …

Recontextualized Knowledge: Available Designs Of The Long-Form Youtube Video Essay, Michelle Lynn Arendt

Dissertations and Theses

Recontextualization - the intricate process of transferring meaning material from one social semiotic context to another - is the primary avenue through which science and social science are communicated to general audiences. The prevailing popularity of social media platforms such as YouTube has encouraged a digital turn in recontextualization research and practice, with considerable emphasis given to navigating web 2.0's unique participation structure. However, compared to professional organizations, which contribute the largest amount of recontextualized scientific or social scientific content to social media platforms, independent user-generated creators consistently produce more successful content. Of interest to this project is the YouTube …

Applying Positive Unlabeled Learning Techniques And Using The Kullback-Leibler Divergence To Improve Geothermal Surveying Assessments, Martín Thomas Rodriguez

Dissertations and Theses

As we face the current climate crisis, the discovery of geothermal energy resources has the potential to greatly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels worldwide. However, the development of any new energy infrastructure is expensive and depends on the willingness of energy agencies and developers to make initial investments based on calculated risk measures. One such measure, called geothermal favorability, is the likelihood that a site has conditions favorable for geothermal systems containing recoverable energy potential. Its prediction from existing geophysical datasets proves to be a nontrivial task. The prediction of geothermal favorability can be framed as a binary classification …

2024-12-04 A Holiday Dilemma: Thanksgiving Break Posing A Challenge For Out-Of-State Students, Hadia Noor Ahmed, Leila Bunker

The Spectator Online

No abstract provided.

Long-Term Segregation And Seclusion For People With An Intellectual Disability And/Or Autism In Hospitals: Critique Of The Current State Of Affairs, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

In November 2023, the Department of Health and Social Care published guidance, entitled 'Baroness Hollins' Final Report: My Heart Breaks-Solitary Confinement in Hospital Has no Therapeutic Benefit for People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People'. The report's commendable analysis of the problems and identification of the areas where practice should be improved is unfortunately not matched by many of its recommendations, which appear to be contrary to evidence-based approaches. The concerns are wide-ranging, from the use of the term 'solitary confinement' for current long-Term segregation (LTS) and seclusion, to presumption that all LTS and seclusion is bad, to holding …

Mental Health, Well-Being And Resilience In Agricultural Areas: Gaps And Priorities. A Research Agenda For The Global North, Caroline Nye, Rebecca Wheeler, David Rose, Florence Becot, Mark Holton, Duska Knezevic Hocevar, Jorie Knook, Sarah Kyle, Maria Partalidou, Mark Riley, Artur Steiner, Hannah Whitley

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper offers an overview of research perspectives, gaps, and priorities within the field of mental health and well-being among farming communities in the Global North. Developed by an international working group of scholars with expertise in the mental health and well-being of agricultural and rural communities, it outlines the importance of developing an international research agenda in this subject area by presenting five propositions. Each of the propositions addresses current research gaps and/or highlights potential advancements in investigations into one of the following areas of study: i) who is being researched, ii) what is being researched, iii) geographical gaps …

Deterring School Crime And Violence Through Non-Hardened Approaches: An Examination Of School Threat Assessment Teams, Shane E. Conwell, Nicholas P. Elam

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

The purpose of this quantitative empirical study is to determine whether a non-hardened security measure such as threat assessment teams has a relationship to school crime and violence. This study incorporated descriptive and inferential statistics from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of 2,762 participating schools administered by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Statistically significant relationships existed between school type and two of the 10 criminal offense variables: number of robberies with a weapon and number of incidents of theft/larceny. For nine of 10 variables, schools that had threat assessment teams, and met more frequently, had higher school crime and …

Trend And Awareness Of E-Cigarettes Among Students In A Private College In Sabah Malaysia, Vitalis Ronald Eden, Hazrina Hamid, Sreemoy Das, Regidor Iii Dioso

AUIQ Complementary Biological System

Objective: This study aims to investigate the trend and awareness of e-cigarette use among students in a private college located in Sabah, Malaysia. Research Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in a private college in Sabah. A self-administered questionnaire was adapted and distributed to 300 randomly selected students regardless of their e-cigarettes vaping status. IBM SPSS Statistic 27 was utilized to analysed accumulated data. Results: A-245 students participated in the study with a response rate of 81.6%. Majority of the respondent were female (69.8%), Bumiputera Sabah (72.2%), Diploma students (90%) aged 22-25 years’ old. The study revealed that almost all …

A Method And A System For Clustering Similar Transaction Disputes, Rupali Shah

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure provides a method and a dispute clustering system for Clustering similar transaction disputes. In the present disclosure, during a training phase, a dispute clustering system may receive historical transaction disputes to form sets of historical transaction disputes with similar causes. Each set of historical transaction disputes may be resolved using the same resolving method. In real time, the dispute clustering system may receive one or more transaction disputes. Then, the dispute clustering system may determine a related set of historical transaction disputes for each of the one or more transaction disputes by comparing the causes and rules …

User Interface Personalization Based On User Preferences And Practices, Ajay Prasad

Defensive Publications Series

While some websites and apps support manually configurable user interface personalization, such personalization approaches do not evolve dynamically with changing user preferences and do not effectively leverage the collective intelligence across the user community as a whole. Non-personalized and difficult to use user interfaces can lead to user frustration and/or reduced engagement. This disclosure describes techniques that, with user permission, leverage individual and community user preferences and practices for dynamic real-time personalization of a UI including one or more of layout, content, and functionality. User interaction with the personalized layout as well as explicit user input is used to fine-tune …

Présence Et Identité Des Collectionneurs Dans Les Biennales (1948-1965), Sophie Dolto, Anthony Chenevard

Artl@s Bulletin

Using exhibition catalogue data from the Artl@s database, this article seeks to define the typology of collectors/owners of works presented at nine international biennials, while quantifying their presence synchronously and transversally, in order to question the homogeneity of the cohort.

En s’appuyant sur les données de catalogues d’exposition issues de la base Artl@s, cet article cherche à définir la typologie des collectionneurs/propriétaires des oeuvres présentées dans neuf biennales internationales, tout en quantifiant leur présence de façon synchronique et transversale, afin d’interroger l’homogénéité de la cohorte observée.

The Computational Eye. Deconstructing Style In Digital Art History, Paul Guhennec, Ellen Charlesworth

Artl@s Bulletin

With the aim of grounding digital methods in the art historic tradition, this paper uses the discussions around style as a springboard to ask how digital art history can extend beyond providing quantitative confirmation of known trends to enrich our current understanding of visual cultures. Drawing from the examples throughout this issue, we explore how an analysis of computational ways of seeing—or the ‘computational eye’—can expose the underlying preoccupations and priorities of our own research.

Afin de mieux ancrer les méthodes numériques dans la tradition de l’histoire de l’art, cet article se sert des discussions récentes autour du concept de …

How Many Annunciations Are There? Using European Prints To Digitally Explore The Iconographic Style Of Eighteenth-Century Portuguese Azulejos, Rosário S. Carvalho

Artl@s Bulletin

The combination of a computational approach with the expertise of art historians in studying the similarities and differences between European prints and eighteenth-century Portuguese azulejos has led to the emergence of an “iconographic style,” which introduced two major modes of depicting the Annunciation during the period under analysis. The article aims to assess the impact of the circulation of European prints on Portuguese tile coverings to better understand how the images were circulated and to determine their influence in terms of form, style, decoration, iconography and working process on the definition and execution of different iconographic programmes.

En combinant approche …

A Legacy Of Discord: Controversial Meanings In American Mudéjar Style (20th–21st Centuries), Francisco Mamani Fuentes

Artl@s Bulletin

This paper offers an American perspective on the term Mudéjar, examining debates in the study of American colonial art and architecture from the 20th century to the present day. It delves into the debates surrounding its stylistic classification and the resulting ambiguities associated with linking all geometric forms to Islamic aesthetics. The paper concludes that the current application of the term in architectural studies has overlooked criticisms from visual culture studies, which tend to ignore the constructive and design-specific aspects where Mudéjar might hold greater stylistic legitimacy.

Este artículo presenta una perspectiva americana sobre el término Mudéjar, examinando …

Full Issue, Nhij V2, Newhouse Impact Journal

Newhouse Impact Journal

No abstract provided.

Understanding Others In Virtual Reality: Cognitive Empathy & Effort In Processing Idea-Themed Vr Stories, Kandice N. Green, Lyndsay Michalik Gratch, T. Makana Chock, Shengjie Yao, Heejae Lee, David Peters

Newhouse Impact Journal

This paper examines the role of virtual reality (VR) in promoting cognitive empathy for characters in VR narratives with inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility themes. The paper summarizes some of the results of a mixed-methods study we conducted (Green et. al, 2024) that found a complex interplay between prior experiences, cognitive effort, and VR design in fostering cognitive empathy (the ability to understand another person’s thoughts and feelings). The study found that prior experiences, whether personal or through a close other, significantly influenced how individuals engaged with VR narratives. However, the study did not find a significant relationship between prior …

Gallery Of Shadows: A Modality Comparison Of An Interactive Provenance Research, Sabiha Ghellal

Newhouse Impact Journal

The aim of this research was to investigate the adaptation of the Virtual Reality (VR) museum experience prototype, “Gallery of Shadows,” (GoS) an interactive VR installation that allows visitors to assume the role of a provenance researcher. GoS was developed to engage a younger demographic in a state-owned art museum, bringing the important topic of provenance research closer to them. The use of VR in museums poses various hygienic and administrative challenges, including the maintenance of equipment and ensuring a sanitary environment for users. To address these challenges, we adapted the VR experience into a web-based format. The adaptation process …

How Do We Embody Our Narratives?, Kevin T. Martinez, Ria J. Gualano, Andrea Stevenson Won

Newhouse Impact Journal

Virtual reality (VR) offers immersive experiences that provide unique opportunities for selftransformation, allowing people to both experience and co-author narratives in ways difficult to parallel in more traditional media. Many VR experiences place the user in a virtual world where they are embodied as an avatar. Avatar customization allows users to express and explore aspects of their identities that might otherwise be invisible or difficult to convey through corporeal representation, such as invisible disability, neurodiversity, and chronic pain. This may manifest through affordances translated relatively 1:1 (e.g., clothing) or affordances that expand the bounds of possibility (e.g., enabling the simulation …

The Capabilities Of Immersive Technologies To Induce Empathy, Tell Stories, And Immerse, Eugene Kukshinov

Newhouse Impact Journal

Immersive technologies, such as Virtual Reality (VR), often garner attention for their potential to revolutionize storytelling, empathy, and human experiences. However, a critical review reveals that technological determinism—the belief that technology defines human experiences—and a lack of nuanced conceptual frameworks frequently hinder a deeper scholarly understanding of these technologies. This paper explores the boundaries of immersive technologies, emphasizing that immersion is a psychological state rather than an inherent quality of the technology itself. By distinguishing between sensory and mental experiences and challenging prevalent assumptions, we can better appreciate the true capabilities and ethical implications of these technologies.

Can Immersive Storytelling Lead Us Through The Wilderness Of Climate Chaos? Maybe. But We’Ve Got Some Bushwhacking To Do., Michael O. Snyder

Newhouse Impact Journal

Modern immersive storytelling technologies, such as virtual and mixed reality, present an exciting opportunity to expand awareness and grow empathy around pressing issues like climate change, species loss, and habitat destruction. But does “the ultimate empathy machine”, as Chris Milk dubbed virtual reality in his TED talk, truly possess the power to lead us through the wilderness of climate chaos and into a brighter future? Here we examine how an overfocus on sensory stimuli and the removal of the centrality and primacy of the external storyteller in immersive spaces may be undermining its transformative power as a storytelling medium. To …

Power To The User: The Future Of Immersive Storytelling Might Lie In Understanding The Audience, Hannah Greber

Newhouse Impact Journal

Immersive storytelling in journalism has faced disillusionment due to low audience adoption despite initial high expectations. Drawing from media innovation theories, this essay argues that to progress to wide audience adoption, immersive storytelling should align with audience expectations, clearly demonstrate its added value, and create experiences deemed meaningful by the audience. Adopting a connection-strengthening audience focus is proposed to aid in bridging the gap between journalists’ intentions and audience perceptions. Two studies are presented to illustrate the added value of taking on such a connection-strengthening audience perspective. Future research should focus on collaborative efforts between academia and industry to design …

Advances And Opportunities In Immersive Storytelling Technologies, Regina Luttrell

Newhouse Impact Journal

As societies stand at the forefront of unprecedented modern technological shifts, the convergence of immersive technologies is fundamentally reshaping the ancient art of storytelling. This next edition of the Newhouse Impact Journal explores the transformative impact of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and extended reality (XR) technologies on contemporary storytelling paradigms. As these immersive technologies reach a critical intersection of technical capability, accessibility, and creative possibility, they present both extraordinary opportunities and complex challenges for content creators, educators, and consumers. Through a collection of essays, this work investigates the multifaceted landscape of immersive storytelling, addressing crucial aspects such as …

Review Of The Diagnosis, Pathophysiology, And Treatment Of Naegleria Fowleri-Induced Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis, Terrance Zhang

MCB Articles

Naegleria fowleri is a thermophilic, ubiquitous, free-living amoeba, but is also known as the “brain-eating” amoeba. This is the etiological agent of a rare and fulminant waterborne disease known as Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM) that is acutely fatal in 90-99% of reported cases. Those who come into contact with infested waters are at risk of introducing the amoeba into their upper nasal canal, whence the trophozoite form is known to migrate along the olfactory nerve, through the cribriform plate, and enter the central nervous system. Although the exact pathogenesis of N. fowleri is not known, studies have demonstrated contact-dependent and …

Caffeine And Arrhythmias: A Critical Analysis Of Cardiovascular Responses And Arrhythmia Susceptibility, Adel Khalifa Sultan Hamad

Journal of the Saudi Heart Association

Caffeine is a frequently consumed stimulant in different foods and beverages: coffee, tea, chocolate, sodas, and energy drinks. While its effects on the cardiovascular system have been extensively studied, there remains controversy surrounding its potential risks, particularly in patients with heart disease. This review provides a complete overview of caffeine's pharmacological properties, sources, and cardiovascular effects, particularly emphasizing its arrhythmogenic potential. The proarrhythmic potential of caffeine, particularly on atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias, is conducted. It explains the mechanism of action, including adenosine receptor antagonism, phosphodiesterase inhibition, calcium mobilization, and catecholamine release of caffeine. Epidemiological evidence and mechanistic insights are …

System And Method For Checkpointing And State Synchronization For Fault Tolerance In Long-Running Map Reduce Jobs, Alok Roy

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure relates to a method and system for performing checkpointing and state synchronization for fault tolerance in long-running MapReduce jobs. The method involves integrating checkpointing mechanism into both the Map and Reduce phases of the MapReduce jobs, capturing and storing critical data and metadata at key intervals. Additionally, the method includes replicating these checkpoints across all clusters in the active-active setup, ensuring that any cluster can access the most recent checkpoint and resume the MapReduce job in case of failure or re-routing. Finally, the method ensures that the checkpoints are synchronized across clusters before the job proceeds, providing …

St George Church Council Minutes, St. George United Methodist Church

Methodist Local Church Records

No abstract provided.

St George Church Council Minutes, St. George United Methodist Church

Methodist Local Church Records

No abstract provided.

Announcing The 2025 Study The South Research Fellowship, Rebecca Lauck Cleary

Blog Posts

CALL FOR PROPOSALS Announcing the 2025 Study the South Research Fellowship. Scholars researching the South have an opportunity for funded research in the collections of the Department of Archives and Special Collections at the J. D. Williams Library at the University of Mississippi.

Barriers To Help-Seeking Behaviors And Interventions For Adolescents With Co-Occurring Disorders, Hannah A. Fisher

Counselor Education Capstones

Adolescent mental health problems have become an extremely prevalent topic for discussion since the coronavirus pandemic. Adolescents experience five major barriers to obtaining mental health professional services including stigma, access to services, mental health professional mistrust, adolescent lack of mental health knowledge, and lack of support. These barriers create obstacles for adolescents seeking proper, affordable, high-quality, and culturally specific mental health care for their mental health needs. There are many different approaches to take to combat the identified barriers. Four different types of approaches are important to consider including what youth can do, what the family of the youth can …

Chaos Creator: Misinformation Inoculation In Information Literacy Instruction, Mandi Goodsett

Michael Schwartz Library Publications

Combating the spread of misinformation is a struggle that has inspired considerable research in the fields of psychology, education, political science, and information science, among others. Such research has found that “prebunking” or “inoculation” techniques—strategies that reduce the acceptance of misinformation before one has encountered it—have had marked success. However, there is little evidence that librarians are deliberately employing inoculation techniques in their information literacy (IL) instruction. Via a quasi-experimental study, this research explores the effect of prebunking techniques in an IL instruction session on undergraduate students’ ability to recognise misinformation. The prebunking techniques are delivered through a competitive game …