Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Potential Of Artificial Intelligence To Improve The Journal Peer Review Process, Eliza Fanny Bondah

Theses and Dissertations

Academic publishing depends on the peer review process to guarantee quality, scholarly rigor, and credibility, but the traditional peer review system receives mounting criticism because of its inefficient operations, biased judgments, and irregular standards. This study explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can improve journal peer review systems to solve a variety of issues, including reducing reviewer exhaustion, minimizing bias, improving consistency, and accelerating the review process. Current literature shows AI as a promising yet controversial solution, which may provide structured feedback with improved consistency and efficiency. Our study examined 52 human reviews together with 26 AI-generated reviews from EdTechnica--An Open …

Bayesian Alignment Prior To Connectionist Temporal Classification Loss, Lawry Sorenson

Theses and Dissertations

We propose revisions of Connectionist Temporal Classification (CTC) loss and forced alignment to support longer input sequences. CTC loss is normally used for training in speech and handwriting recognition tasks when the labels are not fully aligned with the data, while forced alignment is a downstream task that finds the optimal path for segmentation purposes. The current implementations consider all possible alignments between the input and label, which grows exponentially with the size of the input. We show that in cases when silence is removed and speaking rate is consistent, the true alignment is a mostly straight line across time …

Interview With Orca Award Winner John J. Janovy, Jr., Unl Biological Sciences; Parasitologist And Author, Mark Griep, John J. Janovy Jr.

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Professor John Janovy, Jr., was awarded the ORCA in 1998. John was born in Louisiana, but his family moved to Oklahoma, where he grew up in Tulsa and then Oklahoma City. Something in his youth must have sparked an interest in science because he earned three degrees from the University of Oklahoma in Norman: a bachelor of science in math in 1959, a master of science in zoology in 1962, and doctoral degree in zoology in 1965. Next, he ventured 1400 miles east to Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he did post-doctoral work for about a year. …

Fear The Feminine! Willa Cather’S O Pioneers, Edith Wharton’S The Glimpses Of The Moon, And The Rejection Of Femininity In The Canon Formation Of Realist And Naturalist Writing, Anna Connor

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Cracking The Shell: A Corpus-Based Analysis Of The Functions Of Shell Nouns In American Legal Contracts, Geoffrey T. Julian

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The forms and functions of shell nouns (SN), semantically abstract nouns that can package and characterize complex segments of discourse, have been documented in academic discourse and L2 English writing (e.g., Aktas & Cortes, 2008; Benitez-Castro & Thompson, 2015). The abstract nature of SNs lends itself to use where vague language might be favored to allow for a variety of contingencies (Benitez-Castro, 2015). Thus, SNs have also been found to be present in legal language where some of these functions are desirable (Ren et al., 2019). The present study examines the use of SNs in a corpus of 2,700 US …

From Myths To Mastery: A Progressive Ai Literacy Course Using The Clear Framework And Authentic Problem-Solving, Laura J. Mcneill, Sierra Cantrell

Teaching Repository of AI-Infused Learning

"Digital Minds: Your AI Adventure Begins" employs a 14-week progressive scaffolding approach that transforms freshman students from passive AI consumers into critical collaborators through weekly hands-on experiments with tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Adobe Firefly. Each week features structured "AI Questions" that connect course concepts to students' lived experiences, combined with practical activities like creating Gemini GEMS projects that encourage students to investigate AI myths and cross-reference external sources in real-time. The course culminates in collaborative AI-human projects addressing real community problems, with ongoing peer evaluation and reflection that emphasizes critical thinking and ethical reasoning over technical outputs.

Beat Chatgpt: Cultivating Critical Ai Literacy Through Student-Created Problems, Sybil Prince Nelson

Teaching Repository of AI-Infused Learning

Beat ChatGPT is a gamified assignment that positions AI as both a rival and a resource to foster critical AI literacy. Students either design statistics problems that ChatGPT is likely to answer incorrectly or critique flawed AI-generated solutions, then provide accurate responses and reflections. This strategy not only deepens disciplinary understanding but also equips students to engage with AI tools thoughtfully, ethically, and creatively.

Impact Of Novel Rheumatic Heart Disease Education On Rwandan Nurses' Knowledge And Skills, Julie Carragher

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Untreated group A streptococcus pharyngitis, along with the resulting post-infection sequelae of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) of young susceptible individuals occurs in lower income countries, including Rwanda. This is largely due to limited access health care and inadequate knowledge about the detection and treatment of the infection. Approximately 33 million people worldwide live with RHD. In Rwanda, the prevalence of RHD is estimated at 6.8 per 1000 school children. With only nine cardiologists serving a population of nearly fourteen million, there is a significant gap in accessible RHD care across the country. In Rwanda, nurses, …

Analytical Assessment Of Pedestrian Crashes On Low-Speed Corridors, Therezia Matongo, Deo Chimba

Civil and Architectural Engineering Faculty Research

This study presents a comprehensive statewide analysis of pedestrian-involved crashes recorded in Tennessee between 2002 and 2025. We evaluated the influence of roadway, traffic, environmental, and socioeconomic factors on pedestrian crash frequency and severity with substantial components focused on lighting impacts including dark and nighttime. A multi-method analytical framework was implemented, combining descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests, regression analysis, and advanced machine learning techniques including the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and the gradient boosting model (XGBoost). Results indicated that dark and nighttime conditions accounted for a disproportionate share of severe crashes—fatal and serious injuries under dark conditions reached over 40%, …

Liahona Project Data Set 3 Up To June, 2021, Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Spiritual Proficiency

This document is a collection of highlights extracted from more than 1000 articles from the Japanese online Liahona magazines, spanning from the beginning of 2019 to June, 2021. Each article was individually checked to extract inspirational principles and highlights from personal experiences, serving as a resource to develop Spiritual Proficiency and build the foundation for Wits Psychology (With the Spirit Psychology). The document is 97 pages long.

Usa V. Frances Eddings

2025 Decisions

USDC for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Examining Emotional Intelligence Strategies Of Human Resource Administrators For Women’S Leadership In Healthcare, Selenda Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gender-based distinctions between leaders create differences in leadership methods that reshape their choices and teamwork approaches. Human Resource Administrators are concerned with how the lack of organizational support for Emotional Intelligence (EI) in female leaders influences them to leave, potentially leading to increased organizational costs. Grounded in Emotional Intelligence theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic study was to explore EI strategies used by healthcare administrators in the Southeastern United States to increase female leadership retention in their organizations. The participants were 6 HR administrators with at least 2 years of experience from healthcare organizations who successfully implemented EI strategies …

From The Margins To The Center: The Transformative Promise Of Philosophy For Children, Maughn Rollins Gregory, Megan Jane Laverty, Joe Oyler

Department of Educational Foundations Scholarship and Creative Works

What began as an innovative idea in the late 1960s—the recognition that even very young children are philosophically disposed—is no longer considered novel. While philosophy for children has transitioned from a fledgling initiative to a worldwide movement, it remains on the margins of education. In this article, we look back at key initiatives that have advanced its growth before looking ahead to what can move philosophy for children to the center of education. We consider the introduction and development of materials that invite children into philosophical spaces, the community of philosophical inquiry as a model of teachers' and children's philosophical …

Portable Skin Imaging Light-Box For Clinical Grade Skin Scans, Kayandra Lewis, Cayden Skidmore, Komi Atitsogbe Golo

Senior Design Project For Engineers

This project focuses on designing and developing a modular, portable skin-imaging light box to improve the consistency and accuracy of smartphone-based dermatological imaging. As AI-driven skin assessment tools grow in capability, a major limitation remains the variability in lighting, angle, and color fidelity in user-captured photos. To address this challenge, the team created a fold-flat, low-cost light box that attaches securely to a wide range of smartphones and provides uniform, high-CRI illumination suitable for clinical-grade analysis. Research into lighting technologies, human factors, smartphone specifications, and AI diagnostic tools guided the engineering decisions, ensuring the design aligned with real-world telemedicine and …

Modeling Private Debt Using U.S. Consumer Expenditure Data, Stsiapan Dziamentsyeu

Honors Capstones

This project models private household debt among U.S. consumers using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) between 2013 and 2023. The analysis focuses on identifying how demographic and economic characteristics, such as income, housing expenditures, education, and occupation, relate to non-mortgage “other” loan balances. After initial model development produced poor residual behavior due to zero-inflation from imputed debt values, the analysis was refined to include only households reporting verifiable debt. Multiple modeling techniques, including AIC-based variable selection and Lasso regularization, were compared under a five-fold cross-validation framework. The Lasso model achieved superior predictive accuracy (RMSE = 1.55, MAE = …

Critical Nursing Interventions For Post-Extubation Icu Patients, Estevao Frederico De Souza, Tricia M. Grinder, Sarah Rigsby, Samantha Vallespi

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Introduction: The 24-to-72-hour period post-extubation is a critical phase for intensive care patients, and can result in many complications. Nurses must be expertly trained in the interventions available to reduce the risks associated with the procedure.

Objectives: This systematic review aims to critically evaluate the existing literature about nursing interventions associated with patients after extubation, providing evidence to guide the nursing practice to reduce extubation failure, reintubation rates, and hospital stays.

Methodology: This systematic review includes studies from CINAHL, PubMed Central, Medline, and Health Source Nursing Academic Edition, focusing on international peer-reviewed full-text research articles.

Setting: The study has a …

Orbital Reliable Printed Circuit Boards, Thomas Maxwell Starnes, Keegan Blake Jordan, Ian Griffith, Grant Monroe Pesqueira, Vishal Navin Patel

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Deep Interstellar Solutions is proposing a device to produce custom, serviceable printed circuit boards (PCBs) in low Earth orbit. This technology uses blank PCBs that are laser-etched and prepared for electrical components, then stored in the module. This method of PCB production allows for rapid repairs or prototyping without the need for subsequent resupply missions. By implementing this technique, future missions will achieve greater autonomy, sustainability, and resource efficiency. The goal of this development is to pioneer the creation of custom circuitry for use in deep-space missions where resupply is neither cost-effective nor timely.

Electrochemical Sensors For In Situ Monitoring Of Reactive Species During Cold Atmospheric Plasma-Based Therapies, Jonathan Thomas, Suneel Kumar, Gagana Karkada, Julia Sutter, Kristina Pattison, Jason Rainone, Dhruv Patel, Shashank Madhavan, Fred Krebs, Francois Berthiaume, Vandana Miller, Katharina Stapelmann

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) is emerging as a clinically relevant therapy for dermatological conditions such as actinic keratosis, warts, and chronic wounds. However, these therapies lack strategies to monitor CAP delivery in situ and to ensure delivery of an effective CAP dose without unwanted toxicity. CAP acts as a therapeutic agent in these biomedical applications primarily (but not solely) through reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) generated at transiently high local concentrations. Here we demonstrate the use of bio-electrochemical sensors capable of real-time measurements of key CAP RONS: hydrogen peroxide and oxidation-reduction-potential (ORP). In in vitro scratch assays and …

Commedia Accademica: An Autoethnographic Trajectory Of The Metacognitive Awakening And Critical Consciousness Development Of An Afro-Belizean American Male Math Teacher, Jason Garcia

LMU Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT Commedia Accademica: An Autoethnographic Trajectory of the Metacognitive Awakening and Critical Consciousness Development of an Afro-Belizean American Male Math Teacher by Jason Gregory Garcia The current autoethnography involved an epic poetic approach that sought to dismantle and disrupt an intricate network of the school-to-prison pipeline (McCarter, 2017) paradigms designed to subjugate African American male pupils in dysfunctional educational contexts. R. S. Smith (2025) stated, “Autoethnographies can use alternate forms of representation. . . . Because the study was an autoethnography, my reality, as researcher-participant, is seen through a unique window to the world” (p. 22). The literature suggests implementing …

Strategies Top Airline Managers Use To Reduce Occupational Stress Among Cabin Crewmembers For Improved Flight Safety, Yograj Sewdat Raghunauth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Airline cabin crew members face significant occupational stress, which adversely affects their psychological well-being and flight safety performance. Airline managers are concerned with identifying stress reduction strategies to support crew effectiveness and mitigate safety risks. Grounded in the job demands-resources theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore effective strategies that top airline managers in the United States use to reduce occupational stress among cabin crew members for improved flight safety. The participants were six top airline managers in the United States with at least 5 years of experience in senior management and had implemented successful strategies …

Liahona Project Data Set 2 Up To 2018, Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Spiritual Proficiency

This document is a collection of highlights extracted from more than 500 articles from the Japanese online Liahona magazines, up to the end of 2018. Each article was individually checked to extract inspirational principles and highlights from personal experiences, serving as a resource to develop Spiritual Proficiency and build the foundation for Wits Psychology. The document is 112 pages long.

Robust Anomaly Detection Under Data Imbalance, Noise, And Label Scarcity, Zahra Salekshahrezaee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

In today’s data-driven landscape, large volumes of data are generated continuously, often containing imperfections such as noise, missing data, or unreliable labeling. These real-world datasets are typically high-dimensional, sparsely labeled, and imbalanced, creating substantial challenges for both supervised and unsupervised learning. These challenges are especially prevalent in the task of anomaly detection, where instances belonging to the class of interest are rare and underrepresented compared to normal instances. This dissertation proposes and evaluates robust frameworks for anomaly detection that address these data challenges and improve model performance and robustness using real-world datasets, including credit card transactions and cognitive assessments. Supervised …

Taking From The Most Vulnerable: Legal Implications Of Seizing Federal Benefits From Foster Kids, Lucy Johnston-Walsh

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Taking A Step Back: Revisiting Compassionate Release After The First Step Act, Robert Campbell

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Towards Fair Sequential Resource Allocation: Algorithmic Designs, Interventions, And Evaluations, Ashwin Kumar

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

This thesis develops a comprehensive framework for fair sequential resource allocation in multi-agent systems where a centralized allocator coordinates actions under global feasibility constraints, while satisfying preferences of different agents. Ranging from ridesharing platforms and homelessness intervention programs to power grid management, such systems play a critical role in shaping access to essential resources. Yet, existing approaches to resource allocation often prioritize aggregate utility, leading to systematic inequities across individuals and groups, particularly in sequential settings where decisions unfold over time. To address this challenge, we introduce the Distributed Evaluation, Centralized Allocation (DECA) framework, which unifies a broad class of …

Integrating Molecular Electrochemical Insights And Device Engineering: Innovations In Organic Redox Flow Batteries, Methanol-Hydrogen Peroxide Fuel Cells, And Electrochemical Hydrogen Pumps, Kritika Sharma

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation presents an integrative study of molecular and device-level engineering strategies in advanced electrochemical energy technologies, addressing key challenges across organic redox flow batteries (ORFBs), direct methanol hydrogen peroxide fuel cells (DMHPFCs), and electrochemical hydrogen pumps (EHPs). First, the influence of electrolyte pH and salt anion chemistry on redox-active organic cations (BTMAP-Fc and BTMAP-Vi) is elucidated, identifying solvent reorganizational energy (λ) as a universal descriptor for optimal electrolyte selection in ORFBs. Detailed characterization reveals that low pH methanesulfonate or chloride counterions offer superior balance of kinetic and transport properties, facilitating efficient energy storage using earth-abundant elements. Second, a modified …

Accessing Cation And Anion Redox In Mixed-Valent One-Dimensional Iron-Chalcogenides, Na1.5fe1s2–Xsex(X = 0, 1, And 2), For Na-Ion Batteries, Santhoshkumar Sundaramoorthy, Milad Aghayi-Anaraki, Sutapa Bhattacharya, Amitava Choudhury

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Sodium-ion batteries (NIBs) have attracted considerable attention as a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), owing to the abundance and low cost of sodium resources. Here, we investigate previously reported mixed-valent (Fe^3+/2+) one-dimensional (1D) iron chalcogenides: Na1.5FeS2, its selenide analogue Na1.5FeSe2, and newly developed solid solution Na1.5FeSSe, focusing on their synthesis, structural characterization, and electrochemical performance in NIBs. While the full Fe²⁺sulfide version (NaFeS2) of the compound is explored in solid-state cells for its dual cation–anion redox mechanism, we reveal the effect of anion substitution on the electrochemical behavior of Na1.5FeS2–xSex(x = 0, 1, …

Performance And Self-Kindness In Dynamic Balance: Mindfulness As The Bridge Between Mental Toughness And Self-Compassion, Gustavo F. Saldo, Tomas Chapman-Lopez, Leroy K. Bolden, Olivia Russell, Jeffrey Forsee, Andrew R. Gallucci, Andreas Stamatis

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Balancing performance demands with self-care is essential for maintaining psychological health. Mental toughness (MT) and self-compassion (SC) are often framed as opposing constructs; however, athlete data suggest mindfulness (MF) may integrate them. Whether this extends to non-athlete adults is unclear. PURPOSE: To test whether MF mediates the MT–SC relationship in a non-athlete population. METHODS: Eighty-four adults (M_age = 44.4, SD = 14.9; 57.1% male) were recruited from a community outreach program. Missing data were addressed with 20 item-level imputations. Measures included the Mental Toughness Index (α = .89, ω = .90) and the Self-Compassion Scale excluding MF …

Seizures In Camp Settings, Sandra Shapiro, Taylor Gilman, Tamar Sternfield, Jolie Skivington

CompassPoint

Managing seizures in the summer camp environment presents unique challenges, requiring not only medical attention but also empathy and understanding from both peers and caregivers. Approximately 0.5–5% of children and adolescents will experience at least one afebrile seizure by adolescence and there is a 3.6% risk of experiencing at least one seizure in an 80-year-lifespan (Murphy et al., 1995 as cited in Wilfong, 2025). Recognizing how to support a child with seizures during the camp season is essential to promoting their safety and well-being while also ensuring they have a positive and inclusive camp experience.

The Tax Adviser, Volume 1, Number 12, December 1970, American Institute Of Certified Public Accountants

Tax Adviser

No abstract provided.