Digital Commons Network^™

Re-Parameterizing Adversarial Reprogramming In Low-Dimensional Subspace For Efficient Software Vulnerability Detection, Hootan Alavizadeh

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Software vulnerabilities are a major cause of security breaches, making effective detection critical. Traditional learning-based methods require large datasets and significant computational resources, which are often impractical due to high annotation costs and data scarcity. To address this, we propose an innovative system, RearVul, which Re-parameterizes adversarial reprogramming in a low-dimensional subspace for software vulnerability detection. Unlike conventional approaches, RearVul repurposes a pre-trained classification model using adversarial reprogramming, enabling detection with minimal modifications. It learns a universal perturbation applied to program representations, preserving the original model’s feature extraction capabilities while adapting it to a new domain. Furthermore, we introduce a …

Subjective Readiness Forecasting Using Supervised Machine Learning And Wearable Device Data, Nathaniel Michael Weiland

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Recent advances in wearable technology allow continuous monitoring of physiological and behavioral data, opening new opportunities for real-time assessments of readiness and well-being. However, creating predictive models that generalize across diverse users remains challenging, especially in high-stakes settings like the military, where preventable injuries, illnesses, and stress-related performance declines are frequent. This research assesses the feasibility of using supervised machine learning models trained on wearable device data to predict subjective readiness indicators—recovery, stress, injury, and illness. Data from over 10,000 users in the OHWS (Optimizing the Human Weapons System) program combined daily check ins with physiological metrics from Garmin, Polar, …

Computational Assessment Of Vitrimers Self-Healing For Renewable Energy And Aerospace Structures, Walaaeldin Mohamed Ahmed Derbala

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Self-healing polymers, particularly vitrimers, are emerging as promising candidates in the development of advanced materials for renewable energy and aerospace structures. These materials exhibit dynamic covalent bond exchange mechanisms that enable reprocess ability, damage repair, and extended operational lifetime under harsh conditions. This study presents a density functional theory (DFT)-based computational investigation of the mechanistic pathways and energetics of bond exchange reactions in model vitrimer systems. We explore transition states, energy barriers, and thermodynamic features corresponding to associative and dissociative self-healing reactions in vitrimers. The study focuses on Diaminodiphenyl disulfide (AFD), a bifunctional molecule composed of two para-substituted aminophenyl rings …

Ab Initio Simulations For Oxidation Of An Ultra-High Temperature Ceramic (Hfb2), Wesley I. Black

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Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics are a class of ceramics that possess high strength and melting points in excess of 3000°C. These ceramics are promising for aerospace applications, where materials need to endure high-temperature and high-stress environments. Utilizing ab initio simulations, this thesis research focuses on the atomistic details of oxidation for a typical ultra-high temperature ceramic material, namely hafnium diboride. The simulations provide energy barriers for transition from the initial to final structures via transition states on the (0 0 0 1) surface. These result in estimates for reaction rates and other thermodynamic features that are essential for assessing applicability under …

Dataset Generation For Routing Policy Study In Ad Hoc Wireless Networks, Vishnu Vishnu Priya

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Ad Hoc wireless networks, with their decentralized architecture and dynamic topology, present challenges in reliable and energy-efficient routing. While machine learning (ML) and reinforcement learning (RL) offer promising solutions, progress is limited by the lack of realistic, high-fidelity datasets. This research introduces a simulation-based framework for generating four diverse datasets representing combinations of node mobility (mobile vs. static) and spatial distribution (random vs. clustered). Each dataset captures critical metrics such as Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), bottleneck rate, and power consumption across multi-hop paths. A lookahead-based greedy routing algorithm with scenario-aware power control is implemented to emulate practical behavior. Supervised ML models, …

Hydrogen Storage Density And Adsorption Energy Barriers On Li-Decorated Bc3 Nanosheet, Sri Venkat Pavan Upasi

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Hydrogen is considered an emerging carrier of clean energy with renewable capabilities. Widespread hydrogen energy utilization necessitates efficient storage strategies. Functionalized nanomaterials, such as Li-decorated BC3 nanosheets, are among the primary candidate materials for hydrogen storage. This research investigates the feasibility of hydrogen storage by estimating energy barriers and their dependence on storage density on Li-decorated BC3 nanosheet. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations provide estimates of adsorption energies and saddle points for hydrogen storage and compare corresponding reaction rates. The results are expected to help us understand the advantages and possible shortcomings of hydrogen storage on such nanomaterials.

Mid-Wave Infrared Imaging Of Supersonic Combustor Exhaust Flow, Nathan Childs

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A study was completed on the application of mid-wave infrared (MW-IR) imaging for diagnostics in supersonic combustion exhaust flows, with the objective of enhancing optical access and measurement accuracy. Other optical based techniques of thermography require complicated setups and analysis to determine the temperature of a flow with high accuracy, where MW-IR is a more simplistic "point and shoot" technique. The simplicity of MW-IR comes with the trade off of gaining simplicity but adding uncertainty into the measurements. The MW-IR camera was positioned to view the exhaust of the combustor to provide an unobstructed view of the flow, addressing limitations …

Laminar Separation Control Of An Eppler 387 Airfoil, Vincent R. Sheeler

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A variety of aerodynamic devices operate at low Reynolds number conditions, such as unmanned aerial vehicles and low-pressure turbines in gas turbine engines. At low Reynolds numbers, many airfoils experience laminar boundary layer separation as the fow lacks the energy to overcome the adverse pressure gradient. Researchers have documented a variety of methods which can suppress laminar separation, and now focus on ways to reduce energy requirements to provide efective fow control. Aspects of fow control strategy such as actuator location and pulsing at frequencies which exploit natural instabilities in the fow can reduce energy requirements. In a study by …

Biosensing Applications Of Thz Rotational Spectroscopy: Sensing And Analysis Of Exogenous And Endogenous Compounds In Exhaled Breath, Daniel J. Tyree

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Exhaled human breath contains a wealth of volatile molecular species which bear an imprint of compounds dissolved in blood. Assessing trace amounts of these species in exhaled breath requires a highly sensitive and selective method. Terahertz (THz) rotational spectroscopy satisfies these needs by detecting numerous and narrow, molecule specific spectral features with feature intensity dependent on the quantity of absorbing molecules, molecular structure, and experimental parameters. Expanding the applicability of THz sensing to biological gases requires systems to measure this spectral data, reliable analysis of the spectra, and demonstration of the utility of biological data extracted from the spectra. To …

Evidence That Ultraviolet B Radiation Generates Systemic Responses Via Microvesicle Particle, Niharika Annapureddy

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Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, ranging from 280–315 nm, has been identified as carcinogenic since 1928 and is known to cause skin cancer. Additionally, UVB exposure triggers inflammatory responses, systemic effects, and organ damage. Recent research has discovered that these adverse outcomes are facilitated by the release of microvesicle particles (MVP) via the inflammatory lipid mediator, Platelet-activating Factor (PAF). We have previously demonstrated that sunburn causes skin keratinocytes to release high levels of MVP by activating the PAF receptor (PAFR). These studies were designed to test if these microvesicles enter the bloodstream and travel to various organs, especially the gut, increasing …

Disengaged And Drowsy: Using An Adaptive System To Detect Suboptimal Learning, William Andrew Stalker

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Instruction is increasingly asynchronous, providing new opportunities but at the cost of losing some guard rails of in-person classes. One such guard rail is an instructor’s ability to detect boredom and learner disengagement. This dissertation explores the development and evaluation of an adaptive training simulator designed to respond to user engagement levels in real-time. The simulator monitors eyeblinks, comparing metrics to individual baselines to detect signs of fatigue and boredom. Participants are exposed to novel information in an audiobook recording of a textbook chapter and later quizzed to assess retention. An adaptive intervention offering periodic brief respite was tested against …

Religiosity And The Gender Violence Crisis: How Religious Affiliation Of Society Impacts Violence Against Women, Sydney Hoffman

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This thesis analyzes the impact that the religious affiliation of a population has on both the prevalence of violence against women, as well as the presence of legislation and other legal frameworks aimed at preventing violence and protecting women. Utilizing data from international organizations and nonpartisan fact tanks, regression analyses are performed with four different models and dependent variables to understand the effect religiosity has on both prevalence and prevention of gender violence. While the results of these models do not indicate a likelihood of real relationships between religiosity and the different outcomes, the thesis overall contributes further to the …

Ready, Set, Resistance: A Dual Continuum Approach To Organizational Change Acceptance, Alexandria Bohn

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With organizations operating in increasingly dynamic and competitive landscapes, organizations need to be able to get their employees to adapt to system-wide changes that are needed. However, research has suggested a 70% failure rate for organizational change initiatives (Hughes, 2011). Prior research has produced mixed research results when examining resistance and readiness to organizational change on either a single dimension (e.g., Kaplan, 1972) or two dimensions (e.g., Repovs, Drnovsek, & Kase, 2019). I extended prior research by examining resistance versus readiness as residing on a single continuum and whether effects on outcomes were moderated by change orientations. Research has suggested …

Complainer's Dilemma, Greg Leo, Jennifer Pate

Economics Faculty Works

Technological innovations have made complaining easier. Often, when it is easy to complain, only problems that meet a high threshold of complaints are addressed. We present a novel model of the strategic environment facing complainers and demonstrate that the properties of the resulting games' equilibria justify the existence of high complaint thresholds. By setting the thresholds appropriately, an administrator can prevent complaints that are not worth addressing. Policies that minimize the cost of complaining while requiring a large threshold are universally more efficient for large constituencies. Our results regarding the equilibrium for large constituencies are facilitated by the application of …

Mobile Weather Satellite Receiver, Luke Datsko, Sam Watts, Jason Do, Adam Bechtler

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The "Mobile Weather Satellite Receiver" project aims to create a portable, user-friendly device that receives and displays weather information from geostationary satellites, addressing the limitations of traditional weather sources like the Internet and weather radio, particularly in remote areas. This device will collect and demodulate satellite data, including imagery and Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN) forecasts, to provide users with detailed local forecasts and real-time alerts.

Designed with a user-centric approach, the system includes a satellite dish, Software Defined Radio (SDR), a Raspberry Pi, and a custom software interface for ease of use. Its portability and ability to function …

An Improved Method To Protecting Skin Graft Dressings Following Surgery In Severe Burn Patients, Andrew Martin, Matt Flaker, Hailey Essinger

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Severe burns, including deep second- and third-degree burns, affect over 450,000 people annually in the U.S., often requiring skin grafts for treatment. Recovery involves wearing wound dressings covered by bandage wraps for at least two weeks. While wraps are breathable, versatile, and simple, they can be painful to apply, especially for larger patients, and their compression varies based on the person applying them. This poses challenges when untrained caregivers are involved. Additionally, wraps often slip during physical therapy. Burn care units seek a new solution that matches current wraps in breathability and comfort but offers quicker application, controlled compression, and …

The Seating And Standing Arrangements Of Band, Orchestra, And Choir, Sabrina Wolf

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this literature review, I will be looking for scholarly articles that discuss the seating and standing arrangements of band orchestra and choir ensembles. The main goal of this literature review is to find what information is available and discover what positions work to find the best sound that each ensemble can have. After finding the resources, I will annotate each source and summarize the information. I will also reach out to ensemble directors at the University of Akron and interview them to discover what seating and standing arrangements they prefer and why. I will compile this information into a …

Voter Apathy And Divided Government, Ty'hier Simon

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The proposed research project will pertain to the voter attitudes associated with our government. The association with our government is critical to document because it may reflect the outlook of how the seats are distributed between the two major parties in our system. Voter apathy is the lack of interest in elections of representative democracies. In this project, a correlation may be drawn between voter turnout and how the delegation of our representatives looks. For example, if there is a low voter turnout there may be a swift change in power in Congress or there might be total gridlock. Using …

An Aphasia Friendly Questionnaire For Post-Stroke Fatigue, Abigail Best

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A stroke is when there is lack of blood flow to part of the brain. It can cause permanent damage, such as paralysis, sensory changes, difficulty with speech and language (such as aphasia), and decreased memory. Within this project, we will discuss individuals post-stroke who are diagnosed with aphasia, which is the inability to understand and express language. Currently, there are minimal resources available to help a healthcare worker define and assess the fatigue level of a patient post-stroke who is also diagnosed with aphasia. The first objective of this research is to discuss stroke and aphasia. The second objective …

Artificial Intelligence’S Role And Impact On The Engineering Discipline, Andrew Angelini

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this Honors Research project was to explore the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the Engineering Discipline as a whole. Specifically, civil engineering’s discipline of transportation was used to display the effectiveness of AI in engineering. This discipline was used due to its wide use in engineering and overall designs that can be created within this discipline. These designs include maintenance of traffic plans, engineering plan sets, horizontal and vertical curve design, intersection design, traffic signaling, highway material design, and phasing of intersections and traffic accounting for pedestrians. Through similar prompts that were given to a publicly …

Pca Text Sentiment Analysis Tool, Luke Gegick

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project applies principal component analysis (PCA) to sentiment analysis of text to identify complex emotional responses from plain text. Existing sentiment analysis tools often rely on large language models or struggle to achieve high accuracy when processing large collections of short inputs, such as social media comments. By contrast, this project uses PCA as a lightweight, mathematically grounded alternative that can scale efficiently while still capturing meaningful emotional structure in text data.

PCA has shown strong effectiveness in text analysis, particularly when supported by a sufficiently large dataset and a robust preprocessing pipeline. To create consistent, information-rich input vectors, …

Montessori And Self-Regulation, Abbey Ray

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper explores how the Montessori approach supports young children’s self-regulation and sense of agency. Reviewing ten peer-reviewed studies, it compares Montessori classrooms with traditional early childhood programs and finds consistent evidence that Montessori practices, such as child-led activities, structured autonomy, self-correcting materials, and supportive teacher guidance, significantly improve children’s attention, impulse control, emotional regulation, and independent decision-making. The review also notes the influence of teacher beliefs and carefully prepared environments on these outcomes. While the research strongly supports Montessori’s positive impact, gaps remain in studies involving diverse populations and long-term effects. Overall, Montessori education emerges as an effective model …

The Normative Porosity Of The Un Convention On The Law Of The Sea: From "Human Rights At Sea" To The "Ocean-Climate Nexus", Eduardo Cavalcanti De Mello Filho

Minnesota Journal of International Law, Vols. 28:2 onward (2019-present)

This article delves into the nexus between the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”) and the broader international legal order, focusing on UNCLOS Article 287 tribunals with jurisdiction limited to disputes related to the Convention. The study categorizes three gateways through which external rules of international law influence the interpretation and application of UNCLOS: Renvoi provisions, systemic interpretation mechanisms, and systemic integration via Article 293(1). Considering recent studies highlighting UNCLOS as a “springboard for interaction,” this research synthesizes legal dogmatics with insights from the sociology of law and international relations theory. Mindful of the momentum experienced …

Explaining Constitutional Copying As An Idealogy: Argentina's "Yankee-Mania" Under President Domingo Sarmiento (1868-1874), Jonathan M. Miller

Minnesota Journal of International Law, Vols. 28:2 onward (2019-present)

Foreign constitutional models can transform a country thanks to the power of ideology. The comparative constitutional literature maintains that successful constitutionalism requires credible commitments to essential rules by all major political actors so that those out of power can avoid persecution that will drive them into rebellion, and those in power can feel assured that if they relinquish power, the opposition will respect their core interests. The literature also assumes that the process of reaching credible commitments is a slow one, but that over time civil society, courts and government bureaucracies will strengthen the commitments and act against unconstitutional power …

Deep Learning-Assisted Diagnostic System: Apices And Odontogenic Sinus Floor Level Analysis In Dental Panoramic Radiographs, Pei Yi Wu, Yuan-Jin Lin, Yu-Jen Chang, Sung-Tsun Wei, Chiung An Chen, Kuo-Chen Li, Wei-Chen Tu, Patricia Angela R. Abu

Department of Information Systems & Computer Science Faculty Publications

Odontogenic sinusitis is a type of sinusitis caused by apical lesions of teeth near the maxillary sinus floor. Its clinical symptoms are highly like other types of sinusitis, often leading to misdiagnosis as general sinusitis by dentists in the early stages. This misdiagnosis delays treatment and may be accompanied by toothache. Therefore, using artificial intelligence to assist dentists in accurately diagnosing odontogenic sinusitis is crucial. This study introduces an innovative odontogenic sinusitis image processing technique, which is fused with common contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization, Min-Max normalization, and the RGB mapping method. Moreover, this study combined various deep learning models …

Precision Medicine Assessment Of The Radiographic Defect Angle Of The Intrabony Defect In Periodontal Lesions By Deep Learning Of Bitewing Radiographs, Patricia Angela R. Abu, Yi Cheng Mao, Yuan Jin Lin, Chien Kai Chao, Yi He Lin, Bo Siang Wang, Chiung An Chen, Shih Lun Chen, Tsung Yi Chen, Kuo Chen Li

Department of Information Systems & Computer Science Faculty Publications

In dental diagnosis, evaluating the severity of periodontal disease by analyzing the radiographic defect angle of the intrabony defect is essential for effective treatment planning. However, dentists often rely on clinical examinations and manual analysis, which can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. Due to the high recurrence rate of periodontal disease after treatment, accurately evaluating the radiographic defect angle of the intrabony defect is vital for implementing targeted interventions, which can improve treatment outcomes and reduce recurrence. This study aims to streamline clinical practices and enhance patient care in managing periodontal disease by determining its severity based on the analysis of …

A Novel Real-Time Threshold Algorithm For Closed-Loop Epilepsy Detection And Stimulation System, Liang Hung Wang, Zhen Nan Zhang, Chao Xin Xie, Hao Jiang, Tao Yang, Qi Peng Ran, Ming Hui Fan, I. Chun Kuo, Zne Jung Lee, Jian Bo Chen, Tsung Yi Chen, Shih Lun Chen, Patricia Angela R. Abu

Department of Information Systems & Computer Science Faculty Publications

Epilepsy, as a common brain disease, causes great pain and stress to patients around the world. At present, the main treatment methods are drug, surgical, and electrical stimulation therapies. Electrical stimulation has recently emerged as an alternative treatment for reducing symptomatic seizures. This study proposes a novel closed-loop epilepsy detection system and stimulation control chip. A time-domain detection algorithm based on amplitude, slope, line length, and signal energy characteristics is introduced. A new threshold calculation method is proposed; that is, the threshold is updated by means of the mean and standard deviation of four consecutive eigenvalues through parameter combination. Once …

2025 Certified Population Of Tennessee Incorporated Municipalities And Counties, Tennessee. Department Of Economic And Community Development

Certified Population Reports

This report highlights the population of incorporated municipalities, the incorporated municipalities by country, and the census population of counties in Tennessee.

Fabrication And Characterization Of Chalcogenide And Oxide Thin Films, Shuhang Pan

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

This dissertation explores the fabrication, structural characterization, and quantum transport properties of chalcogenide and oxide thin films. High-quality SnTe films were synthesized via molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), demonstrating tunable topological surface states through nanoscale patterning. Magnetoconductivity measurements revealed weak antilocalization (WAL) effects across continuous and patterned films, with coherence lengths governed by boundary scattering in hole-patterned geometries. Advanced focused ion beam (FIB) protocols enabled atomic-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of monolayer ZrO2 on silicon, defect distribution in off-stoichiometric CaWO4 films and orientation analysis in YVO4 thin films. Josephson junctions fabricated on superconducting Nd1−xEuxNiO2 thin films exhibited …

If The Purpose Of The Tennessee Health Care Liability Act Is To Block Access To The Courts, Then It Is Succeeding—But “Surely, That Is Not The Intent Of Our Elected Representatives”, Kelsey L. Mcclain

University of Memphis Law Review

No abstract provided.