Digital Commons Network^™

Democratizing Community Discourse Analysis In Computational Social Science, Md Towhidul Absar Chowdhury

Theses

Community resource inequities and undetected infrastructure vulnerabilities cost municipalities billions annually, with disproportionate impacts on marginalized communities. Current computational approaches to community needs assessment suffer from two critical limitations: they rely on aggregate-level analysis that obscures granular community expressions, and they implement sophisticated computational tools that remain inaccessible to stakeholders without technical expertise. This creates what we term the Community-Computational Gap—a persistent divide where domain experts with vital contextual knowledge cannot access the analytical tools they need, while computational experts develop models without sufficient community context. This dissertation addresses these challenges through a novel methodological framework for fine-grained utterance-level classification …

Government Vicarious Liability And The Concept Of Deemed Equality With Private Persons, Gary K. Y. Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The immunity against Crown liability was abolished in the United Kingdom in 1948 based on the Diceyan notion of rule of law and deemed equality under the law between public officials and private persons. This paper analyses government vicarious liability in respect of the acts and omissions of public officers under the Singapore Government Proceedings Act with reference to the concept of deemed equality. We will discuss the scope of the statute in light of recent common law developments in vicarious liability, statutory exceptions to government vicarious liability that may be justified by the functions of the government in the …

Deep Learning-Based Drowsiness Detection System For Driver’S Safety, Sindhu Vidyanathan Dixith, Shrikant Jadhav, Youngsoo Kim, Naveenkumar Jayakumar

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Driver drowsiness is a leading contributor to road accidents, accounting for over 100,000 crashes and approximately ~1000 fatalities each year in the United States alone, as per National Safety Council (NSC). To mitigate this urgent public-safety risk, we propose a real-time Driver Drowsiness Detection System that achieves both high accuracy and fast inference on standard hardware. Our key idea is to combine two complementary deep-learning strategies: 1) a custom Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) paired with a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier, and 2) a lightweight transfer-learning model built upon a pre-trained convolutional backbone. We evaluate these approaches on two datasets: …

Molding Leominster's Plastics Industry: The Impact Of Italian Immigrant Labor, Kimberly M. King

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis examines the centrality of Italian immigrant labor in launching Leominster, Massachusetts’ transformative plastics industry. The study traces the arc of the immigrants’ stories from their arrival at the turn of the twentieth century, when their unskilled labor helped Leominster transition from artisan comb production to industrial celluloid manufacturing, to their rise as new technical experts and company owners in the 1940s. They endured hazardous work conditions and social marginalization to create better lives for themselves and their families.

Ultimately, their efforts were critical to the expansion and global recognition of Leominster’s plastics industry. Yet the role of immigrant …

Multimodal Learning In Real-World Application: Enhancing Feature Representation And Training Strategies, Nana Lin

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Multimodal learning has emerged as a critical paradigm for developing intelligent systems that can understand and reason across diverse inputs such as images, text, and audio data. Despite significant advances, effective deployment of multimodal models in practice remains a challenging task. This dissertation explores how multimodal learning can be effectively applied to high-stakes, real-world scenarios, with a focus on enhancing feature representation and training efficiency. Specifically, this research investigates multimodal learning strategies in two key domains: healthcare and surveillance.

In the healthcare domain, we explored the data fusion and alignment approaches for cognitive decline diagnoses. First, we propose the LOVEMA …

Crisis Convergence, Sarah Medina Camiscoli

Northwestern University Law Review

Progressive jurists and legal scholars have called the Supreme Court’s doctrine of colorblind constitutionalism that dismantled affirmative action in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard (SFFA) a crisis for constitutional democracy. However, scholars have not yet tended to students, particularly students mobilized for racial justice, to understand their interpretation of this race-evasive ideology and what insights those mobilized students might offer in this pivotal moment. Given the fact that a small coalition of dissenting conservative jurists, scholars, and mobilized students—the Federalist Society—spent decades crafting the doctrine, scholarship, and resources that drive colorblind constitutionalism …

Infrastructure Equality, Deborah N. Archer, Yuvraj Joshi

Northwestern University Law Review

The United States’ racialized geographies have left communities of color with systematically inferior essential infrastructure that perpetuates their social and economic exclusion. From roads, public transportation, and sewage systems, to banks, high-speed internet, and high-quality public schools, people and communities of color have limited access to the fundamental infrastructure necessary to lead socially and economically vibrant lives. This Essay introduces “infrastructure equality” as a unifying framework to address the critical intersection of physical, social, and legal infrastructures that feed racial inequality. Drawing on multidisciplinary research, it argues that infrastructure—the interconnected and vital system of physical structures, networks, and social institutions—should …

Ungerminated Seed: Proportionality Test In The Indonesian Constitutional Court, Eko Riyadi, Satya Arinanto, Simon Butt, Fitra Arsil

Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law)

This article examines how the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (the Court) constructs its argumentation regarding the limitation and derogation of human rights. The primary issue is how the Court interprets and operationalises the limitation clause under the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia to derogate from and limit human rights. This article also illustrates how the Court applies the derogation and limitation clauses to freedom of religion, the right against retroactive prosecution and the death penalty, the right of women to stand for election, and the right to freedom of expression. The Court has never ruled on …

A Qualitative Analysis Of How Just Stop Oil Protests Are Framed In The Uk Online News Media, Holly Handy

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Previous research has found that when the news media reports on demonstrations, protest groups can be subject to delegitimising coverage. This body of research can be subsumed under Chan & Lee’s “protest paradigm” and is believed to consist of a set of narrative frames that journalists default to in the coverage of protests. Recent research demonstrates how the use of these framing devices may be in decline and advocates for a more integrated approach to protest coverage. However, there is little research that uses analytic frameworks specifically theorised to explore media framing. This study uses Giles and Shaw’s media framing …

The Utilisation Of The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4ir) Technologies In E-Government Service Delivery: A Systematic Literature Review, Arnet Zitha, Noluntu Mpekoa, Sheethal Tom

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

The integration of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies is transforming e-Government by boosting citizen engagement and enhancing service efficiency. However, gaps still exist in understanding the various applications, impacts, and barriers to adoption. This systematic review synthesises literature from 16 studies published between 2017 and 2025, illustrating how technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of Things, and machine learning are employed and their effects on e-Government service delivery. The review reveals that 4IR technologies continue to play a vital role in e-Government services by addressing security threats, simplifying verification and authentication, building trust, and improving the quality and …

Casa Renovations: Examining Social Responses To An Anthropomorphic Media Representative That Is Separate From The Core Technology Being Represented, Rabindra Ratan, Dayeoun Jang, Taenyun Kim, Kelsey Earle, Gabriel E. Hales, Yiming Skylar Lei, Chaeyun Lim, Andrew Gambino

Human-Machine Communication

To extend our understanding of CASA and account for changes in technological complexity and configuration, this research asks: Do increasing levels of social cues in a media representative that is separate from the core technology it represents lead to increased perceived anthropomorphism of the core technology? And does such perceived anthropomorphism predict positive treatment of the core technology? We conducted two complementary studies observing e-scooter use and treatment, an online experiment focused on responses to video stimuli and a field experiment focused on actual user behavior. Findings suggest that, indeed, social cues in a media representative (i.e., an e-scooter rental …

Network And Device Management Based On Commercial Mobile Alert System (Cmas) And Location Aware Solutions, Thirupathi Reddy Katam, Hari Pillai, Aumen Lee, Vignesh Rajendran

Defensive Publications Series

Proposed herein are techniques to facilitate secure, reliable communication and emergency management utilizing a software-defined wide area network (SDWAN) controller that can manage a wide area network upon detection of emergency events, such as earthquakes, floods, wildfires, severe weather conditions, etc. by one or more endpoints that can interface with a Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) via wireless (e.g., 4G/5G) or wired networks.

Hurricane Katrina Archive: Faculty Publications Bibliography 2020-2025, Lsu Health Sciences Center - New Orleans Libraries, Sharon Duffy, Matthew Folse

LSUHSC Hurricane Katrina Archive: Bibliographies

This bibliography includes 10 articles about Hurricane Katrina written by authors affiliated with LSU Health – New Orleans between January 2020 and August 2025.

Examining Home Confinement Of Offenders In The Mississippi Delta, Malcolm Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Recidivism was identified as a persistent problem in the criminal justice system. Accordingly, prison overcrowding was also an identified problem in the prison system. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of home confinement for offenders in the Mississippi Delta. This research used rehabilitation theory to conduct a qualitative analysis of home confinement in the Mississippi Delta, as well as identify any unique challenges to the program presented by rural conditions. A purposive sampling technique was used to solicit participation, and a total of 12 participants were included in the study. The participants were interviewed using a …

Notifying The Public In Crisis Situations, Deborah Jean Link

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The messages that are provided to the public when there is an imminent or ongoing crisis are of extreme value to individuals, primarily to have information by which to base decisions upon. The sense of urgency during imminent or ongoing crisis is the factor that differentiates the need for information about the crisis from the need for information for other types of events. There is messaging during other, less critical types of incidents, but often there is little to no messaging to the public at a time when it is most needed and sought after, during a crisis. Erik J. …

The Effect Of Body-Worn Cameras On Police Credibility In The Courtroom, Robert A. Lindblom

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The use of Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs) by criminal justice practitioners in America has increased dramatically during the past decade. However, many assumptions were made during this process about the effectiveness of BWCs without adequate research or evidence to back up the claims. Deploying new technology under such circumstances often produces unexpected outcomes. One of these unanticipated results may be the increased dependence of judges and juries upon video evidence. Increasingly, adjudicators may hesitate to accept an officer’s testimony at face value. Prosecutors may even be reluctant to pursue cases at all when video is unavailable to bolster the officer’s statement. …

Tough Decisions: Balancing Statutory Authority With Moral Obligation In The Federal Law Enforcement Community, Carl J. Lepard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Following the 2022 tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where an armed assailant killed 21 people and injured 17 others, the U.S. Department of Justice released a critical incident review of the law enforcement response. Absent in the Justice Department’s response was an analysis of the lack of statutory law enforcement authority for the 150 federal law enforcement officers who responded to the school that day. This qualitative phenomenological study aims to examine federal law enforcement officers’ understanding of their statutory authority to exercise police powers. It sought to understand the decision-making process of federal law enforcement officers …

Does Spirituality Mediate Or Moderate The Adverse Effects Of Occupational Stressors On Mental Health In Law Enforcement Officers?, Erika D. Keplinger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Law enforcement officers are often exposed to occupational stressors that can negatively affect their mental health and job performance. Spirituality has been thoroughly researched as a restorative method to improve physical and psychological health concerns. There has also been an increase in studies on workplace spirituality. The existing research on workplace spirituality suggests that incorporating spirituality into the workplace increases employee well-being and decreases stress and burnout. Unfortunately, research on police culture often neglects spirituality. There is little research to show how spirituality could mediate or moderate the adverse effects of mental health on law enforcement officers. This quasi-experimental, cross-sectional, …

The Shorthorn: November 27, 1979

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: October 24, 1979

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: October 23, 1979

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: October 10, 1979

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: March 22, 1979

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: March 9, 1979

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: January 26, 1979

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: January 16, 1979

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: December 1, 1978

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: November 2, 1978

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: September 26, 1978

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.

The Shorthorn: February 2, 1978

The Shorthorn Newspaper Collection: 1970s

No abstract provided.