Digital Commons Network^™

Women On Boards Annual Monitoring Report 2024, Center For Entrepreneurship And Innovation

Faculty Books

The AUC Egypt women on boards monitoring report is issued annually to track and monitor the presence and representation of women on boards towards meeting the goal of having 30% women on boards by 2030. The importance of improving representation of women on boards stems from the fact that it is one of the good governance pillars, in addition to the positive impact on firm performance and profitability. The National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 has accordingly promoted for increasing the leadership roles of women and holding key positions in public institutions and companies, setting the target …

The Looming Threat Of Uninsured Nonbank Stablecoins, Arthur E. Wilmarth Jr.

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

On May 21, 2025, the U.S. Senate voted to begin final consideration of the “GENIUS Act.” Despite its lofty title, the bill would create grave threats to our financial system and economy by allowing nonbanks to issue stablecoins without the protections provided by federal deposit insurance and other regulatory safeguards governing FDIC-insured banks. The GENIUS Act would set the stage for future runs on stablecoins triggering systemic financial crises and requiring government bailouts.

The great majority of global stablecoins promise to maintain parity with the U.S. dollar and are functionally equivalent to bank deposits. Stablecoins are mainly used as payment …

The Supply Chain Is A Circle: Ai, Privacy, And People, Alicia Solow-Niederman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance underscores the AI “supply chain” and the “many hands” involved in the creation of AI systems. Although invaluable, this production-centered approach risks overlooking what happens when people use AI tools. That’s a mistake, because user interactions determine the real-world impact of AI.

This Essay contends that regulating AI and holding the appropriate actors responsible requires far more attention to what happens after deployment of an AI system. The supply chain is an invaluable start, but it’s not a linear chain. Rather, it is a circle that must incorporate users’ engagement with AI tools as part of …

One Union Soldier's Service With The 141st Regiment Of Pennsylvania Volunteers And That Regiment's Remarkable Record Of Heroism And Sacrifice During The Civil War, Arthur E. Wilmarth Jr.

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Christopher C. Wilmarth (my great-great-uncle) served with the 141st Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers from August 1862 until June 1863. On May 3, 1863, Christopher was wounded in his leg during the third day of the Battle of Chancellorsville. He was left on the battlefield when the Union army retreated, and he was captured by the Confederates. He remained a Confederate prisoner for at least ten days, and he suffered from exposure to the elements and a lack of adequate medical care until he was returned to the Union army. After multiple amputations, Christopher died in a Union army hospital on …

Money, Money, Money: Universities, Government Funding, And Academic Freedom, Mary-Rose Papandrea

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Since the federal government began its large-scale funding of research at the start of World War II, the United States and American universities have been in a mutually beneficial relationship. The federal government has reaped the benefits of countless scientific, social science, and technological discoveries that have promoted national security and served the general welfare. In return, American universities have developed extraordinary research enterprises that are regarded as among the best in the world.

From the outset of this relationship, however, scientists and university administrators expressed concern that federal funding would interfere with institutional autonomy and academic freedom. President Trump’s …

A Pocket Park In Kirkwood: Community, Connectivity, And Urban Transformation, Catalina Freixas

Books, Office for Socially Engaged Practice

The course Architecture For Non-Architects [AFNA] is supported by CityStudio STL, Sam Fox School of Design Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis.

AFNA is a foundational course that acquaints students with the principles and practices of architectural design. Beginning with a community-based project, the curriculum integrates lectures, readings, and research to guide participants through understanding and shaping the built environment. Field trips play a key role, encouraging active observation and engagement with both the physical site and invested stakeholders.

Cultivating observation is essential to perceiving our surroundings with intention, yet many people view the environment passively, shaped by habits …

Research And Graduate Studies Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2025, Office Of Research And Graduate Studies, Illinois State University

Research and Graduate Studies Annual Report

No abstract provided.

When Open-Source Information Backfires: Satellite Imagery And Privacy Breaches, Matin Pedram, Siena Chandler, Eugenia Georgiades

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

No abstract provided.

The Motives For Mergers And Acquisitions And Their Implications For Research And Practice, Kris Irwin, Craig Armstrong, Paul Drnevich, Mario Schijven

Management Faculty Publications

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) have long intrigued scholars given their size, complexity, and frequent failure. Despite an extensive body of research on M&A, a key limitation in M&A research is the lack of focus on the motives underpinning acquisitions, which may explain frequent mixed and inconclusive results. Much of the existing literature struggles to fully capture the complex and multifaceted nature of these motives, limiting the ability to draw consistent conclusions. In this paper, we review academic and practical perspectives on M&A motives, highlighting both discrepancies and methodological challenges. Our key contributions include a comparison of theoretical and practical insights, …

Individual Entrepreneurial Orientation: Scale Development And Validation, Daniel R. Clark, Jeffrey G. Covin, Robert J. Pidduck

Management Faculty Publications

Recent research introduced and laid the foundation for a new individual-level entrepreneurial orientation conceptualization (Ind.EO) within the entrepreneurial orientation family of constructs. Building directly from this work, this article theoretically defines a measurement model for the construct and develops and validates a scale. We define and measure disposition-based behavior constructs for autonomy, competitiveness, innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking, thus providing psychometrically validated tools that support research in the burgeoning Ind.EO domain. Scale items are generated deductively from our definitions, and then tested through four data collections with academics, the lay population, entrepreneurs, and business managers. Strong validation data across these multiple …

Problem-Centered Post-Secondary Computer Science Education: A Study Of The Private Artificial Intelligence Curriculum, Golnoush Haddadian, Prajwal Panzade, Daniel Takabi, Min Kyu Kim

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

In response to the demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) experts, this study introduced a curriculum development initiative. The aim was to design and implement a Private AI curriculum to understand the computer science (CS) students’ evaluations of the curricular activities and their levels of interest and motivation. Twenty-five students, a mix of undergraduates and graduates, were recruited and a scaled-down version of the curriculum was implemented. A parallel mixed-methods approach was employed. The results reinforced the significance of problem-centered curricula in CS context. Students rated the curricular activities highly and demonstrated strong motivation; however, graduates expressed more favorable view of …

Privacy-Preserved And Incentivized Knowledge Sharing For Reinforced-Learning Based Iot Platform Security, Weichao Wang, Md Morshed Alam, Yu Wang

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

With the fast development and deep penetration of IoT devices and smart environments, using localized machine learning models to detect malicious activities has also been developed and deployed. However, these isolated learning models and results cannot be effectively federated together because of privacy concerns and lack of incentivization. This paper proposed several mechanisms to solve the problem. A verification method was designed for phased learning results to protect user privacy and prevent individual parties from manipulating the verification selection. The paper also presented an incentive method based on delay of distribution of the latest federated learning results. Extensive simulations were …

Security Enhancement In Uav Swarms: A Case Study Using Federated Learning And Shap Analysis, Sushmitha Halli Sudhakara, Lida Haghnegahdar

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

As cyber-physical systems (CPSs) increasingly integrate physical and digital realms, securing critical infrastructure, such as the Port of Virginia, becomes paramount. Among CPSs, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are vital for monitoring, communication, and supporting the command and control through remote reconnaissance and surveillance missions. These UAV applications often require coordination, planning, and runtime reconfiguration, traditionally managed by human decision-makers. However, this approach has limitations, as extensively documented in the literature. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a pivotal tool to address these limitations, enhancing risk mitigation and informed decision-making. This research proposes a machine learning (ML) based security mechanism, leveraging …

Security Enhancement In Aav Swarms: A Case Study Using Federated Learning And Shap Analysis, Sushmitha Halli Sudhakara, Lida Haghnegahdar

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

As cyber-physical systems (CPSs) increasingly integrate physical and digital realms, securing critical infrastructure, such as the Port of Virginia, becomes paramount. Among CPSs, Autonomous Aerial Vehicles (AAVs) are vital for monitoring, communication, and supporting the command and control through remote reconnaissance and surveillance missions. These AAV applications often require coordination, planning, and runtime reconfiguration, traditionally managed by human decision-makers. However, this approach has limitations, as extensively documented in the literature. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a pivotal tool to address these limitations, enhancing risk mitigation and informed decision-making. This research proposes a machine learning (ML) based security mechanism, leveraging …

Long-Term Traffic Prediction Using Deep Learning Long Short-Term Memory, Ange-Lionel Toba, Sameer Kulkarni, Wael Khallouli, Timothy Pennington

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

Traffic conditions are a key factor in our society, contributing to quality of life and the economy, as well as access to professional, educational, and health resources. This emphasizes the need for a reliable road network to facilitate traffic fluidity across the nation and improve mobility. Reaching these characteristics demands good traffic volume prediction methods, not only in the short term but also in the long term, which helps design transportation strategies and road planning. However, most of the research has focused on short-term prediction, applied mostly to short-trip distances, while effective long-term forecasting, which has become a challenging issue …

Tl-Convlstm: A Transfer-Learning-Based Convolutional Lstm To Identify And Forecast Traffic In The Nextg Environments, Bikash Chandra Singh, Peter Foytik, Rafael Diaz, Sachin Shetty

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

Forecasting and categorizing cellular traffic flows and their types are essential functions in intelligent network systems to ensure efficient network optimization. The ever-evolving nature of 5G networks results in fluctuations in traffic patterns over time, leading to a phenomenon known as model drift. Consequently, accurately predicting and identifying cellular traffic patterns becomes a complex task. To tackle this challenge, this article introduces an innovative approach called TL-ConvLSTM, which combines transfer learning with convolutional long short-term memory (ConvLSTM) to effectively combat model drift and provide precise forecasting and recognition of cellular traffic within the network. To accomplish this, we initiate the …

Swatting Flies: Biting Insects As Non-Invasive Samplers For Mammalian Population Genomics, Anubhab Khan, Ryan Carter, Chengetai D. Mpamhanga, Daniel Masiga, Manun Channumsin, Marc Ciosi, Oliva Manangwa, Furaha Mramba, Umer Zeeshan Ijaz, Harriet Auty, Barbara K. Mable

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Advances in next-generation sequencing have allowed the use of DNA obtained from unusual sources for wildlife studies. However, these samples have been used predominantly to sequence mitochondrial DNA for species identification while population genetics analyses have been rare. Since next-generation sequencing allows indiscriminate detection of all DNA fragments in a sample, technically it should be possible to sequence whole genomes of animals from environmental samples. Here we used a blood-feeding insect, tsetse fly, to target whole genome sequences of wild animals. Using pools of flies, we compared the ability to recover genomic data from hosts using the short-read sequencing (Illumina) …

Enhancing Electric Wheelchair Safety Via Battery State Of Charge Estimationwith Pcc–Nssr–Lstm Method, Chi Wing, Alex Tsang, Xiaoying Lu

Department of Construction, Environment and Engineering

This study explores a novel algorithm created to predict the state of charge (SOC) of batteries in electric wheelchairs (EWs) to improve EW safety by adjusting SOC thresholds and reducing consumer range anxiety. It involves collecting experimental data from lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells over 1500 cycles at 25◦C, encompassing various parameters. With the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC), a select set of key parameters including voltage, temperature, dQ/dV (capacity increase to voltage increase ratio) are chosen as inputs for non-linear state space reconstruction long short-term memory (NSSR-LSTM) neural networks, facilitating precise SOC predictions. The study showcases the precision of …

Development Of Aln-Loaded Pet Separators From Waste Water Bottle Plastics With Superior Thermal Characteristics For Next-Generation Lithium-Ion Batteries, Chi Wing, Alex Tsang, Xiaoying Lu, Dawson Wai Shun Suen

Department of Construction, Environment and Engineering

Preventing short circuit hazard due to lithium (Li) dendrite formation across a separator from the anode of a lithium-ion battery (LIB) throughout operation is important; however, conventional separator materials cannot fulfil the increasing safety standards of next-generation LIBs. Thus, developing separator materials with high Li dendrite suppression ability in order to prevent short circuit is of paramount importance for realising next-generation LIBs. In this study, aluminum nitride-loaded polyethylene terephthalate (PET/AlN) composites with micro-/nanoarchitecture were synthesized using PET that was recycled from commercial waste bottles via an electrospinning strategy. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) suggested that AlN …

A Novel Catalyst Featuring Highly Stable Cobalt And Manganese Nitride Nanoclusters Dispersed On Single Atom-Anchored Carbon Nanotubes For Hydrolytic Release Of Hydrogen From Ammonia Borane, Dawson Wai Shun Suen, Xiaoying Lu, Chi Wing, Alex Tsang

Department of Construction, Environment and Engineering

This study investigated the long-term stability of cobalt (Co) and manganese nitride (Mn4N) nanoclusters in the catalytic hydrolysis of a promising hydrogen (H2) storage material, ammonia borane (H3NBH3; AB), to release H2. It was previously found that Co nanoparticle/Co single-atom catalysts (Co NP/Co SACs) anchored on carbon nanotubes (CNT) exhibited excellent reactivity and stability towards AB hydrolysis and high performance in the H2 evolution reaction in alkaline media. Therefore, the current study synthesised CoMn4N/Co-Mn-Nx-CNT- 200–800, a CoMn-based catalyst with Co and Mn4N nanocluster active sites, and examined its performance in AB hydrolysis. CoMn4N/Co-Mn-Nx-CNT-200–800 generated three equivalents of H2 from AB …

Ni/Nb2o5 As A Noble-Metal-Free Catalyst For The Chemical Upcycling Of Waste Polyolefin Plastics, Chi Wing, Alex Tsang

Department of Construction, Environment and Engineering

The resource utilization of waste polyolefin plastics is expected to be achieved through upgrading and reconstruction processes, but the primary scientific challenge lies in the development of efficient and cost-effective catalysts. In this paper, we present Ni nanoparticles supported on Nb₂O₅ with tunable acid sites (Ni/Nb2O5-T) as noble-metal-free catalysts for the upcycling of waste plastics. These catalysts efficiently facilitate a one-pot, solvent-free hydrogenolysis-isomerization of waste plastics, converting them into aromatic-free, highly branched alkane aviation fuels under mild conditions. Notably, the bifunctional Ni/Nb2O5-400 catalyst, characterized by highly dispersed metallic Ni sites and strong Brønsted acid sites, promotes key reactions such as …

Transforming Chiller Plant Efficiency With Sc+Bas: Case Study In A Hong Kong Shopping Mall, Ming Lun, Alan Fong, Baonan Nelson Li

Department of Construction, Environment and Engineering

The imperative for building managers, in the face of high-density urban environments, is to drive existing chiller plants to greater operational efficiency through the application of advanced technological interventions. The case for applying Supervisory Control (SC) and a Building Automation System (SC+BAS) for optimizing chiller plants is the subject of investigation here, through the lens of a typical commercial shopping mall in the highdensity infrastructure of Hong Kong. The application of SC+BAS falls into the realm of advanced Trim/Respond algorithms coupled with sophisticated sequencing algorithms that allow for refined optimization of the chiller operations in response to the dynamic demands …

Review On Building Retro-Commissioning: A Systematic-Cascade Literature Analysis With Expert Validation, Wai Yee, Betty Chiu

Department of Construction, Environment and Engineering

To optimize the energy performance of buildings, governments worldwide have introduced retro-commissioning (RCx), a systematic investigation of opportunities to improve the performance of existing buildings. However, RCx studies and applications are not as prevalent as those in the other building energy related domains. The past and recent states of RCx research have not been thoroughly investigated, and future research directions remain unclear. Therefore, a review is conducted to address these gaps using a systematic-cascade approach that includes: retrieval of RCx publications from the ScienceDirect and Scopus databases; bibliometric analysis of the publications using the VOSviewer software; in-depth qualitative analysis of …

Maturity Model For Early-Age Compressive Strength Estimation Of Fly Ash Concrete Considering The Effect Of Temperature, Ho Fai Simon Wong

Department of Construction, Environment and Engineering

The significant effect of temperature on the early-age compressive strength development of fly ash concrete was investigated through experimental study and modeling calculations in this paper. The compressive strengths of concrete specimens with different fly ash to binder ratios, cured at three different temperatures, were tested at various ages. The experimental results demonstrate a significant difference in strength development between ordinary concrete and fly ash concrete, indicating that the existing maturity model for normal concrete is unsuitable for predicting the compressive strength of fly ash concrete. To further quantitatively analyze the effect, the maturity model, which takes into account the …

The Art Of Accessing Science, Kyle Mark Trunnell

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Corporate Advertising: How Deception Leads To Downfall, Madison Duong

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

Language As Privilege: Socioeconomic Status And The Politics Of Foreign Language Learning, Brenda Koumondji

Honors Program Theses

This study investigates the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and foreign language learning among young adult learners. Much research suggests that parental education level, household income, and access to educational resources significantly shape language learning attitudes and behaviors. However, United States scholars have lagged in this analysis. Through a mixed-methods research approach, this study combines quantitative surveys and qualitative data to gather comprehensive insights on how SES influences foreign language acquisition, motivation, and advantages. Findings reveal that students with higher SES backgrounds consistently report greater access to language learning resources and significantly higher proficiency levels. While parental education might not …

Who Owns The Dead: The Unequal Access To Repatriation In Us Law, Sydney Blum

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

A Case Study Of Harmful Revisionist History: An Analysis Of Nada Por Lo Que Pedir Perdón By Marcelo Gullo Omodeo, Anna Anderson

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

Housing Cal Poly Humboldt Students, Andrea Santamaria

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Student Housing & Residence Life at Cal Poly Humboldt has been consistently critiqued for the shortage of spaces available and unsuitable student placements. Student input from a 2024 survey is used to call for affordable and equity-based housing accommodations. Results showed that the first factor students consider when selecting between housing options is Cost. More incentives are needed to recruit a higher number of students living on campus. 33.88% (41 students) prefer to live on campus regardless of obstacles or challenges. 66.12% (80 students) would rather live off-campus. Improving housing experiences can decrease low retention, graduation, and recruitment rates, as …