Digital Commons Network^™

Ram-Cents: Making Financial Sense For Vcu Rams, Anna Brown, Becca Klein, Cierra Eldridge, Corey Humphrey, Scott Robinson

GEHLI - 2026 VCUL Team Project Publications

With the cost of in-state tuition at public institutions doubling in the last 30 years, paying for college is one of the most significant financial investments families can undertake (Nadworny, 2025). As an access-driven institution, VCU faces additional challenges to ensure affordability for its students. More than ⅓ of VCU students are Pell Grant-eligible and 38% of freshmen are first-generation college students (Virginia Commonwealth University, n.d.). Having accurate, timely information related to billing and financial aid is critical for helping students and families make informed decisions in order to move through their degree progression. Outstanding balances on student bills impact …

New Media For New Marijuana: An Initiative Addressing The Challenges Of A Changing Cannabis Landscape And Its Impact On The Driving Safety Of The Vcu Community, Kelsa Bartley, Peter Henry, Donisha Terry, Emily Yeaman, Quingguo Xu, Matthew Winheim

GEHLI - 2026 VCUL Team Project Publications

Cannabis products today are significantly more potent and more widely available than in previous generations, creating new health and safety challenges for college students. This project aims to develop an evidence-based awareness campaign that delivers information about the health risks of emerging cannabinoid products and the consequences of impaired driving due to cannabis use. The campaign aims to increase student awareness, encourage responsible decision-making, and contribute to a safer, healthier VCU community.

Signals Of Success: Leveraging Early Alerts And Attendance Data To Support First-Year Students, Derek Behmke, Priscilla Hwang, Christina Mancini, Sarah Williams, Nick Wong

GEHLI - 2026 VCUL Team Project Publications

VCU’s Early Alert system has varied implementation across the University, resulting in inconsistent flagging to provide enhanced support for students. This project explores the demonstrated advantages of interventions using Early Alerts and barriers to widespread, consistent adoption by faculty. Recommendations include an enhanced communication plan that includes possible training or marketing approaches to faculty using a data-driven approach that centers on student success as well as intuitive integrated tools to simplify the process for faculty.

Unstoppable Workforce: Identifying Ai Gaps At Vcu, Valerie Cooper, Eliza Hunt, Demmie Pennix, Maiya Lee, Swadesh Das

GEHLI - 2026 VCUL Team Project Publications

AI in an UNstoppable workforce describes a future where artificial intelligence becomes a driving force that reshapes teaching, research, clinical operations, and administrative work here at VCU. We are gathering AI-related data, projects, and use cases from every school and college at VCU to contribute to a centralized AI hub. This hub will serve as the campus-wide resource for understanding how AI is being used, supporting collaboration, guiding responsible adaptation, and shaping a unified strategy for AI innovation across VCU.

Abstract: This project seeks to identify existing AI-related initiatives across VCU, assess perceived educational and operational needs, and explore opportunities …

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 27 2026, Several Authors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Annual Report Of The Officers Of The Town Of Bartlett, New Hampshire, For The Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2025, Bartlett Town Representatives

Bartlett, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Private Standards As Liability Shields: A Pro-Innovation Artificial Intelligence Regulatory Approach For States, Gary E. Marchant, Jordan Buckwald

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

States face a dilemma. The federal government is not regulating artificial intelligence (AI), and is threatening states that regulate the technology with preemption and funding restrictions. Moreover, piecemeal state regulation with different substantive requirements risks impeding AI innovation and harming our national interest and security. And yet, AI creates a whole host of problems relating to accuracy, safety, security, bias, transparency, privacy, and autonomy that needs to be governed. This Article presents a solution to this dilemma that can protect against AI risks without harming innovation and the national interest. The proposal is for states to provide a liability shield …

Creative Destruction For The Patent System? Impact Of Generative Ai, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

AI raises the provocative possibility that patents could one day become obsolete. AI has the ability both to generate inventions and to simulate the perspective of a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA). This article explores the transformative impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on the United States patent system. The article supports a scenario in which everything becomes invented—and simultaneously, everything becomes obvious—thus challenging a foundational criterion for patentability. These developments can occur within established principles of inventorship, obviousness, and subject matter eligibility under U.S. patent law. Using a narrative case study and a test invention, the …

State Wetland Protections After Sackett V. Epa: Lessons From The Prairie Pothole Region, Elizabeth Thilges

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

From Data To Decisions: Why Ai Inferences Should Count As ‘Effects’ Under The Fourth Amendment, Susan Tanner

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

This Article argues that AI-driven microtargeting, enabled by large-scale data brokerage and increasingly acquired by government actors, creates a dual constitutional problem. First, it undermines Fourth Amendment protections through what has become known as the ‘data broker loophole.’ Second, it amplifies inequality and civic distortion by segmenting political information flows in ways that evade traditional constitutional checks and statutory privacy regimes. Building on Carpenter v. United States, Riley v. California, and United States v. Jones, this Article proposes a doctrinal framework that treats government acquisition of granular behavioral datasets and model outputs as ‘searches,’ even when intermediated by private actors, …

Sentinels Of Security -- A Case For State Leadership In The Quantum Era, J.T. Ayotte

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Hyperscalers In The Heartland: How A Climate-First Framework Can Incentivize Sustainable Data Center Development And Grid Decarbonization, Eli Dotson

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

This Note proceeds in three parts. Part II surveys the rise of AI and hyperscale data centers, the technical and legal challenges their loads pose, and the evolving policy landscape, both nationwide and in Minnesota. Part III argues that Minnesota should build on its emerging data center framework in two ways. First, the PUC should institutionalize the framework’s most promising features by setting a “clean energy floor” to ensure that data centers contribute to, rather than prevent, the decarbonization of Minnesota’s grid. Second, the PUC should create an additional “distributed flexibility pathway” by forcing utilities to consider alternative ways of …

Annual Report Of The Officers And Committees Of The Town Of Brookline, New Hampshire For Year Ending December 31, 2025, With Reports Of The School Districts For Year Ending June 30, 2025, Brookline Town Representatives

Brookline, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Phase 1 Trial Of Withania Somnifera Leaf Extract (Rh324) In Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Including [18f]Fdg Pet/Ct As A Short-Term Metabolic Biomarker To Assess Efficacy: A Novel Model For Assessment Of Complimentary Therapies In Early Phase Human Clinical Trials, Jin Uk Heo, Santosh Rao, Herbert B Newton, Afshin Dowlati, Raymond F Muzic, Arash Kardan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Withania somnifera (WS), commonly known as ashwagandha, has been used in the traditional medical system of India. It has shown significant activity against numerous solid tumor varieties in pre-clinical in vitro and in vivo studies. This study focuses on RH324 (ReHeva Biosciences, Columbus, OH), a pharmaceutical-grade formulation derived from WS, which has received FDA allowance for clinical development as a botanical drug in the treatment of cancer.

Methods: A phase 1 open label dose ranging study of oral RH324 in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was conducted. The primary endpoint of the study was assessment of short-term safety …

The All Of Us Evenings With Genetics Research Program, Stacy M Lloyd, Jasmine Baker, Carolina Jorgez, Julie Coleman, Laterrica Williams, April Adams, Ashley Butler, Elizabeth Atkinson, Shamika Ketkar, Steven Scherer, Kim Worley, Susan Fernbach, Keasia Daniels, Latanya Hammonds-Odie, Laura Rosales, Brendan Lee, Debra Murray

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The All of Us Evenings with Genetics (All of Us EwG) Research Program, funded in part by the National Institute of Health’s All of Us Research Program, engages researchers to utilize the All of Us Researcher Workbench to advance precision medicine. The All of Us EwG program has two core aims: (1) address barriers to research productivity for minorities, disadvantaged, and persons with disabilities aspiring to enter STEM fields; and (2) promote the use of the All of Us Researcher Workbench to develop research focused on health equity. To achieve these goals, the program implements three key activities: (1) …

Esr1 Fusions In Breast Cancer: Functions, Mechanisms And Therapeutic Opportunities, Xuxu Gou, Zoya Farooqui, Charles E Foulds

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Approximately 70% of all breast cancers are driven by estrogen receptor-alpha (ERα) that binds the predominant circulating female estrogen, 17ꞵ-estradiol (E2). Because of this, drugs collectively termed “endocrine therapy (ET)” that either suppress E2 level or inhibit the activity of ERα have been used as first-line therapy. While initially effective, resistance to ET drugs occurs with subsequent lethal metastasis. The most common genetic alterations are point mutations in the ESR1 gene within the last exon encoding the ligand-binding domain (LBD), resulting in constitutively active ERα proteins. Recently, new oral selective estrogen receptor degraders (SERDs) that effectively target these point mutants …

Evaluating Mesothelin As An Immunotherapeutic Target For Endogenous T Cells, Kiriakos Koukoulias, Ryu Yanagisawa, Alejandro G Torres Chavez, Penelope G Papayanni, Yovana Velazquez, Hyun-Sung Lee, Spyridoula Vasileiou, Ann M Leen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Mesothelin (MSLN) is a GPI-anchored cell surface glycoprotein that is overexpressed in various solid tumors, including mesothelioma, triple-negative breast cancer, colon, ovarian and pancreatic cancer, with restricted normal tissue expression.

Methods: To explore the immunogenicity and immunotherapeutic potential of MSLN to T cells with native receptor specificity, 29 individuals of diverse HLA backgrounds were interrogated for T cell activity against MSLN.

Results: Twenty one (72%) subjects (21/29) mounted a specific T cell response when repetitively challenged with MSLN antigen. Reactive cells were Th1-polarized, polyfunctional, predominantly detected in the CD8+ T cell compartment and cytotoxic toward autologous and MSLN+/HLA-matched tumor …

Clawing Our Way To Inclusion: Identifying Minority Students’ Barriers To Entering The Veterinary Medicine Profession, Danielle Reeves, Lauren Rogers

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Veterinary services are being utilized more each year as pet owners are increasingly viewing and treating their pets like family members. Due to this changing perspective, the veterinary profession has grown significantly. Yet, despite this change, there is a lack of ethnic/racial diversity within the veterinary field. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors and/or barriers associated with minority students’ desire or lack of desire to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. This study used an online survey tool to collect qualitative and quantitative data from 456 undergraduate students at the University of Arkansas during the spring …

Influence Of Increased Supplementation Of Organic-Complexed Zinc To Beef Cows During Gestation And The Effects On Offspring, Naija N. Sharpley, Robin A. Cheek, Elizabeth B. Kegley, Jeremy G. Powell, Ken Coffey

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of increasing zinc (Zn) supplementation of beef cows during gestation on calf performance. Angus crossbred cows confirmed pregnant with female sexed semen (n = 83) were allotted to 4 groups (20 to 21 cows/group), 2 groups/treatment. There were 2 treatments: 1) grain supplement with inorganic Zn to meet current National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine requirements (CONTROL), and 2) grain supplement containing an additional 360 mg/day of Zn as an amino acid complex (Zinpro Availa Zn; HIGHZN). A subset of cows (n = 32; 16 cows/treatment) was selected for …

Town Of Colebrook Annual Report Year Ending December 31, 2025, Colebrook Town Representatives

Colebrook, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Los Pescadores, Manuel F. Medrano

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Menorca And The Slingshot Woman, Manuel F. Medrano

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

"Art, Esthetics, Ideal": An Ethics For Literary Translators In The Age Of Translating Machines, Gabriel González Núñez

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

The advent of effective machine translation has raised several issues for translators, including the question of how a human translator ought to translate in this age of translating machines. In this context of new ethical questions, the present essay argues that an answer may be found in Pedro Figari’s (1912) philosophical essay on esthetics. Following Figari, the current essay argues that literary translation is art, that as such it can produce an esthetic emotion on readers and that the purpose of such art and esthetics is an ideal in the form of the continuous betterment of the human condition.

An Imperative For Leadership & Institutional Transformation: Going Back To Code, Jonikka Charlton

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sonobiopsy For Enrichment Of Circulating Micrornas In Glioma Patients, Jinyun Yuan, Yuanxiang Li, Chih-Yen Chien, Lu Xu, Andrew H Stark, Siaka Fadera, Zhaoning Gu, Yu Xuan Chin, Kevin Xu, Arash Nazeri, Umeshkumar Athiraman, Xiaowei Wang, Hong Chen, Eric C Leuthardt

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Sonobiopsy is a promising new technique that employs focused ultrasound (FUS) to noninvasively enrich brain tumor-derived biomarkers from spatially targeted brain location into the bloodstream. Building upon our recent first-in-human sonobiopsy trial demonstrating enrichment of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), here we investigated whether sonobiopsy can enhance the release and detection of tumor-derived microRNAs (miRNAs).

METHODS: Eleven patients with glioma underwent FUS sonication immediately prior to surgical resection. Peripheral blood samples were collected 5 min before and 5, 10, and 30 min after sonication. Plasma and brain tissue miRNA levels were quantified through small RNA sequencing and compared among different …

Evaluating The Impact Of Cognitive Distraction On Spaceflight-Relevant Task Performance Using Surface Electromyography And Motion Capture, Allyson K. Mitchell

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive distraction poses a risk to astronaut performance during complex, multitasking operations in spaceflight environments. This study examined the effects of cognitive load on neuromuscular coordination and task execution using surface electromyography (sEMG) and motion capture. Thirteen participants performed spaceflight-relevant tasks under undistracted and distracted conditions, with distraction induced through verbal questioning. EMG signals from eight upper-extremity muscles were processed using envelope filtering, peak normalization, and time normalization to enable inter-subject comparison, and group-level mean activation with standard deviation was analyzed. While overall muscle activation was similar between conditions, phase-dependent differences were observed, with undistracted trials showing higher activation during …

The Civil Justice Business, J. Maria Glover

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Our civil justice system rests on foundational commitments: to make rights real for those the law protects, whatever their station; to hold wrongdoers accountable, whatever their power; and to deter misconduct in a system that depends heavily on private enforcement. We put great faith in these values.

Civil justice, for all its lofty goals, is also a business. Attorneys and liability insurers have long held economic stakes in litigation, bounded by their own professional and regulatory norms. Now, a new litigation finance industry has arisen: outside investors supply equity capital—divorced from legal representation and liability management—and take returns directly from …

Performance Of Numerical Methods Applied To The Black–Scholes Model, Scott Cameron Williams

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We compare five numerical approaches for approximating solutions to the Black–Scholes partial differential equation for pricing European call options: FTCS, BTCS, Crank– Nicolson, Monte Carlo simulation, and a physics–informed neural network (PINN). These methods span finite difference techniques, probabilistic simulation, and machine learning. Performance is evaluated based on computational efficiency and accuracy relative to the analytical Black–Scholes solution.

Among the methods, Crank–Nicolson and the PINN demonstrated the strongest overall performance. Crank–Nicolson achieved the highest accuracy but exhibited increased runtime as the number of underlying stock price grid points grew. In contrast, the PINN produced slightly less accurate results but with …

Assessing The Effects Of Theta Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation During Working Memory Performance On Theta-Gamma Phase Amplitude Coupling In Healthy Adults, Samantha M. Zimmer

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is an emerging form of noninvasive brain stimulation with substantial effects on behavior and brain function due to its ability to entrain endogenous neural oscillations. Working memory is a cognitive process that involves holding onto information that is no longer present in the environment and manipulating or reorganizing information for immediate use. Theta oscillations are critical for the functionality of the frontoparietal network and are involved in strengthening communication and coordination between frontal and parietal brain regions, especially during working memory processing. TACS applied at the theta frequency, targets theta oscillations, strengthens network communications, and …

Development Of A Flexible In Vitro Model System For Studying Biomineralization In Humans And Marine Organisms, Reed J. Harper

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biomineralization is a process where cells control the supersaturation of ions and spatiotemporal deposition of numerous proteins to guide biomineralization, resulting in hard mineralized tissues with complex structures and novel properties. The mechanisms of this process are not well understood but key components have been identified as critical for biomineralization to occur. The cellular expression of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and the subsequent post-translational modification (PTM) play a role in stabilization of mineral precursors, control of morphology and growth, phase/polymorph selection, and composition of mineral formed. Currently in vitro model systems use either synthetic polymers, native proteins extracted from mineralized …