Digital Commons Network^™

“Ojala Que Llueva: Free Trade's Ripple Effect On Rice Farming In El Cibao, Dominican Republic", Arismendis Altagracia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Globalization has had a tremendous effect on agricultural communities. This study aims to understand Dominican rice farmers' methods of production, their impact on the Dominican economy, and the public health of those involved in production. Some concerns are how mass rice production affects the environment, public health, and the state's economy. The rice industry in the Dominican Republic is one of the most essential sectors due to its cultural and dietary significance. Rice contributes a substantial amount to the diet of Dominicans; its production process and nutritional profile is associated with health problems that burden an already strained public health …

Analysis Of The Patterns And Features Importance In Predicting Demand For Sustainable Urban Mobility. A Comparative Analysis Of Machine Learning Models Using The Dublin Bikes Dataset., Wojciech Sochanski

ICT

This study explores the application of machine learning models to predict demand in the Dublin bike-sharing scheme. A comprehensive literature review examines prior work on sustainable urban mobility, the evolution of bike-sharing schemes, the application of machine learning in predictive analytics and relevant case studies. Secondary data were gathered from publicly available sources, pre-processed and merged into a single, unified dataset. Exploratory data analysis was conducted before preparing the data for modelling to assess the data quality, with a focus on missing values.

Four predictive machine learning models – Linear Regression (LR), Decision Tree (CART), Random Forest (RF) and Gradient …

Conversion Of Orange Waste To Chemically Modified Activated Carbon Adsorbent Materials For Aqueous Phase Phosphate Removal, Sierra Mugan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Phosphorus pollution in surface waters drives harmful algal blooms, creating ecological, public health, and economic risks. This study examined citrus processing waste as a sustainable, low-cost precursor for producing chemically modified adsorbents for phosphorus removal. Orange waste was pyrolyzed, resulting in a carbon-rich material with low ash content, as confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis. The material was modified using lanthanum chloride, iron (III) chloride, and calcium chloride at varying mass ratios and screened under standard conditions (1 mg P/L, 1 g/L dosage, 24-hour contact time). Lanthanum- and iron-modified samples demonstrated the best removal efficiencies and underwent further evaluation. The lanthanum-modified sample …

Structural And Dynamic Analysis Of Tapered Mast Bladeless Wind Turbines Using Fea And Cfd For Renewable Energy Generation, A. Pradeep, Raman Kumar, P. S. Satheesh Kumar, Nagaraj Patil, Vijayakumar Sivasundar, P. Vijaya Kumar, Selvaraj Manickam, Debasish Shit

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

The present analysis investigates the possibility of using a tapered mast profile for bladeless wind turbines (BWTs) to enhance the function of extracting wind energy through the phenomenon of vortex-induced vibrations. Conventional HAWTs which remain the most efficient are however, costly in maintenance, mechanically complicated and rather unfavourable to the environment. To overcome these challenges a prototype BWT with a 0.6 m tapered mast was developed for the currents using mild steel and hollow square steel sections. Wind tunnels were also used to compare stress distribution, structural deformation and vane vortex shedding for the building at different wind speeds. The …

Low-Cost High Performance Sustainable Triboelectric Nanogenerator Based On Laboratory Waste, Archana Panda, Kunal Kumar Das, Kushal Ruthvik Kaja, Venkataramana Gandi, Sunit Gourav Mohanty, Basanta Kumar Panigrahi

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

The production of waste materials in laboratories is an unavoidable consequence of diverse experiments and activities. These materials can range from chemicals, solvents, and biological samples to electronic components, glassware, and plastics. Typically, this waste is classified into hazardous and non-hazardous categories, requiring careful disposal to avoid environmental and health risks. These can be repurposed for energy harvesting methods, such as using polymers in triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) or recycling metallic waste for electrodes. This approach reduces waste while advancing sustainable energy solutions. This technique demonstrates remarkable efficiency in utilizing diverse waste materials to transform various forms of mechanical energy into …

Synergistic Effects Of Co-Ni Nanoalloys On Sio2@Tio2: A Novel Approach To Photocatalytic Tetracycline Degradation, Pratyush Kumar Sahu, Alaka Rath, Aslisha Champati, Ashish Madual, Pravat Manjari Mishra, Abanti Pradhan, Brundabana Naik

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

To develop a cost-effective alternative to noble metal catalysts for photocatalysis, we synthesized a series of bimetallic Co-Ni nanoalloys on core-shelled SiO2@TiO2 nanostructures via a chemical reduction approach. The research demonstrates the photocatalytic behaviour of the Co-Ni alloy-enhanced SiO2@TiO2 (ST-Co, Ni) hybrid nanocatalyst, focusing on its crystalline structures, morphological shapes, chemical conditions, and optical properties, utilizing techniques such as X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, and electrochemical analysis. The catalyst was evaluated for its effectiveness in degrading tetracycline, an overused antibiotic that persists in aquatic environments and is known for …

Optimization And Characterization Of Carrageenan/Alginate Ratio And Seaweed Waste To Develop Composite Bioplastics From Kappaphycus Alvarezii, Ali Ridlo, Retno Hartati, Agus Sabdono

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Carrageenan and alginate, derived from seaweed, offer potential as alternatives to traditional plastics. This study aims to assess the properties of biodegradable bioplastics made from a composite of carrageenan, alginate, and waste from K. alvarezii seaweed carrageenan extraction. A mixture of carrageenan and alginate was added with a ratio of 4:6 and K. alvarezii extraction waste 0, 20, 40, 60, and 80 % waste concentration,  in the carrageenan-alginate-waste mixture. The process involves blending carrageenan, alginate, waste, glycerol, and distilled water until uniform at 90o C and 1000 rpm for 45 minutes, followed by molding, immersion in a 4% CaCl2 solution, …

Green-Synthesized Yttrium-Doped Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles: A Promising Optical Material, Sasmita Sarangi, Nibedita Nayak, Binita Nanda, Tapas Sahoo

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

This work focuses on the green synthesis, characterization, and optical properties of yttrium-doped cerium dioxide (CeO2) nanoparticles. A green approach was adopted using Acacia concinna fruit extract as surfactant and stabilizing agent. Their structural, morphological, and physical-chemical properties were characterized using different analytical techniques, like XRD, FE-SEM, FTIR, PL, Raman, UV-Visible Spectroscopy. XRD study validated the structure of cubic fluorite-type structure of CeO2 nanoparticles, with the average crystallite size ranging between 7-15 nm. Raman spectroscopy validated this structure with F2g band observed at 463 cm−1. FESEM images showed irregular spherical morphologies with grain sizes in the range of 50-60 nm. …

An Integrative Bioinformatics Approach To Investigating Timp3 And Immune Cell Infiltration: Prognostic And Clinicopathological Implications, Neelam Bhola, Amit K. Jaiswal, Daman Saluja

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 (TIMP3) serves as a prominent endogenous inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), playing a crucial role in inhibiting metastasis, and angiogenesis. However, its exact contributions to colorectal cancer (CRC) remain largely unidentified. We aimed to ascertain the prognostic significance of TIMP3 in CRC patients through a bioinformatic approach. GEPIA, UALCAN, Kaplan–Meier plotter, LinkedOmics, cBioPortal, GeneMANIA, TIMER, TISIDB, the ScTIME database, TISMO, TIDE, CAMOIP, and TISCH2 were employed to comprehensively analyze the differential expression, prognostic value, genetic alterations, signaling pathways, immune cell infiltration, tumor microenvironment (TME) and associated genes of TIMP3 in CRC patients. Compared to adjacent …

Dogs Emotion System, Muhammad Anas Baig

ICT

For our capstone project, we built a machine learning model that can look at pictures of dogs and figure out how they’re feeling, like if they’re happy, sad, or just chill. The idea came from how important pets are in people’s lives these days and how cool it would be to actually understand their emotions better using tech. This system will allow users to upload images of dogs, which are then analysed by a trained model to classify the dog's emotional states such as happy, sad, or neutral. We followed the CRISP-DM process to build it, which basically means we …

A Comparative Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients And Difference Files For Audio Effect Identification Using Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks., Patrick Sneyd

ICT

The field of Music information retrieval (MIR) is concerned with computational systems which help humans better make sense of the processing, searching, organizing, and accessing of music-related data and takes in disciplines such as music theory, computer science, psychology, neuroscience, library science, electrical engineering and machine learning. MIR processes relating to audio classification have applications in fields such as speech recognition, automatic bandwidth allocation and Audio Database Indexing which is especially of relevance to large audio collections in broadcasting facilities, the movie industry or music content providers.

These indexing aspects of MIR have been applied to classifying audio into musical …

Fictional Prophecies: How Kazuo Ishiguro’S Never Let Me Go And Olivia Wilde’S Don’T Worry Darling Foreshadow The Threats Of Biotech And Metaverse Realities, Taylor Pack

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis intends to embrace conversations about technological advancements and create space for examining the ways in which popular technologies of the 2020s are the beginning of a dangerous future for marginalized bodies if gone unchecked and under-regulated. This paper investigates the ways in which modern forms of technology are at risk of mimicking the novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and the film Don’t Worry Darling, directed by Olivia Wilde dystopias and argues the need for more conscious consumerism of technology and media alike to acknowledge the ways in which the control of women’s bodies is a …

Oasis, Parinaz Moghadampour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exhibition is about the media, the mesmerizing effects of tech-driven advertisements and their impact on consumerism, and global disasters as the consequences of this phenomenon. This is a critique of technology's immense expansion of advertising's reach. With the advent of the Internet, social media, and mobile devices, advertisers reach a global audience instantly. Using algorithms, digital advertising platforms allow precise targeting based on demographics, interests, and online behavior. This means that advertisements can be tailored to specific audiences, increasing the chances of reaching the right consumers with the right message. Michel Foucault, the prominent French philosopher and social theorist, …

Human-Ai Interaction In Driving Behavior Analysis: Machine Learning And Pattern Mining For The Unobtrusive Cognitive Assessment, Sonia Moshfeghi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Creating unobtrusive, intelligent sensing systems that can be embedded into daily life and assess changes in the physical and cognitive functions of people has garnered significant attention. This dissertation presents a data-driven pattern recognition framework that integrates human-AI interaction and machine learning to analyze and quantify cognitive decline in older drivers based on the data stream of their driving data. This study harnesses real in-vehicle sensing data collected from +65 older drivers. Various AI-enabled data analytics modeling techniques are developed and tested to understand the driving patterns of older drivers, the relations between driving data and their cognitive functions, and …

Joy In Teaching: Examining Teachers’ Perceived Experiences Of Choice, Self-Efficacy, And Sense Of Belonging, Shellie Hennings-Donow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher joy is a critical yet often overlooked factor influencing teacher retention, instructional effectiveness, and student outcomes. This study explores how teachers describe their experiences of joy in the workplace, focusing on the roles of choice, self-efficacy, and belonging. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory and Attribution Theory, this research examines the extent to which teachers’ perceived autonomy, competence, and relational support contribute to teachers’ professional fulfillment. Through qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews and thematic analysis, this study captures the perceptions of educators across diverse school settings. Findings reveal that teachers experience the highest levels of joy when they have meaningful autonomy …

Exploring Emotional Awareness Through Interactive Design, Mona Gandomkar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research was inspired by my emotional journey after relocating to the United States. Navigating a new culture, language barriers, and unfamiliar routines brought a complex mix of emotions. These experiences led me to begin to better understand and manage my emotional responses. That process revealed the importance of emotional awareness and became the foundation for my exploration into how design can help individuals recognize and engage with their emotions more meaningfully.

Emotions are significant in human life, from social relationships to decision-making. However, many people fail to understand their emotions or how to control them. Individuals experience emotions differently, …

Ethnozoological Insights For Wildlife Conservation: Exploring Past & Present Uses Of Wild Animals Among Kenya’S Ethnic Groups, Anita Zahra Field

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Kenya’s conservation efforts lack adequate involvement of local communities, who play a vital role as people who use the natural resources. These communities also have limited access to, and benefits from, these resources, highlighting the need for greater inclusivity. Therefore, I used ethnographic interviews to elicit relational values that can potentially increase understanding between all stakeholders. My objective was to explore the historical and contemporary uses of wild animals among diverse ethnic groups, examining any changes over time and identifying the catalysts driving these shifts. I interviewed 30 individuals from 10 ethnic groups in Laikipia, Samburu, Marsabit, and Kwale counties, …

Predictive And Generative Modeling For Biomedical Data Analytics, Magdalyn E. Elkin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biomedical data analytics is a broad interdisciplinary field that has seen vast amounts of data collected with recent technological advancements. Computational studies are required for time and cost-efficient methods to characterize, summarize, and interpret these datasets to advance public health. This thesis presents research studies done with predictive and generative models with regards to subdomains in clinical research, healthcare and bioinformatics. Our research with predictive modeling presents (1) extensive feature engineering methods, ensemble models and feature selection ranking in order to provide data-driven models to evaluate relevant evidence for clinical decision making; and (2) network analysis and unsupervised link prediction …

Regulation Of The Bidirectional Transport Of Organelles During Synapse Formation, Maintenance, And Plasticity, Kerriann Kathleen Badal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Neurons are specialized, polarized cells necessary for our function, cognition, and behavior. Moreover, neurons are non-mitotic cells and must be maintained for a lifetime. Within the neuron, organelles, such as mitochondria and lysosome-vesicles (LV), undergo bidirectional transport between the soma and synapses and contribute to neuronal health, energy demand, macromolecule clearance, intracellular signaling, and cell-to-cell communication. Decades of research have revealed the significance of mitochondria and LV during aging, neurological disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and recently, novel implications in neuropsychiatric disorders. While these studies highlight the role of mitochondria and LV during aging and neurological conditions, less is known about the …

Reassessing Pre-Ceramic Mortuary Practices In Florida, John S. Duggan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis synthesizes mortuary practices among Florida’s Paleoindian to Late Archaic populations, from the earliest documented burials to approximately 2,500 BP. While sites like Windover and Little Salt Spring are well-studied, broader burial traditions across the region remain underrepresented. To address this, data from fifteen key sites, chosen for geographic and temporal diversity, were compiled and analyzed. Using an exploratory research design, a descriptive methodological framework was developed to evaluate cemetery types, burial positions, artifact associations, demographic indicators, and spatial orientation. Methodological challenges such as poor preservation, site destruction, and inconsistent documentation are also considered. Findings are contextualized within wider …

Philosophy In Filmmaking: Animation Vs. Live Action, Veronica J. Larson

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Deep Learning Model For Synthetic Vs. Real Image Classification Synthetic Vs. Real Image Classification, Bernardo Gandara, Ignacio Varela

ICT

The advancement of generative AI technologies has made it increasingly difficult to distinguish synthetic images from authentic ones. This capstone project addresses the challenge by developing a binary image classification model using deep learning techniques to differentiate AI-generated images from real photographs. Guided by the CRISP-DM methodology, we employed the DeepGuardDB dataset, consisting of 13,000 balanced image samples, evenly split between real and synthetic sources. We implemented and compared three Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architectures through transfer learning, standardising input pipelines and integrating custom classification heads. Following a performance evaluation across multiple metrics, the best-performing model was selected for further …

The Effect Of Parental Behavior On The Ontogeny Of The Immune System In The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia Sialis), Wyatt Boehm, William Kirkpatrick, Sarah E. Durant

2025 Research Poster Competition

Previous research has explored the trade-offs between growth and immune endpoints in offspring since early development is critical in shaping adult responses to disease. However, an unexplored aspect of immune development is the influence of parental behavior on immune outcomes. I observed parental behavior during early development and its influence on offspring immune condition. To analyze parental behavior during incubation in the Eastern Bluebird, I quantified incubation constancy (percentage of time spent on the nest) and its impact on white blood cell ratios throughout development. Incubation constancy is useful in defining general trends in adult incubation behavior. Here, I have …

Work And Human Vocation In Catholic Social Teaching, Stefan M. Mcdaniel

Journal Articles

From the Article

This essay explores Catholic social teaching on work, focusing on how labor should enable humans to fulfill their vocation through experiences of dominion and communion. Drawing from papal encyclicals and theological anthropology, it examines how work becomes a means for humans to exercise their God-like faculties by intelligently shaping creation (dominion) and building rich relationships (communion). The essay argues that Catholic teaching offers distinctive contributions to contemporary workplace justice movements through its emphasis on two priorities: promoting worker-ownership and supporting family life. Worker-ownership, especially through cooperatives, enables labor to become an exercise of dominion, while family-centered policies …

Parental Rights, Parental Choice, And State Public Education Mandates, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Journal Articles

Pierce v. Society of Sisters and Meyer v. Nebraska were cases about parental rights in general, and parental choice in particular. Both centered on a challenge to a state's legal effort to reduce or eliminate the educational choices available to parents-in the former, by requiring students to attend public schools, in the latter, by requiring instruction in all schools, public and private, be conducted in English. Pierce and Meyer also were about state efforts to forge a homogeneous American citizenry by limiting the educational choices available to parents. As Justice McReynolds observed in Meyer, "The desire of the Legislature to …

Gerard V. Bradley And The American Law Of Church And State, Richard W. Garnett

Journal Articles

This paper provides an overview and appreciation of Prof. Gerard V. Bradley’s scholarly contributions to the American constitutional law of church and state. The Supreme Court of the United States has, in recent years, handed down a number of closely watched and much-remarked-on rulings in cases involving the First Amendment’s Religion Clause and various religion-related statutes. The Court has moved the law of religious freedom and church–state relations toward coherence and clarity, and better aligned it with American history, tradition, and practice, and with an appropriate understanding of judges’ capacities and of the judicial role in a democracy. It appears …

Cooperative Role Of Distinctive Tp53 And Pten Combined Loss In The Peripheral T Cell Lymphoma-Gata3 Molecular Subgroup, Waseem G. Lone, Jiayu Yu, Xuxiang Liu, Dylan T. Jochum, Alyssa Bouska, Kunal Shetty, Tyler Herek, Sunandini Sharma, Chengfeng Bi, Rauf Shah, Zaina W. Nasser, Catalina Amador, Aiza Arif, Abdul Rouf Mir, Yuping Li, Tayla B. Heavican-Foral, Jacob Robinson, R. Katherine Hyde, Mamiko Sakata-Yanagimoto, Satyanarayana Rachagani, Timothy W. Mckeithan, David W. Scott, Louis M. Staudt, Giorgio Inghirami, Andrew Feldman, Timothy Greiner, Julie M. Vose, Lisa Rimsza, Joseph Khoury, Wing C. Chan, Javeed Iqbal, Lymphoma/Leukemia Molecular Profiling Project (Llmpp)

Journal Articles: Oncology and Hematology

Peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL) is a heterogeneous group of postthymic T cell neoplasms, with ~40% classified as PTCL-not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS). PTCL-GATA3, a molecularly defined subtype, associated with T helper 2 (T_H2)-like differentiation and poor prognosis, has frequent co-occurrence of TP53 loss/mutation and heterozygous PTEN loss. CD4+ T cell conditional mouse models with Trp53 mutation/deletion and Pten loss demonstrated mature T cell lymphomas (mTCLs) with T_H2-like transcriptomic and immunophenotypic profiles. Molecular studies revealed that codeletion of Trp53/Pten induced T cell receptor and Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription signaling, promoting T_H2 differentiation …

A Case Displaying The Importance Of Jak1 And Jak2 Gene Transcription In Antifungal Defense Against Coccidioidomycosis, Jennifer K. Priessnitz, Taylor Colore, Nelson Nicolasora

Department of Medicine Faculty Publications

This case report explores the consequences of ruxolitinib via inhibition janus kinase 1 (JAK1) and JAK2 pathways in the context of fungal defense in a patient diagnosed with pulmonary coccidioidomycosis during ruxolitinib therapy for polycythemia vera. The patient experienced a relapse of pulmonary coccidioidomycosis after antifungal treatment was discontinued while continuing ruxolitinib use. This case illustrates the heightened risk of discontinuing antifungal therapy in endemic regions, emphasizing the critical need for continued monitoring. Furthermore, this case underscores the vital role of the JAK1 and JAK2 signaling cascade, particularly the interferon-gamma (INF-γ)-JAK1 and JAK2-signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT) …

A Comprehensive Review On Utilizing Human Brain Organoids To Study Neuroinflammation In Neurological Disorders, Adrian Domene Rubio, Luke Hamilton, Mark Bausch, Mengmeng Jin, Ava Papetti, Peng Jiang, Sowmya V. Yelamanchili

Journal Articles: Anesthesiology

Most current information about neurological disorders and diseases is derived from direct patient and animal studies. However, patient studies in many cases do not allow replication of the early stages of the disease and, therefore, offer limited opportunities to understand disease progression. On the other hand, although the use of animal models allows us to study the mechanisms of the disease, they present significant limitations in developing drugs for humans. Recently, 3D-cultured in vitro models derived from human pluripotent stem cells have surfaced as a promising system. They offer the potential to connect findings from patient studies with those from …

Proteomics Profiling Of Research Models For Studying Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Mathilde Resell, Hanne-Line Rabben, Animesh Sharma, Lars Hagen, Linh Hoang, Nan T. Skogaker, Anne Aarvik, Eirik Knudsen Bjåstad, Magnus K. Svensson, Manoj Amrutkar, Caroline S. Verbeke, Surinder K. Batra, Gunnar Qvigstad, Timothy C. Wang, Anil Rustgi, Duan Chen, Chun-Mei Zhao

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains one of the most lethal malignancies, with a five-year survival rate of 10-15% due to late-stage diagnosis and limited efficacy of existing treatments. This study utilized proteomics-based systems modelling to generate multimodal datasets from various research models, including PDAC cells, spheroids, organoids, and tissues derived from murine and human samples. Identical mass spectrometry-based proteomics was applied across the different models. The preparation and validation of the research models and the proteomics were described in detail. The assembly datasets we present here contribute to the data collection on PDAC, which will be useful for systems modelling, …