Digital Commons Network^™

Dual-Purpose Communications And The Modern Attorney's Need For Circuit Court Uniformity, Kipp Garrett

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

In January 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in In re Grand Jury regarding the proper and applicable test to determine whether attorney-client privilege can be invoked in dual-purpose communications between a business and its legal counsel. Attorneys across the country were hoping the Court would provide an answer, ending the three-way circuit split concerning the appropriate test. Unfortunately, the Court ultimately dismissed certiorari as “improvidently granted” without an explanation. As a result, there are three major tests that federal courts use to decide whether communications between businesses and their legal counsel are protected: …

Cruel, As Usual: Application Of The Eighth Amendment To The Use Of Juvenile Criminal Records In Higher Education Admissions, Rabab Alajmi

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note addresses the systemic barrier to societal reintegration faced by juvenile offenders applying to enroll in higher education. Specifically, this Note will examine whether, in light of the Fifth Circuit’s recent Hopkins v. Hosemann decision, Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishments should be extended to college applicants with juvenile criminal records who have completed their sentences. This Note argues that the Eighth Amendment reasoning in the Hopkins decision should be applied to higher education institutions who consider an applicant’s juvenile criminal record where the applicant has already completed their sentence. While the Hopkins decision concerned “the …

"Intolerable" Inquiries, Zachary R. Cormier

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

A growing majority of courts have broadly accepted travel-plan questions (and their follow-up questions) as a qualifying category of traffic-mission inquiries under Rodriguez, leaving officers with a clear pathway from pretextual traffic stop—to extended discussion about vehicle occupant activities outside the traffic violation—to drug dog sniff—to vehicle search. A closer analysis of Rodriguez, however, precludes such passage through the heart of its traffic-mission rule. This Article will demonstrate that travel-plan questioning cannot qualify alongside the roadway safety checks identified by Rodriguez in its traffic-mission inquiry list because such checks provide direct information about another safety-related traffic violation …

Table Of Contents

St. John's Law Review

No abstract provided.

Upland Switchgrass Cultivars Have Similar Bioethanol Production Profile Under Separate Hydrolysis And Fermentation: A Course Based Undergraduate Research Experience (Cure) In Biofuel Production, Kadyn Berg, Derek Follett, Adelyn Jackson, Mark Kalyegira, Jaleigha Kambeitz, Nathaniel Lanthier, Elaina Merfeld, Nathan Nelson, Sara Parliament, Peyton Plagman, Thomas Poegel, Alex Schemek, Sajan Mathew, Brady Steffen, Chloe Van Heuveln, Keerthi Mandyam, Arvid Boe, Ananda K. Nanjundaswamy

RURALS: Review of Undergraduate Research in Agricultural and Life Sciences

The modified Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in bioenergy research evaluated four upland switchgrass cultivars namely Carthage, NE2010, RC Sundance, and Sunburst for bioethanol production using a separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) process. The cultivars were not different in their biomass composition, sugar and ethanol yields. Carthage produced the highest ethanol yield (10 g/L), followed by Sunburst (9 g/L). A strong correlation was observed between glucose concentration at 48 hours (maximum glucose release) and ethanol yield at 72 hours. Ethanol production increased after 48 hours, and by 72 hours, residual glucose levels in the fermentation medium were negligible. The fermentation …

Navigating Leadership: A Qualitative Exploration Of Challenges And Coping Strategies For Women In Sport Management Education, Rachel Silverman, Shanon Kempt, Nita Unruh

The COSMA Journal

Abstract

Women remain significantly underrepresented in senior leadership roles in higher education, a disparity that is particularly pronounced in male-dominated disciplines, such as sport management (Chance, 2023; Lozano et al., 2023). This qualitative study examines the challenges faced by women in leadership positions within sport management education and the strategies they employ to overcome these barriers. Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with biological females holding leadership roles at both teaching- and research-focused institutions. Participants ranged in age from 32 to 74 and had between one and twenty-four years of leadership experience. Using thematic analysis, key challenges identified included male-dominated work …

Human-Machine Communication: Complete Volume. Volume 11

Human-Machine Communication

This is the complete volume of HMC Volume 11.

The Algorithmic Public Sphere: Ai-Generated News Site As A Conduit To Social Capital, Seungahn Nah, Xinlei Wu, Ernest Makata, Jun Luo, Ian Koratsky, David Park, Seungbae Kim

Human-Machine Communication

A growing body of scholarship on AI-generated news has examined its impact on various outcomes. However, less attention has been paid to the actual implementation of AI-generated news sites and their effectiveness on civic consequences. This study examines the effects of an AI-generated, community-centered, nonprofit news site on civic outcomes such as trust in nonprofit organizations, trust in AI-generated news, social capital, and civic engagement. Data was collected from participants at a large southeastern university who visited the AI-generated news site over a four-week period and responded to a series of open-ended questions weekly. A total of 721 open-ended responses …

Machine Credibility: How News Readers Evaluate Ai-Generated Content, Alexander Wasdahl

Human-Machine Communication

The advent of AI-generated news as a novel form of content demands renewed attention toward modes of understanding reader perceptions. This research sought to answer: What are the evaluative criteria used by readers in their perception of automated news content generated via natural language processing? A series of exploratory factor analyses (EFA) was conducted on results of a survey using items obtained in an initial survey phase to uncover underlying factors contributing to differences in reader article rankings. When compared with the results of factor analyses for human-generated news content, the findings offer new constellations of terms that reflect the …

Disentangling (Hybrid) Trustworthiness Of Communicative Generative Ai As Intermediary For Science-Related Information—Results From A Qualitative Interview Study, Evelyn Jonas, Esther Greussing, Monika Taddicken

Human-Machine Communication

The increasing prevalence of communicative Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, highlights their transformative potential for science communication while raising critical questions about users’ trust in these systems conveying science-related information. As perceptual hybrids these agents challenge traditional notions of trustworthiness, and it remains unclear to whom or what users refer to as the object of trust. This qualitative interview study integrates dimensions from human-machine and epistemic trustworthiness within a hybrid framework, complemented by a descriptive source orientation model. It highlights that trustworthiness assessments can extend beyond a chatbot’s interface, emphasizing the perceived salience of its underlying infrastructure, developers, and organizations. …

Generative Artificial Intelligence And Collaboration: Exploring Religious Human-Machine Communication And Tensions In Leadership Practices, Pauline Hope Cheong, Liming Liu

Human-Machine Communication

The adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) applications has bolstered efforts toward human-machine collaboration. Given the lag in research on AI and religion, this study examines how pastors engage GAI to develop religious human-machine communication practices that constitute their leadership. Findings from in-depth interviews with pastors in the U.S. reveal that they view GAI as an idea generator, research assistant, co-author and translator. Clergy enact multiple ways to incorporate GAI communication in religious education and to enhance sermonic performances. Concurrently, pastors perceive tensions between innovation and established rites, as they contend with the authenticity and spiritual depth of GAI content …

Tools Or Teammates? Examining Agency Negotiation In Human-Genai Collaboration In Creative Work, Yuan Sun, Ignacio Fernandez Cruz, Donggyu Kim

Human-Machine Communication

As Generative AI (GenAI) becomes increasingly integrated into creative work, creative professionals face an emerging dilemma: while they can leverage powerful AI capabilities through prompts, the automated process also introduces uncertainties and risks. This study, based on semi-structured interviews with 18 creative professionals, explores their experiences and perceptions of using GenAI tools in creative work. The findings revealed that GenAI’s perceived adaptability, creativity, and scalability enhanced sense of agency in the creative process. Conversely, limitations in customizability, uncertainty, and feedback mechanisms undermined human agency. These perceptions were influenced by users’ conceptualization of GenAI—as either a simple tool or a collaborative …

Investigating The Persuasive Potential Of Communicating With Generative Artificial Intelligence Chatbots For Mental Health: The Roles Of Perceived Message Contingency, Cognitive Elaboration, And Issue Involvement, Hanyoung Kim, Yanyun (Mia) Wang

Human-Machine Communication

With the ever-increasing adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) chatbots in diverse communication roles, there is a burgeoning need to address how people process and respond to messages from these technologies. This study explores the theoretical mechanisms by which the use of GenAI chatbots influences persuasive outcomes related to mental health, examining perceived message contingency and cognitive elaboration as mediators, and issue involvement as a moderator between the two mediators. Through an experimental setting using ChatGPT, compared to non-conversational online resources, we discovered that GenAI chatbot use led to greater cognitive elaboration through an increased sense of message contingency, leading …

Generative Ai In Higher Education: A Comparative Study Of Chatgpt Adoption, Perception, And Use Among College Students In The Global North And Global South, Shudipta Sharma, Louisa Ha

Human-Machine Communication

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT have become the fastest-adopted technology, raising concerns about its misuse in education. This study explores ChatGPT usage for class assignments among 646 college students in the U.S. and Bangladesh, focusing on their perceptions and trust in the tool. Using the technology acceptance model, along with internet efficacy and social persuasion theories, we found that students in both countries had high levels of awareness and adoption. Individual factors did not significantly influence ChatGPT usage, while social persuasion, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and country were the strongest predictors. The findings suggest that AI technology may …

Making Sense Of The Role Of Chatgpt In Education: An Examination Of Student Views In China, Italy, Kenya, Uruguay, And The U.S., Leopoldina Fortunati, Autumn P. Edwards, Weiming Ye, Anna Maria Manganelli, Chad Edwards, Soledad Caballero, Lusike Mukhongo, Giovanni Ferrin

Human-Machine Communication

This article investigates the diffusion and adoption of ChatGPT among college students from a multinational convenience sample, informed by the scholarly literature on the diffusion and progressive appropriation of ChatGPT by students and teachers within the education sector and the strategies adopted by academic institutions. We applied a figurational approach to this study, offering two theses that try to understand the societal meaning of ChatGPT diffusion in the educational sector. Operationally, we explored university students’ behavioral intentions, practices of use, and opinions toward ChatGPT in five countries (China, Italy, Kenya, Uruguay, and the United States of America) through an online …

“Made Classes Easier Than A Coloring Sheet”: Student Perceptions And Uses Of Genai, Jessalyn I. Vallade, Renee Kaufmann, Trenton Upchurch

Human-Machine Communication

Student use of GenAI is growing and so are the faculty concerns. With research providing mixed suggestions and approaches, this study sought to understand the student perspective on ethical uses, their own motives and perceived benefits of GenAI use, the risks involved, and their perceptions of susceptibility and severity related to unethical use (i.e., plagiarism/cheating). Results revealed the complexity of student considerations regarding the uses, risks, and benefits of GenAI and its potential for personalized learning enhancement. Students generally view the likelihood of being caught submitting AI-generated work as their own as high and the consequences as severe. The viability …

Coding Openai In An Open-Sourced Code Sharing Platform: Exploring The Collaboration Networks On Chatgpt Projects On Github, Jingyi Pu, Xinzhi Zhang

Human-Machine Communication

Amid rapid advancements in generative AI (GenAI) tools, individuals and organizations—including both professional and amateur developers—are actively sharing and collaboratively developing GenAI code on open-source platforms, driving the adaptation and creation of new applications. However, it remains unclear whether such collaboration disrupts existing technological hierarchies or reinforces them; addressing this question is crucial for assessing the democratizing potential of open-source practice and informing policies for equitable innovation. Drawing on world-systems theory, we examine owner-contributor networks in ChatGPT-related GitHub repositories since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, complemented by qualitative content analysis of major repository themes and code functions. We find that …

Use Matters: How Different Ways Of Using Chatgpt Drive Ai Acceptance And Solutionism, Florian Golo Flaßhoff, Fabian Anicker, Frank Marcinkowski

Human-Machine Communication

Artificial intelligence is central to solutionism—the vision of a world where all major problems are solved through technology. This study theorizes about how human–AI communication shapes attitudes toward AI and influences the formation of public opinion, sparking solutionist imaginaries. We empirically examine the attitude formation resulting from the non-simulated use of an unmanipulated conversational model in a controlled laboratory experiment. Using a between-subjects design, participants engaged in three semi-structured 20-minute sessions with ChatGPT, providing a novel perspective on the effects of its use. The findings reveal that mere use of ChatGPT causally increases AI acceptance; however, its impact significantly depends …

Generative Ai: Another Chapter Of Human-Machine Communication, Seungahn Nah, Patric R. Spence

Human-Machine Communication

This editorial introduces a special issue of Human-Machine Communication that explores how generative AI reshapes the communicative relationship between humans and machines. It highlights emerging research on technology use, education, interpersonal dynamics, and trust in AI-generated content, emphasizing that generative AI’s significance lies not in novelty but in the social negotiations it provokes around meaning, authority, and credibility.

Task Bundles For Context Persistence In Asynchronous Multi-Agent Collaboration, Victor Cărbune

Defensive Publications Series

In certain multi-agent systems, a loss of reasoning context may occur when tasks are passed between agents, potentially making it difficult for subsequent agents to inquire about or build upon prior work. The described method introduces a task bundle that can be used to serialize a task's state and encode intermediate solutions with unique tags corresponding to a thought process and an originating agent. Sourcing agents may maintain a more detailed local memory of their reasoning linked by these tags, which can form an asynchronous communication mechanism. Using this mechanism, a receiving agent can use a tag to query the …

Context-Aware Authentication Using A Proximate Wearable Device As A Source Of Trust, Salil Rajadhyaksha, Irene Ang, Igor Zaslavsky, Arthur Tiv

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes the use of a proximate, unlocked wearable device as a dynamic mobile trusted location to enhance security and ease of use for a primary device such as a smartphone or tablet. The described techniques leverage secure short-range wireless communication between a paired, secure wearable device and the primary device. When user authentication is triggered on the primary device, it initiates a ranging session with the wearable device. If the wearable device is within range and securely unlocked, it acts as a trust signal, allowing the user to use a non-biometric factor such as a pin or passcode …

Providing Spoiler-Free Entity Information For Narrative Media Based On Viewing Progress, Alejandra Molina, Vivian Tsai, Ellen Jiang

Defensive Publications Series

When reading or viewing long-form narrative media such as books, audio content, or television shows, or engaging in games with long gameplay durations, users may sometimes forget a particular detail about a character or entity in the content. While online resources as well as built-in features in the viewing application can help aid user recall, such resources are static and do not account for the user’s current progress, thus risking spoilers. This disclosure describes techniques that enable users to obtain entity information for narrative media in a spoiler-free manner. Per the techniques, a structured database of various entities in narrative …

Secure Enclave-Based Techniques To Render Stolen Devices Unusable, Max Bires, Siddarth Pandit

Defensive Publications Series

Many smartphones and other devices implement a secure hardware enclave for device security. The secure enclave can provide a high-level of security. However, when a device is stolen and jailbroken to install a new operating system, the secure enclave has no ability to detect that the device is in a stolen state, and cannot limit device use. This disclosure describes techniques to secure devices against post-theft usage such that even attackers that attempt a jailbreak or bypass bootloader integrity checks are unable to configure such a device for use. Per the techniques, periodic secure communication between the secure enclave and …

Retracted: Adaptive Crossover And Mutation Mechanisms For Enhanced Lpb Algorithm Performance, Abbas M. Ahmed, Tarik A. Rashid

Iraqi Journal for Computer Science and Mathematics

This study proposes a more effective concept of Learner Performance-based Behavior (LPB). It is a new metaheuristic algorithm based on how the university admission process is done for high school students in various departments. The adaptive crossover and mutation methods were incorporated into the LPB algorithm as part of an investigation. The goal is to enhance convergence and significantly improve the quality of the solutions. The aLPB (adaptive-learner performance-based Behaviour) method stands out because it sets the crossover and mutation parameters based on the performance of the parent solutions. Thus, the proposed technique achieves a balance between exploration and exploitation …

Iot-Enabled Machine Learning Framework For Prediction Of Eutrophication, Hocine Dai, Akli Abbas, Houssam Eddine-Othman Lachemat, Aicha Aid

Iraqi Journal for Computer Science and Mathematics

This study presents an innovative predictive monitoring framework that integrates the Internet of Things (IoT) with advanced machine learning (ML) techniques to model the relationship between oxidized nitrate (NOX)—employed as the sole predictor—and chlorophyll a (CHLA), a key proxy for algal biomass. By utilising a single optimally selected parameter, the approach significantly reduces sensor deployment complexity and instrumentation costs, while minimising data acquisition and computational requirements. Logarithmic and Yeo-Johnson transformations were applied to the predictor and target variables, respectively, to address distributional skewness and enhance variance homogeneity. An optimised Random Forest model demonstrated strong predictive performance, achieving a coefficient of …

A New Approach For Multiprocessor System-On-Chip Application Scheduling In Multi-Objective Flow Shops, Tahani Jabbar Khraibet, Bayda Atiya Kalaf, Ahmed Abbas Jasim

Iraqi Journal for Computer Science and Mathematics

The flow shop scheduling problem in Multiprocessor-System-on-Chip (MPSoC) architectures presents challenges for traditional optimization algorithms, especially when addressing multiple conflicting objectives. Hence, advanced optimization approaches are required to tackle these objectives simultaneously. Therefore, this research aims to propose and evaluate a new optimization approach based on the integration of the Fire Hawk Optimizer with the Smart Battery Scheduling Algorithm (FHO-SBSA) to address the multi-objective (make span, CPU time, global average delay, network throughput, and total energy consumption) flow shop scheduling problem in MPSoC systems. To evaluate the performance of the FHO-SBSA optimization approach, two benchmark applications were selected, with ten …

Ensemble Learning-Based Vulnerability Detection And Forecasting, Hamdan Alshehri

University of Bisha Journal for Basic and Applied Sciences

The problem of identifying threats in cyberspace is basically a classification problem for machine learning, which is also a need of the hour. While a large number of works related to vulnerability detection have been reported recently, the majority of the works have been focused on IT systems. Various factors related to these systems are considered for the classification of risk levels in these works, and appropriate recommendations about expected risks and vulnerabilities in the future will be given to their users. This work aims to detect possible risks and vulnerabilities and notify the user in a timely manner using …

Program Evaluation: Best Practices And Examples For Nonprofits, Erica Bassett, Faith M. Manchester

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

How Civil Society Organizations Build Resilience In The Face Of Financial And Political Pressures: Lessons From Czechia, Hungary, And Bulgaria, Merrill Sovner

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

How are some civil society organizations (CSOs) able to pivot and innovate in the face of political hostility and funding withdrawal, while others shrink or become inactive? It posits that it’s not just the external environment, funding, or degree of political pressure, but attributes intrinsic to each CSO that narrows the range of possible responses. It is based on sample of CSOs in Czechia, Hungary and Bulgaria that faced political pressures and funding withdrawal between 2010 and 2019. CSOs responded in three ways: reduced staff and expenditures, replaced lost funding while operating in a similar way, or reframed their work, …

Cultural Dynamics And Reverse Culture Shock: A Strategy For Building Sustainable Human Resources In International Ngos, Haruka Minemura, Yuko Nishide

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This study explores the dynamics of cultural conflict between expatriate and local staff in international NGOs (INGOs) and proposes a framework for sustainable human resource management. While existing INGO management literature emphasizes cultural factors in expatriate-local relations, limited empirical evidence explains the developmental process of these relationships and their implications. Through qualitative case study methodology, this research addresses the question: How do cultural conflicts between expatriates and local staff evolve within INGOs, and what management strategies emerge from these dynamics?

The findings reveal a dual-phase conflict management model where both expatriates and local staff experience sequential cultural tensions. The first …