Digital Commons Network^™

Transitioning A Generative Model-Powered Assistant Into Translation Mode, Andrew Hard, Shujian Zhang, Aditya Barua, John Lambert, Wenxuan Zhou

Defensive Publications Series

Conversational large language models (LLMs) often have limited capabilities when functioning as a real-time interpreter. These models can fail to follow instructions consistently, resulting in responses in the incorrect language or attempts to answer a user's question instead of providing a direct translation. This issue stems from a lack of training data that reflects the typical turn-by-turn, interleaved conversation flow between two speakers of different languages. Some implementations are directed to transitioning a generative model-powered assistant into a translation mode in which the assistant facilitates structured conversational turns between two users speaking different languages, with the generative model acting as …

Enhancing Fault Tolerance In Distributed Systems Using Shared Checkpoint Replica Mechanisms, Ameer A. Mousa, Mahdi S. Almhanna

Journal of Intelligent Informatics, Networking, and Cybersecurity

Fault tolerance is a critical requirement in distributed systems, as node and network failures can cause significant data loss, service disruption, and performance degradation. Traditional fault-tolerance methods often provide partial solutions, relying on separate recovery models for errors and delayed responses, while also incurring high resource costs. This paper aims to design and implement a more robust and efficient fault-tolerant architecture based on the concept of a shared checkpoint replica. In the proposed system, a master server and multiple slave servers collaboratively process client requests, share checkpoint replicas, and ensure seamless recovery in case of failures. To evaluate the approach, …

Practitioners’ Perspectives On Preventing Environmental Gentrification In Chicago, Illinois, Usa, Tania Schusler, Amy Krings

School of Environmental Sustainability: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Pollution cleanup, green space creation, and other improvements to environmental quality in cities are important to urban sustainability. However, because they occur within a political economic context characterized by structural racism, urban greening initiatives can intentionally or unintentionally reproduce racial, economic, and social inequities through environmental gentrification. We explored possibilities for improving environmental quality without displacing or excluding long-term residents including people of color, the poor, and members of other marginalized groups. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with community organizers, environmental justice advocates, urban planners, housing specialists, and others who held deep expertise through their lived and professional experience in …

Minutes, Crummer Graduate School Faculty Meeting, Thursday, September 18, 2025, Crummer Graduate School Of Business Faculty

Crummer Graduate School of Business Minutes and Reports

No abstract provided.

Minutes, College Of Liberal Arts Faculty Meeting, Thursday, September 18, 2025, College Of Liberal Arts Faculty, Rollins College

The College of Liberal Arts Faculty Minutes

No abstract provided.

The Minutes Of The Marshall University Staff Council Meeting, September 2025, Marshall University Staff Council

Staff Council Minutes

No abstract provided.

September 2025 Cafe Newsletter, Elizabeth Reardon

CAFE Faculty Newsletters

Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFE) newsletter Sept. 2025.

Alternative Multilingual Paradigms Using Translanguaging: Decolonizing Strategies For Blacks And Indigenous Literacies In The Global South, Mercia Santana Flannery, Oseas Bezerra Viana Júnior (Universidade Federal Do Agreste De Pernmabuco, Brazil),, Kleber Aparecido Da Silva (Universidade De Brasília, Brazil).

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Class Of 2025 Capstone Round Table Program, Christina Kane

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Pharmacy Professor Receives Nih Grant To Study Protein Mutants, Marisa C. Atkinson

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – A University of Mississippi pharmacy professor will use a new grant from the National Institutes of Health to delve into how tiny changes in a cell's proteins can lead to large health problems.

September 18, 2025, Caa

Minutes

No abstract provided.

The Deductibility Of Scam Losses: Cca 202511015, Jing Luo

The Contemporary Tax Journal

No abstract provided.

Can Handoffs Bridge The Interprofessional Divide To Build A Team?, Aubrey Samost-Williams, Eric J Thomas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Education And Fertility: Evidence From An Instrumental Variable Approach Using Higher Education Expansions In Turkey, Badi H. Baltagi, Haci M. Karatas

Center for Policy Research

This paper examines the impact of higher education on women’s fertility behavior in Turkey. To address the endogeneity of education we use the plausibly exogenous variation in college availability in Turkey between 1983 and 2000. We find that increased education of women in Turkey significantly reduced the number of children and increased the probability of childlessness at the end of the fecund period. The effect of education on fertility worked through a postponement in first births at ages following college graduation until the age of 35, an improvement in women’s labor market outcomes, better marriage market outcomes, and use of …

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi As Key Drivers Of Plant Resilience: Mechanisms Of Stress Adaptation In Saline Environments, Rayna Elizabeth Koberstein

Dissertations and Theses

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play a critical role in mediating plant responses to environmental stress, yet their ecological significance in saline wetland restoration remains underexplored. This greenhouse experiment investigated the effects of salinity, root-zone barrier type (solid, mesh, none), and neighboring species identity on AMF colonization and physiological responses in three native estuarine plants: Carex densa, Juncus patens, and Scirpus microcarpus. Results demonstrated species-specific physiological responses to salinity, with Juncus patens showing greater resilience in maintaining photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm) and percent cover at higher salinity levels, while Scirpus microcarpus exhibited a significant decline. Mesh barriers, which permitted …

The Need For Alternative Pedagogies, Mercia Santana Flannery, Oseas Bezerra Viana Júnior (Universidade Federal Do Agreste De Pernmabuco, Brazil), Kleber Aparecido Da Silva (Universidade De Brasília, Brazil)

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Our ever-evolving societies have faced a myriad of changes in a relatively short span of time. From a heavy focus on globalization to its undesired effects in education across the Global South, from migratory movements, shifting political and ideological landscapes to technological innovations, the impacts on how our students learn and engage with the world has also been in flux. Considering these complexities, this chapter highlights the urgent need for alternative practices and perspectives in language education, and for adaptation in light of the context specific contingencies that teachers and learners face.

Teacher Educators’ Languaging For More Just English Language Education In Ecuador, Adeline De Angelis

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This article describes how English language teacher educators in Ecuador envision their languaging practices contributing to more just English language education in a Global South context. The study took a capabilities approach informed by Latin American decolonial theory. Findings are based on a qualitative thematic analysis of focus group interviews conducted with 37 instructors teaching English language teacher education content courses at 18 universities. The findings illustrate two distinct theories of change: through best practices and through contextualization. Teacher educators linked English-only practices with developing teacher English proficiency, holding teachers accountable to standards, and preparing them to ultimately enact global …

An Autoethnographic Study: Perspectives And Insights Of A Cross-Cultural Educator On Curriculum And Pedagogical Variation In Internationalization Of Higher Education, L. Ge

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This auto-ethnographic inquiry utilizes autobiographical narrative to delve into my experiences and narratives as a cross-cultural educator simultaneously teaching at a Chinese and Canadian university. The aim is to ponder the interconnections, differences, and challenges within formal cross-cultural curriculum design and pedagogy, informal curriculum, and hidden curriculum and engage with academic environments and broader communities. Specifically, the study will examine the content, teaching methodologies, student learning, assessment practices, and the learning environment based on my experiences in an intercultural educational setting, as well as my coping strategies. The constructivist paradigm serves as the theoretical framework to explore my perceptions and …

Allosteric Control Overcomes Steric Limitations For Neutralizing Antibodies Targeting Conserved Binding Epitopes Of The Sars-Cov-2 Spike Protein: Exploring The Intersection Of Binding, Allostery, And Immune Escape With A Multimodal Computational Approach, Mohammed Alshahrani, Vedant Parikh, Brandon Foley, Gennady M. Verkhivker

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Understanding the atomistic basis of multi-layer mechanisms employed by broadly reactive neutralizing antibodies of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein without directly blocking receptor engagement remains an important challenge in coronavirus immunology. Class 4 antibodies represent an intriguing case: they target a deeply conserved, cryptic epitope on the receptor-binding domain yet exhibit variable neutralization potency across subgroups F1 (CR3022, EY6A, COVA1-16), F2 (DH1047), and F3 (S2X259). The molecular basis for this variability is not fully understood. Here, we employed a multi-modal computational approach integrating atomistic and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, binding free energy calculations, mutational scanning, and dynamic network analysis to elucidate …

The Grizzly, September 18, 2025, Renee Washart, Sidney D. Belleroche, Sophia Kumar, Adam Denn, Hadley Whitman, Jesse Cherone

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Talking Greek Life With Maggie Diaz '28 • Best Booth in Sports? Ursinus's! • Are Ursinus Bears Going Extinct? An Enrollment Analysis • APEX Hub Spotlight: Sports! • The Making of Out! Just Over the Line • Ursinus Does Got Talent • Place and Chase: The Ursinus Field Hockey Ball Boys • A Fanatical Visit to 97.5

Early Blood Pressure Targets In Acute Spinal Cord Injury: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Ruba Sajdeya, N. David Yanez, Michael Kampp, Michael D. Goodman, David Zonies, Brandon Togioka, Andrew Nunn, Robert D. Winfield, Niels D. Martin, Anirudh Kohli, Toan T. Huynh, David O. Okonkwo, Roy A. Poblete, Emily J. Gilmore, Randall M. Chesnut, Aaron E. Bunnell, Tetsu Ohnuma, Mona Hashemaghaie, Miriam M. Treggiari

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

IMPORTANCE: Early blood pressure management is central to neurologic resuscitation of spinal cord injury; however, the role of augmented blood pressure is unclear.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of augmented vs conventional blood pressure on 6-month neurologic outcomes after acute spinal cord injury.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This multicenter randomized clinical trial took place from October 3, 2017, to July 26, 2023, and assessed patients 18 years or older with spinal cord injury followed up for 6 months at 13 large US trauma centers.

INTERVENTIONS: Patients were equally randomized to augmented (>85-90 mm Hg) or conventional ( …

2025.09.18 - Board Of Trustees Meeting Minutes, Northeastern Illinois University Board Of Trustees

Board of Trustees - 2025

Meeting materials for the NEIU Board Trustees

A Model Combining Self-Attention And Weight Sharing For Human Activity Recognition, Lun Ma, Yue Yang, Daihe Wang, Guisheng Liao, Xing Li

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: With the prevalence of wearable devices, human activity recognition based on wearable sensor data has garnered significant attention. The central issue in this field is how to extract effective behavioral information from raw sensor data to form corresponding feature vectors. Currently, convolutional neural networks and recurrent neural networks have been widely utilized for feature extraction from multisensory data. However, these networks struggle to globally capture the crucial temporal features inherent of human activity over time. To address this, a multi-CNN-BiLSTM-self attention (Multi-CBSA) model based on self-attention and weight sharing has been proposed, taking into consideration the logical correlations among …

2025.09.18 - Finance, Buildings And Grounds Committee Meeting Minutes, Northeastern Illinois University Board Of Trustees

Board of Trustees - 2025

Meeting materials for the NEIU Board Trustees

Dementia As A Critical Lens On The Role Of Narrative In Medical Training And Practice, Erin Gentry Lamb

Faculty Scholarship

Narrative holds an important place within medicine and medical education, but an uncritical use of narrative can have troubling consequences for the care of patients who have limited or no capacity for self-narration, such as those living with dementia. We argue that the guiding principles in the use of narrative within medicine and medical education must be inclusivity and opportunity. We illustrate how medical training can benefit from a more inclusive definition of narrative, and we present a selection of innovative approaches to narrative coming out of literary studies, narrative gerontology, and medical and health humanities that focus on metaphor, …

Decolonizing Colombian Foreign-Language Classroom Assessments: A Meaningful Framework, Patricia Grillet Rodriguez

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

In Colombia, foreign-language evaluation validity appears to be mainly related to the analysis of instruments, leaving aside students’ characteristics, affective schemata and expectations. Drawing from critical pedagogy, this study aimed at raising authenticity and meaningfulness in the development of valid foreign-language assessments in a higher education classroom. Framed in the sociocultural perspective, the teacher/researcher and her students obtained substantial gains by adapting a syllabus and evaluation system to better respond to the needs of their context. It was a collaborative process that implied contextualizing contents, establishing a concept of language ability, and including students’ voices in the design of assessments, …

Introduction, Rosalind Latiner Raby

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Do Micro-Level Support Areas Impact International Students’ Perceived Academic Success?, Taiwo O. Soetan

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This study examined the micro-level support areas for international students at a higher education institution (polytechnic) in Canada to determine their perceived academic success using the Bronfenbrenner theory of human development at the micro-level. A quantitative study was conducted to measure the impact of micro-level support areas on international student’s perceived academic success. A target sample of 399 international students was recruited to participate in a hard copy, one on one survey in the 2019 winter semester. The results of this study show that international students’ support areas at the micro-level were strongly related to their perceived academic success. The …

2025 September 18 - From My Notepads Newsletter, Office Of The President, East Tennessee State University, Brian Noland

From My Notepads: A Newsletter from President Brian Noland

No abstract provided.

The Cowl - V. 89 N. 1 - September 18, 2025

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol. 89 No. 1 - September 18, 2025. 20 pages.