Digital Commons Network^™

Alpaca Assisted Activities In The New England Alpaca Industry: A Possible Solution To Farm Profitability And Participant Mental Health, Ashley Michele Masse

Honors Theses and Capstones

The high operating costs of the New England alpaca industry were putting the majority of alpaca farmers in this region in a state of financial loss. On a separate note, American communities were experiencing a prevalence of anxiety and depression. What if a single solution could help improve the outcome of both these challenges that seem to have little to do with each other? Alpaca Animal Assisted Activities (alpaca AAAs) was a possible solution. This study explored New England alpaca farm profitability and alpaca AAAs in a way no other research study has done before. A Farmer Survey was mailed …

Looking For The Answer: Exploring The Choice Between Ai And Search Engines, Joseph Driscoll

Honors Theses and Capstones

With the meteoric rise of artificial intelligence, consumers have found themselves faced with an abundance of options for information retrieval. This study is designed to explore when consumers choose to use an AI tool as opposed to a traditional search engine, as well as determining what the user segments look like for AI tools. The results of this study indicate that there are two AI user segments, along with a third segment of non-users that were not included in the study. One segment has fully embraced the use of AI, while the other has tested it and only uses it …

A Review Of Executive Functioning And Social Communication Supports For Neurodiverse College Students, Reilly Morgan Gray

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Continuation Of Thoroughbred Racing: A Dual Mission, Isabella V. Williams

Honors Theses and Capstones

Thoroughbred racing is the highest-profile segment of the equine industry in the United States and around the world, accounting for 50% of industry jobs and 25% of industry revenue. Public interest in the sport is rising thanks to social media and celebrity involvement at marquee events like the Kentucky Derby, leading to increased scrutiny of the sport, posing a high risk to human and equine participants alike. Public outcry at equine injuries in particular threatens the sport’s social license to operate (SLO), making it critical to protect the “whole-life welfare” of the animals involved in the sport to ensure its …

A New Industry For Student- Athletes: An Analysis Of Nil Implications On Well-Being And Team Dynamics, Jamison W. White

Honors Theses and Capstones

As of June 2021, college athletes are allowed to benefit from selling their name, image, and likeness (NIL) by engaging in contracts with sponsors and businesses. Even though this law was passed to allow athletes to earn a fair pay for their hard work though utilizing their popularity and engaging with fans, its potential effect on athletes remains uncertain. This research examines the effects of NIL agreements on student-athletes’ well-being and team perceptions. More specifically, does the adoption of NIL place additional stress on student- athletes or disrupt their team dynamics? If so, what support can be granted to allow …

Reasons For Interpretation, Francisco J. Urbina

Journal Articles

What kinds of reasons should matter in choosing an approach to constitutional or legal interpretation? Scholars offer different types of reasons for their theories of interpretation: conceptual, linguistic, normative, legal, institutional, and reasons based on theories of law. This Article argues that normative reasons, and only normative reasons, can justify interpretive choice. This is the "normative choice thesis." This Article formulates the normative choice thesis and offers a systematic analysis of the different kinds of reasons usually canvassed to defend theories of interpretation, showing why each type of non-normative reason cannot justify interpretive choice. In doing this, this Article also …

Educational Adequacy: Harmonizing The Right To Education, Parents' Rights, And Educational Freedoms Under The International Covenant On Economic, Social And Cultural Rights, Jorge Barrera-Rojas

Journal Articles

This article explores the concept of educational adequacy, balancing the right to education for children and educational freedoms. Specifically, the research paper describes why States parties must meet Article 13(1) goals under the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) but, at the same time, ensure parents’ rights and the liberty to establish and direct private educational institutions as minimum core and immediate-effect obligations. Accordingly, there is no prioritization or subordination of educational freedoms favoring the right to education, or vice versa, which constitutes a false dichotomy since the right to education and educational liberties are interrelated rights …

Review Of King Fisher: The Short Life And Elusive Legend Of A Texas Desperado, By Chuck Parsons And Thomas C. Bicknell, William C. Yancey

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Relay Velocity Model Infers Cell-Dependent Rna Velocity, Shengyu Li, Pengzhi Zhang, Weiqing Chen, Lingqun Ye, Kristopher W Brannan, Nhat-Tu Le, Jun-Ichi Abe, John P Cooke, Guangyu Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

RNA velocity provides an approach for inferring cellular state transitions from single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data. Conventional RNA velocity models infer universal kinetics from all cells in an scRNA-seq experiment, resulting in unpredictable performance in experiments with multi-stage and/or multi-lineage transition of cell states where the assumption of the same kinetic rates for all cells no longer holds. Here we present cellDancer, a scalable deep neural network that locally infers velocity for each cell from its neighbors and then relays a series of local velocities to provide single-cell resolution inference of velocity kinetics. In the simulation benchmark, cellDancer shows robust …

Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation And Functional Connectivity In People Living With Hiv/Aids Who Smoke Tobacco Cigarettes: A Preliminary Pilot Study, Gopalkumar Rakesh, Thomas G Adams, Rajendra A Morey, Joseph L Alcorn, Rebika Khanal, Amanda E Su, Seth S Himelhoch, Craig R Rush

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: People living with HIV (PLWHA) smoke at three times the rate of the general population and respond poorly to cessation strategies. Previous studies examined repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L. dlPFC) to reduce craving, but no studies have explored rTMS among PLWHA who smoke. The current pilot study compared the effects of active and sham intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) on resting state functional connectivity (rsFC), cigarette cue attentional bias, and cigarette craving in PLWHA who smoke.

METHODS: Eight PLWHA were recruited (single-blind, within-subject design) to receive one session of iTBS (n=8) over the L. …

Reading The Court’S Palm: The Unclear Present And Future For Cost-Shifting Under Rule 54(D)(1), Anthony M. Whalen

Missouri Law Review

A tie is like kissing your sister1 This unique turn of phrase captures the American attitude towards ties—there are, or should be, winners and losers. But this notion of dedicated victories and defeats is not as strong as it once was. Whether it is the increased frequency of ties in the National Football League (“NFL”) over the past few years, the growth of soccer in the United States, or the split nature of our bicameral legislature, ties are a familiar part of the average American’s experience. Even our judicial system cannot avoid questions of “ties.” The idea that every court …

Judging Our New Judges: Why We Must Remove Artificial Intelligence From Our Courtrooms Now, Kieran Duffy Newcomb

Honors Theses and Capstones

In this paper, I explore some of the ways in which artificial intelligence might enhance the sentencing process through recidivism prediction technology. Notably, this technology can increase the accuracy of risk predictions and the speed with which sentencing decisions are reached. I then show, however, that the recidivism prediction technology is likely to turn into what data scientist Cathy O’Neil calls a Weapon of Math Destruction. The potential harmfulness of this technology is due not to the inherent nature of the technology, but the symbiotic relationship it will have with our already harmful criminal justice system. I argue that the …

Artificial Intelligence And The Entertainment Industry, Caroline Rae Mccarthy

Honors Theses and Capstones

Artificial intelligence is a fast-growing technology that is quickly taking over many industries, such as the entertainment industry. Artificial intelligence has the capability to replicate voices, create fake videos and photos, called deepfakes, of just about anything, and can practically bring people back to life. This technology, as it stands now, is similar to the wild west because in the vast majority of places, it’s lawless. Artificial intelligence is growing so rapidly that lawmakers haven’t had a chance to keep up. This paper explains more of what AI does in everyday life, and how its abilities can impact the entertainment …

Developing A Gender Diverse Stimulus Set For Emotion Expressions, Amir Robertson

Honors Theses and Capstones

Much past research has demonstrated that gender plays an important role in emotion perception, such that gendered stereotypes about emotion seem to shape how we perceive and interpret the emotion expressions of men and women. However, the stimulus sets that are typically used in the vast majority of this research have been based on binary ideas of gender, and purposefully limit common elements of gender presentation, with models posing with limited accessories or personal aesthetic choices. In everyday life, however, individuals’ gender and gender presentation are not limited in these ways and likely contribute in important ways to how we …

Effects Of 0, 8, Or 16g/D Of Nicotinic Acid To Prepartum Jersey Cows: Effects On Glucose Concentration In Their Calves, Kaitlyn M. Zarrella

Honors Theses and Capstones

The primary objective of this research project is to further investigate the optimization of colostrum production in multiparous Jersey cows, focusing on the influence of diet and seasonal factors. Previous findings by Dr. Stahl in 2023 at the University of New Hampshire Burley-Demeritt Organic Dairy Research Farm indicated that an intake of 23 g/d of nicotinic acid (Niacin; NA) might have been excessive for prepartum Jersey cows, potentially affecting colostrum yield and quality. While an enhancement in intestinal development was noted in calves receiving colostrum from cows supplemented with nicotinic acid, the dosage may have been too high to positively …

Jury Decision-Making: Do Racial Attitudes And Victim And Offender Race Make A Difference?, Charlotte A. Kettyle, Ellen S. Cohn

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Death, Bankruptcy, And The Public Hospital, Michael A. Francus

Journal Articles

From the Article

This Article expands the purview of bankruptcy scholarship to those government businesses, assessing how Chapter 9 operates for them. It does so by taking public hospitals as a case study, offering a comprehensive look at every public-hospital bankruptcy between 1988 and 2021.

Examining The Influence Of Secondary Math And Science Teacher Preparation Programs On Graduates' Instructional Quality And Persistence In Teaching, Danielle M. Rhemer, Will Rogers, Sherry Ann Southerland

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This quantitative, non-experimental study explored the relationship between the features of math and science teachers’ preparation programs and their graduates’ instructional rigor and persistence in teaching. Five math and science teacher preparation programs from across the United States were examined. Six sets of instructional tasks were collected from forty-six recent graduates of these programs to provide insights into novices’ instructional rigor, and employment data were collected for thirty-seven of these graduates three to eight years after graduation. Regardless of the program’s features, all teachers could design and implement instruction with moderate to high rigor. However, this ability was not the …

On The Whitewashing Of Third Space In Teacher Education, Or Don’T Cite This Manuscript, Jori S. Beck

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Since the 1980s, there has been a push in teacher education to increase clinical experiences and build closer relationships between school districts and colleges of education. In 2010, Zeichner introduced the theory of Third Space to school-university partnership research. This was followed by a number of other articles in which the researchers applied the same theory—including in much of the work on teacher residencies. In this theoretical critique and brief systematic literature review, I connect Third Space theory back to its postcolonial roots and attribute the scholars of color who created the theory. I unpack the theory’s original intent and …

A Secure And Privacy-Preserving Signature Protocol Using Quantum Teleportation In Metaverse Environment, Pankaj Kumar, Vivek Bharmaik, Sunil Prajapat, Garima Thakur, Ashok Kumar Das, Sachin Shetty, Joel J. P. C. Rodrigues

VMASC Publications

The burgeoning concept of the metaverse as an interconnected virtual space represents the forefront of the next-generation internet. Quantum teleportation, known for its prowess in ensuring secure and reliable communications, stands poised to revolutionize interactions within this immersive digital realm. In this context, we propose a comprehensive interaction protocol tailored for the metaverse environment. The designed protocol entails two fundamental components: first, the interaction between a user and their avatar, facilitated by a secure seven-qubit entangled state; and second, the interaction between two avatars, enabled through an efficient two-qubit entangled state. To fortify the protocol’s resilience, quantum key distribution (QKD) …

Classification Of Instructional Activities In Classroom Videos Using Neural Networks, Jonathan K. Foster, Matthew Korban, Peter Youngs, Ginger S. Watson, Scott T. Acton

VMASC Publications

Classroom videos have become an integral part of classroom observation and instructional quality studies. Researchers encounter substantial financial and time-consuming costs gathering trained personnel to catalogue and analyze a large quantity (i.e., hundreds of hours) of classroom videos. In this chapter, we argue that deep-learning neural networks have potential to help with these tasks by detecting features of instruction in videos. We evaluated the performance of three neural networks in detecting instructional activities in classroom videos. The video dataset included a total of forty-six hours, which was evenly split between elementary mathematics and English language arts lesson recordings. Results showed …

Integrating Generative Artificial Intelligence With Systems Architecting Diagram Creation: Advancement, Challenges, Opportunities And Future Perspectives, Cansu Yalim, Holly H. Handley

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Generative AI (GenAI) serves as a powerful tool that can create a wide range of content, including but not limited to text, speech, images, code, videos, and 3D models. ChatGPT stands out as a particularly appealing Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) model that offers supplementary capabilities through GPTs and plugins. These extensions enable users to engage with the chatbot and improve its functionality, surpassing mere content generation. Our study delves into the potential of ChatGPT, specifically GPT-4, to expedite the creation of diagrams to support the system architecting process. To this end, we explored the use of ChatGPT's Diagrams Show Me …

Domestic Supply (A Feminist Proposal), Jennifer S. Hendricks

Publications

No abstract provided.

Invisible Adjudication In State Supreme Courts, Adam B. Sopko

Publications

As the U.S. Supreme Court continues retrenching important constitutional rights, interest is shifting to state courts and constitutions to serve as a backstop. More and more, state supreme courts are at the center of some of our most important debates of law and policy, resolving questions concerning bodily autonomy, democracy, the environment, and more. The increased attention on state supreme courts highlights the complexity and nuance that attend these institutions and reveals our limited understanding of how they operate and influence society. This Article examines one such aspect of state supreme court practice: the shadow docket. While the U.S. Supreme …

Ai Malpractice, Bryan H. Choi

Publications

Should AI modelers be held to a professional standard of care? Recent scholarship has argued that those who build AI systems owe special duties to the public to promote values such as safety, fairness, transparency, and accountability. Yet, there is little agreement as to what the content of those duties should be. Nor is there a framework for how conflicting views should be resolved as a matter of law.

This Article builds on prior work applying professional malpractice law to conventional software development work, and extends it to AI work. The malpractice doctrine establishes an alternate standard of care—the customary …

Thirty-Five Years Of Inaction: The Unfulfilled Promise Of The Medicaid Equal Access Provision, Delaram Takyar

Publications

No abstract provided.

Immigration Detention Abolition And The Violence Of Digital Cages, Sarah Sherman-Stokes

University of Colorado Law Review

The United States has a long history of pernicious immigration enforcement and surveillance. Today, in addition to more than 34,000 people held in immigration detention, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shackles and surveils an astounding 376,000 people under its “Alternatives to Detention” (“ATD”) program. The number of people subjected to this surveillance has grown dramatically in the last two decades, from just about 1,700 in 2005. ICE’s rapidly expanding Alternatives to Detention program is a “digital cage,” consisting of GPS-outfitted ankle shackles and invasive phone and location tracking. Government officials and some immigrant advocates have characterized these digital cages as …

Federal Indian Law As Method, Matthew L.M. Fletcher

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Force Majeure And The Law Of The Colorado River: The Confluence Of Climate Change, Contracts, And The Constitution, Mary Slosson

University of Colorado Law Review

Climate change is causing significant, permanent changes to the natural world. In the Colorado River Basin, experts forecast that rising temperatures will cause the spread of a drier, more arid climate across the region. The effects of this desertification are already being felt: less rainfall, the loss of deciduous forests, wildfires that engulf urban areas, and a projected 20 to 30 percent reduction in flows on the Colorado River by mid-century. The net effect is an existential crisis for the forty million people that reside in the Colorado River’s watershed. Mitigating the effects of climate change requires swift action. However, …

Estate To State: Pay-To-Stay Statutes And The Problematic Seizure Of Inherited Property, Brittany L. Deitch

University of Colorado Law Review

Pay-to-stay statutes allow states to recover their incarceration-related expenditures from those who are currently or have formerly been incarcerated. Mass incarceration is expensive, and states have aimed to shift this financial burden from their taxpayers and government coffers to the individuals who experience incarceration. Although pay-to-stay laws take many forms, in general, they authorize the government to seek recompense for an individual’s incarceration costs from the currently or formerly incarcerated person’s assets and income. Many states permit the seizure of inherited property to satisfy this legal financial obligation. Pay-to-stay laws have survived constitutional challenges thus far, but some state legislatures …