Digital Commons Network^™

Like A Rolling Lychee, George Meng

Theses

I grew up in Shanghai, China—a megacity with over 25 million people. I was privileged enough to avoid the grueling fate of taking the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao). At 16, I moved to Sewanee, a small college town in rural Appalachia with a population of only 3,000. Overshadowed by that curiosity was the collision of two worlds and my sense of belonging and identity. I wasn’t fully aware of how I watched and copied others’ behaviors and mannerisms to blend in as an adolescent. Being a minority in the middle of nowhere Tennessee meant I was conditioned into fitting …

Best Practice: Ct-Guided Adaptive Radiotherapy Reference Planning On The Ethos Platform, Xenia Ray, Joseph Harms, Alex Price, Mu-Han Lin, Dennis N Stanley

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Online adaptive radiotherapy (ART) enables treatment plan modifications based on the patient's anatomy at each fraction, addressing limitations of conventional radiotherapy that relies on a static pre-treatment plan. CT-guided ART (CTgART), as implemented on the Varian Ethos platform, has gained increased clinical adoption over the past several years; however, its success is highly dependent on reference plan design due to limited on-table planning flexibility. As a result, clinicians creating and reviewing reference plans will greatly benefit from both understanding how upstream planning decisions affect the downstream adaptive process and proactively incorporating strategies that improve optimization robustness and efficiency on-treatment. We …

The Role Of Mother Tongues In Foreign Language Acquisition: Teachers’ Perception Of Multilingual Learners, Sean Aval

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study, rooted in phenomenological inquiry, explored the extent to which an understanding of language transfer informs the pedagogical decisions of foreign language teachers, most notably in how they approach the teaching of sentence construction, apply the Grammar Translation Method (GTM), and understand the errors of their foreign language students produce. The research was implemented at an Undergraduate Foreign Language School of a government-operated language institute, and drew on two complementary data sources: in-depth interviews with four experienced foreign language instructors, each of whom responded to twelve open-ended questions, and a written survey was administered to twenty-three additional foreign …

Maga's Blue State Strategy: How Democrats And University Leaders Helped The Reactionary Right Weaponize Antisemitism Against Higher Education, Jonathan Feingold, Isaac Kamola

Faculty Scholarship

The professors are the enemy. Professors are the enemy. Write that on the blackboard 100 times and never forget it.

—President Richard Nixon, 1972¹

[I]f any of us wants to do the things we want to do[,] . . . we have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country.

—J.D. Vance, 2021²

October 7, 2023 was many things. One of those things was a lucky break for the Heritage Foundation (“Heritage”). For decades, Heritage and its allied think tanks, donors, and officials had labored to discredit and, if possible, take over higher education in the …

Biohybrid Robotic Jellyfish For Swimming-Enhanced Vertical Ocean Profiling, Kelsi M. Rutledge, Sean Colin, John H. Costello, Noa Yoder, Simon R. Anuszczyk, Kelly R. Sutherland, Brad L. Gemmell, John O. Dabiri

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Ocean monitoring is essential for understanding climate change and marine ecosystem dynamics, yet achieving comprehensive global coverage remains a challenge in oceanography. Current technologies face limitations in cost, power, hardware, and depth capacity that restrict widespread monitoring capabilities. Here we show that biohybrid robotic jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) can serve as autonomous vertical ocean profilers by integrating microcontrollers with positively buoyant sensor payloads, achieving controlled vertical-profiling capabilities. Laboratory experiments demonstrated repeatable up–down trajectories, quantified force balance limits, and identified predictable, size-dependent descent swimming speeds. Field deployments in Massachusetts coastal waters and the open ocean off the Florida Keys demonstrated field operation …

Preservice Teachers’ Noticing Of Students’ Quantitative And Covariational Reasoning In Dynamic Mathematical Situations, Alfred M. Limbere, Joseph Dinapoli, Steven Greenstein

Department of Mathematics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Understanding rate of change requires reasoning about measurable quantities and how one quantity changes relative to another. To support this kind of reasoning, teachers should develop the ability to notice students’ quantitative and covariational reasoning. This study examines how preservice teachers (PSTs) attend to, interpret, and respond to students’ quantitative and covariational reasoning in video-based analyses of water-filling rate-of-change tasks. Drawing on relevant research, professional noticing is examined through the lenses of quantitative reasoning and covariational reasoning. Using a design-based qualitative approach, secondary PSTs participated in structured analyses of students’ problem-solving discussions related to rate of change. Data were collected …

Enhancing Traffic Safety Through Ai-Driven, Privacy-Preserving, And Secure Impaired Driving Detection Systems, Razan Alsulieman

Dissertations

Drunk driving remains a major threat to road safety worldwide, contributing significantly to traffic injuries and fatalities each year. Traditional detection approaches are largely reactive and vehicle-centric, relying on in-vehicle sensors, breathalyzers, or post-incident enforcement. These methods often depend on driver cooperation, intrusive hardware installations, or limited monitoring environments, restricting their scalability and effectiveness in large transportation systems. At the same time, modern cities increasingly deploy roadside cameras, surveillance networks, and drone- based monitoring systems, creating new opportunities for proactive intoxication detection at the infrastructure level. However, leveraging such external monitoring introduces challenges related to secure data collection, reliable AI-based …

Are Anti-Corruption Sanctions The New Fcpa? A Comparison Of The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, The Foreign Extortion Prevention Act, And Sanctions, Karen Peters-Van Essen

Faculty Law Review Articles

With the rise of globalization, international corruption has been linked to a host of economic and social ills, including inter-state conflict.  By 2021, the U.S. government had identified corruption for the first time as a national security threat that required a broader range of inter- and cross- governmental policy tools to address the identified scope of the problem.  This national security focus was reinforced with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has been seen as being facilitated by corrupt oligarchs.  To be sure, the U.S. had decades prior passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits U.S. businesses …

Role Of Allied Health Professions In Falls Prevention For Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Scoping Review, Amy Lawton, Nicholas Tripodi, Rebecca Wospil, Breanna M. Wright, Hylton B. Menz, Suzanne Martin, Daniel R. Bonanno, Corey Linton, Andisheh Bastani, Andrew Ross, Rees Thomas, Daniel Corcoran, Timothy Mcnamara, Danielle Baxter, Brett Vaughan, Rebecca Lane, Jack Feehan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Objective: Falls among community-dwelling older adults are prevalent and have serious individual, societal and economic consequences. Allied health professionals provide key falls prevention interventions yet their representation in current clinical practice guidelines is inconsistent. Increased recognition of allied health roles and delivering context-specific guidelines for falls care could help to address workforce gaps and optimise care approaches. This scoping review explored the roles of the allied health professions in falls prevention screening, assessment and intervention for community-dwelling older adults. Design: Scoping review, using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews. Data sources: PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Cochrane, Web of Science …

Medical Simulation In Toxicology: Enhancing Clinical Competence, Decision Making And Patient Care In Resource-Limited Settings, Rakesh Ghimire, Anjana Thapa, Sanjeev Kharel, Shristi Kharel Ghimire, Rabin Basnet, Farshad Mazda Shirazi, Allan J. Hamilton

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Medical simulation has emerged as a transformative approach in toxicology education. By providing immersive, hands-on experience, simulation enhances learner engagement, critical thinking, and long-term knowledge retention while offering a safe environment to practice clinical decision-making without jeopardizing patient safety. Despite these advantages, the integration of simulation-based training remains limited in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to resource constraints, lack of standardized curricula, and limited access to high-fidelity simulators. Additionally, little research has explored its optimal application in these settings. This review explores available evidence regarding the effectiveness of medical simulation in the diagnosis and treatment of toxicological emergencies in LMICs. …

Key Insights From The International Icu Diary Conference 2025, Peter Nydahl, Bev Ewens, Anne Sophie Debue, Xavier Fiorilla, Kristin Gabriel, Alessandro Galazzi, Louise Gallie, Nikolas Groth, Carly Hickey, Mark Hudson, Fiona Lynch, Nicola Maxwell, Margo Van Mol, Caroline Renner, Louise Rose, Kate Tantam, Lioudmila Karnatovskaia, Christina Jones

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

We report on the 2025 International ICU Diary Conference that provided a comprehensive update on current knowledge, innovations and global practices related to ICU diaries. Held in a 6-week online format, the event featured 23 speakers and was attended by mean 69.7 (SD 20.5) participants per session. Topics included development of ICU diaries, use in special settings, digital diaries, survivors' and families' experiences, Post-Intensive-Care Syndrome and follow-up and implementation projects. Highlights were innovative solutions for digital diaries and the report of persons with lived and living experiences with diaries, changing the focus on humanising critical care. Relevance for Practice: ICU …

Neuromuscular Performance Changes In Response To The Australian Special Forces Selection Course, Angela Uphill, Kristina L. Kendall, Stuart Guppy, Michael Vacher, Simon Parker, Hannah Brown, Brendan Ashmore, Travis Zomer, G. Gregory Haff

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: Strenuous military activities, such as Special Forces (SF) selection courses, are known to involve high physical loads in the presence of food and sleep deprivation, which can have detrimental impacts on physical performance. Understanding the magnitude of performance deficit and the time required for recovery associated with these events, is important for injury prevention and maintaining operational readiness. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in physical performance in response to the Australian SF Selection Course (SF-SC) and to monitor recovery throughout 8 weeks following the course. Materials and Methods: Ninety-three healthy male participants (age: 28 …

Pulse Wave Velocity In Atrial Fibrillation: A Scoping Review Of Clinical Relevance, Oren G. Nedjar, Zaneh Kahook, Syed Maaz Shah, Christos G. Mihos, Marc M. Kesselman

Student Publications

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and is associated with high morbidity, mortality, and healthcare burden. Arterial stiffness (AS) alters cardiac loading conditions and contributes to ventricular arterial uncoupling (VAC), diastolic dysfunction, and atrial remodeling. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is the standard noninvasive measure of AS, but its role across the spectrum of AF has not been clearly defined. This scoping review assessed the existing literature on PWV and AF, with attention to disease onset, clinical characteristics, progression, treatment response, and outcomes. A scoping review was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses …

Visual Cues Elicit Differential Aggression Towards Female And Female Mimics In The Corkwing Wrasse, Benjamin A. Ellis, Tonje K. Sørdalen, Mark Briffa, Anne Berit Skiftesvik, Alexander D.M. Wilson, Kim A.T. Halvorsen

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) are consistent intrasexual differences in behavior that maximize reproductive success through different means. In corkwing wrasse (Symphodus melops), smaller males mimic female visual morphology (hereafter sneakers) to steal fertilizations from nest-building parental males (hereafter nesting males). We investigated whether this visual mimicry effectively deceived 47 nesting males across 4 sites by quantifying 2 agonistic responses (attack latency and attack frequency) to models depicting unfamiliar females, sneakers and rival nesting males. Contrary to expectations, nesting males exhibited faster agonistic responses towards female models, with lower attack latencies compared with both male types. Additionally, the relationship between model …

Low Climate Benefit Of Nordic Coastal Marshes: Site Conditions Outweigh Grazing Effects And Shape Trade-Offs Between Carbon Storage And Its Stability, Carmen Leiva-Dueñas, T. Banta, Christoffer Boström, Franziska Eller, Johan Eklöf, Line Holm Andersen, Kai Jensen, Marianna Lanari, Ella Logemann, Pere Masque, Thomas Ostertag, Christoph Reisdorff, Anaïs Richard, Anu Vehmaa, Jukka Alm, Mikael Von Numers, Dorte Krause-Jensen

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Coastal marshes, recognized as effective organic carbon (OC) sinks, have gained attention for their potential contribution to climate mitigation through protection and restoration. However, the climate mitigation potential of Nordic coastal marshes remains understudied, likely due to their heterogeneous and often non-tidal nature. To fill this gap, we examined soil OC storage and accumulation rates, and the effects of grazing, a common management practice, across eight Nordic coastal marsh areas spanning broad climate and environmental gradients. We also assessed soil methane emissions in selected areas. The Nordic marshes studied store a median of 7 kg OC m⁻² (interquartile range, …

High-Performance Simulations Of Higher Representations Of Wilson Fermions, Vincent Drach, Sofie Martins, Claudio Pica, Antonio Rago

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

We present HiRep v2, an open-source software suite for high-performance lattice field theory simulations with dynamical Wilson fermions in higher representations of SU(Ng) gauge groups. This new version fully supports graphics processing unit (GPU) acceleration, optimizing both gauge configuration generation and measurements for NVIDIA and AMD GPUs. HiRep v2 integrates improved gauge and fermionic lattice actions, advanced inverters, and Monte Carlo algorithms, including the (Rational) Hybrid Monte Carlo ((R)HMC) with Hasenbusch acceleration. It exhibits excellent scalability across multiple GPUs and nodes with minimal efficiency loss, making it a robust tool for large-scale simulations in physics beyond the Standard Model.

An Open-Label, Clinical Feasibility Study Of The Efficacy Of Remdesivir For Long-Covid, Helen Neilens, Victoria Allgar, Kayle-Anne Sands, Jade Chynoweth, Amber Lord, Paigan J Aspinall, Helen Hambly, Anton Barnett, Lindsay Skipper, Tom Bewick, Ian Maidment, Hairil Abdul Razak, Ruth Ashton, David Strain, Karen Knapp, Mark A Faghy

Peninsula Medical School

BACKGROUND: Long COVID (LC) affects around two million people in the UK and over 65 million people globally. Antiviral medications have shown positive effects in reducing the risk of progression to severe disease in high-risk patients during an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and have improved outcomes in those living with LC. Research testing the feasibility and efficacy of antiviral medications is ongoing, and clinical trials should determine the use of Remdesivir and its impact on LC symptoms, patient-reported outcomes, quality of life and functional status.

METHODS: Seventy-two patients ≥ 18 years of age who have a confirmed LC diagnosis will be …

A Federated Learning Framework For Data-Sovereign Predictive Maintenance In Distributed Smart Manufacturing, Md Sazol Ahmmed, Sriram Praneeth Isanaka, Frank Liou

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Featured Application: The proposed federated learning framework can be applied in distributed smart manufacturing environments where multiple factories or production facilities collaboratively develop predictive maintenance models without sharing sensitive operational data. This approach is particularly useful for industrial networks involving geographically distributed plants, contract manufacturing partners, and multi-site production systems where data sovereignty and avoidance of raw data sharing are critical. Predictive maintenance enables early detection of machine failures and reduces unexpected production downtime. However, conventional approaches typically rely on centralized data collection and model training which introduce challenges related to data sovereignty, communication overhead and data ownership. To address …

Machine Vision For In Situ Measurement And Control Of Wire Stickout In Lwded Process, Braden Mclain, Remy Mathenia, Todd Sparks, Frank Liou

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This work presents a machine-vision–based measurement and control framework for laser wire directed energy deposition (LWDED) processes. A visible-light camera system is used to capture meltpool images, from which a novel vision algorithm extracts the wire–meltpool interface location. By utilizing a camera that is rigidly mounted to the deposition head, the vision algorithm provides a relative measurement of the distance between the nozzle tip and the workpiece, also referred to as wire stickout. A proportional-derivative (PD) control strategy is implemented using the measured stickout as feedback to adjust deposition feedrate. Results show that the control system successfully compensates for improper …

Mease: Multi-Agent Episodic Action Sequence Explanation, Phyo Wai Khaing, Minghong Geng, Shubham Pateria, Budhitama Subagdja, Ah-Hwee Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) achieves remarkable performance in complex coordination tasks, yet interpreting the emergent behaviors of trained agents remains a fundamental challenge. Most current explainability methods focus on individual agent decisions, overlooking the critical interplay of joint strategiesand temporal coordination patterns that define successful multi-agent policies. We present MEASE (Multi-agent Episodic Action Sequence Explanation), a novel explainable MARL (XMARL) framework that explains trained MARL policies as human-interpretable emergent cooperative joint behaviors. MEASE employs a cognition-inspired episodic memory model to learn spatio-temporal multi-agent interaction patterns, coupled with abstraction algorithms that identify significant cooperative agent behaviors. We evaluate MEASE on diverse …

Collaborative Practices And Tool Utilization In Software Development Projects: A Student Perspective, Yi Meng Lau, Muhammad Syahmi Bin Abbas, Lingxiao Jiang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Software development is a collaborative activity that depends on effective teamwork, shared understanding, and coordinated use of development practices and tools. While these aspects are well studied in professional environments, they are less frequently examined within software engineering education. This study investigates how students collaborate in group projects, focusing on collaborative practices, tool usage, and their perceptions of software quality. We conducted a quantitative post-project survey with 143 second-year undergraduate students enrolled in a software development course. The results show that students actively share information and often establish team norms to support coordination and collaboration. However, students face challenges in …

Enhancing Action And Ingredient Modeling For Semantically Grounded Recipe Generation, Guoshan Liu, Bin Zhu, Yian Li, Jingjing Chen, Chong-Wah Ngo, Yu-Gang Jiang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recent advances in Multimodal Large Language Models (MLMMs) have enabled recipe generation from food images, yet outputs often contain semantically incorrect actions or ingredients despite high lexical scores (e.g., BLEU, ROUGE). To address this gap, we propose a semantically grounded framework that predicts and validates actions and ingredients as internal context for instruction generation. Our two-stage pipeline combines supervised fine-tuning (SFT) with reinforcement fine-tuning (RFT): SFT builds foundational accuracy using an Action-Reasoning dataset and ingredient corpus, while RFT employs frequency-aware rewards to improve long-tail action prediction and ingredient generalization. A Semantic Confidence Scoring and Rectification (SCSR) module further filters and …

Greek Basileus "King" As A Possible Borrowing From Semitic Mšl "To Rule’", Gerald Leonard Cohen

Arts, Languages and Philosophy Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Digital Scholarly Ecosystems: Challenges In Manuscript Preparation And Evaluation, Hrudayananda Padhan

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Scholarly communication in the digital era is becoming influenced by the problems of manuscript preparation, journal choice, and peer review in spite of the blistering technological progress and open-access publication development. Researchers frequently encounter difficulties with academic standards in writing, professional ethics of publication, engaging in the search of reliable journals, navigating complex editorial and peer review procedures, which are all the factors affecting the quality, credibility, and visibility of the research products. It follows a narrative literature review methodology to examine academic publications between 2015 and 2025, which will help to determine the main trends, organizational issues, and new …

How Ai Destroys Institutions, Woodrow Hartzog, Jessica Silbey

Faculty Scholarship

Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex societies encourage cooperation and stability, while also adapting to changing circumstances. The real superpower of institutions is their ability to evolve and adapt within a hierarchy of authority and a framework for roles and rules, while maintaining legitimacy for the knowledge produced and the actions taken. Purpose-driven institutions built around transparency, cooperation, and accountability empower individuals to take intellectual risks and challenge the status quo. This happens through the machinations of interpersonal relationships within those institutions, which broaden …

Revocation Reconsidered: Probation Advocacy Through A Litigation Lens, Shira M. Diner

Faculty Scholarship

Being found in violation of probation has dire consequences. The person found in violation can be imprisoned, upending them from their job, family, and community. Unlike incarceration after a criminal trial, a sentence after a violation of probation is not the result of a legal process characterized by robust due process protections. It is also often not the result of a forceful and thorough defense. It is instead the consequence of a hearing where lawyers with the fixed mindset of an inevitable finding of a violation don’t engage in the same preparation that they would if it was a trial. …

Making Students Practice Ready: Standalone Email And Summary Email Simulations, Betsy Byra, Seth Reiner

Faculty Scholarship

Legal research and writing (“LRW”) curricula emphasize the importance of efficient and effective communication, traditionally providing students with the opportunity to hone this skill through two lengthy and formulaic assignments: a predictive memo and a persuasive brief. These prompts miss key opportunities to engage students in the practice of thinking and writing like lawyers outside the confines of this formal structure. This is a problem because email research memoranda have become the primary mode of communication at firms among junior-level lawyers.This shift has largely been driven by client and supervisor demands for greater efficiency and concision, and will likely only …

Reconstruction Of Fox Transcription Factor-Regulated Subnetworks Mediating Cardiac Progenitor Cell Divisions, Md Rezaul Hasan

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common congenital anomaly worldwide, affecting approximately 1% of live births, corresponding to 1.35 million infants born with CHD each year, and remains a leading cause of infant mortality; therefore, it is urgent to understand the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying CHD for advancing early diagnosis and treatment. Because many aspects of the Drosophila heart formation are highly reminiscent of vertebrate heart development, Drosophila melanogaster serves as a simple yet powerful model system for studying cardiac development and CHD. While at least eight Forkhead box (Fox) transcription factors (TFs) are required for proper cardiac …

Analysis Of Developmental Cardiogenic Processes Mediated By Fox And Zinc-Finger Transcription Factors, Rajnandani Katariya

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cardiogenesis is a highly choreographed biological process requiring the precise integration of gene regulatory networks to govern cell division, fate determination, and spatial positioning. Disruptions in these mechanisms lead to congenital heart defects (CHDs), which affect approximately 1% of live births globally. Due to the evolutionary conservation of cardiac signaling pathways and the structural homologies between the Drosophila dorsal vessel and the early vertebrate heart tube, Drosophila melanogaster serves as a powerful model for dissecting the fundamental mechanisms of heart development. This dissertation investigates the molecular orchestration of cardiac development, specifically focusing on the roles of the transcription factors Jumu …

The Impact Of Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, And Employee Engagement On The Intent To Leave The Law Enforcement Profession For Police Officers, Veronica Lynn Dougherty-Denny

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today’s dynamic organizational environment, worker factors such as job satisfaction, employee engagement, organizational commitment, and psychological contract fulfillment are vital for organizational success. This study examined their perceived relationship with police officers’ intent to leave the law enforcement profession. The problem addressed worked to understand factors influencing retention, including psychological contract breaches and workplace outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the perceived relationship between job satisfaction, employee engagement, organizational commitment, and intent to leave the law enforcement profession all housed within the psychological contract. Five research questions addressed these variables and demographic factors (gender, years …