Digital Commons Network^™

Object (Im)Permanence: Toward A Hauntology Of The Violin, Pala Garcia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Object (Im)permanence goes looking for the violin’s ontological uncertainties, its persistent historical specters, and its relation to things not fully present, no longer, or yet to come. Drawing on the history of the author’s own instrument as an inherited object, this study explores the violin’s strangest affordances: its capacity to hold a psychic charge, sustain absent presence, remotely activate somatic memory, and invite reciprocal relationality. Adapting the Derridean concept of “hauntology” as a framing for the violin’s spectral vitality, Object (Im)permanence imagines how a hauntology of the violin can account for its ontological uncertainties, logic of absent presence, and persistent …

Theoretical Analysis And Performance Interpretation In Thomas Adès’S Traced Overhead, Han Chen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

While many post-tonal composers avoid any inkling of tonality by embracing dissonance or breaking tonal resolutions, Thomas Adès does not shy away from the traditional harmonies that strongly relate to tonal music, such as the circle of fifths, major and minor triads, and the horn-call motif, but adopts several intervallic systems that govern all the notes, including aligned cycles, parsimonious voice leading, and the twelve-tone aggregate.

To examine how Adès uses these intervallic systems to repurpose traditional harmonies, this dissertation presents a close tonal analysis of his solo piano work Traced Overhead. Integrating historical, pianistic, and extramusical contexts, this …

Cavity Optomechanics Via Mechanically Induced Coupling Of Optical Modes, Satyam S. Jha

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis introduces a transverse, symmetry-breaking mode of optomechanical coupling that departs from the conventional dispersive and dissipative interactions, taking its motivating platform from whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) resonators, where a mechanical displacement lifts the near-degeneracy of azimuthal mode pairs and couples them. After reviewing the standard optomechanical model and the sideband-cooling phenomenology it underlies, we derive the Hamiltonian for the transverse-coupling system and first study its Hamiltonian dynamics, without drive or dissipation. Recast in terms of Schwinger pseudospin operators, the model exhibits a Hamiltonian Hopf bifurcation separating stable and unstable dynamical regimes. In the stable regime, the mechanical nonlinearity permits controlled …

Lingual Articulatory Configuration Of Japanese Devoiced Vowels, Rion Iwasaki

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In Tokyo Japanese, high vowels /i/ and /u/ are devoiced with high frequency between two voiceless obstruents. There is an ongoing outstanding debate in the literature on whether devoiced vowels maintain their lingual articulation or are deleted. To contribute to this debate from a lingual articulatory perspective, the current study uses ultrasound imaging of the tongue and various acoustic measurements. Data from 11 native speakers of Tokyo Japanese are analyzed. This is the first lingual articulatory study to examine both devoiced /i/ and /u/ from more than three speakers. All speakers provide articulatory and acoustic evidence that devoiced /i/ and …

Applications Of Entanglement In Quantum Information, Nada Ali

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Entanglement is the resource that most sharply distinguishes quantum information processing from its classical counterpart, and this thesis examines it from two complementary directions: how it can be detected and quantified, and how it, together with the broader machinery of quantum correlations, interference, and measurement, can be put to use. We first study two simple, measurable conditions that detect bipartite entanglement, and show that the extent to which either is violated yields a lower bound on the negativity of a state. The bound is established for two qubits, extended to systems of arbitrary finite dimension, and sharpened when partial knowledge …

Bimodal-Bilingual Advantage: Neural Patterns Of Asl Interpreters During Narrative Encoding, Gina F. Piersanti Gioe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Interpreters display superior executive functions when compared to non-interpreters in tasks of working memory and attentional control. Sign Language Interpreters work simultaneously between two language modalities, though little is known about how regular engagement in communication of high cognitive demand shapes their cognition. Oscillatory activity in the brain has been mapped to functions of cognition. Specifically, parietal alpha activity is linked to attention control and frontal theta activity to memory processes. This study uses both behavioral measures, narrative recall accuracy, and EEG recording of neural oscillations to compare 12 professional American Sign Language Interpreters to 12 Non-Interpreter controls. Participants were …

Spartan Daily, September 1, 2026, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2026

Volume 167, Issue 05

Reforming The Mississippi Criminal Code Part V: Justification, Judith J. Johnson

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Invoking The Protection Of Pupil Rights Amendment ("Ppra") To Safeguard Student Privacy Rights: My Three-Year Battle To Enforce The Ppra Against An Intractable New Jersey School District, Patricia Montana

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Formalism Becomes Abdication: Howell, Hathorne, And The Limits Of Legislative Finality, Joe Hemleben

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Overruling Texas V. Johnson?, Natti Perelman

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Prevalence And Availability Of Specialty Dental Care Sites For Children Covered By Medicaid And Chip In The United States, Jonmichael Cope, Aaron David, Chase Otto, Inder Sehgal

Student Publications

Introduction: Access to dental care is a critical aspect of children's healthcare. For these reasons, Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), administered by states, cover medically necessary services. Specialty providers can enroll and participate in state or state-contracted plans, but availability varies widely. Our research objective was to evaluate the availability of non-general dentist specialists in endodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics/dentofacial orthopedics on the InsureKidsNow website for Medicaid/CHIP enrollees, on a state-by-state basis, and to compare these with pediatric dental availability.

Methods: This is an observational, cross-sectional descriptive study. InsureKidsNow.gov was searched to identify and compare available and …

Formalism, Finality, And The Judicial Role In Mississippi Post-Conviction Review, Joe Hemleben

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Buddy Properties Llc V. Radomski

All Decisions

Court dismissed breach of lease/nuisance holdover alleging bad behavior by tenant's dog without prejudice because original lease lacked a conditional limitation clause. Court engaged in lengthy discussion of conditional limitation clauses and their interaction with RPAPL § 753(4)'s 30-day cure period, holding that absence of a conditional limitation clause in the parties' lease is fatal to a summary proceeding.

Nf1 Loss In Estrogen Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer Induces Osteoclast Formation And Immunosuppression To Promote Bone Metastasis, Zifan Zhao, Ze-Yi Zheng, Jonathan T Lei, Matthew J Baik, Yi-Hsuan Wu, Lauren K Somes, Andres F Mosquera Paternina, Omar A Harb, Owen A Chang, Fengshuo Liu, Matthew V Holt, Junkai Wang, Igor Bado, Hai Wang, George Miles, Zbigniew Gugala, Meenakshi Anurag, Ahmed Elkhanany, Yi Li, Valentina Hoyos, Xiang H-F Zhang, Eric C Chang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer exhibits a marked propensity for skeletal metastasis; however, the molecular drivers of bone colonization remain incompletely defined. We investigated the tumor suppressor neurofibromin (NF1), a dual repressor for RAS and ER signaling, whose inactivation promotes endocrine therapy (ET) resistance and is associated with inferior relapse-free survival. NF1 copy number loss was detected in 62% of ER+ patients who subsequently developed metastases and was associated with an increased likelihood of bone metastases at initial diagnosis. In mouse xenograft models, NF1-depleted ER+ breast cancer cells demonstrated enhanced dissemination to skeletal sites following surgical resection of primary tumors. …

Behind The Score: The Influence Of Neighborhood Policy Contexts On New York Regents Exam Performance Across New York City Public High Schools, Philip J. Kovacevic

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study used a two-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) to test whether New York City neighborhood zoning and land-use characteristics independently predict school-level performance on the New York State Regents Examinations, after controlling for school demographic and organizational characteristics, and Regents mean scores, both drawn from the NYC DOE's Regents Exam Results file (NYC Public Schools InfoHub, 2024). Using NYC Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output (PLUTO) 2025 data, a Neighborhood Educational Quality (NEQ) index was built for each of the city’s 42 community districts by combining the commercial floor area ratio (CommFAR) and the proportion of lots zoned residential …

Diffusion-Informed Joint Segmentation Enhances Detection Of Thalamic Atrophy In Parkinson’S Disease, Gozde Kizilates-Evin, Ani Kicik, Emel Erdogdu, Dilek Betul Saridede, Sevim Cengiz, Basar Bilgic, Hasmet A. Hanagasi, Esin Ozturk-Isik, Tamer Demiralp, Ali Bayram

All Works

The thalamus is a critical subcortical hub that relays sensorimotor information and regulates higher-order cognitive processes. Accurate delineation of thalamic nuclei is essential for elucidating disease mechanisms and tracking clinical progression. In this study, we compared two segmentation approaches implemented in FreeSurfer: the conventional structural method and a joint framework that integrates diffusion tensor imaging. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 24 healthy controls (HC), 27 patients with cognitively normal Parkinson’s disease (PD-CN), and 33 Parkinson's disease patients with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) were analyzed. Segmentation methods were compared in HC to assess their effect on volume estimates. Group comparisons …

Automated Haulage Trucks: Impact On Workplace Safety And Efficiency In Surface Mining Systems, Samuel Frimpong, Mabel Obosu

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The mining industry continues to face significant safety challenges, particularly with powered haulage equipment (PHE). PHE incidents account for a substantial percentage of mining-related fatalities, often resulting from vehicle collisions, equipment rollovers, operator errors, and blind-spot hazards. Despite the industry's efforts to improve safety protocols, fatal accidents involving haulage trucks remain persistent. The mining industry has increasingly adopted automation to enhance operational efficiency and improve safety, particularly in surface mines where haulage truck accidents remain a critical concern. Automation has significantly reduced human exposure to hazardous tasks by removing operators from dangerous environments, thereby mitigating risks associated with human error …

Geometric And Operational Design Principles For Autonomous Haulage Systems In Open-Pit Mining: A Systematic Review, Justina Senam Lotsu, Samuel Frimpong, Muhammad Azeem Raza

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The rapid deployment of autonomous haulage systems (AHSs) in open-pit mining has significantly altered haul road geometric design requirements, as autonomous trucks operate under strict kinematic constraints related to turning radius, gradient, and braking performance. Since haulage accounts for 50–60% of total mining costs, optimizing haul road geometry is critical for improving operational efficiency, energy consumption, and safety. This study presents a systematic review of 50 highly relevant studies selected from 81 candidate publications published between 2003 and 2025 through structured database searches and citation chaining. The review synthesizes current developments in haul road layout optimization, turning radius accommodation, gradient …

Workload-Aware Performance Prediction And Data Movement For Data-Intensive Computing, Kevin Assogba

Theses

Data-intensive workloads in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence move massive volumes of data across deep memory and storage hierarchies, often spending more time moving data than computing on it. Their access patterns, data-sharing relationships, and computational graph properties are largely determined by descriptors known to the application before execution. However, general-purpose runtimes treat this structure as opaque, and the resulting gap between workload behavior and runtime decisions accounts for a substantial fraction of their execution time. Despite advances in performance modeling and data-movement systems, this structure remains underexploited. Schedulers, caches, and I/O paths provision resources conservatively, prediction models are rarely …

Sea-Level Rise And Regional Economic Adjustment On The U.S. Gulf Coast, Md A M Hasif, Juhee Lee, Robin A. Choudhury

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Sea-level rise (SLR) poses escalating risks to the U.S. Gulf Coast, where critical industries, infrastructure, and populations are concentrated in low-lying areas. This study estimates the short- and long-run economic effects of SLR using a panel autoregressive distributed lag-pooled mean group framework applied to county-level data from 26 coastal counties across five Gulf Coast states from 2005 to 2021. Over this period, mean sea level increased by approximately 11 cm on average across counties, with cumulative changes ranging from about 4 cm to over 24 cm and substantial cross-county variation, providing a meaningful empirical setting for identifying economic adjustment. We …

School Leadership And Collaboration: A Case Study Of Leaders’ Experience Implementing Vertical Alignment Practices, Tara R. Wehmeyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Changing student demographics within a large elementary school increased the need for collaboration between leadership and staff as they implemented a wide range of initiatives to support student learning. Grounded in the transformational leadership theoretical framework, this exploratory case study sought to systematically observe and gather knowledge about the experiences of campus leaders as they implement vertical alignment teams to foster a collaborative approach while instituting required initiatives. The sample included seven campus leadership team members and data collection utilized transcribed semistructured interviews, debriefing sessions after vertical alignment team meetings, meeting observations, and a researcher’s journal. All data were analyzed …

Threshold Spatial Panel Regression With Fixed Effects, Xiaoyu Meng, Zhenlin Yang

Research Collection School Of Economics

We introduce general estimation and inference methods for threshold spatial panel regression with two-way fixed effects in a diminishing-threshold-effects framework. A valid objective function is obtained through a simple adjustment on the concentrated quasi loglikelihood with fixed effects being concentrated out, which leads to a consistent estimation of all common parameters. We show that the estimation of threshold parameter has a negligible effect on the asymptotic distribution of the main parameter estimators and thereby regular inference methods apply, though a bias correction may be necessary. The limiting distribution of the threshold parameter estimator is shown to be non-regular and infeasible, …

Querying Institutional Data With Ai Agents: A Hands-On Workshop For Rowan Employees, Vijay Bharathwaj

Library Workshops

This workshop will demonstrate how AI agents can transform the way employees at Rowan University access and interact with institutional data. Attendees will learn how conversational AI agents can provide immediate answers to enrollment and institutional reporting questions using natural language. The session will feature live demonstrations of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)  Agent and Census Enrollment Data Agent developed by Rowan University’s Institutional Data & Analytics (IDA) team. These agents provide access to institutionally governed, definition-based data aligned with official reporting standards and census reporting practices. Attendees will see how users can ask follow-up questions conversationally to …

Ai Slop, Jessica Silbey, Woodrow Hartzog

Faculty Scholarship

The term “AI slop” has become popular to describe the output of generative AI systems seen as voluminous, low quality, or the result of little effort. When AI-generated music and videos flood platforms, they are called slop. Peer-reviewed journals and legal tribunals are drowning in low-quality and low-reliability AI slop submissions.  Employees are seen to be producing mountains of slop in their reports and communications with each other. The term has inertia and heft, and the phenomenon has significant consequences. Most of them are not good.

But the boundaries of “AI slop” and its usefulness in policy discussions are not …

Reply, Jacqueline L. Chen, Amanda J. Lu, Rohan Verma, Li Wang, Douglas D. Koch, Allison J. Chen

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Benchmarking Zero-Shot Open-Vocabulary And Fine-Tuned Object Detectors For Underground Mine Personnel Detection, Ellen Essien, Samuel Frimpong

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Reliable personnel detection is critical for the safe deployment of autonomous haulage systems in underground mining, where challenging environmental conditions demand robust real-time perception. Existing research has focused primarily on fine-tuned convolutional detectors, while systematic comparisons with zero-shot vision-language models remain limited. This study presents a cross-paradigm benchmark comparing four zero-shot vision-language models (YOLO-World, Grounding DINO, OWL-ViT, and OWLv2) with four fine-tuned YOLO detectors (YOLOv8s, YOLOv9s, YOLO11s, and YOLO26s) using 31,396 real-world underground coal mine images. Detection performance was evaluated using precision, recall, F1-score, average precision, inference speed, and condition- and target scale-specific recall. The experimental results show that the …

Karhunen-Loève Modes For Coherent Arrays, Jack E. Mccrae, Santasri R. Bose-Pillai, Steven T. Fiorino

Faculty Publications

The optimal modes for correcting atmospheric turbulence on coherent arrays are determined. These Karhunen-Loève modes are eigenvectors of a covariance matrix. Creating this covariance matrix requires knowledge of the power spectrum of the turbulence, the aperture geometry, and a basis set for the matrix. The Kolmogorov power law is ordinarily chosen here for the turbulence spectrum. By choosing the phase on each array subaperture element minus the phase averaged over all subapertures as this basis, infinite values in the variances and covariances can be avoided. The piston mode of the whole array, which would otherwise also be infinite, is thus …

Towards Human-Centered Digital Health Interventions, Kristin M Kostick-Quenet, Eric A Storch

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

This article discusses the potential of digital health interventions (DHIs) in mental health care, emphasizing the importance of designing them to foster genuine humanistic care. It highlights current challenges in measuring engagement and outcomes, advocating for integrating human-centered endpoints such as dignity, autonomy, and therapeutic alliance into evaluation frameworks. The authors call for mechanistic research to identify effective engagement strategies and context-specific implementation approaches. Ultimately, successful DHIs should demonstrate both clinical efficacy and the preservation of humane, person-centered care, ensuring ethical and meaningful mental health support through technology.

A Conventional Solution To Constitutional Stagnation?, David E. Pozen

Faculty Scholarship

Our charter of government is stuck. The last time the U.S. Constitution was revised was over 30 years ago, when the “fluky” and largely inconsequential Twenty-Seventh Amendment stole into the text two centuries after it was written. The last time Congress proposed an amendment was almost 50 years ago, when the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was sent to its demise at the ratification stage. Although state constitutions remain far more dynamic, they too have experienced a declining rate of amendment in recent years.