Digital Commons Network^™

Divergent Prefrontal Cortex Circuits Regulate Cued Food Seeking Under Distinct Metabolic Or Emotional States, Xu O Zhang, Guillermo Aquino-Miranda, Claire E Cho, Yongzhe Wang, Duy Hoang Ha, Nikita Elinson-Watson, Allen Dong, Caleb Kemere, Fabricio H Do-Monte

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Flexibly adjusting food-seeking behaviour in response to food-associated cues and internal states is crucial for animals' survival. However, the neural mechanisms that modulate cued food-seeking behaviour during varying metabolic (i.e., hungry vs. satiated) and emotional (i.e., safe vs. threatened) states remain elusive. Here, we show that the encoding of metabolic or threat states in projection-defined neurons in the prelimbic cortex (PL) mediates cued food-seeking responses in rats. Using microendoscopic imaging, we demonstrate that neural population dynamics in PL consistently represent food cues, task-relevant behaviours, and internal state changes by recruiting distinct subsets of cue-responsive neurons at each state. Single-unit recording …

Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation Of Water Pollutants Using Au/Cds: Tio2 Films Nanocomposites Under Ultra Violet-Visible Irradiation, Zainab K. Mohammed, Souad G. Khalil, Mahdi M. Mutter

Baghdad Science Journal

In this work, Au/ CdS: TiO₂ film nanocomposites were prepared and deposited on a glass substrate for photocatalytic application. First, sol-gel dip coating thin films of CdS: TiO₂ were synthesized. Next, the plasma sputtering technique was used to deposit Au on the CdS: TiO₂ thin films. Composite CdS: TiO₂ ratios were (1:1, 1:0.25, and 1:0.5). The produced films were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and UV-visible spectroscopy. With the addition of TiO₂, the energy band gap, as measured by UV-visible spectroscopy, decreased from …

Interrelationships Among Social Media Use, University Social Capital, And Mental Health Outcomes In Undergraduate Students, Md Hasan Howlader

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

Mental health concerns among university students have intensified globally, reflected in rising levels of psychological distress, declining life satisfaction, and reduced flourishing. These challenges present urgent implications for public health and higher education policy. Simultaneously, social media use (SMU) has become deeply embedded in students’ daily lives; however, its impact on mental health remains inconclusive. While some studies associate SMU with increased mental health issues, others emphasize its potential to foster social connection. These conflicting perspectives are further complicated by uncertainty regarding the directionality of these relationships—whether SMU influences mental health, or mental health status shapes SMU patterns. Furthermore, existing …

Interview No. 1807, Elidia (Lily) Jimarez

Combined Interviews

Elidia, or more commonly known as Lily, Jimarez was born and raised in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. She grew up in an all-women household, with the exception of two brothers and her father. Her story begins when she was a little girl helping her mother in the kitchen, noticing the tools she used to make simple dishes such as beans and rice. My mother would steal ingredients in small portions and gather them in her makeshift kitchen, where all her pots and pans were also taken, never with the intention of returning them. She taught herself how to make certain foods …

Computer Problems? Must Have Been The Sun How Solar Particles And Cosmic Rays Affect The Future Of Computing, Ned Markham

Osmosis Magazine

Imagine playing your favorite video game, when suddenly, your character teleports to the top of the level. One may be quick to blame the software for faulty code, clueless that this error may have originated from an unlikely source: the sun. That’s right, during a speed run of Nintendo’s Super Mario 64, one stray cosmic ray flipped a single bit (a bit is the most basic unit of information inside a computer, storing one of only two possible values of 0 and 1), causing a streamer’s character to glitch in front of him and a live audience. This phenomenon, however, …

My Roman Empire: The Mystery Of Roman Concrete, Lilly Cashen

Osmosis Magazine

After the fall of an empire and millennia of conflict and decay, most structures crumble. Yet the monumental dome of the Pantheon, the towering ruins of the Colosseum, and the sprawling miles of aqueducts still stand today, two thousand years later, as testaments to Roman engineering brilliance. The survival of these ancient structures was made possible by one of Rome’s greatest innovations: Roman concrete, or opus caementicium.

Trouble-Making Teens: Can They Control Their Impulses?, Natasha Troike

Osmosis Magazine

Teenagers can be moody, irritable, and defiant; they may snap at their parents and make risky decisions that they regret. Decisions such as having unprotected sex or taking harmful, illegal substances can be drastically life-changing. Are these risky decisions acts of purposeful defiance, or is there more to it? Are teens truly in charge of their impulses, or are they victims of their developmental biology?

To Q-Tip Or Not To Q-Tip, Ainsley Coleman

Osmosis Magazine

If you are one of the many people on this earth lucky enough to have wet earwax and use earbuds, you have likely experienced some sort of discomfort at some point in your ears. Maybe it’s a slight itch, or a feeling of build-up, and so you reach for a q-tip. And, maybe as you reach for that cotton swab, you feel nagged by a reminder that q-tips are not to be put in your ears! But still, you use one to relieve that discomfort.

Osmosis.

Osmosis Magazine

Science Magazine

Notes For Contributors, Editors Space And Defense

Space and Defense

No abstract provided.

Review Article: International Relations: State Of The Field. Paul R. Viotti’S Kenneth Waltz: An Intellectual Biography (Ny: Columbia University Press, 2023)., Damon Coletta

Space and Defense

In this review essay, Damon Coletta examines Paul R. Viotti’s Kenneth Waltz: An Intellectual Biography (Columbia University Press, 2023), positioning it as both a tribute to and a reexamination of one of International Relations’ most influential theorists. Viotti, a former student of Waltz, reconstructs the intellectual development of structural realism—tracing its philosophical and methodological roots from Man, the State, and War (1959) to Theory of International Politics (1979)—while situating Waltz’s scholarship within the geopolitical and academic transformations of the Cold War era. Coletta highlights Viotti’s skillful balance between biography and disciplinary analysis, showing how Waltz’s systemic approach to international politics …

In Defense Of Space Offense, Alexander R. Kleitz

Space and Defense

This article argues that in the unique physical and operational environment of outer space, offensive operations hold intrinsic advantages over defensive ones. Drawing upon classical military theorists such as Clausewitz and Corbett, the author contends that the traditional dominance of the defensive form of war—rooted in terrestrial conditions—does not extend to celestial conflict. The transparency and remoteness of the space domain neutralize key defensive benefits, such as proximity to supply bases, concealment, and fortified positions, while also diminishing the factors that typically cause terrestrial offensives to culminate. Consequently, space conflict favors the side that seizes and maintains the initiative through …

Costly Signals In Space: Increasing Credibility Via Strategic Disclosure, Wendy N. Whitman Cobb

Space and Defense

As space becomes an increasingly vital domain for national security, debates persist about how much secrecy should surround U.S. military space programs. This article argues that the strategic declassification and disclosure of selected space capabilities can strengthen U.S. deterrence by enhancing the credibility of deterrent threats. Drawing from theories of costly signaling and audience costs, the paper introduces strategic disclosure as a novel form of costly signal. Such disclosure imposes bureaucratic and operational costs while exposing capabilities to potential adversary countermeasures—thereby demonstrating resolve and seriousness of intent. In tandem, greater public transparency about space programs cultivates informed domestic audiences capable …

Space & Defense Volume 16 Issue 2 Fall 2025 (Whole Issue), Editors Space And Defense

Space and Defense

No abstract provided.

Hidrotuango: Understanding The Reach Of Cascading Risk, Juan Guevara, Rob Shields

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Racial Capitalism And Whitelash: Trumpism And The Politics Of Oppression Redux–A New Normal Or Just New Perfume In An Old Bottle?, Bhoomi K. Thakore, J. Scott Carter, Cameron Lippard, David G. Embrick

Fast Capitalism

There is no question that Donald Trump’s actions in his second presidential term have many people bewildered, shocked, and frightened. What was deemed “not normal” in his first term in office has quickly become the “new normal.” In this paper, we argue that part of the explanation for the rise, and repeated rise, of Trumpism lies in Donald Trump’s ability to fuel and maintain a whitelash against the social progress of the 20th and early 21st century. Not only has Trumpism picked up on the “reverse racism” sentiments that have sprouted as a result of racial, gender, and social progress, …

Psychology, Philosophy, And The Practice Of Politics, Shimon Edelman

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Doc 2025-21 Integrity In Research And Scholarship Policy, University Of Dayton. Faculty Affairs Committee

Senate Documents

In collaboration with the Office of Academic Research, and to support University compliance

with new regulations applicable to federally-funded research, the Faculty Affairs Committee

proposes adoption of the attached Integrity in Research and Scholarship Policy, which will

supersede Senate DOC 2014-07 Revisions to the Policy on Misconduct in Research and

Scholarship.

Turboindex: Making A Page-Based Db Index Both Memory-Space And Disk-I/O Efficient, Sujit Maharjan, Shuaihua Zhao, Song Jiang

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications - Archive

Traditional Database (DB) systems use a DB buffer, a page-based cache management system, to load data and indexes from block storage devices into byte-addressable main memory. However, this approach is inefficient in terms of space and I/O when key-value pair sizes are significantly smaller than the page size. Inserting a single key-value pair results in reading and writing an entire page, consuming a full page's worth of memory in the buffer. Moreover, the entire page is immediately loaded even when just a single key-value pair is inserted into the page. Also, an infrequently accessed page is likely to be evicted …

Eva Migliore V. Vision Solar Llc

2025 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

Usa V. David Piaquadio

2025 Decisions

USDC for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Fostering Connection And Empowerment: Amplifying Women’S And Indigenous Voices Through Place-Based Education, Inclusive Narratives, And Empathy Building, Paige N. Jones

Dissertations

The diverse experiences, perspectives, and identities of people across groups shape history. Educators and heritage professionals bear the responsibility of teaching historical content in ways that ensure all feel represented, valued, and safe. Despite these aims, the experiences and contributions of women and Indigenous Peoples have long been underrepresented in social studies curricula and heritage programming.

This dissertation integrates two complementary studies that examine how harnessing the power of place and centering the narratives and oral histories of underrepresented groups can advance connection and empowerment through educational experiences. The first study utilized focus group interviews with educators and heritage professionals …

Sga 57 Senate 2025-11-21 Minutes, Niu Student Government Association Senate

Student Government Association Archives

No abstract provided.

Privacy In Flux: A 35-Year Review Of Trends, Legal Evolution, And Emerging Challenges, Kong Phang, Jihene Kaabi

Research & Publications

Privacy harms have expanded alongside rapid technological change, challenging the adequacy of existing regulatory frameworks. This systematic review (1990–2025) systematically maps documented privacy harms to specific legal mechanisms and observed enforcement outcomes across jurisdictions, using PRISMA-guided methods and ROBIS risk-of-bias assessment. We synthesize evidence on major regimes (e.g., GDPR, COPPA, CCPA, HIPAA, GLBA) and conduct comparative legal analysis across the U.S., E.U., and underexplored regions in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Key findings indicate increased recognition of data subject rights, persistent gaps in cross-border data governance, and emerging risks from AI/ML/LLMs, IoT, and blockchain, including data breaches, algorithmic discrimination, and …

Stars And Shapes: An Investigation Of Stripped Envelope Supernovae Structures Using Spectropolarimetry Observations And Hydrodynamic Models, Sabrina Desoto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Supernovae (SNe) are the energetic deaths of massive stars, dispersing heavy elements throughout the galaxies and shaping cosmic evolution across the universe. However, understanding the connections between the evolution of massive stars, their catastrophic demises, and the myriad of observed SNe, remains a fundamental challenge in astrophysics. My work aims to narrow this gap by integrating extensive observational data with advanced hydrodynamical simulations to better interpret SNe observations and understand the origin of their geometry. The observational component utilizes the largest spectropolarimetry dataset of stripped-envelope (SE) core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) gathered by the SNSPOL project. Analyzing nine Type Ib and eleven …

Islamic Political Anti-Theology: A Discursive Practice Of Contingency Beyond Sovereign Politics, Jason Andrus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contributing to the field of political theology from outside the European Christian tradition, this dissertation develops a description of the distinct logics that Islamic theology generates from its metaphysical assumptions. These logics in turn make possible a discourse of political anti-theology where politics operates through contingency rather than sovereignty. Political theology scholarship has excavated how modern politics derives from secularized Christian theological concepts—particularly transcendent sovereignty. This study demonstrates that Islamic theology's absolute insistence on divine transcendence (tawhid) produces something fundamentally different: a politics that renders sovereign authority conceptually impossible. I identify this discursive practice of political anti-theology through …

Mechanisms Of Correlated Neuronal Activity In The Globus Pallidus, Hamza Albawaliz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the mechanisms of correlated neuronal activity in the globus pallidus externus (GPe), a key structure in the basal ganglia. Neuronal activity in the GPe is reportedly decorrelated in healthy subjects but can become highly correlated in Parkinson’s disease. However, high-density neuronal recordings in the GPe of healthy rats reveal a surprising degree of correlated activity. This raises the question of whether intrinsic properties or network connectivity alone can account for such patterns. To explore this, a computational model was developed in which GPe neurons are represented as coupled phase oscillators influenced by experimentally derived phase-response curves and …

Exploring The Impact Of Statistics Course Modality On Student Learning: A Mixed Methods Approach, Becky Kelleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The importance of statistical literacy has become increasingly evident, as individuals grapple with interpreting statistics to inform critical decisions. Despite the recognized significance of statistical literacy, challenges persist in both educators’ and students’ efforts to navigate the complexities of statistics education. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of different course modalities on undergraduate students’ academic performance in introductory statistics courses. Using Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as a theoretical framework, this research aims to shed light on the complex dynamics influencing statistical literacy attainment. By addressing gaps and inconsistencies in the current literature, this study seeks to …

Frameworks For Repatriation: Moving Beyond Nagpra, Ashley Joplin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Museums and similar federally funded educational institutions have been collecting human remains since the Enlightenment era in the 1800s. Since then, these institutions have developed various collections practices that have encouraged the collection of human remains. Often unethical in nature, these collections have harmed historically marginalized communities, such as Indigenous and African American communities. While the ethics of collecting have been under scrutiny for decades, it was not until 1990 under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) that mainstream attention was drawn to the ethics of collections practices.

This thesis explores these collections practices and the repatriation …

From Vulnerability To Robustness: A Survey Of Patch Attacks And Defenses In Computer Vision, Xinyun Liu, Ronghua Xu

Michigan Tech Publications

Adversarial patch attacks have emerged as a powerful and practical threat to machine learning models in vision-based tasks. Unlike traditional perturbation-based adversarial attacks, which often require imperceptible changes to the entire input, patch attacks introduce localized and visible modifications that can consistently mislead deep neural networks across varying conditions. Their physical realizability makes them particularly concerning for real-world security-critical applications. In response, a growing body of research has proposed diverse defense strategies, including input preprocessing, robust model training, detection-based approaches, and certified defense mechanisms. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of patch-based adversarial attacks and corresponding defense techniques. …