Digital Commons Network^™

Garage Sale Web-Based Information System, Sonachi Mogbogu

Systems Manuals - 2026

The Garage Sale web application is in response to a business need of an online interactive system. This system will support the interaction between owners and shoppers of garage sale event. The online information system is a great idea to implement because it will help create sales awareness which will lead to increase in the customer base, and increased sales for event organizers. People are used to the traditional approaches, advertising events through word-of-mouth and posting signs alongside roads, however, having an online information system will be more effective in reaching a wider market of buyers. The traditional approaches do …

Genome-Wide Association Meta-Analysis Of Human Olfactory Identification Discovers Sex-Specific And Sex-Differential Genetic Variants, Franz Förster, David Emmert, Katrin Horn, Janne Pott, Johannes Frasnelli, Mohammed Aslam Imtiaz, Konstantinos Melas, Valentina Talevi, Honglei Chen, Christoph Engel, Michele Filosi, Myriam Fornage, Martin Gögele, Markus Löffler, Thomas H Mosley, Cristian Pattaro, Peter Pramstaller, Srishti Shrestha, N Ahmad Aziz, Monique M B Breteler, Kerstin Wirkner, Markus Scholz, Christian Fuchsberger

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Smelling is a human sense, expressing strong sexual dimorphisms. We aim to improve the knowledge of the genetics of human olfactory perception by performing an exploratory genome-wide association meta-analysis of up to 21,495 individuals of European ancestry. By sex-stratified and overall analysis of the identification of twelve odours and an identification score, we discovered ten independent loci, seven of them novel, with trait-wise genome-wide significance (p <  5 × 10−8) involving five odours. Seven of these loci, including four novel ones, are also significant using a stricter study-wide significance threshold (p <  3.85 × 10−9). Loci were predominantly located within clusters of olfactory receptors. Two loci were female-specific while one was sex-differential with respective candidate genes containing androgen response elements. Two-sample Mendelian randomization was applied to search for causal relationships between sex hormones, odour identification and neurodegenerative diseases. A causal negative effect was detected for Alzheimer’s disease on the identification score. These findings deepen our understanding of the genetic basis of olfactory perception and its interaction with sex, prioritizing mechanisms for further molecular research.

"I Don't Think Librarians Can Save Us": The Material Conditions Of Information Literacy Instruction In The Misinformation Age, Amber Willenborg, Robert Detmering

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This national qualitative study investigates academic librarians’ instructional experiences, views, and challenges regarding the widespread problem of misinformation. Findings from phenomenological interviews reveal a tension between librarians’ professional, moral, and civic obligation to address misinformation and the actual material conditions of information literacy instruction, which influence and often constrain librarians’ pedagogical and institutional roles. The authors call for greater professional reflection on current information literacy models that focus on achieving ambitious educational goals but which may be unsuitable for addressing the larger social and political crisis of misinformation.

Path-Goal Leadership Theory: An Examination Of Teacher Leadership Behavior And Teacher Motivational Influence Of Vocational Education Students, Genna B. Boyd

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative study was to examine the relationship betweenteacher leadership behaviors and teacher influences on academic motivation amongst students currently enrolled in vocational education and training (VET) programs in the State of Florida. Grounded in Robert House’s Path-Goal Leadership Theory, the study investigated how specific leadership behaviors impact student motivation within VET settings. While research on leadership and student motivation is extensive in general education, limited empirical attention has been given to how these variables interact in the context of VET. Utilizing a quantitative survey design distributed online, data was collected from students across multiple VET …

Realism, Instrumentalism, And The Language Of Science Teaching: A Quantitative Study, James M. Almand

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental, correlational study was to investigate how science educators' epistemological orientations, specifically, their leanings toward realism or instrumentalism, influence the degree of certainty in their instructional language. The study addressed a significant gap in science education literature by empirically analyzing whether educators' philosophical beliefs about the nature of scientific knowledge predict the language they use when teaching science. Data were collected through a researcher-developed survey, the Science Educators' Epistemological Beliefs and Classroom Language Practices Survey, which measured participants' epistemological positions and linguistic tendencies across a sample of current and former science educators in the United …

Unlocking The Neurochemical Secrets Of Aging: Investigating The Impact Of Gaba Producing Probiotics On Healthy Aging, Sanaly Nava, Isabel Harbig, Dishant Aggarwal, Samjhana Pradhan, Ken Aho, Kavita Sharma

Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research

Aging is a gradual process of weakening bodily function that leads to decline in physical, cognitive and behavioral abilities. Gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), a major neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, is produced by both neurons and gut bacteria, and plays a crucial role in numerous physiological functions. Notably, aging is associated with a decline in GABA production and alterations in gut microbiota. Therefore, restoring GABA production by correcting dysbiosis presents a potential strategy for managing age-related functional decline. To better understand how to support healthy aging, our study investigates the gut-brain axis and the potential of genetically modified GABA-producing …

Data-Driven Police Profiling, Christopher Slobogin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Police departments increasingly rely on algorithms and other data- driven methods of identifying high-crime areas andpeople who are at high risk for involvement in crime. This Article examines several constitutional obstacles to this type ofpolicing. First, to the extent that these algorithms rely on data entitled to privacy protection, they may violate the Fourth Amendment. Second, the steps police take in response to a "hot" place or person designation must also be subject to constitutional regulation. Further, the principle of legality should prohibit the police from acting on any risk designation, even one that is very likely accurate, in the …

Putting Police Body-Worn Camera Footage To Work: A Civil Liberties Evaluation Of Truleo's Ai Analytics Platform, Farhang Heydari, Max Isaacs, Katie Kinsey, Barry Friedman, Christopher Slobogin, Alissa M. Heydari

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article summarizes findings from a civilliberties evaluation of Truleo, an Al-powered analytics platform designed to automate thereviewofpolice body-worn camera (BWC) footage. It includes a summary of how Truleo's platform works, policy choices made by the company, and our assessment ofsafeguards and risks of the platform from a civil liberties perspective. This Article also offers a series of recommendations for policymakers considering the adoption of Truleo or similar technologies. These indude the necessity for independent testing of claimed benefits, democratic authorization for deployment, and ongoing transparency and public input around the platform's design and operation. Importantly, this Article argues that …

Putting Police Body-Worn Camera Footage To Work: A Civil Liberties Evaluation Of Truleo's Ai Analytics Platform, Christopher Slobogin, Farhang Heydari, Max Isaacs, Katie Kinsey, Barry Friedman, Alissa Marque Heydari

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article summarizes findings from a civilliberties evaluation of Truleo, an Al-powered analytics platform designed to automate thereviewofpolice body-worn camera (BWC) footage. It includes a summary of how Truleo's platform works, policy choices made by the company, and our assessment ofsafeguards and risks of the platform from a civil liberties perspective. This Article also offers a series of recommendations for policymakers considering the adoption of Truleo or similar technologies. These indude the necessity for independent testing of claimed benefits, democratic authorization for deployment, and ongoing transparency and public input around the platform's design and operation. Importantly, this Article argues that …

Building A Long Text Privacy Policy Corpus With Multi-Class Labels, David Stein, Florencia Marotta-Wurgler

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Legal text poses distinctive challenges for natural language processing. The legal import of a term may depend on omissions, cross-references, or silence, Further, legal text is often susceptible to multiple valid, conflicting interpretations; as the saying goes: a good lawyer’s answer to any question is “it depends.”This work introduces a new, hand-coded dataset for the interpretation of privacy policies. It includes privacy policies from 149 firms, including materials incorporated by reference. The policies are annotated across 64 dimension that reflect the applicable legal rules and contested terms from EU and US privacy regulation and litigation. Our annotation methodology is designed …

Justice Citizenship, Lauren Sudeall

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In recent years, the topic of democracy has seen a resurgence-perhaps due in part to a recognition of its heightened global instability. Yet, in these pervasive discussions regarding democracy and its role with respect to governance, relatively little attention has been paid to the courts, particularly at the state and local levels where most people are likely to interact with them. In a time when the courts' authority is being questioned, it may be helpful to emphasize that courts, like all democratic institutions, are "of the people, by the people, [and] for the people." In relation to the other branches …

Artificial Intelligence And Humanoid Robotics: Bioethical Implications Of Replacing Human Agency In Healthcare And Beyond, Sara Feizyab, Gabriele Bonetti, Maria Chiara Medori, Cecilia Micheletti, Immacolata De Luca, Kevin Donato, Jan Miertuš, Mehmet Sait Dundar, Miroslava Vráblová, Gary Henehan, Richard Brown, Robert Marks, Stanislav Miertus, Lorenzo Lorusso, Gianluca Martino Tartaglia, Munis Dundar, Sandro Michelini, Stephen Thaddeus Connelly, Ariola Bacu, Tommaso Beccari, Ornela Gordani, Xhilda Dhamo, Eglantina Kalluci, Dominika Vešelényiová, Iveta Dirgová Luptáková, Jiri Pospíchal, Matteo Bertelli

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

The integration of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and humanoid robotics into healthcare represents a critical evolution in biotechnology with profound societal implications. This review explores the bioethical implications of these technologies, and their potential to displace human agency in life-critical decisions. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach encompassing ethics, law, and technology. The review examines how innovations in AI and robotics might shift autonomy from humans to machines, and addresses the accountability challenges inherent in such transitions. We synthesize discussions on the ethical management of AI and robotics, underscoring the importance of maintaining human oversight and integrating ethical standards in technology …

Teratogenic Effects Of Serotonin Receptor 2b Disruption On The Migration And Cardiac Derivatives Of The Cardiac Neural Crest, Brian K. Wells, Gwyneth K. Garramone, Amira Mahomed, Max Ezin

Biology Faculty Works

Background: Cardiac neural crest cells (cNCCs) are critical for heart development, and their disruption can result in congenital heart defects. Serotonin (5-HT) signaling, specifically via 5-HT2B and 5-HT2C receptors, regulates diverse physiological processes, including neural crest migration. This study investigates how modulation of 5-HT2B and 5-HT2C receptor activity impacts cNCC migration and the development of their derivatives, with relevance to serotonergic drug safety during pregnancy.

Methods

Chicken embryos at HH8 were treated with 50 μL of 20 μM 1-Methylpsilocin (1-MP), an inverse agonist of 5-HT2B and agonist of 5-HT2C, and collected at HH14 to assess cNCC migration. Embryos were pre-treated …

Decomposing Crowding Out Effect In The Philippines: Leveraging Fiscal Policy To Drive Inclusive Growth, John Paolo R. Rivera, Mary Grace R. Agner, Viory Yvonne T. Janeo, John Angelo F. Cristobal

DLSU Business & Economics Review

Fiscal stimulus programs have substantively kept the Philippine economy afloat during crises and in facilitating recovery. In pursuing steeper growth, there is a tendency to harness fiscal policy at the expense of crowding out private investment and consumption, which defeats the ultimate purpose of such policy. Using time series analysis, we assess the degree of crowding out effect in the Philippines and its implications for the effectiveness of fiscal policy as a macroeconomic stabilization and growth driver tool. Although scholarly literature has used aggregate government spending in probing the existence of a crowding out effect on aggregate investment and consumption …

Multifaceted Skepticism: A Comprehensive Approach In Auditing Practice, Ida Ayu Budhananda Munidewi, Unti Ludigdo, Ali Djamhuri, Wuryan Andayani

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This research uses a modified grounded theory approach to understand the behavior of auditors in Indonesia who have an Eastern cultural background in applying professional skepticism. The research results reveal that auditor behavior in practice applies multifaceted skepticism. Multifaceted skepticism refers to the idea that professional skepticism in auditing is not a one-dimensional approach. That recognizes the complexity of the audit environment and the need for auditors to consider various factors when applying their skepticism. Multifaceted skepticism brings us to a less simplistic view of professional skepticism, which until now has only been seen as an on-or-off switch. Instead, this …

Leveraging Capital Structures Of Philippine Publicly Listed Companies, Michael Angelo A. Cortez

DLSU Business & Economics Review

In this study, I revisit the determinants of corporate capital structures of publicly listed businesses in the Philippines, emphasizing major characteristics previously identified in academic literature, including tangibility, profitability, company size, non-debt tax shields, and growth. I investigate how companies’ financial actions correspond with or deviate from traditional capital structure theories within the context of the Philippine economy’s reliance on short-term, high-cost lending and its evolving capital market. Using a descriptive-exploratory approach to analyze 210 observations from 21 businesses listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange from 2014 to 2023, I performed a quantitative analysis of construct relationship using cross-sectional generalized …

Budget Deficit Spending Causes Inflation, Roberto B. Raymundo, Paulynne J. Castillo

DLSU Business & Economics Review

Using the Cochrane-Orcutt iterative procedure, the paper provides strong statistical evidence that inflation is a monetary phenomenon caused by budget deficit spending when the central bank buys government debt. Regression results validate that increasing budget deficits lead to the issuance of more debt securities the central bank uses to back the creation of new money. The central bank purchases government securities from commercial banks to implement expansionary monetary policy. The increase in money supply is not possible without the issuance of government debt securities, which, in turn, is only undertaken by the Bureau of Treasury when it finances budget deficits. …

Covid-19 Vaccine Attitudes And Behaviors Among Pregnant Women In Nairobi, Kenya With Diverse Socio-Economic And Educational Backgrounds, Jessica Schue, Ferdinand Okwaro, Ingrid Gichere, Daizy Cherono, Mandeep Sura, Emily Miller, Berhaun Fesshaye, Prachi Singh, Grace Belayneh Belayneh, Rupali Limaye, Marleen Temmerman

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Introduction

Methods

“It’S Okay To Rob, Rape, Torture, Kidnap And Murder Jewish Women Again: Towards Understanding The Development Of 21st Century Left-Wing Antisemitism”, Spencer J. Pack

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Impact Computer-Assisted Learning Has On Elementary Students Mastering Math Standards, Amanda Geelan

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Math fact fluency is a fundamental skill students need to become proficient in to engage in higher-level math skills. For many students, learning their math facts and becoming fluent in them can be a challenge. This inquiry-based research study aims to determine if the use of computer-assisted learning programs such as Math Fact Lab can help educators meet the varying needs of their students while also making learning math facts an engaging and personalized educational experience for students. The study utilized a quantitative approach, using both Math Fact Lab placement test scores as well as data from the learning levels …

Teacher Identification Of Learned Helplessness And Supportive Strategies, Kathleen A. De Jong

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Learned helplessness is a common problem in the upper grades of compulsory education. It creates frustration and has a significant negative impact on academic achievement. Teachers need to accurately identify learned helplessness behaviors before they can promote effective strategies for student autonomy, resilience, and academic success. Research has shown that appropriate strategies successfully mitigate or prevent learned helplessness, but misguided strategies will exacerbate the problem. This study aims to examine the behaviors that teachers currently associate with learned helplessness and the strategies they have found to be successful in mitigating its effects in their classrooms. After reviewing literature on learned …

Personalized Learning Strategies In The Classroom, Kendra Carlson

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Personalized learning is essential for students to be more engaged and have higher achievement in the classroom. There are too many students who are struggling in the classroom with staying engaged and this is then leading to students struggling with their learning. Research has shown that personalized learning strategies can provide promising outcomes for students who are struggling in the classroom. This inquiry-based research study aims to determine if personalized learning strategies can help struggling learners to be engaged and learn in the classroom. The study utilized a qualitative approach, using both teacher surveys and observations of a summer school …

Trauma-Informed Training For Early Childhood Educators, Tarah Bryant

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

More students are arriving in the early childhood classroom with trauma. This trauma can lead to PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), ADHD and reactive attachment disorder. This leads to early childhood teachers feeling burned out and experiencing secondary trauma. Despite this, early childhood educators are not getting additional training that would help support children who have exposure to trauma. In addition, the training they have received doesn't include classroom strategies or social-emotional materials that would address the uptick in trauma-impacted children. The purpose of this study was to look at the perspectives of early childhood educators when it comes to their …

Using Decodable Books For In-Class Independent Reading To Improve Accuracy, Lindsey Meyer

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Young children often receive time to read independently at school, so they can practice and apply the skills they are learning in the classroom to connected texts. It is important to be mindful of the types of books available to students during independent reading to ensure the books provide the proper amount of support for reading success and achievement. Most classrooms are filled with traditional books, which offer a wide range of text complexity, but decodable books, books that follow a phonetic scope and sequence, are being used now more than ever before, as teachers work to more closely align …

Virtual Reality For Improving One-Class Classification Accuracy On Pharmaceutical And Medical Data, Hyrum Redd, John H. Kalivas

Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research

Virtual reality (VR) is quickly expanding its jurisdiction in terms of usability in classrooms and professional settings. In this poster, VR is used as an interface where the user can perform one-class classification (OCC) to make sample classification decisions producing higher accuracy results than an autonomous ML algorithm. This VR practice, a branch of the larger scientific domain termed immersive analytics, takes advantage of a human’s innate ability to recognize patterns and solve problems when faced with novel situations, something that machine learning (ML) and large language models struggle with. One-class classification is an important scenario that arises in many …

Automated Mycoplasma Genitalium Molecular Macrolide Resistance Detection And Nucleic Acid Target Semi-Quantitation: Patient Demographic Considerations, Josephine Moore, Trinity Krueger, Amanda Zapp, Stephen C. Lavey, Kimber L. Munson, Irene A. Stafford, Michael E. Newcomb, Brian Mustanski, Erik Munson

Clinical Lab Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Recent work has optimized parameters of a real-time reverse transcriptase PCR-based laboratory-developed test on the Panther Fusion system which detects Mycoplasma genitalium-specific macrolide resistance-associated mutations LDT (MRM-LDT) from primary swab and urine specimens. In this study, MRM-LDT was applied to a large multi-demographic study set to further characterize M. genitalium resistance in the United States. A total of 2,145 primary clinical specimens testing positive for M. genitalium 16S rRNA by transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) were initially titered by the same assay using serial 10-fold dilutions to determine relative target nucleic acid burden. Specimens were then processed for MRM-LDT. Findings were stratified …

Rachel B. Griffis, Julie Ooms, And Rachel M. De Smith Roberts, Deep Reading: Practices To Subvert The Vices Of Our Distracted Age, Christopher Evan Franklin

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Imperfection, Sinfulness, And Holiness: A Reply To Vicens, Mark C. Murphy

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Restoring Calibration For Aligned Large Language Models: A Calibration-Aware Fine-Tuning Approach, Jiancong Xiao, Bojian Hou, Zhanliang Wang, Ruochen Jin, Qi Long, Weijie J Su, Li Shen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

One of the key technologies for the success of Large Language Models (LLMs) is preference alignment. However, a notable side effect of preference alignment is poor calibration: while the pre-trained models are typically well-calibrated, LLMs tend to become poorly calibrated after alignment with human preferences. In this paper, we investigate why preference alignment affects calibration and how to address this issue. For the first question, we observe that the preference collapse issue in alignment undesirably generalizes to the calibration scenario, causing LLMs to exhibit overconfidence and poor calibration. To address this, we demonstrate the importance of fine-tuning with domain-specific knowledge …

Distributed Monitoring Of Moving Thermal Targets Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles And Gaussian Mixture Models, Gustavo Vejarano, Yuanji Huang, Pavithra Sripathanallur Murali

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Works

This paper contributes a two-step approach to monitor clusters of thermal targets on the ground using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and Gaussian mixture models (GMMs) in a distributed manner. The approach is tailored to networks of UAVs that establish a flying ad hoc network (FANET) and operate without central command. The first step is a monitoring algorithm that determines if the GMM corresponds to the current spatial distribution of clusters of thermal targets on the ground. UAVs make this determination using local data and a sequence of data exchanges with UAVs that are one-hop neighbors in the FANET. The second …