Digital Commons Network^™

The Dangerous Rise Of Dual-Use Objects In War, Oona A. Hathaway, Azmat Khan, Mara R. Revkin

Faculty Scholarship

Each day, the news brings stories of military attacks on schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, electrical facilities, and other critical civilian infrastructure. The militaries attacking these objects often seek to justify the attacks by claiming that the civilian objects are being used by militants. Objects that are believed to have both military and civilian use are often referred to as “dual-use” objects. Even though the term has become common, international law does not recognize a “dual-use” object as a legally meaningful category. Rather, the postwar Geneva Conventions that lie at the core of modern international humanitarian law establish a bright line …

Shareholder Litigation In Delaware: An Empirical Investigation, James D. Cox, Randall S. Thomas, Lynn Bai

Faculty Scholarship

The empirical study of shareholder litigation in state courts is a seriously underexamined subject. To remedy this gap, we collected data on all 4,741 fiduciary duty complaints filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery over a sixteen-year period, from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2019. After removing the duplicative cases consolidated into a lead complaint, the number of unique complaints was reduced to 2,958 in our dataset. In our coding, we examined over one hundred variables (with many variables being further subdivided into as many as eight subvariables) for each of these cases, including information about the parties, claims, …

Judge–Scholar Collaboration And The Second Amendment, Andrew Willinger, Eric Ruben

Faculty Scholarship

Legal scholarship is overly abstract and theoretical, making it unhelpful to judges and lawyers. That, at least, is the classic critique from the bench. When it comes to the Second Amendment, however, a different pattern has emerged: judges consistently cite law review articles and look to the academy for guidance. Most recently, in United States v. Rahimi, some Justices went further, implicitly inviting more scholarly work to help the Court answer open questions raised by its novel methodological approach to the Second Amendment. This Article explores this aberrant trend.

We raise several explanations for the distinctive scholarly role in …

Multi-Risk Governance Of Solar Radiation Modification, Jonathan B. Wiener, Tyler Felgenhauer, Mark E. Borsuk

Faculty Scholarship

Solar radiation modification (SRM) presents important challenges to risk regulation and governance, arising from the array of multiple risks that SRM may influence. SRM would not simply reverse climate change, but could pose further ancillary impacts, depending on the method of SRM, such as stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), marine cloud brightening (MCB), or a space-based planetary sunshade system (PSS). We identify multiple risks that SRM may influence, both biophysical and sociopolitical, to be compared to the multiple risks that may be affected by greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and climate adaptation. This multi-risk framework helps analysts and decision makers identify, evaluate, …

Trade Secrecy's Information Paradox, Christopher Buccafusco, Jonathan S. Masur, Deepa Varadarajan

Faculty Scholarship

Trade secret law is meant to encourage socially beneficial behaviors by permitting firms to protect their investments in the creation of valuable information. In theory, the ability to protect valuable information will make firms more likely to create that information in the first instance. But the law can also be used to shield socially harmful behaviors from public oversight. Firms can assert trade secret protection to prevent journalists, watchdogs, and criminal defendants from learning whether they are engaged in dangerous, wrongful, or biased activity. Ideally, trade secret law should sort socially beneficial uses from socially harmful ones, permitting only the …

As They Think Best: A History Of The "One Crowded Hour" Autograph Manuscript, Jennifer L. Behrens

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Mapping Oral Medicine (Stomatology) & Oral And Maxillofacial Pathology International Organizations: A Scoping Review Of Global Data And Historical Analysis, Alessandro Villa

All Publications

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive form of brain cancer in which treatment is associated with toxicities that can result in therapy discontinuation or death. This analysis investigated clinical and genetic markers of vascular toxicities in GBM patients during active treatment.

Methods: In total, 591 non-Hispanic White GBM patients with clinical data were included in the analysis from NRG RTOG-0825. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were performed from genotyped blood samples (N = 367) by occurrence of thrombosis or hypertension (grade ≥ 2). A clinical prediction model was produced for each vascular toxicity. Significant GWAS variants were then added to the …

The Impact Of Perfumes And Cosmetic Products On Human Health: A Narrative Review, Sharifa Alblooshi

All Works

Background: The use of perfumes and cosmetic products is widespread, serving personal hygiene, aesthetic, and olfactory functions. However, concerns have been raised regarding the potential health impacts associated with long-term exposure to various ingredients used in these products. Objectives: This narrative review aims to synthesize evidence on the health risks associated with perfumes and cosmetics, focusing on specific health concerns, including fertility, respiratory health, cancer risk, allergies, skin disorders, endocrine disruption, and neurological effects. It also discusses the presence of heavy metals in cosmetics, regulatory challenges, and the need for transparency in ingredient disclosure. Methods: A comprehensive review of the …

Improving The Performance Of Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships For Sustainable Development In Coastal Areas : Sweden (Hanö Bay) As A Case Study, Jennie Larsson

World Maritime University Ph.D. Dissertations

Coastal areas are vital for both ecosystems and human societies. Comprising diverse terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, coastal areas provide us with essential resources and services. However, these areas are under threat from human activities and climate change, necessitating new governance structures to ensure their sustainable management and conservation. This research investigates how to improve the performance of local multi-stakeholder partnerships (M-SPs) in coastal areas, promoted as key mechanisms for achieving sustainable development goals. By drawing on stakeholder theory and using Pattberg & Widerberg’s (2014) analytical framework with nine building blocks for successful M-SPs as a foundation, the study examined …

Measuring The Effectiveness Of Internship Programs In Aligning Education With Industry During Covid-19: A Case Study, Fokiya Akhtar, Tarannum Parkar

All Works

This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of internship programs in aligning education with industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research focuses on the internship outcomes of College of Communication and Media Sciences (CCMS) students in various UAE organizations. This study employs Kirkpatrick's framework and analyzes 64 student reports over ten weeks to understand the strengths and areas of improvement in aligning academic instruction with real- world applications. The research focuses on the reaction and learning constructs in the alignment of theoretical teachings with practical experiences based on Kirkpatrick's framework. The study revealed that internships offer students a chance to …

An Explainable Ai And Optimized Multi-Branch Convolutional Neural Network Model For Eye Anemia Diagnosis, Kamel K. Mohammed, Nadia Dahmani, Rania Ahmed, Ashraf Darwish, Aboul Ella Hassanien

All Works

This paper proposes a novel, non-invasive approach to diagnosing eye anemia using deep learning techniques. Traditional methods, reliant on invasive procedures like venipuncture, are costly and can cause patient discomfort. Our model leverages a multi-branch convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture, incorporating the Hippopotamus Optimization (HO) algorithm and multiclass support vector machines (SVMs) for enhanced accuracy. To address data imbalance, we employ the Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) and data augmentation. The model is trained and evaluated on a dataset of 211 eye images. The model achieves a remarkable 97.06% accuracy, with a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve demonstrating an Area …

Females On Board, Stakeholder Orientation, And Esg Disclosure: An Evidence From The Tourism And Transportation Industries, Akrum Helfaya, Phuong Bui, Ahmed Aboud

All Works

In the tourism and transportation (T&T) industries, female directors' contributions are undervalued despite the strong emphasis on board gender diversity in management research. We investigate whether the impact of multiple board gender diversity measures on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices varies between shareholder- and stakeholder-oriented countries and between T&T industries, drawing on insights from both managerial and psychological perspectives. Using an international sample of 790 firm-year observations representing 79 listed firms from 16 countries, we find that gender diversity is positively associated with ESG disclosure practices, and this relationship is more pronounced in shareholder-oriented countries and the transportation sector. …

Streamlining Digital Elevation Model Construction From Historical Aerial Photographs: The Impact Of Reference Elevation Data On Spatial Accuracy, Xin Hong, Christopher H. Roosevelt

All Works

This study proposes a streamlined workflow for producing historical digital elevation models (hDEMs) from scanned 1950s aerial photographs using structure-from-motion and multi-view-stereo (SfM-MVS) techniques along with co-registration methods. We also conducted a sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of DEM references with varying spatial resolutions on the SfM-MVS process and co-registration accuracy. The DEM references included a 30 m SRTM DEM (low resolution), a 12 m TanDEM-X DEM (medium resolution), and a 5 m DEM provided by the General Directorate of Mapping of the Ministry of National Defense, Republic of T & uuml;rkiye (high resolution). Results indicate that higher resolution …

Deep Learning Models Based On Cnn, Rnn, And Lstm For Rainfall Forecasting: Jordan As A Case Study, La'aly A. Al-Samrraie, Ayman M. Abdalla, Khalideh Al Bkoor Alrawashdeh, Abeer Al Bsoul, Mohammad Abu Awad, Kamel Alzboon, Ahmed A. Al-Taani

All Works

This study is the first to compare deep learning models for rainfall prediction across several Jordanian cities representing diverse climates using 11 years of recorded climate data, something that previous studies have not addressed in the Jordanian context. The climate records for four Jordanian cities (Amman, Irbid, Karak, and Ajloun) were recorded hourly. The data was divided into training sets (80%) and test sets (20%), with and without the application of correlation analysis, feature selection, and data standardization steps applied. Three neural network models, Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), and Convolutional Neural Network-Recurrent Neural Network (CNN-RNN) were …

Science Education In The Age Of Misinformation, Elissar Gerges

All Works

No abstract provided.

Association Of Socio-Demographic Factors, Perinatal Characteristics, And Hospital Maternity Practices With Breastfeeding Outcomes In The Uae, Zainab Taha, Farid El Ktaibi, Rafiq Hijazi

All Works

Breastfeeding (BF) rates remain suboptimal in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite global and national efforts. This study examined the association of socio-demographic factors, perinatal characteristics, and hospital maternity practices with breastfeeding outcomes in the UAE. In this cross-sectional study, 1,815 participating mothers with children below the age of 2 answered structured questions related to socioeconomics, hospital practices, and BF. Multivariate analysis showed that a non-Emirati nationality and vaginal birth were significantly associated with higher initiation rates (AOR = 6.19, 95% CI 1.96–19.54 and AOR = 2.65, 95% CI 1.35–5.21, respectively), timely initiation (AOR = 0.48, 95%CI 0.35–0.66, respectively), longer …

Care‐Ful Encounters: A Case For Empathetic Youthful Encounters With Coastal Environments, Mark Holton

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper extends discourse of environmental stewardship and coastal management by examining the intersecting and overlapping relationships between notions of care and encounter in generating and maintaining forms of environmental empathy among young people at various socio-spatial scales. Exploring ‘care-ful encounters’ matters in terms of developing new ways of understanding how the choreographies of care and self-care shape, and are shaped by, encounters with human and non-human others, and prompts critical engagement and reflection with care as felt and experienced, that could otherwise be considered as distanced and ‘over there‘. Two key contributions emerge – first, that the combined role …

Effects Of Cognitive Rehabilitation And Exercise On Brain Structure In Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: Results From The Cogex Trial, Cogex Research Team, Francesco Romanò, Maria A. Rocca, Elisabetta Pagani, Maria Pia Amato, Giampaolo Brichetto, Jeremy Chataway, Nancy D. Chiaravalloti, Gary Cutter, Ulrik Dalgas, John Deluca, Rachel Farrell, Peter Feys, Jennifer Freeman, Matilde Inglese, Emilio Cipriano, Cecilia Meza, Robert W. Motl, Amber Salter, Brian M. Sandroff, Anthony Feinstein, Massimo Filippi

School of Health Professions

Background: We previously showed increased cortical grey matter (GM) volume in CogEx trial participants who performed cognitive rehabilitation (CR). Here, we explore combined CR and aerobic exercise (EX) effects on regional changes in brain volumes and white matter (WM) integrity. Methods: Seventy-three patients were randomized into four groups receiving a combination of CR and EX or their sham versions: CR + EX, CR + EX-sham, EX + CR-sham, and CR-sham + EX-sham. A diagnosis of progressive multiple sclerosis (PMS) and impaired information processing speed were required for inclusion. Participants attended a 12-week intervention twice/week. Assessments were performed at baseline, week-12 …

Zyn: The Social Buzz, Paula Hayek, Charlotte Mccormick, Page D. Dobbs

2025 Research Poster Competition

Use of nicotine pouches among adolescents are increasing as marketing of Zyn through social media platforms such as, TikTok, is spreading quickly. Micro-influencers on TikTok are presenting the nicotine pouch, Zyn, and its abundance of flavors. The attractiveness of Zyn is primarily due to its subtleness, assortment of flavors, and convenience. The objective of this research is to examine how social media marketing of Zyn pouches is influencing the increased use of this product among adolescents and young adults. This research will aim to answer how Zyn is being communicated on TikTok, what demographic is primarily depicted using or talking …

Zynfluencers: Decoding The New Wave Of Nicotine Culture On Tiktok, Abbie Walls, Page D. Dobbs, Susana Rodriguez Gongora

2025 Research Poster Competition

Significance: This research is crucial for understanding how ZYN, a leader in the rapidly growing nicotine pouch market, influences younger generations through platforms like TikTok. With the nicotine pouch industry projected to grow from $1.99 billion in 2022 to $22.98 billion by 2030, ZYNfluencers play a key role in shaping trends, building brand loyalty, and attracting new users. This phenomenon poses a challenge to tobacco control policies, as marketing strategies targeting youth—potentially with modified risk claims—could undermine efforts to limit nicotine's appeal. By examining ZYN’s impact on social media, this study highlights the need for updated regulations to address the …

Classification Of Tiktok Videos About Menthol Restriction Laws, Charlotte Mccormick, Susana Rodriguez Gongora, Paul Hayek, Abbie Walls, Naga Venkata Sai Raviteja Chappa, Khoa Luu, Page D. Dobbs

2025 Research Poster Competition

Significance. Globally, nations, states, and localities have enacted laws to restrict tobacco products that include menthol flavoring. While literature has examined policy discussions on text-based social media platforms, less is known about the characterization of menthol bans on video-based platforms, such as TikTok, that are popular among youth and young adults. The purpose of this study was to classify video content from TikTok about menthol restriction policies to identify products commonly portrayed and main themes of policy discourse.

Methods. A sample of 1260 TikTok videos posted between October 2018 and September 2023 were collected via a TikTok application programming interface …

Comparative Evaluation Of Swabbing Sites For Omicron Variant Detection In Pcr Testing, Tom Fowler, Edward Blandford, David Chapman, Matthias E Futschik, Raghavendran Kulasegaran-Shylini, Sarah Tunkel, Carolyn Lewis, Alasdair Fellows, Ellie Sheppard, Leanne Mccabe, Peter Marks, Paul E Klapper, Andrew Dodgson, Malur Sudhanva, Mike Kidd, Andy Vail, Susan Hopkins, Tim Peto

School of Biomedical Sciences

PURPOSE: The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 raised concerns about the best sampling sites for PCR testing, with early indications suggesting throat swab samples were better than nasal swab samples. Our study evaluated the sensitivity of detecting SARS-CoV-2 across different swabbing sites.

METHODS: Participants undergoing testing at NHS Test and Trace sites in England provided self-collected samples using nose only, throat only, and combined nose and throat swabs, which were analysed by realtime PCR.

RESULTS: Among 815 participants, combined swabs had higher viral concentrations than nose only or throat only swabs. Sensitivity for detecting SARS-CoV-2 by PCR was 91 % for …

Edible Algae Reduce Blood Pressure In Humans: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Randomised Controlled Trials, Patricia Casas-Agustench, Sandra Mínguez, Zoe Brookes, Raul Bescos

School of Health Professions

BACKGROUND: Edible algae contain bioactive compounds such as peptides, fucoidan, polyphenols, potassium, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants that may benefit cardiovascular health, particularly in lowering blood pressure (BP) regulation. Certain species, including Nori and Kelp, are also rich in inorganic nitrate, known for its BP-lowering effects. However, the relationship between algae consumption and hypertension remains controversial. This study evaluated the effects of edible algae on BP in humans, considering factors such as algae type, format, dosage, intervention duration, health status, and baseline BP.

METHODS: A systematic search of Medline-Pubmed, Scopus and Cochrane databases was conducted through December 2024. Randomised controlled …

Sexual Communication Patterns Of Heterosexual-Identified Men Who Have Sex With Men, Travis R. Scheadler, Megan W. Rowe, Salem Rao, Oliver W.J. Beer, Tyrone J. Curtis, Sandra Kwan, Shih Ju Claire Lung, Adam Busch, Daniel Vandervoort, Paul A. Shuper, Andrew D. Eaton

School of Health Professions

The sexual communication patterns that comprise how heterosexual men with concordance between identity and behavior navigate their sexual encounters with women are well-established. Some heterosexual men experience discordance between their sexual identities and behaviors and may have unique practices of sexual communication, but this has not been studied. Knowledge of their sexual communication practices is an important step toward understanding and improving their sexual experiences. Therefore, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 heterosexual-identified men who have sex with men to learn more about their sexual communication strategies. Three themes were identified through interpretative phenomenological analysis: meeting sex partners, clear communication …

Leveraging Artificial Intelligent For Optimized Crop Production: An Ann-Based Approach, Yahya Layth Khaleel, Fadya A. Habeeb, Mustafa Abdulfattah Habeeb, Fatimah N. Ameen

Mesopotamian Journal of Computer Science

To incite modern day crop production and ensure sustainability, exact crop recommendations are key to the process. This study pays significant attention to the need for the use of big data tools in studies involving comprehensive data sets that contain information on soil and other environmental characteristics. The set of data used in this research includes Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium content coordinated with Temperature, Humidity, pH Value, and Rainfall. Knowing these factors is to make a favorable decision about improving agricultural products yield, availability and management of the resources, as well as general well-being of the crops. Specialized advisory on …

The Next Frontier In Computer Science, Trends And Research Opportunities, Mostafa Abdulghafoor Mohammed, Z. T. Al-Qaysi, Tahsien Al-Quraishi

Mesopotamian Journal of Computer Science

No abstract provided.

Anila: Adaptive Neuro-Inspired Learning Algorithm For Efficient Machine Learning, Ai Optimization, And Healthcare Enhancement, Ismael Khaleel, Wijdan Noaman Marzoog, Ghada Al-Kateb

Mesopotamian Journal of Computer Science

The Adaptive Neuro-Inspired Learning Algorithm (ANILA) offers a breakthrough in the realm of machine learning by drawing inspiration from the biological processes of the human brain. Developed to address limitations in conventional models such as CNNs and RNNs, ANILA enhances real-time responsiveness, energy efficiency, and system adaptability. By emulating neurobiological behaviors particularly sparse coding and synaptic plasticity ANILA allows systems to process data dynamically, adjust to novel inputs without retraining, and scale effectively across environments like IoT and healthcare diagnostics. Performance evaluations highlight significant reductions in latency, increases in energy efficiency (up to 92%), and exceptional adaptability to changing data …

Woa-Covid-19: Whale Optimization Algorithm For Selection Of Multi-Examination Features Based On Covid-19 Infections, Karrar Hameed Abdulkareem, Mazin Abed Mohammed, Zaid Abdi Alkareem Alyasseri, Dawood Zahi Khutar, Osama Ahmad Alomari

Mesopotamian Journal of Computer Science

Since its emergence in late 2019, COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) has become one of the most critical global health threats, claiming millions of lives and placing many more at serious risk. The complexity of diagnosing COVID-19 lies in the wide range of clinical and examination features involved, prompting researchers to explore various advanced diagnostic methods. However, one of the main challenges is identifying the most relevant features that can streamline and improve diagnostic accuracy. In this study, we propose a feature selection approach based on the Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) to identify key examination indicators associated with COVID-19. We used …

Real-Time Sdn–Iot Integrated Framework For Intelligent Emergency Vehicle Prioritization In Smart Cities, Sura F. Ismail

Mesopotamian Journal of Computer Science

Urban traffic control has become increasingly complex with rising vehicle density, particularly in smart cities. Timely arrival of emergency vehicles is critical, yet existing systems relying on manual transmitters and sirens offer limited range and effectiveness. This paper proposes a real-time intelligent traffic management framework integrating Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, and the Edge of Things (EoT)—a paradigm combining edge computing with IoT to enable low-latency processing at the network edge. The framework connects the SUMO traffic simulator and Veins vehicular network framework via TraCI, with the RYU SDN controller dynamically adjusting traffic signals and vehicle routes …

Synthesizing Deception: Countering Large Language Model-Generated Phishing Campaigns Through Adaptive Semantic Anomaly Detection, Bekim Fetaji, Debabrata Samanta

Mesopotamian Journal of Computer Science

The paper fills in a gap in the literature that demonstrates an insufficient number of sturdy detection schemes that can recognize the small semantic aberrations inherent in LLM-generated deceptive text. Our proposed co-design hybrid model is Semantic Anomaly Detection with Isolation Forest (SADI) model that combines the synergistic mixture of a fine-tuned transformer-based LLM for deep semantic feature extraction with Isolation Forest algorithm that detects anomalies efficiently. This study introduces SADI, an adaptive semantic-anomaly detector for large-language-model phishing emails. Using a corpus of 10 000 messages, SADI attains an F1 score of 0.981 (95 % CI 0.978–0.984) and processes a …