Digital Commons Network^™

Fleet: A Federated Learning Emulation And Evaluation Testbed For Holistic Research, Osama Abu Hamdan, Hao Che, Engin Arslan, Md Arifuzzaman

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Federated Learning (FL) presents a robust paradigm for privacy-preserving, decentralized machine learning. However, a significant gap persists between the theoretical design of FL algorithms and their practical performance, largely because existing evaluation tools often fail to model realistic operational conditions. Many testbeds oversimplify the critical dynamics among algorithmic efficiency, client-level heterogeneity, and continuously evolving network infrastructure. To address this challenge, we introduce the Federated Learning Emulation and Evaluation Testbed (FLEET). This comprehensive platform provides a scalable and configurable environment by integrating a versatile, framework-agnostic learning component with a high-fidelity network emulator. FLEET supports diverse machine learning frameworks, customizable real-world network …

Explaining The Unseen: Multimodal Vision-Language Reasoning For Situational Awareness In Underground Mining Disasters, Mizanur Rahman Jewel, Mohamed Elmahallawy, Sanjay Kumar Madria, Samuel Frimpong

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Underground mining disasters produce pervasive darkness, dust, and collapses that obscure vision and make situational awareness difficult for humans and conventional systems. To address this, we propose MDSE, Multimodal Disaster Situation Explainer, a novel vision-language framework that automatically generates detailed textual explanations of post-disaster underground scenes. MDSE has three-fold innovations: (i) Context-Aware Cross-Attention for robust alignment of visual and textual features even under severe degradation; (ii) Segmentation-aware dual pathway visual encoding that fuses global and region-specific embeddings; and (iii) Resource-Efficient Transformer-Based Language Model for expressive caption generation with minimal compute cost. To support this task, we present the Underground Mine …

Artificial Intelligence In Dentistry: A Cross-Domain Bibliometric Analysis Of Technologies, Functional Applications, And Dental Specialties, Yinghui Yang, Cheng-Chia Yu, Min Yee Ng

Journal of Dental Sciences

Background/purpose: Artificial intelligence is increasingly applied in dentistry across diagnosis, prediction, treatment planning, education, and patient communication. This study aimed to provide a structured cross-domain overview of dental AI research by integrating AI technologies, functional applications, and dental specialties within one bibliometric framework.

Materials and methods: AI-related dental publications from 2016 to 2026 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. Original and review articles were screened and classified by AI technology, functional application, and dental specialty. Bibliometric mapping, collaboration analysis, keyword co-occurrence, and heatmap-based cross-domain visualization were performed.

Results: A total of 920 publications were included. Publication …

Oral Health Knowledge Across Cultural Boundaries: A Physiology And Hygiene Textbook From The Tamsui Middle School During The Japanese Colonial Period, Hung-Lun Pan, Feng-Chou Cheng, Chun-Pin Chiang

Journal of Dental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Artificial Intelligence-Powered Chatbots’ Responses To Orthodontic Questions From The Dentistry Specialization Examination: Accuracy And Source Evaluation, Berrak Çakmak, Tevhide Sökmen, Burcu Balos‚ Tuncer

Journal of Dental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Race, Reparative Justice, And Climate Change-Related Migration, Monica Visalam Iyer

FIU Law Review

The question of how to appropriately respond to migration linked to climate change is increasingly being debated in academia, in government and policy circles, and, crucially, in international legal and climate policy forums. These debates often center on data and on understanding the true numbers of people who might migrate in the context of climate change, and how much of this migration can accurately be linked to climate change, or on the security and logistical concerns associated with responding to this “challenge,” or on the appropriate legal box into which people migrating in this context can be shoved. Too often, …

The Protection Of Geographical Indications Under Comparative Lens: Whether Law Artificially Creates Scarcity Of Goods, Domenico Di Micco

FIU Law Review

The economic principles of supply and demand dictate that market prices are contingent on the conditions under which supply and demand converge. Within this theoretical framework, the concepts of scarcity and abundance assume paramount significance. When goods are scarce, prices tend to escalate, while in cases of abundant supply, prices tend to decline. But what factors determine scarcity and abundance? In many cases, scarcity is inherent to the nature of the commodity (for example, diamonds are rarer than common stones). In other cases, such as geographical indications, scarcity is constructed through the legal denomination associated with the commodity, thereby creating …

The Italian Rice Production: Between Tradition And Globalization, Bianca Gardella Tedeschi

FIU Law Review

The Article examines the Italian rice sector as a case study in how law mediates the tensions between territorial agricultural traditions and the pressures of globalization. Focusing on the rice-producing districts of Piedmont and Lombardy, the Article argues that the resilience of Italian rice production cannot be explained solely by agronomic or economic factors. Rather, it depends on a dense legal and institutional framework that structures water governance, quality control, market organization, and contractual relations across the supply chain.

The Article develops three principal claims. First, it shows that the competitiveness of Italian rice production rests on an integrated model …

Experiential Learning: Making It Matter In Early Childhood Preparation, Laura Mccorkle, Sheena Jennings, Dana Childress

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

In recent years, the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) has put forth recommendations for the field through the development of the Position Statement on Ethical Practice and Personnel Standards in Early Childhood Special Education. Additionally, principles outlined in the Early Childhood Education/Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education (ECE/EI/ECSE) Crosswalk and the DEC promote supervised, community-based learning across varied environments and the birth-to-age-8 continuum. This article, which includes four figures, provides support to faculty in developing experiential learning opportunities (ELOs) within their programs of study for EI, ECE, and/or ECSE preservice professionals.

International Law, The Courts, And The Political Branches Of Singapore: Painting A Complete Picture, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In line with Singapore's vision of the separation of powers, the courts' duty is primarily to give effect to domestic law; the political branches take the lead in engaging with international law. A study of Singapore's interface with international law would therefore be incomplete were it to consider only the courts' role and not the political branches' model of international law as primarily a guarantor of Singapore's sovereignty and standing as a participant on the international stage. The political branches have been circumspect in engaging with international law in other areas, such as human rights, preferring a specifically Singaporean vision …

Performance Of Large Language Models In Answering Orthodontic Questions: A Scoping Review, Tu Manh Nguyen, Fang-Yu Fan, Ying-Sui Sun, Yang-Che Wu, Sheng-Wei Feng, Hao-Ting Chen, I-Ta Lee, Pao-Chang Chiang

Journal of Dental Sciences

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly explored as novel platforms for delivering orthodontic information. Although their capacity to generate rapid, structured, and accessible responses has been widely recognized, concerns persist regarding performance variability and the risk of generating inaccurate outputs. Given the heterogeneity of existing evidence, this scoping review aimed to systematically map the current research landscape and synthesize findings on the application of LLMs in addressing orthodontic queries. This review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Studies were retrieved from PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library up to November 30, 2025. Twenty-six studies met the eligibility criteria …

International Comparison Of Oral Hypofunction Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults In Three Asian Countries: A Cross-Sectional And Multi-National Study, Ryosuke Yanagida, Kohei Yamaguchi, Kazuharu Nakagawa, Chantaramanee Ariya, Patcharaphol Samnieng, Megan F Liu, Nai-Chia Teng, Ting-Yi Renn, Rieko Moritoyo, Sirinthip Amornsuradech, Kanako Yoshimi, Haruka Tohara

Journal of Dental Sciences

Background/purpose: In aging Asian societies, oral hypofunction among older adults has gained importance, with most epidemiological studies conducted in Japan. We aimed to compare oral function in community-dwelling older adults in Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Materials and methods: Community-dwelling older adults aged ≥ 60 years who participated in Yokohama, Taipei, and Phitsanulok health surveys (May 2022–September 2024) were included. Age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and denture use data were recorded. Using the Japanese Society of Gerodontology diagnostic framework, seven oral hypofunction components were evaluated: oral hygiene, oral dryness, occlusal force, tongue–lip motor function, tongue pressure, masticatory function, …

Meaningful Work: A Phenomenological Study Of Embedded Writing Peer Mentors, Susan S. Detwiler

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This phenomenological case study examines the experiences of writing peer mentors who are embedded in a first-year inquiry-based writing seminar. It aims to understand how peer mentors who are engaged in the complex practice of supporting first-year writers in a writing classroom make sense of themselves and writing. At a large R-1 diverse university, I interviewed 6 writing peer mentors 3 times over 1 calendar year. I traced their development from mentees, (first-year writing students), through their three semesters of peer mentoring. They also shared written reflections from their training praxis course (a course for peer mentors focusing on their …

Rethinking Theories Of Political Discourse: The Limitations Of The Deliberative-Agonistic Split, Connor Moran

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

What are “theories of political discourse,” why do they matter to political theory, and where do current ones fall short? This dissertation mines the existing resources availed by contemporary democratic theory in order to respond to the discursive challenge of “pernicious polarization,” particularly in the United States. The most comprehensive and influential theories of political discourse today have been furnished by the almost 40-year debate between deliberative democracy and agonism, both of which offer normative models centered on ameliorating the quality of political discourse.

The key finding of the dissertation is that the foundational works of the deliberative-agonistic split lack …

Classification, Service Provision, And Early Academic Skills Of Early Elementary School Students Who Received Services As A Preschool Student With A Disability, Meghan Conboy

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Youth with disabilities benefit from coordinated supports and services, particularly during early childhood when they are developing foundational abilities that will influence their developmental trajectory (Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center, 2015; Sandall et al., 2005). Preschool-aged students who enter kindergarten with adequately developed pre-academic skills are more likely demonstrate high performance levels in academic domains throughout compulsory education compared to peers with low pre-academic skills (Christensen et al., 2020; Fitzpatrick, 2017; Hair et al., 2006; Tavassolie et al., 2022). However, despite the knowledge that both preschool programs and high-quality and effective early intervention benefit children across their lifetime, limited research …

School Leaders’ And Teachers’ Sensemaking Of Performance-Based Learning And Assessment Reform Initiatives, Kate Jarrard

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Educational leaders occupy a difficult position in the landscape of reform, as they are at times charged with initiatives that conflict with existing guidance and core instructional work. Effective change requires more than program redesign; it demands shifts in people’s behavior. For school leaders, the challenge is not simply understanding a new initiative, but making personal sense of it and then communicating it coherently to staff in ways that generate genuine commitment, all while navigating the gap between standard and innovative practice, bridging from policy intent to classroom-level implementation.

In the case of school performance, standardized testing has long anchored …

Reviving Southern Divides: Multilevel Explorations Of Gentrification’S Role In School Resegregation In Tallahassee, Florida From 1999 – 2015, Ola U. Kalu

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation examines whether neighborhood gentrification in Tallahassee reshaped Title I elementary schools by improving academic outcomes, changing who enrolled, or both, from 1999 to 2015. Using Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Model as a conceptual scaffold, the study situates schools within their neighborhood and district contexts across three nested analytical levels. A two-wave panel design using 2010 and 2015 school-year observations is linked to a 2000 Census baseline to connect school data with spatially weighted neighborhood change indicators. Mixed-effects multilevel models and fixed-effects robustness checks estimate the associations between neighborhood change indicators and two continuous dependent variables: standardized ELA achievement and …

Systematic Literature Review: Elevating Black Voices Through Universal Social-Emotional Learning Interventions, Natasha J. Hogg

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This systematic literature review examined the outcomes of culturally responsive universal Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) interventions for Black students in K-12 school settings addressing mental health, racial trauma, and racial disparities. Following the PRISMA protocol, a comprehensive search was conducted across PsycINFO, EBSCO, and five academic journals by April 2025. Results yielded 11 peer-reviewed articles with 2,246 Black participants published between 1994 and 2024. Exclusion criteria included sole focus of Tier 2 or 3 interventions, lacking Black student populations, or lacking outcomes aggregated by race. Seven SEL interventions were identified with risk of bias assessed by a secondary reviewer. Thematic analysis …

Discord Is Still A Chord: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Discourse Networks, Brokerage, And The Fiscal Consequences Of Fracking Policy In The Delaware River Basin, In Hae Noh

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Beneath the policy debates of many environmental controversies lies a dynamic network of actors making claims, forming coalitions, and contesting policy discourses. Drawing on theories of discourse coalitions, discourse networks, network brokerage, and public finance, and using the Delaware River Basin hydraulic fracturing debate as a case study, this dissertation examines how discourse coalitions evolve, how discourse brokers shape coalition dynamics, and whether resulting policy decisions produce meaningful fiscal consequences. The first paper investigates how discourse coalitions shifted across three periods of the Delaware River Basin fracking debate, using a mix of methods integrating discourse network analysis, computational text analysis, …

Cognate Awareness Training For Novice L2 Learners: Orthographic And Phonological Routes To Vocabulary Learning, Jennifer M. Martin

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Within the study of cross-linguistic influence, research on cognate facilitation has consistently shown that proficient bilinguals process cognates (e.g., English “sock” and German “Socke”) more efficiently than non-cognates. However, less is known about how novice adult learners may benefit from these similarities during the earliest stages of second language acquisition or how instructional interventions might facilitate this process. This dissertation addressed this gap through experiments with English-speaking adults learning German. A series of experiments examined the effects of cross-linguistic similarity and explicit cognate awareness training on vocabulary acquisition. Experiment 1A found robust similarity effects in written recall and …

On Quantum Processes And The Epistemic Constraints, Varun Immanuel Premkumar Immanuel

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This doctoral dissertation on the foundations of quantum theory tells the story of a conceptual protagonist I have called “Epistemic Constraint.” Here, epistemic constraints are the definite, intersubjectively agreeable, ordinary-language conditions under which experiments are described.

The usual formulation of the quantum measurement problem, which I call the Schrodingerian measurement problem, has the structure of an anomaly: if we take quantum theory at face value, we expect no definite values, and yet we see definite values in experiments. The responses to this problem have been either to solve it or to dissolve it. These responses, which have taken the form …

Intergroup Relationship Attitudes Among Multicultural Adolescents In South Korea: Friendship, Dating, And Marriage, Jeewoo Shin

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation asks how multicultural adolescents in South Korea develop their attitudes toward crossing group boundaries in social and intimate life—whom they would accept as a close friend, a romantic partner, and a spouse—and what factors shape these attitudes. Korea’s immigrant population has grown more than seventyfold since 1990, largely through marriage migration, and the children of those unions are now reaching adulthood. Research on these adolescents has focused on how well they adjust, leaving open how they themselves come to view relationships across group lines.

Using eight annual waves of the Multicultural Adolescent Panel Study (N = 1,112), which …

Race And Racism In Canada’S Immigration Detention System, Efrat Arbel, Prasanna Balasundaram, Hanna Gros, Nana Yanful

All Faculty Publications

Race and Racism in Canada's Immigration Detention System is the first comprehensive, independent study to examine race and racism in Canada's immigration detention system. Grounded in rigorous legal analysis and qualitative research, the study draws on interviews with 50 participants, including people with lived experience of immigration detention, as well as lawyers, paralegals, and service providers who work in immigration detention. The research was guided by an advisory board of people with lived-experience in immigration detention and co-led by a collaborative research team.

Model Law? Template Legal Culture And The Global Production Of Environmental Law, Natasha Affolder

All Faculty Publications

Lawyers build from templates. Accounts of how law is made rarely mention them. New legislation tends to present itself as original. It is almost never made from scratch. This article makes the hidden process visible. It does so through a study of the near-global spread of environmental impact assessment (EIA) legislation since 1969, using computer-assisted textual similarity analysis to trace what I expected to be identifiable model laws and clear lines of legal inheritance. The search yielded instead a transnational repertoire of legal fragments, repeatedly recombined into new legislative forms across different legal traditions, languages and decades. EIA's legislative spread …

Models Of Emulation: Representations Of Foreign, Indigenous, And Accented Speech In Early American Literature, Elaina A. Frulla

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

“Models of Emulation: Representations of Foreign, Indigenous, and Accented Speech in Early American Literature” explores how American writers used depictions of “nonstandard” English and accented English language speech, traditionally described as “literary dialect,” as a way to negotiate identity, power, and political belonging in the formative years of nation building after the American Revolution. Beginning with Noah Webster’s mission to establish a standardized pronunciation of the English language that would simplify and purify spoken American-English and definitively differentiate it from what he saw as the corrupted, cosmopolitan British-English model, each of the three chapters examines literary representations of nonstandard emulated …

From Policy To Practice: Strengthening Black Intellectual Engagement In Psu’S Resr Curriculum, Chantell Wesley

Anthós

This article examines how Portland State University’s Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice (RESR) requirement, while framed as an institutional commitment to equity and inclusion, can inadvertently reproduce White Language Supremacy within Black Studies classrooms. The central question guiding this analysis is how general education equity mandates shape the pedagogical and linguistic conditions of discipline-specific courses, particularly when those courses are positioned as service spaces for non-majors. I argue that RESR implementation often shifts instructional emphasis toward students less familiar with Black intellectual traditions, thereby displacing disciplinary rigor and marginalizing Black students’ intellectual labor.

Methodologically, this study draws on autoethnographic reflection …

Gendered Words And Patent Grant Rates: A Textual Analysis, Deborah R. Gerhardt, Miriam Marcowitz-Bitton, W. Michael Schuster, Avshalom Elmalech, Omri Suissa, Moshe Mash

Faculty Publications

Text is a vehicle to convey information that reflects the writer’s linguistic style and communication patterns. By studying these attributes, we can discover latent insights about the author and their underlying message. This article uses such an approach to better understand patent applications and their inventors.

While prior research focuses on patent metadata (i.e., filing year or gendered inventor names), we employ machine learning and natural language processing to extract hidden information from the words in patent applications. Through these methods, we find that inventor gender can often be identified from textual attributes—even without knowing the inventor’s name. This ability …

A Qualitative Study Of Undergraduate Underrepresented Minoritized Students’ Online Learning Experiences, Susanne Morris

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

This dissertation reports a qualitative secondary analysis of 37 semi-structured interviews with 40 undergraduate underrepresented minoritized (URM) students. Guided by social constructionism and intersectionality, the study explores how students make sense of online learning as a sociomaterial environment, attending to perceptions of constraints, affordances, and missing or misaligned signifiers. Interviews were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s Reflexive Thematic Analysis to examine how institutional norms and course design shape what students experience as doable, safe, and meaningful. The study offers insight relevant to research and practice in equity and online learning.

Unveiling The Shadows: An Exploratory Study On Ghostwriting, Gray Markets, And The Ethics Of Contract Cheating, Micah Crawford

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Contract cheating has become an increasingly complex challenge for higher education, particularly as digital platforms, global academic labor markets, and generative artificial intelligence reshape the production and detection of academic work. While much of the existing literature examines contract cheating from the perspectives of students, faculty, and institutions, less attention has been given to the individuals who produce ghostwritten academic work. This dissertation addresses that gap by exploring how shadow scholars understand their roles, ethical boundaries, and participation within the academic integrity ecosystem.

Using an exploratory qualitative design, this study draws on twelve semi-structured narrative interviews with six freelance academic …

Critical Discourse Analysis Of Nil Policies: Examining Institutional Control And Economic Opportunities For Division I Football Athletes In Power Four Universities, Allen T. Alvarez

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

The adoption of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies has redefined the economic landscape of collegiate athletics, expanding opportunities for student-athletes and reshaping institutional authority. This dissertation nvestigates how NIL policy language at Division I universities frames economic possibilities for football student-athletes and sustains systems of governance. Through a Critical Discourse Analysis of policy documents from Power Four and mid-major institutions, this study reveals that NIL participation is persistently conditioned by institutional approval, compliance monitoring, and ambiguous definitions, especially regarding boosters and collectives.

Policy language presents NIL as an opportunity but embeds institutional control through oversight structures. The analysis further …