Digital Commons Network^™

Integrating A Teachers’ Instructional Practices Online Database (Tipod) In Pre-Service Teacher Preparation, Dodi Hodges, Gayle Disney, Judy Engelhard

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

The Teachers’ Instructional Practices Online Database (TIPOD) is a project designed for use with pre-service teacher candidates at Coastal Carolina University (CCU). The project requires teacher candidates to research evidence-based strategies from peer-reviewed journals and submit them to an online database that teachers can use in their classrooms. Currently under construction and used for the first time in Spring 2008, TIPOD is an outgrowth of a sister project, the Instructional Practices Online Database (ISOD), which was implemented at Bowling Green State University in 2003 by the senior author. This paper presents the purpose and description of TIPOD, steps for implementation, …

Scenarioxp: A Complete Scenario–Based Testing Framework For The Exploration And Exploitation Of Autonomous Vehicle Validation Scenarios, Quentin Goss

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Today is an age of exiting emerging technology where cutting-edge research in autonomous vehicles (AVs) reduces the active human participation in driving and extends awareness beyond human limitations of perception and reaction, improving driving safety and quality of the user experience as a result. The ever-increasing complexity of these autonomous systems poses many challenges towards the validation and verification (V\&V) of these complex systems under time and resource constraints, as the use of artificial intelligence and also the intricacy of the operating environment means that these systems are also black-box and non-deterministic. Scenario-based V\&V testing of such systems, which involves …

Terrorism By The Numbers: Event And Structural Determinants Of Attack Outcomes, Claire Lebakken

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

This project aims to identify which event-level and structural covariates are most predictive of terrorism outcomes. Using the Global Terrorism Database (1970–2020), we examine whether fatalities, injuries, attack type, target type, and actor type, combined with national-level conditions, can reliably predict outcomes such as lone actor versus group involvement, attack method, target selection, and property damage. Event-level data are merged with World Bank Development Indicators and Freedom House scores to incorporate economic and governance contexts. After cleaning the data, creating dummy variables, and log-transforming skewed measures (e.g., GDP per capita), we apply logistic and multinomial logistic regression models to test …

Water Sources And Livelihood Choices Among Pastoralist Households In Monduli District, Tanzania, Fredrick Alleni Mfinanga, Jacqueline Temba, Monica F. Timbuka

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper investigates the association between types of water sources for livestock and livelihood choices of pastoralist households in semi-arid areas of Monduli District, Tanzania. Specifically, it aims to examine the influence of the types of water sources for livestock on livelihood diversification of pastoralist households. Using a mixed research methods approach, the data were collected from 367 households through three methods: surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies and counts, and inferential statistics, Chi-square tests and correlation, while the qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. The findings revealed …

Constraints To Adopting Locally Based Innovation Systems In Adapting To Climate Change Impacts In Serengeti District, Tanzania, Donald Mwiturubani

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Smallholder farmers in rural Tanzania depend mainly on rain-fed agriculture, which makes them vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This paper is based on a study conducted in Burunga and Musati villages in Serengeti District, Tanzania. The study employed a mixed methods approach; combining qualitative and quantitative methods. It involved 154 participants and employed household surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions as data collection methods. The findings suggest that smallholder farmers in the study area are aware of climate change and do, indeed, develop, adopt, and use locally-based innovation systems that avert or minimise its impacts. Smallholder …

Analysis Of Traditional Wisdom For Ecological Sustainability In Tanzania: A Case Study Of Metaphorical Source Domains In Pangwa Ritual Texts, Winne Stephen Mtega, Angelus Mnenuka

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Campaigns for ecological sustainability have gained a great currency in the contemporary academic discourse. Nonetheless, from time immemorial, Africans have pushed the ecological sustainability agenda through cultural taboos and regulated resource harvesting. Many African societies have embedded ecological consciousness in daily life expressions, and have intricately expressed it through literary and ritual texts. This study focuses on ecological awareness in the ritual texts of the Pangwa community. It analyses how environmental domains—such as land, seeds, and fruits—serve as the basis for metaphors in the Pangwa community to prove the use of wisdom to promote and sustain ecological practices (ecocriticism). The …

Ecomusicological Representation Of Climate Change And Environmental Sustainability In Selected Bongo Fleva Lyrics In Tanzania, Auson N. Wincheslaus

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This article critically explores how Bongo Fleva’s lyrics engage with environmental themes; and the interrelationship between nature and culture in the context of the Anthropocene. The data were purposively sampled from YouTube via content analysis, from which 50 Bongo Fleva songs were listened to, and only 10 environmentally-themed songs were analysed. Then, the selected songs were subjected to transcription (from oral to written form), translation (from Kiswahili into English), and close reading and textual analysis. The close reading of the selected songs focused on the employed aesthetic and rhetorical strategies, such as anthropomorphism, symbolism, antithesis, apocalyptic tones, solastalgia, rhetorical questions, …

Ecosystem-Based Flood Disaster Risk Reduction In The Little Ruaha River Basin, In The Southern Highlands Of Tanzania, Mawazo Ghambi, Tiemo Romward Haule

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Ecosystem-based approach that integrates floods and environmental risk management is believed to reduce flood disaster risk while providing socio-economic and environmental benefits to floodplain occupants. This study examined the socio-economic and environmental benefits of the ecosystem-based approach in managing flood disaster risk in the Little Ruaha River Basin in the southern highlands of Tanzania. The study involved 157 participants and employed the mixed research design to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Semi-structured interviews, in-depth interviews, direct field observation and Focus Group Discussions were used to collect primary data, whereas documentary review was used to collect secondary data. Findings revealed that …

Resilience Among Smallholder Irish Potato Farmers To The Impacts Of Climate Variability In Wanging’Ombe District, Tanzania, Timotheo Bilary Ngalaga, Digna Wolfram Mlengule, Jackson Raymond Sawe

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper examines smallholder farmers’ adaptation strategies to climate variability, and their resilience in enhancing their capacity to adopt. The data was collected from 98 heads of households using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The methods of data collection included household surveys, focus group discussions (FGDs), in-depth interviews, and document review. The quantitative data were analysed using the IBM SPSS (Version 23), while the qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that 69.4% of respondents reported a decrease in rainfall, while 89.8% reported an increase and fluctuations in temperature over the past 29 years. Moreover, the findings …

Climate Change Vulnerability And Adaptation Pathways: Stakeholders’ Synergies In Building Climate Resilience In The Semi-Arid Area Of Central Tanzania, Helena Elias Myeya

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This article examines the perceived effect of climate change on cereal crop production and the responses of various stakeholders aimed at enhancing the resilience of smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of central Tanzania. A total of 366 household heads, 28 participants in focus group discussions (FGDs), and 8 key informants from Bahi and Kongwa districts in Dodoma, Tanzania, were involved in this study. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through a structured interview schedule, FGDs, in-depth interviews, and documentary reviews. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyse quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. The findings indicate that smallholder …

Teacher Retention Across Contexts: Examining Teacher Workforce Stability And Its Impact On Student Outcomes In Traditional Public And Charter Schools In New Jersey, Telia Bennett

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Teacher retention remains a critical factor in understanding disparities in student outcomes across school systems. This study examines the relationship between four-year teacher retention and student outcomes in New Jersey, with particular attention to differences between traditional public schools and charter schools. The study includes approximately 4,003 district-level observations across 670 school systems and includes six years of data (2018–2019 through 2023–2024) from the New Jersey School Performance Reports,

Findings indicate that higher rates of four-year teacher retention are generally associated with improved ELA proficiency and lower rates of chronic absenteeism, although the strength and statistical significance of these relationships …

Enhancing The Capability Of A Hybrid Twdm/Pon Using Waveguide-Integrated Si/2d Material-Based Photodetector With The Most Suitable Metal-2d Material-Metal (M-2dm-M) Configuration, Neha Neha, Chakresh Kumar, Ghanendra Kumar

Polytechnic Journal

In the proposed work, a novel architecture of a 10-channel hybrid time-wavelength division multiplexing/passive optical network (TWDM/PON) system is investigated for different data rates: low data rate (2.5 Gbps) and high data rate (10 Gbps) using different two-dimensional (2D) material-based photodetectors with a metal-2D material-metal (M-2DM-M) device structure. Integration with Silicon (Si) semiconductor makes the detectors highly compatible with complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The performance of the system is measured in terms of eye diagrams obtained using OptSim Software. Graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), and black phosphorus (BP) are the three materials used to enhance performance metrics of high-speed optical networks. …

Ucc Minutes Mar 13, 2026, Undergraduate Curriculum Council

Undergraduate Currirculum Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Enhanced Antenna Selection Techniques For Energy-Efficient Code Index Modulation Aided Spatial Modulated Wireless Communication Systems, Fati̇h Çögen, Burak Ahmet Özden, Erdoğan Aydin

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

This study proposes an integrated multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transceiver framework, termed CIM-HQAM-SM, which combines code index modulation (CIM) and spatial modulation (SM) with energy-efficient hexagonal quadrature amplitude modulation (HQAM). In the proposed bit mapping, the information bits jointly select (i) the active transmit-antenna index, (ii) the Walsh–Hadamard spreading-code indices for the in-phase and quadrature branches, and (iii) an HQAM symbol. Hence, the payload is conveyed through the constellation symbol as well as through antenna and code indices. For the considered Rayleigh-fading scenarios and matched spectral-efficiency settings, the proposed framework offers BER improvements over conventional SM and quadrature SM (QSM), while …

An Ensembled Two-Phase Deep Learning Approach For A Psychiatric Disorder Detection, Prajna Paramita Debata, Midhun Chakkaravarthy, Brojo Kishore Mishra

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Computational Psychiatry represents a burgeoning realm within scientific inquiry, delving into the intricate interplay of neurobiology within the brain. The escalating prevalence of mental illness underscores the urgency to confront this challenge. Among the prevalent disorders, Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder loom large, affecting a significant portion of the population at some point in their lives. However, pinpointing psychiatric disorders poses a formidable challenge. Genetic predispositions significantly influence the development of mental illnesses, with intriguing overlaps observed among certain disorders. This convergence complicates accurate diagnosis. Here, a deep learning approach is considered for significant gene biomarker identification and classification of Schizophrenia …

Sentisec: Combining Keyword Heuristics And Sentiment Modeling For Ai-Powered Threat Detection, Ridho Surya Kusuma, Erum Ashraf, Selvakumar Manickam, Shankar Karuppayah

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

This work presents SENTISEC, a hybrid LLM-based threat detection framework designed to classify security logs by integrating keyword heuristics, domain-adapted sentiment scoring, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). The system achieves an overall accuracy of 93.67%, with 91.46% macro recall, 89.07% macro F1, and 95.15% threat recall, while maintaining a low false-positive rate of 1.68%. Its methodology incorporates strict keyword and IOC matching, a domain-tuned DistilBERT sentiment module, hybrid BM25–MiniLM retrieval enhanced with BGE reranking, adaptive quantile-based threshold calibration, and SHAP-based explainability. Comparative evaluations against keyword-only, sentiment-only, classical machine-learning models, and DistilBERT-only baselines show that SENTISEC consistently improves both true-positive and true-negative …

Optimal Network Reconfiguration Based On Discrete Metaheuristic Techniques For Reduction Of Power Loss And Carbon Emission In Distribution Networks, Asad Ali, Hazlie Mokhlis, Nurulafiqah Nadzirah Mansor, Hussain Shareef, Hasmaini Mohamad, Munir Azam Muhammad

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Power distribution systems play a crucial role in transmitting electrical power from generation sources to end users. During transmission, significant power losses occur in the form of heat as the current flowing along the lines/cables has resistance. To minimize power losses, distribution network reconfiguration (DNR) has been widely adopted. This paper proposes optimal DNR based on metaheuristic techniques with discrete mutation feature targeting active power loss reduction, which subsequently lowers carbon emissions and operational costs. Through the discrete mutation feature, computational time to find optimal solution has been reduced significantly with fewer iterations compared to conventional mutation techniques. The proposed …

Structural Insights Into Host-Pathogen Interactions Of Coronaviruses And Alphaviruses, Lucas Adams

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The co-evolution of virus and host may partly be understood in terms of “cross-recognition”; that is, as a virus evolves to recognize and infiltrate a suitable cellular environment, the host reciprocally has evolved to recognize and thwart such an invasion. While this interplay is complex, audacious structural biologists may reduce it to discrete physical interactions between the virus and specific host factors, such as cognate receptors (i.e., viral recognition of host) or antibodies (i.e., host recognition of virus). These interactions underlie basic features of viral infection, including cellular tropism and antiviral immunity, as well as critical phenomena of viral evolution, …

Empirical Validation Of Einstein’S Coefficient For The Deflection Of Light Due To Gravitational Forces, Alexandra R. Mcdowell

Honors College Theses

Einstein’s formula to calculate the deflection angle of light through space as it interacts with gravity was introduced in his 1916 publication on general relativity. This was not a new idea, but his equation was, and it was correct. Just 3 years after this publication, it was empirically validated by Sir Arthur Eddington and Sir Frank Dyson. Since that experiment in 1919, at least seven others have been performed that also gave definitive answers in support of Einstein’s deflection constant of 1.751 arcseconds. The two most recent ones made groundbreaking contributions to this effort. The 2017 eclipse showed reproducible results …

Sgsc-Kko-Lstm: A Deeplearning Classifier Model For Smart Grid, Dushmanta Kumar Das, Samaniba Imchen

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Maintaining smart grid stability is crucial for the reliable operation of decentralized electricity networks, especially as the energy sector becomes more complex. The process of ensuring grid stability begins with collecting consumer data and comparing it to power supply requirements. Ultimately, consumers receive a report showing their energy use and pricing details. However, this process is time-consuming and can be improved by leveraging artificial intelligence to predict smart grid stability more efficiently. Specifically, an optimized Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network is proposed to predict smart grid stability, addressing the challenges associated with traditional data collection and evaluation methods. Simulations from …

Reducing Complexity In Versatile Video Coding Intra-Coding Through Machine Learning-Based Optimization Of Partitioning And Prediction, Amina Kessentini, Amna Maraoui, Imen Werda, Fatma Ezahra Sayadi

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The escalating demand for high-resolution multimedia content has necessitated more efficient video compression solutions. The Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standard, despite achieving remarkable compression gains, introduces significant computational complexity, primarily due to its exhaustive Rate-Distortion Optimization (RDO) process. To address this, we propose an intelligent approach leveraging supervised machine learning techniques to streamline the VVC encoding process. Specifically, we introduce a Lightweight Neural Network (LNN) for efficient coding unit partitioning decisions and a Decision Tree (DT) classifier for optimizing the intra prediction process. This dual-method framework, tailored for All Intra coding configuration, significantly reduces encoder complexity while maintaining compression performance …

Designing Risk-Aware Mixed-Mode Evacuation Strategies For Tsunamis: Insights From İstanbul, Vedat Bayram, Doruk Ergez, Ada Arikanoğlu

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

​Tsunamis pose severe and time-critical risks to densely populated coastal cities, where limited warning times and infrastructure constraints demand carefully coordinated evacuation strategies. This study develops an integrated, risk-aware optimization framework that jointly considers vertical and horizontal sheltering options together with mixed pedestrian-vehicular evacuation dynamics. The proposed mixed-integer second-order cone programming (MISOCP) model simultaneously determines vertical shelter location, evacuee assignment, road-use designation for pedestrians and vehicles, and route selection under congestion, capacity, and budget constraints. Vehicle travel times incorporate congestion effects through a convex flow-dependent function, while pedestrian routing ensures convergent and conflict free evacuation paths. A risk-minimization objective accounts …

Employing A Hysteresis Approach To Analyze Shifts In Tree Physiological Thresholds In Response To Drought, Mauro Brum, Annie Deslauriers, Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur, Tanner Frost, David Moore, Caroline Rodrigues Da Silva, Daniel B. Metcalfe, Heidi Asbjornsen

Faculty Publications

Drought‐induced tree mortality underscores the need for improved physiological models to predict tree responses to water stress. We employed a hysteresis modelling approach analyzing diel water absorption and desorption cycles to understand drought‐induced shifts in physiological thresholds. We applied this approach to sap flow (Js), stem diameter fluctuation (SDF), stem volumetric water content fluctuation (SVWCF), and vapour pressure deficit (VPD), datasets from two throughfall reduction experiments in contrasting ecosystems: a cloud forest (Peru) and a temperate forest (USA). Using a generalised transcendental equation, we quantified five diurnal hysteresis loops (Js:VPD, Js:SDF, Js:SVWCF, SDF:VPD, SVWCF:VPD) and derived hysteresis parameters (centroids, area, …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

No abstract provided.

A Joint Optimization-Based Novel Attack For Genomic Beacon Reconstruction, Kousar Saleem, Si̇nem Sav

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Genomic data sharing has become an essential component of biomedical research, enabling large-scale collaborations and accelerating discoveries in human genetics. To balance the need for accessibility with privacy concerns, several controlled-access mechanisms have been proposed, including genomic beacons. Genomic beacons answer simple presence/absence queries about specific genetic variants. However, prior work has demonstrated that beacons remain vulnerable to genome reconstruction attacks, where an adversary can recover large portions of participants’ genomes using summary statistics. Building on insights from prior reconstruction attacks, we introduce an approach that unifies SNP correlation and allele frequency alignment objectives within a single-stage joint optimization framework. …

Automated Software Size Measurement Using Multilingual Domain-Adapted Language Models, Samet Tenekeci̇, Hüseyi̇n Ünlü, Burak Keçeci̇, Muhammed Efe İnci̇r, Onur Demi̇rörs

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Software Size Measurement (SSM) is crucial for estimating required project effort as well as budget and schedule. However, many small and medium-sized companies struggle to apply objective SSM due to limited resources and lack of expertise. This often leads to inaccurate estimates and project overruns. There is a need for practical, low-resource solutions that support these tasks without requiring expert involvement. Motivated by this challenge, this study proposes an automated software size measurement approach that formulates the measurement task as supervised regression over natural language requirements, using domain-adapted transformer models. We construct large-scale Turkish and English software engineering corpora to …

Re: Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit - Draft Final 2022 Insufficiently Reclaimed Sites Sampling: Bres No. 96 – Washoe Dump Site Evaluation Summary Report, Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Draft Final Phase I Pre-Design Investigation Evaluation Report Blacktail Creek Riparian Actions Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Of The Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site Silver Bow County, Montana, Hydrogeologic, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Draft Intermediate (60%) Remedial Design Report Blacktail Creek Riparian Actions Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Of The Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site Silver Bow County, Montana, Hydrogeologic, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Draft Final Remedial Design Work Plan Blacktail Creek Riparian Actions Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Of The Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site Silver Bow County, Montana, Hydrogeologic, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.