Digital Commons Network^™

Robust Low-Rank Tensor Discriminant Analysis With Optimal Scoring, Kyle Brinker

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Robust discriminant analysis with optimal scoring has been shown effective for classifying high-dimensional matrix data, particularly in the context of two-dimensional images. The proposed method presents an extension of the Multi-Projection Optimal Scoring Discriminant Analysis framework introduced by Huang \& Zhang (2020), incorporating low-rank Tucker decomposition and regularization techniques to address higher-dimensional cases. The enhanced method is designed to effectively handle tensor-structured data, which is prevalent in imaging applications. The model creates a sparse discriminant projection tensor B that captures class-specific features, such as ball-like patterns in image data and indicators of Alzheimer’s disease in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans. …

Optimizing Emissions And Sustainability Of Alternative Fuel Buses Using Machine Learning And Life-Cycle Modeling, Md Rezwan Hossain

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Public transportation is undergoing a critical transition as agencies seek to balance environmental responsibility, operational efficiency, and economic viability. Alternative fuel buses (AFBs), including electric, compressed natural gas (CNG), propane, and biodiesel, offer opportunities to reduce emissions and advance sustainability, yet their adoption raises complex trade-offs. High upfront costs, infrastructure constraints, range limitations, and variable real-world performance complicate decisions for fleet managers and policymakers. This dissertation addresses these challenges by integrating real-world operational data, life-cycle modeling, and machine learning within a multi-objective optimization framework to evaluate and optimize AFB deployment. Using detailed telematics and GPS datasets from Central Florida's transit …

Design Tool For Ammonia Cracker Hardware, Andrew Menendez

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Ammonia is a promising carbon-free fuel for commercial aviation and represents a viable pathway toward net-zero emissions. However, direct ammonia combustion is inefficient, creating the need for onboard cracking to generate hydrogen for improved combustion characteristics. One pathway for onboard cracking is to have the hardware live around the combustor liner where heat generated from the combustion process can be used to sustain the reaction. This study aims to develop a design tool for the ammonia cracking reactor hardware. A simplified, single-step surface reaction mechanism was implemented using ANSYS FLUENT and CHEMKIN PRO R1, demonstrating strong agreement with experimental data …

Advancing Drug Discovery With Structural And Representation Learning Of Biological Systems, Mehdi Yazdani-Jahromi

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The rapid emergence of global health crises, exemplified by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, underscores the profound limitations of conventional drug discovery methods, which are inherently protracted and resource-intensive. A robust, accelerated response framework demands the sophisticated deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) across the entire therapeutic pipeline. We propose a unified approach centered on \textbf{Structural and Representation Learning} to capture the intricate topological and chemical nuances of biological systems, thereby transforming complex molecular and genomic data into effective vector embeddings suitable for deep learning, enhancing predictive power, and crucially, interpretability. This dissertation details advancements across …

Large Language Models And Networks: Edge Proposal, Synthetic Corpora, And Adaptive Node Generation, Nathan Gonzalez

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have evolved from brittle rule-based engines through data-driven statistical models to today’s transformer architectures whose multi-head attention enables rich contextual reasoning. Against this backdrop, this dissertation unifies three complementary investigations that deepen our understanding of how large language models (LLMs) can reason over, generate, and strategically adapt language within networked settings. First, instruction-tuned LLMs are recast as latent-relationship detectors: by prompting models to hypothesize links between text-described entities, we recover edge sets that reconstruct social, thematic, and citation graphs with high precision, revealing how attention distributions encode topological cues. Recognizing the difficulty …

Performance Analysis Of A Turbofan Intergrated With An Entropy-Minimized Heat Exchanger For Ammonia-Powered Aviation, Lucas K. Cavalcante

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Ammonia has emerged as a promising aviation fuel due to its carbon-free emissions, well-established production methods, and transportation infrastructure. However, challenges with its slow chemical kinetics and low flame speed necessitate the partial cracking of Ammonia to introduce hydrogen as a combustion promoter. This study addresses these challenges by designing and optimizing a tube bank heat exchanger to transfer heat from the Cooled Cooling Air (CCA) of the High-Pressure Compressor (HPC) to the Ammonia stream, facilitating the necessary cracking. Preliminary heat transfer calculations indicate insufficient heat in the CCA to achieve cracking temperatures, prompting an alternative approach: splitting the Ammonia …

High-Efficiency Dual Active Bridge Converter With Stacked Secondary Phase For Next-Generation Ai Data Center Power Delivery, Anirudh Ashok Pise

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The rapid electrification of hyperscale AI data centers is accelerating a shift from legacy 48 V distribution ladders to ±400 V high-voltage DC backbones, concentrating residual loss and dynamic stress on a single isolated bidirectional interface. This work presents a high-density Dual Active Bridge with Stacked Secondary Phasing (DAB-SSP) architecture as a scalable GaN-based solution for 48 V–800 V rack-level power conversion. By stacking 400 V secondaries, the topology leverages 650 V GaN devices while satisfying 800 V system requirements, reducing clearance and creepage distances, minimizing magnetic path lengths, and embedding leakage inductance necessary for wide-range zero-voltage switching.

A rigorous …

Autoignition Delay Times For Reformate Gas Mixtures From Methane Gas Engines, Matthew Fraze

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Methane slip is a prominent issue in natural gas reciprocating engines that are used in transportation and marine applications. The incomplete combustion that results in methane slip can be resolved with the introduction of hydrogen within the combustion mixture to improve methane oxidation and further enable combustion within the engine crevices where methane has previously remained unreacted. Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) is a common method used to produce hydrogen and can be used to design an onboard device to reduce methane slip from reciprocating engines. The development of this reformer device requires the validation of high-fidelity chemical kinetic mechanisms at …

Integrated Performance-Based Framework For Evaluating Alternative Containment Systems In Subtitle D Landfills Managing Coal Combustion Products, Poyu Zhang

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Designing landfill containment systems that remain effective over decades to centuries poses significant challenges in geoenvironmental engineering, especially for landfills managing coal combustion products (CCPs) with complex hydraulic and chemical behaviors. This dissertation aims to develop an integrated, performance-based framework for evaluating landfill barrier systems by combining numerical modeling, experimental leaching tests, and machine learning prediction. The first component assesses the equivalency of the Florida double liner system relative to the Subtitle D composite liner mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). Using field leakage observations and COMSOL Multiphysics-based numerical simulations, results demonstrate that the Florida system, when …

Characterization Of Turbulent Flames In Confined Combustors, Max Fortin

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

As industry transitions to a net-zero carbon future, turbulent premixed combustion will remain an integral process for power generating gas turbines and are also desired for aviation engines due to their ability to minimize pollutant emissions. However, accurately predicting the behavior of a turbulent reacting flow field remains a challenge. To better understand the dynamics of premixed reacting flows, this study experimentally investigates the evolution of turbulence in a high-speed bluff-body combustor. The combustor operates across a range of equivalence ratios from 0.7-1 to quantify the role of heat release and flame scales on the evolution of turbulence as the …

Aluminum Alloys For Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing And Process Optimization By Machine Learning, Kevin Graydon

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing is a promising manufacturing technology enabling enhanced design freedom through layer-by-layer production. However, traditional, wrought aluminum (Al) alloys suffer from solidification cracking during LPBF processing and the initial printer parameter optimization process required for every novel or untested material is time and resource intensive. There exists a need to formulate Al alloys for LPBF and a method to reduce the resources consumed during initial printer parameter optimization studies. Al-9.5Ce-xMo (x = 0.2, 0.6, 1.0 wt. %) alloys have been designed specifically for LPBF utilizing the CALPHAD approach. Additionally, a neural network model was …

Dordt University 2025-26 Catalog, Dordt University. Registrar's Office

Academic Catalogs

Academic Catalog for 2025-26

Iere Annual Report 2025, Erin Largo-Wight, Heather Barnes Truelove, Kelly Rhoden, Nicole Lowe, Ruby Cox

Annual Reports

2025 Annual Report of the Institute for Environmental Research and Education

A Delaware Bay Field Season; Shorebirds And Scientists, Sally O'Byrne

Delaware Ornithologist

No abstract provided.

Examination Of Cooperative Extension As A Bridging Organization To Enhance Cross-Boundary Collaborative Water Management, Mark E. Burbach, Stephanie M. Kennedy, Weston M. Eaton, Kathryn J. Brasier, Daran R. Rudnick, Walt Whitmer

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We explored stakeholders’ familiarity with, trust of, perceived competence of, and shared vision with Cooperative Extension on water-related issues in two states to determine the degree to which Extension is positioned to be an effective bridging organization. Results of surveys in Nebraska and Pennsylvania showed that, overall, neither agricultural producers nor non-farm households were very familiar with Extension. However, both stakeholder groups perceived Extension to be trustworthy, competent, and have similar goals on water-related issues. Extension should renew efforts to bolster its familiarity among these groups to enhance its effectiveness as a bridging organization.

Analysing Nontraditional Students' Chatgpt Interaction, Engagement, Self-Efficacy And Performance: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Mohan Yang, Shiyan Jiang, Belle Li, Kristin Herman, Tian Luo, Shanan Chappell Moots, Nolan Lovett

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Generative artificial intelligence brings opportunities and unique challenges to nontraditional higher education students, stemming, in part, from the experience of the digital divide. Providing access and practice is critical to bridge this divide and equip students with needed digital competencies. This mixed-methods study investigated how nontraditional higher education students interact with ChatGPT in multiple courses and examined relationships between ChatGPT interactions, engagement, self-efficacy and performance. Data were collected from 73 undergraduate and graduate students through chat logs, course reflections and artefacts, surveys and interviews. ChatGPT interactions were analysed using four metrics: prompt number, depth of knowledge (DoK), prompt relevance and …

Analyzing Acid Rain And Industrial Activity, Jooyoung Jeon

Open Educational Resources

This assignment by Jooyoung Jeon asks students to explore the relationship between acid rain occurrences and industrial activity by analyzing open datasets. It was created as part of a workshop on OER-based Active Learning at John Jay College in 2025.

"Expert" Versus "Subjugated" Knowledge In Political Sociology, Marisa Tramontano

Open Educational Resources

In this assignment, created for a 2025 seminar on OER-based Active Learning, Dr. Marisa Tramontano made an open, "low-tech" active learning module comparing excerpts from the book, "Poverty of Philosophy" by Karl Marx with the song of the same name by Immortal Technique. The assignment uses a remixable Google doc to guide students' analyses and comparisons of these texts. The assignment can easily be adapted to other courses or disciplines.

Improving Understanding And Connections For Preparedness, Mitigation, Response, And Recovery For Tornado And Straight-Line Wind Events In Virginia: Summary Of The Inaugural Virginia Tornado And Straight-Line Wind Summit, Wie Yusuf, Monica Arul, Joshua Behr, Kaleen Lawsure, An Huy Pham, Henry Attivor

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Background

The Virginia Tornado and Straight-Line Wind Summit, the first of its kind in the Commonwealth, was held on October 15, 2025 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. The Summit had several goals, including:

• Understanding Virginia’s wind risk and learning the science behind it.
• Hearing lessons learned from emergency managers who have experienced extreme wind events.
• Learning about practical steps to prepare, mitigate, and respond to severe wind events.
• Learning best practices for timely and actionable communication with the public before and after events.
• Strengthening interagency coordination and connecting with others to share resources, align priorities, and coordinate resilience planning. …

Ai-Generated Messaging For Life Events Using Structured Prompts: A Comparative Study Of Gpt With Human Experts And Machine Learning, Christopher Lynch, Erik Jensen, Ross Gore, Virginia Zamponi, Kevin O'Brien, Brandon Feldhaus, Katherine Smith, Joseph Martínez, Madison H. Munro, Timur E. Ozkose, Tugce B. Gundogdu, Ann Marie Reinhold, Hamdi Kavak, Barry Ezell

VMASC Publications

Large Language Models (LLMs) play an increasingly integrated and pivotal role in generating diverse types of texts, such as social media messages, emails, narratives, and technical reports, among other textual communication forms. As AI-generated messaging filters into human communication, a systematic exploration of their effectiveness for mimicking human-like communication of life events is needed. In this study, we employ a zero-shot structured narrative prompt to generate 24,000 life event messages for birth, death, hiring, and firing events using OpenAI's GPT-4. From this dataset, we manually classify 2880 messages and evaluate their validity in conveying these life events through the form …

Guiding Evolutionary Algorithms With Large Language Models To Learn Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, Ryan Schuerkamp, Philippe J. Giabbanelli

VMASC Publications

Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) are interpretable simulation models that represent causal relationships between concepts as a weighted digraph with labeled nodes. They serve to examine a system’s structure (e.g., what concepts are critical to spreading an intervention’s effects?) and long-term behavior (e.g., if we increase fruit availability, how will its consumption change?). When modelers build FCMs by leveraging participants’ knowledge, the resulting participant-built FCMs can be analyzed and interpreted since participants report perceived causality. However, engaging enough knowledgeable participants to construct an FCM can be challenging. Alternatively, machine learning algorithms derive FCMs from data by selecting relationships to maximize a …

Artificial Intelligence And Constitutional Interpretation, Andrew Coan, Harry Surden

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Boy Whose Head Was Filled With Stars: A Life Of Edwin Hubble (2021) By Isabelle Marinov, Maughn Rollins Gregory

Picture Books

Barely a hundred years ago, Edwin Hubble changed the way we understand the universe and our place in it more dramatically than almost anyone else has ever done. As this picture book biography shows, his mind-boggling discoveries can be traced back to childhood questions. The discovery that the world is bigger than we had imagined happens in many ways, and learning that we have some choices in deciding how new facts, new experiences, and new perspectives can matter to us is a necessary part of education.

Facial Chick Sexing: An Automated Chick Sexing System From Chick Facial Image, Marta Veganzones Rodriguez, Thinh Phan, Arthur F.A. Fernandes, Vivian Breen, Jesus Arango, Michael T. Kidd, Ngan Le

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Chick sexing, the process of determining the gender of day-old chicks, is a critical task in the poultry industry due to the distinct roles that each gender plays in production. While effective traditional methods achieve high accuracy, color, and wing feather sexing is exclusive to specific breeds, and vent sexing is invasive and requires trained experts. To address these challenges, we propose a novel approach inspired by facial gender classification techniques in humans: facial chick sexing. This new method does not require expert knowledge and aims to reduce training time while enhancing animal welfare by minimizing chick manipulation. We develop …

Revascularization Strategies For Multivessel Disease In Acute Coronary Syndrome: Network Meta-Analysis, Khaled M. Harmouch, Mohammad Hamza, Nomesh Kumar, Zarghoona Wajid, Neel Patel, Masooma Naseem, Jawad Basit, Prakash Upreti, Manoj Kumar, Waqas Ullah, Yasar Sattar, Timir K. Paul, Emmanouil Brilakis, M. Chadi Alraies

Abington Jefferson Health Papers

BACKGROUND: The optimal revascularization strategy for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and multivessel disease (MVD) remains debated. This study compares the efficacy and safety of different revascularization strategies in these patients.

METHODS: We included 20 studies comparing staged, complete, and culprit-only (CO) revascularization strategies in patients with ACS and MVD. We divided the revascularization strategies into 3 distinct strategies: CO, complete index procedure (CIP), and complete staged procedure (CSP). We then compared CIP and CSP with CO. Outcomes studied are all-cause mortality, cardiac death, recurrent myocardial infarction (MI), need for revascularization, bleeding, contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN), stroke, bleeding, and stent …

High Voltage Circuit Breaker Arc Modelling State Of Art, Raghdaa I. Elbahy, Ahmed M. Abdelbaset, Ebrahim A. Badran, Mansour H. Abdel-Rahman

Mansoura Engineering Journal

High-voltage (HV) circuit breakers (CBs) are critical for safe and reliable power system operation. However, electric arcs formed during current interruption pose a challenge due to their complex, non-linear behavior. These arcs can hinder CB efficiency and cause equipment damage. To address this, understanding and modeling arc properties are essential. This paper explores existing methods for modeling and simulating electric arcs in HV CBs, including physical, black box, and parameter models. By analyzing these approaches, the paper emphasizes the importance of arc modeling for CB optimization and outlines the physical, mathematical, and software requirements for effective modeling and simulation.

Fire And Mammal Herbivory On Arthropods In The Protected Savannas: A Systematic Review, Ludzula Mukwevho, Mduduzi Ndlovu, Frank Chidawanyika

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Protected areas in the savannas are key global reserves for biological diversity, including arthropods. Fire and mammal herbivory disrupts the diversity of biological organisms that alternately affects the functioning of the ecosystem. The study presents a global synthesis review of arthropod responses to varying intensities of fires and mammal herbivory in the protected savannas. We hypothesise that the intensity of predetermined fires and mammal herbivory has cascading impacts on abundance, species richness and diversity of terrestrial arthropods in the protected savannas. A minimum selection criteria was used to collate relevant literature from electronic databases of previous studies performed in the …

Innovative Teaching Strategies And Lesson Plans To Support Students With Adhd, Celeste Grantham

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how creativity, imagination, and problem-solving can be harnessed to improve student outcomes – specifically engagement, motivation, and academic achievement – for students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in elementary classrooms. Rather than conducting a data-driven study, this project draws upon interdisciplinary research from educational psychology, cognitive science, and pedagogy to design inclusive research-informed teaching strategies. The cognitive processes underpinning creativity and imagination – such as divergent thinking, mind-wandering, and creative incubation – are examined as potential strengths often underutilized in traditional classrooms. A comprehensive literature review establishes how these variables interact and influence the learning experiences of students …

Advanced Placement Classes And Its Racial Gap – Teachers’ Beliefs And Perceptions, Hema Keerthi

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods study focused on teachers’ beliefs about Advanced Placement (AP) equity and access policies within the ABC School District in Middle Georgia. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the beliefs held by AP teachers regarding the implementation of equity and access policies and the extent to which these beliefs may have supported or hindered the execution of such policies and procedures. This research employed a mixed-methods design incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods. The first phase involved an online survey of teachers and counselors in the ABC district in Middle Georgia. The second phase …

Purification Of Recombinant His6-Gfp-Preptin Fusion Protiens, Apoorva Kollaram

Theses and Dissertations

Preptin, a 34-amino-acid peptide derived from proinsulin-like growth factor II, has emerged as a promising therapeutic candidate for both Type 2 diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis. Its dual functionality—stimulating insulin secretion without inducing hypoglycemia and promoting osteoblast proliferation—positions it as a unique alternative to traditional sulfonylureas and osteogenic agents. In this study, we developed a purification protocol for green fluorescent-preptin fusion proteins. These fusion proteins will be used to investigate the functional significance of residues Pro17, Val18, Gly19, Trp27, Lys28, and Gln29 in rat preptin, which shares high sequence similarity with the human form. Site-directed mutagenesis was performed using NEB Q5 …