Digital Commons Network^™

From Imaging To Computational Domains For Physics-Driven Molecular Biology Simulations: Hindered Diffusion In Platelet Masses, Catherine House, Ziyi Huang, Kaushik Shankar, Sandra Young, Meghan Roberts, Scott Diamond, Maurizio Tomaiuolo, Timothy Stalker, Lu Lu, Talid Sinno

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

When formed in vivo, murine hemostatic thrombi exhibit a heterogeneous architecture comprised of distinct regions of densely and sparsely packed platelets. In this study, we utilize high-resolution electron microscopy alongside machine learning and physics-based simulations to investigate how such clot microstructure impacts molecular diffusivity. We used Serial Block Face - Scanning Electron Microscopy (SBF-SEM) to image select volumes of hemostatic masses formed in a mouse jugular vein, producing high-resolution 2D images. Images were segmented using machine learning software (Cellpose), whose training was augmented by manually segmented images. The segmented images were then utilized as 2D computational domains for Lattice Kinetic …

Interviewing Refugees And Asylum Seekers: Study Guidelines For Forced Migration Researchers, Ahmad Al Ajlan

The Qualitative Report

This study develops guidelines for conducting qualitative research with refugees and asylum seekers in Western host countries by examining how participants' vulnerabilities should inform research practices. The guidelines are derived from a critical review of literature on qualitative research with vulnerable groups, particularly refugees, and the author's experience as a forced migration researcher with a displacement background. The study underscores how asylum seekers' vulnerabilities, shaped by acculturation challenges and exposure to trauma in their countries-of-origin, during their asylum journeys, and in host societies, influence both the interview process and the dissemination of findings. Key recommendations emphasize the need to account …

Why The Ai Act Fails To Understand Generative Ai, Claire Boine, David Rolnick

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Do First Impressions Count? A Gendered Comparative Analysis Of Self-Presentations By Contestants In The Bachelor And Bachelorette South Africa, Mthobeli Ngcongo Dr

The Qualitative Report

The study of social role expectations for men and women has been instrumental in a better understanding of intersex dynamics. Although much research has focused on behavioral similarities and differences in formal contexts, qualitative research that helps us to understand gendered differences in informal contexts remains underappreciated. In particular, the area of romance presents a fruitful social context in which to comparatively study gendered manifestations of strategic self-presentation. Using the first episodes of the first seasons of the Bachelor and Bachelorette South Africa reality television franchise, this study compares 28 self-presentation tactics used by 17 male and 24 female contestants. …

Don’T Throw The Book: Customary Tribal Laws Can Heal Rather Than Punish Addiction, Coleman Griffith

Tribal Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Integrating Ai In Academia: A Sem Evaluation Of Research Scholars Usage Intentions On Chatgpt, Sonal Sharma Phd, V. P. Joshith Phd, K Kavitha Med, Anusha Anthony Med

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: In this study, we investigate the intentions of research scholars to use ChatGPT in their academic research endeavors by employing an extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model, the UTAUT2, which examines factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, habit, ethical concerns, and research excellence. By incorporating “research excellence” into the model, we aim to provide insights into artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in academic research settings and contribute to the broader discourse on the future of academic practices.

Method: We conducted a survey among 400 research scholars in Indian higher …

Building Back Greener: Accelerating Low-Carbon Material Adoption In The Uk Building Industry, Christopher Agyapong Siaw, Hanne Knight, Nigel Jackson

Plymouth Business School

The escalating global climate crisis presents a critical challenge for governments, policymakers, civic society organizations, and marketers alike (Carvalho, 2022; Gopaldas, 2015). Experts predict that by the end of the century, global average temperatures could rise between 1–1.5°C with significant reductions in carbon emissions, or as high as 4.5–5°C if current emission levels persist (González, 2025). Such temperature increases would lead to rising sea levels, posing severe risks to islands, coastal communities, and marine ecosystems (González, 2025). Recognizing the urgency of this issue, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has taken proactive measures to engage diverse stakeholders. …

Graph Traverse Reference Network For Sign Language Corpus Retrieval In The Wild, Kun Hu, Fengxiang He, Adam Schembri, Zhiyong Wang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Sign languages are the primary languages of the deaf community as well as hearing individuals who are unable to speak, which engage the visual-manual modality to convey meanings. In recent years, there has been an explosive growth of sign language videos available from video streaming and social media service platforms. Given the size of these corpora, sign language users often face significant challenges in effectively acquiring the information they need. Therefore, we propose a novel deep learning architecture, namely Graph Traverse Reference Network (GTRN), allowing visual signing queries to retrieve relevant sign language videos (documents) from a large corpus. GTRN …

The Logic Of The Revenge Tax, Wei Cui

All Faculty Publications

Wei Cui is a professor in the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. In this article, Cui argues that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s formerly proposed section 899, targeting “unfair” foreign taxes, was more sensible than many observers initially perceived, and that, if seen as a restrained deployment of U.S. market power, it represented a defensible and ultimately acceptable approach for addressing the undertaxed profits rule and digital services taxes.

The Landscape Of Autosomal-Dominant Alzheimer's Disease: Global Distribution And Age Of Onset, Haiyan Liu, Thomas W Marsh, Xinyu Shi, Kevin M Bowling, Ellen Ziegemeier, Guoqiao Wang, Yuchen Cao, Alexa Dickson, Richard J Perrin, Michelle Doering, Alisha Daniels, Brian A Gordon, Tammie L S Benzinger, Jason Hassenstab, Laura Ibanez, Charlene Supnet-Bell, Chengjie Xiong, John C Morris, Randall J Bateman, Celeste M Karch, Carlos Cruchaga, Eric Mcdade, Jorge J Llibre-Guerra, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

We present a comprehensive global analysis of genetic variants associated with autosomal-dominant Alzheimer's disease (ADAD). A total of 550 variants in the APP, PSEN1 and PSEN2 genes were identified, of which 279 were classified as pathogenic or likely pathogenic based on American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and the Association for Molecular Pathology criteria, utilizing data from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN), literature and public databases. Symptomatic age at onset (AAO) data were estimated for 227 of these variants, allowing detailed characterization of their frequency, pathogenicity and AAO. Importantly, 226 variants met eligibility criteria for inclusion in disease-modifying …

Anion Exchange Membrane Durability For Electrochemical Co2 Reduction In Membrane Electrode Assembly Cells, Soundarzo Tasnim

LSU Master's Theses

The electrochemical reduction of CO₂ using membrane electrode assembly (MEA) cells has emerged as a promising approach for carbon capture and conversion into valuable products. This study investigates the degradation mechanisms of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) in CO₂ reduction applications, focusing on Sustainion X37-50, PiperION, and FAA-3-50. The research analyzes the impact of chemical and mechanical degradation on membrane performance, highlighting key stability challenges in long-term operation. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were employed to monitor functional group stability and ionic conductivity loss over extended operation. The results indicate that hydroxide-induced degradation leads to nucleophilic …

Retinal Ganglion Cell Migration And Viability Requires The Kinase Lkb1, Robert D Mackin, Ritika V Bhalla, Viktor Akhanov, Qudrat T Abdulwahab, Courtney A Burger, Melanie A Samuel

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The arrangement of neurons into ordered layers underlies circuit function in many nervous system regions. This is particularly true in the mammalian retina. Here, fate-committed retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) migrate from the apical to the inner retina, where they form connections that enable vision. The mechanisms that permit ganglion cell migration and whether distinct ganglion cell types use different migration modes are unknown. We show that the serine/threonine kinase LKB1 regulates ganglion cell migration and nuclear positioning. In the absence of LKB1, many ganglion cells remain in the apical retina. Misplaced cells show modified morphologies and display altered cytoskeletal proteins. …

Coresh: A Gene Signature-Based Search Engine For Public Gene Expression Datasets, Vladimir Sukhov, Aigul Nugmanova, Yury Vorontsov, Parul Mehrotra, Maksim Kleverov, Kodi Ravichandran, Maxim Artyomov, Alexey Sergushichev

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Public data repositories like Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) contain an extensive amount of data from hundreds of thousands of experiments, making them a valuable resource for researchers. A common scenario for utilizing this resource is to show transcriptional similarity of one's own data to a public dataset as evidence of potentially similar biology. However, when searching for such datasets, researchers are usually limited to keyword-based search, which requires having a specific hypothesis and relies on the presence of high-quality metadata in public datasets. Here, we introduce CORESH, a web server designed to systematically find GEO datasets that match a user-provided …

Washington Report: Tax Division Comments On Taxpayer Compliance Improvement Act Of 1982, Kenneth F. Thomas, Robert E. Clayton, American Institute Of Certified Public Accountants. Federal Tax Division

Tax Adviser

No abstract provided.

Exploring Buffering Effects Of Interpersonal Relationships On The Impacts Of Stress On Physical Health, Hadley Freedman, Sophie Forcier, Emma Slatnick, Keely Wright, Kevin M. Summers, Sarah Huff

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

We examined the potential moderating effects of interpersonal relationships on the association between stress and physical health. We hypothesized that there would be a significant main effect of stress on physical health, a significant main effect of relationships on physical health, and a significant interaction between stress and relationship quality on physical health, such that quality relationships provide a buffering effect, reducing the negative impacts of stress on physical health. Data was collected through a self-report Qualtrics survey on CloudResearch. We found a significant main effect of stress on physical health and a significant main effect of relationship quality on …

Massacre Vs. Shooting: Exploring Cnn And Fox’S Coverage Of The Uvalde Robb Elementary School Attack, Maya Beesley

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

This study dissects FOX News Media (FOX News) and Cable News Network’s (CNN) media coverage differences of the Uvalde, Texas Robb Elementary School terror attack (Uvalde shooting). On March 24, 2022, Salvador Ramos perpetrated a mass shooting, killing 19 children and two teachers and injuring 17 others. This paper showcases that the incident qualifies as terrorism and explores how two major U.S. news outlets framed and covered the incident differently in their headlines, images, captions, sources, and tone. While CNN emphasized police culpability, victim perspectives, and presented a somber tone, FOX News downplayed the severity of the attack, highlighted police …

Exploring The Roots Of Republican Factionalism In Contemporary U.S. Politics, Emma Seel

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

The Republican Party has experienced significant internal divisions in recent elections, with the 2024 Presidential Primary revealing a party divided between two factions: Donald Trump’s followers, often referred to by his “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) slogan; and those that adhere to traditional Republican values that have defined the Grand Old Party (GOP) for decades. While MAGA Republicans still espouse conservative social values, they break away from the party when it comes to their “America First” ideology, another popular Trump slogan. The United States has long been a leader on the world stage, a position that both Democrats and Republicans …

Du Undergraduate Showcase Abstracts: Research, Scholarship, And Creative Works, Kabe Aberle, Nadia Kako, Kateri Mcrae, Brooke Agulnek, Sky Palmon, Yasmine Ramirez, Francisca Aguirre Beltran, Ashley Juarez, Bridget Kim, Tessa Appel, Sterling Kerr, Spencer Ingley, Gabe Meyer, Robin Tinghitella, Dale Broder, Lily Baeza, Chloe Beers, Julia Coakley, Whitney Kelsey, Sydney Gainforth, Gabi Wing, Audrey Martin, Aaliyah Amore Berry, Brooke Watley, Kiruthika Venkatesan, Rachel Bienstock, Annabella Brotherston, Madison Bryant, Mia Burgener, Emma P. Lieb, Rachel A. Johnson, Jennifer L. Hoffman, Kania Campbell, Kiena Campbell, Courtney Cassidy, Sage Krzyzkowski, Maddox Jones, Skylar Abookire, Luke Hawkins, Sunnah Yoon, Andrea Chu, Yan Qin, Nyah Cubbison, Brian Gearity, Daniel Mcintosh, Mariely Cruz, Edward Garrido, Grady Dionne, Nicole Doris, Lyndsie Salvagio, Ann-Charlotte Granholm-Bentley, Anna Dymov, Hannah Eckert, Gabrielle Welsh, Erica Larson, Charlie Ernst, Anna Zhou, Sarah Watamura, Larissa Fedorovich-Klein, Georgie Fields, Kimberly A. Guevara, Aven Mccall, Ben Peltier, Feruz Yahia, Patrick Flores, Jadyn Floyd, Sophia Forcier, J. Von R. Monteza, Peter Sokol-Hessner, Gwendolyn Geiger, Scott Nichols, Camryn Gunter, Kendal Hengst, Charlie Bednarz, Issy Garside, Addison Baker, Rachel Mina, Brooke Hermanson, Amanda Klingler, William Highfill, Sydney Jaques, Kerstin Lewey, Allison Grossery, Daniel Linseman, Ethan Lim, Jagger Livengood, Owen Mantelli, Gabby Pappas, Abby Mcdonald, Madeleine Dierking, Eve Miller, Emma Loeber, Anna Marlow, Michael Kerwin, Ella Mathews, Hillary Hamann, Khadija Mohamed, Vivian Nguyen, Gabri Notov, Ifunayachi Ogbonna-Ukuku, Sunil Kumar, Charles Baysah, Sarah Olson, Don Sullivan, Anna Paradiso, Jay Parrish, Mira Pronobis, Alisha Pravasi, Kerstin Haring, Diego Ramirez, Christopher Reardon, Juliana Ramirez, Casey Doherty, Ella Kestner, Teagan Weindel, Cate Billings, Pablo Torre-Walter, Lucy Rand, Samantha Reynolds, Mark Siemens, Khadeeja Rashid, Laine Satterlee, Piper Heilbronner, Lily Pound, Ben Whitehurst, Anna Respet, Lizzie Lesoing, Sydney Hertel, Aya Saad-Masri, Brooke Ballenger, Max Proske, Hannah Rosenberg, Ellia Nakahara, Sophia Espinoza, Ivan Woolhouse, Simon Ruland, Gorkem Er, Timothy Sweeny, Melaku Saketa, Michela Schenk, Maren Lynch, Madi Hamm, Grace Schroeder, Michelle Rozenman, Rana Seif, Jackson Hall, Marisela Simental, Daniel Paredes, Aaron Mena, Preston Spaan, Evelyn Stovin, David Andrew Swartz, Anh Tran, Daniel Pittman, Luke Farchione, Emily Boyer, Ukari Verner, Lacey Conrad, Jonathan Velotta, James Weiner, Jagger Gossett, Noah Sherry, Sam Proud, Ben Block, Avi Narayana, Zoey Weiss, Alyssa Wilson, Gabrielle Walsh, David Zonana, Keely Wright, Kena Riveria, Lillybelle Deer, Jena Doom, Elysia Davis, Isabelle Yaremenko, Caitlyn Young

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Abstracts from the DU Undergraduate Research Showcase.

Louis Pasteur: The Man Who Said, "Science Brings Men Closer To God", Alan L. Gillen, Adam Russell

Faculty Publications and Presentations

July 6, 2025, marks the 140-year anniversary of the first successful treatment of the rabies virus, discovered by Louis Pasteur. Louis Pasteur’s contributions and reputation are ever prevalent today, with “pasteurized” products being the signature of his legacy in microbiology. Through the creation of the “pasteurization” process (the gentle heating of food and drink products to eliminate pathogens), Louis Pasteur eloquently stated his motive for scientific discovery: “Man’s first look at the universe discovers only variety, diversity, multiplicity of phenomena. Let this gaze be enlightened by science . . . and simplicity and unity shine everywhere.” Ultimately, Pasteur’s work sought …

Is Nil Woke?, Tan T. Boston

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

NCAA football and men’s basketball cumulatively receive almost one hundred percent of intercollegiate name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation. NIL exceptionalism, however, is not the only distinguishing factor for these two sports. They are also distinctively racially and economically diverse in comparison to the dozens of other NCAA sports. Thus, demographically, NIL produces outcomes that align with so-called ‘woke’ policies. Although almost all states support NIL, an increasing number actively oppose woke policies. In fact, anti-woke backlash served as the impetus for recent anti-woke legislation (AWL) that, for example, bars funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in higher education. …

Courts And Social Justice, Shai Dothan

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

Many scholars have argued that courts are either harmful or useless when it comes to improving social justice in society. There are three main reasons offered in support of this argument: (1) Courts are elitist institutions that support the high social class of the judges at the expense of the rest of society, (2) the structure of litigation is geared towards harming the rights of people with modest economic means, (3) even when courts try to impose a higher standard of social justice, they are not able to initiate real social change. The purpose of this paper is to investigate …

Hacking Generative Ai, Ido Kilovaty

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

Generative AI platforms, like ChatGPT, hold great promise in enhancing human creativity, productivity, and efficiency. However, generative AI platforms are prone to manipulation. Specifically, they are susceptible to a new type of attack called “prompt injection.” In prompt injection, attackers carefully craft their input prompt to manipulate AI into generating harmful, dangerous, or illegal content as output. Examples of such outputs include instructions on how to build an improvised bomb, how to make meth, how to hotwire a car, and more. Researchers have also been able to make ChatGPT generate malicious code.

This Article asks a basic question: do prompt …

Doubly Erased: Lgbtq Literature In Appalachia By Allison Carey, Lis Regula

Critical Humanities

A book review of Allison Carey's Doubly Erased: LGBTQ Literature in Appalachia

Where The Fog Hangs: An Interview With Elaine Sheldon Mcmillion On Appalachia, Filmmaking, And The Power Of Small Acts, Elaine Mcmillion Sheldon, Scott C. Mcdaniel

Critical Humanities

An Interview with Elaine Sheldon McMillion

Fire In The Hole: Appalachia’S Elemental Narrative In Harlan County, Usa And King Coal, Somak Mukherjee

Critical Humanities

In Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s documentary King Coal (2023) coal is being referred to as a matter that is “not dirty or clean, but elemental.” The acclaimed film centers on the complex histories and cultures of coal in Central Appalachia, based on the perspective of Sheldon, a coal miner’s daughter, and a West Virginia native. The elemental nature of coal is explored in the film by situating coal less as a resource and more as a mythic foundation for the community's cultural history. This article puts King Coal in conversation with Barbara Kopple's seminal Harlan County, USA (1976) which narrates the …

Planetary Thinking: Hellbenders As Emissaries Of Appalachia, Tierra R. Curry

Critical Humanities

Hellbenders are prehistoric salamanders that have thrived in cold rivers since before the continents divided. Once found throughout Appalachian watersheds, due to exploitation and habitat degradation only a few dozen healthy populations survive. Monstrous yet fascinating, hellbenders were often reviled historically, but in recent decades they have gained iconic status and are now celebrated as charismatic indicators for clean rivers. Hellbenders are symbols of the wild because of their ancient history, elusive nature, and contribution to ecosystem resilience. The same forces that drove the decline of these amphibian sentinels have sacrificed public health in Appalachia. Their demise echoes the struggle …

“Here’S To The Long Haul: Dark Green Religion And Planetary Thinking In Appalachian Environmental Movements”, Joseph Witt

Critical Humanities

Environmental humanities scholars have worked to develop alternative frameworks for understanding and relating to Earth’s systems in the hope of reforming the exploitative and extractive practices and attitudes characteristic of the Anthropocene. For example, Dipesh Chakrabarty argued that addressing climate change necessitated appreciating the entanglements between global (human) and planetary (Earth systems) scales. While Chakrabarty noted that ancient and Indigenous cultures may have retained approaches necessary for this work, he was skeptical of the ability of modern secular intellectual traditions focused on global justice perspectives to ultimately facilitate a planetary non-anthropocentric ethic. However, by only briefly engaging with themes of …

Planetary/Peripheral Appalachia, Matthew Halm

Critical Humanities

One of the characters in William Gibson’s science fiction novel The Peripheral describes the timeline-manipulating technology around which the story turns as a way of “third-worlding” the past. By sending information back and forth across time, the users of the technology, in our future, outsource work to inhabitants of their past (our near-present). An entire world becomes the “third world” for another world, home to cheap labor and expendable resources. The characters this happens to in the novel live in Appalachia, a choice that works in part to ground the otherwise cosmic scale of timeline manipulation and global catastrophe while …

Grassroots Lobbying And The New Proposed Regulations, George D. Webster, Alan P. Dye

Tax Adviser

No abstract provided.

The Creation And Evaluation Of An Engineering Student Leadership Academy, Jean Mclaughlin, Thuy Vu, Seokmin Kang

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This article describes the creation and evaluation designed to support student success through their inclusion in a variety of professional and technical training programs. The opportunity to develop a leadership academy specifically for engineering students allowed faculty program coordinators to deliver content that was normally not available to students at this Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). We implemented and evaluated the leadership academy using a mixed-methods approach involving multimedia interviews and two traditional survey data collection techniques. Traditional online surveys gave quick feedback to coordinators on what the students found valuable, with the biggest change in programming being the spreading out of …