Digital Commons Network^™

Elevational Patterns Of Microplastic Density In The Surface Water Of Remote Mountain Lakes In The Swiss Alps, Nora Gutzwiller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

This novel study investigates the presence, distribution, and possible drivers of microplastic (MP) pollution in 15 alpine and subalpine lakes in the Swiss Alps. A total of 35 surface water samples were collected and analyzed under a microscope to identify and classify MPs by size, shape, and color. MPs were found in all lakes, with small fibers being the most abundant type, suggesting that atmospheric processes are a key transport pathway. Contrary to expectations, MP levels showed no significant relationship with elevation, temperature, pH, or distance to anthropogenic features, indicating that broader environmental processes likely control their distribution. However, clear …

Weight Concerns And Body Image Dissatisfaction Elicit Maternal Psychological Control Through Escalating Appearance Anxiety Behaviors, Madeleine Guillont

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

The current study examines bidirectional associations between adolescent body-related concerns and maternal psychological control, and the behavioral mechanism through which these associations operate. Participants were 723 sixth- through ninth-grade students (350 girls, 373 boys; ages 11–15) attending all public middle and secondary schools in a mid-sized Lithuanian community. Self-report surveys were collected at three time points across the course of a school year. Results from full longitudinal mediation models indicated that higher body image dissatisfaction and weight concerns at the beginning of the school year predicted increases in maternal psychological control at the end of the school year, through increases …

Cognition In Pair-Living Owl Monkeys: The Role Of Partner Affiliation In The Willingness To Cooperate To Solve A Cognitive Task, Aaron J. Mencia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Cooperative problem-solving tasks, including the loose-string paradigm, require individuals to coordinate their actions simultaneously to obtain a shared reward. These paradigms have been used extensively to assess social cognition, behavioral coordination, and partner preferences across taxa. Although the loose-string paradigm has been widely tested, it has not been applied to pair-bonded, monogamous primates such as owl monkeys (Aotus nancymaae), which exhibit affiliative behaviors including food sharing and bi-parental care. Investigating cooperation in this species may offer some clarification on whether more stable social bonds are associated with cooperative and cognitive task success as compared to those observed in …

Spectator 2026-04-23, Editors Of The Spectator

The Spectator

No abstract provided.

Cupid And Psyche: How Stories Reflect Cultural Norms, Maia Porter

Honors Projects

Stories, as a whole, are retold time and time again, changing slightly with each retelling and interpretation. The story of Cupid and Psyche follows this pattern, changing as it is retold to fit the norms and values of the culture it is told within. This project examines three versions of the story: Apuleius’s “Cupid and Psyche” which is told within his larger novel Metamorphoses, Till We Have Faces (1956) written by C. S. Lewis, and Luna McNamara’s Psyche and Eros (2023). This project examines Psyche’s characterization and how much autonomy or agency she is given, how the inequality inherent in …

Stories We Become (April 23, 25, 2026), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

Event program for Stories We Become (April 23, 25, 2026), Lindenwood University.

The Chapman University Pennant Is Going On The Inca Trail To Machu Picchu, Essraa Nawar

Library Articles and Research

"If you’ve spent time at Chapman University , you likely know the story of the Chapman pennant—carried by President Emeriti James Doti and @Daniele Struppa along with students and fellow adventurers, to some of the world’s highest peaks. It represents endurance, curiosity, and a deep sense of connection to place.

When it’s not packed alongside climbing gear and on its way to a summit, this well-traveled pennant is typically on display in the The Chapman University Pennant at the Dahlem-Doti-Struppa Climbing Alcove in the Library.

That’s because it’s currently on a new journey.

This time, the journey looks different. …

Kenyon Collegian - April 23, 2026

The Kenyon Collegian

No abstract provided.

My Right To Dominate You: The Populist Perversion Of Human Rights, James A. Gardner

Journal Articles

A constitutional “right” is a legal technology designed to protect the weak from the strong. In the twenty-first-century United States, however, constitutional rights have increasingly been interpreted and deployed, by both litigants and courts, to secure the ability of the strong to dominate the weak. It is quickly becoming standard practice among right-wing American populists to claim that the deployment of rights in ways that limit the ability of the strong to dominate those weaker than themselves is to make victims of the strong. Freedom, in the imagination of American populists, means the freedom to dominate disfavored others.

This paper …

Project Evaluation Of A Workplace Violence Prevention Program At A Rural Hospital, Stacy Ochoa-Sofoifa, Yolanda L. Rodriquez, Melissa Bowe, Teresa Mendoza

Publications 2026-present

No abstract provided.

Theory And Simulations Of Delayed Stochastic And Deterministic Models Of Prion Diseases, Gangadhara Boregowda, Omar Sharif, Daniel Gutierrez Iii, Allegra Simmons, Laurent Pujo-Menjouet, Tamer Oraby, Michael R. Lindstrom

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and prion diseases, are characterized by the dynamical spread of toxic proteins through the brain. In prion diseases, cellular prion protein (PrPC), produced by neurons, misfolds into a toxic form, known as scrapie prion protein (PrPSc). PrPSc induces neuronal stress which ultimately leads to cell death. In this paper, we develop mathematical models for the progression of prion diseases, incorporating a cellular defense mechanism that introduces a delay term affecting protein translation and a volatility term accounting for unaccounted biological factors influencing the system. We also extend the model to capture the spatial …

Umayyad Streets Leading To The Temple Mount/Al-Ḥaram Al-Sharīf Gates In Jerusalem: Evidence Ofurban Planning, Control And Ideology, Yuval Baruch

'Atiqot

At the beginning of the eighth century CE, the Umayyad rulers initiated the construction of an extensive governmental complex at the foot of the Temple Mount/al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf, comprising at least four impressive monumental buildings. The present study shifts the focus from the architecture of these structures to the street system of the complex, arguing that it functioned not merely as infrastructure but as a sophisticated mechanism of movement and control. These streets, laid out along carefully planned axes and constructed atop artificial fills, employed wide, controlled gates and specific lines of sight to dictate a continuous experiential sequence. Through the …

Aspects Of Urban Planning In Bet She’An-Scythopolis: A View From Rhometalkes’ Alleys, Benjamin Y. Arubas, Leah Di Segni

'Atiqot

Intercity roads, colonnaded and drained streets, agoras and forums of the Roman and Late-Antiquity city of Bet She’an-Scythopolis—all have been widely studied, producing an ample bibliography. Not so are alleys, although they must have served various functions as thoroughfares for foot traffic or in relation to the buildings that overlooked them. These buildings could have been domestic, commercial or public, causing the function of the alley to surely change accordingly. This paper is dedicated to the study of two such alleys, which existed solely amidst public buildings, and whose story can be told based on the results of excavations and …

A Network (Capita Viarum) Of Roads, Bridges And City Gates Connecting To The Colonnaded Streets Of Roman-Period Nysa-Scythopolis: Evidence Of Efficient Traffic Planning, Walid Atrash, Gabriel Mazor

'Atiqot

This article investigates the strategic importance of Nysa-Scythopolis (Bet She’an) as a key transportation and urban center during the Roman and Byzantine periods. Located at a critical junction between the Jordan Valley and the central mountain ridges, the city comprised a complex network of regional roads and monumental gates, facilitating both local and imperial mobility. This study focuses on three of five major Roman gates—Aelia Capitolina, Gerasa, Neapolis, Damascus and Caesarea—each aligned with major intercity arteries, as well as on the construction of two Roman bridges crossing Naḥal Ḥarod, Jisr el-Khan and the skew bridge Jisr el-Maktu‘a. Gate typologies are …

The Stepped Podium : A Landmark On Jerusalem’S Main Thoroughfare In The Second Temple Period, Nahshon Szanton

'Atiqot

This article presents a small, stepped pyramidal structure that was built upon the eastern side of the Stepped Street in Jerusalem under the rule of the Roman procurators. It considers the structure’s archaeological context, architectural and functional uniqueness in light of comparable finds and sources, both historical and literary, to better understand its role and use. Based on these sources, the structure seems to have served as street furniture in the public sphere, used as a public place for trial or to announce lost-and-found artifacts.

Roads To The Holy City: An Integrated Archaeological And Spatial Analysis Of Access Routes Leading To Jerusalemin The Second Century Bce–Seventh Century Ce, Yosef Spiezer, Boaz Zissu, Yehiel Zelinger

'Atiqot

This study presents a comprehensive analysis of Jerusalem’s transportation network by integrating archaeological evidence from rescue excavations with Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based spatial analysis and literary sources. Three distinct development phases were observed. In the Hasmonean and Early Roman periods (63 BCE–70 CE), roads primarily served Jewish pilgrimage and were accompanied by religious infrastructure such as miqwa’ot (ritual baths), water reservoirs and elaborate tombs reflecting Jerusalem’s sacred status. In the Middle and Late Roman periods (70–324 CE) systematic road construction followed the Jewish revolts, emphasizing military and administrative functions through straight, paved routes marked with milestones, including forts, watchtowers, water …

Innovative Approach To Enhance The Efficiency Of Building Integrated Photovoltaic Panels Through Automated Cooling And Cleaning Using Condensate Water In Extreme Climates, Ali Hasan Shah

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

Photovoltaic (PV) systems in hot and arid climates experience significant performance degradation due to elevated operating temperatures and rapid dust accumulation. Temperature increase alone reduces power output by about 0.4% to 0.5% per degree Celsius above rated conditions. In desert regions, module temperature commonly exceeds standard conditions, which results in power loss above 10%. Dust accumulation adds further degradation, and field measurements report soiling losses above 1% per day without cleaning, with cumulative losses exceeding 20% within short exposure periods. When high temperatures and dust occur together, the combined effect leads to a severe reduction in energy yield. Current mitigation …

Grp-02-199 Topological Constraints For Protein Folding, Charles Fanning

C-Day Computing Showcase

We study whether topological loss-based constraints improve multidomain whole-chain protein structure prediction beyond the ColabFold baseline by better preserving the topologies of folded proteins. We benchmark against Wasserstein metrics with our own virtual persistence and RKHS semi-metric constraints as well as higher-order virtual persistence diagrams.

Uc-177-226 Scrapper Kinetics Llc, Mikhail Rudenko, Andrew Torimoto, Jimmy Lock, Marco Cheng

C-Day Computing Showcase

Scrapper Kinetics LLC is a multiplayer and multimodal physics puzzle game. Where players get to choose between playing in VR or Desktop mode, and then, with up to 7 friends (8 players total), try to make a profit in the harsh dead space hulks they have been hired to scrap. We made the game as a test to see how easy it is to have completely different devices interact in the same play space.

Ur-166-204 Multi-User Stem Learning Experience Powered By Llm Conversational Agents, Devon Haynes, Chance Boecker, Oliver Haggard

C-Day Computing Showcase

While Extended Reality (XR) provides experiential and interactive foundations for STEM education, current storytelling and narrative-driven applications often lack responsive nonplayer characters (NPCs), limiting interactive potential through pre-scripted stories. Additionally, despite the growth of Large Language Model (LLM) integration in XR, limited research explores the combined use of multi-user XR systems and conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) to facilitate real-time, adaptive instruction. This project seeks to address these gaps by 1) Developing a narrative-driven STEM learning XR prototype that incorporates synchronous multi-user interaction and an embedded LLM-driven conversational agent and 2) Exploring the effectiveness of combining these technologies to improve learning …

Ex-04-142 Modeling Distress And Evaluating Chatbot Safety For Suicide-Related Social Media Texts, Rehma Razzak

C-Day Computing Showcase

This project addresses the urgent need for transparent chatbot safety evaluations amid rising concerns about AI-facilitated self-harm. Using public social media datasets, we simulate two tasks: (1) detecting suicidal ideation via emotion-based risk scoring, and (2) stress-testing a support-style chatbot against 888 high-risk prompts, including euphemisms and “for a story” framing. A multi-label classifier trained on GoEmotions feeds emotion profiles into a logistic regression model to generate suicidality risk scores. These scores guide a local chatbot built with Ollama’s llama3, which analyzes user messages and steers responses toward safe, empathetic behavior. Evaluation shows ~90% of replies were safe or supportive. …

Gc-113-125 Carter’S Lake Visitor Center Boating Safety Game, Hunter Blake, Chancelor Brown, Lauren Robbins, Will Bryant, Kendrick Bryant

C-Day Computing Showcase

The Boating Safety Game is an educational, kiosk-based touchscreen game created for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Carters Lake Visitor Center. It is designed to improve the knowledge and engagement of boating safety concepts for visitors, particularly for students and youth. The project was developed using multiple game scenarios meant to reinforce safe boating practices through tutorial scenes, top down navigation, life jacket and required item selection tasks, and player motivation through quizzes, feedback, scores, and a star ranking system. The game’s design emphasizes accessibility and retention through simple touchscreen interaction, guided instruction, and repeated feedback on …

Gc-141-167 Smart Resume Screening & Interview Preparation Assistant, Loreli Olien, Tomas King, Hanzhi Chen, Kawanda Gray, Brittany Frazier

C-Day Computing Showcase

The hiring process often relies on manual resume review and keyword matching, which can lead to inconsistent and biased candidate evaluations. This project introduces a Smart Resume Screening and Interview Preparation Assistant designed to improve transparency and consistency in early-stage candidate evaluation. The system allows recruiters to upload resumes and job descriptions, then uses embedding-based semantic matching and large language models to assess candidate alignment across skills, experience, education, and projects. The application generates structured rankings, explainable insights, and tailored interview questions. This project focuses on developing a functional prototype that demonstrates how AI can enhance decision support while maintaining …

Gc-161-210 Hybrid Path Planning Using Genetic Algorithm, Caitlin Tigani, Ramisa Fariha Joyee, Wasif Mohammad

C-Day Computing Showcase

This research investigates whether uninformed search (BFS) or informed search (A*) is more effective when combined with a Genetic Algorithm for maze path planning. We design and implement four algorithms: baseline BFS and A*, hybrid GA+A*, and hybrid GA(BFS+A*). Our findings show that while A* alone performs optimally, integrating it with GA can produce alternative quality solutions, though with computational trade-offs. The study demonstrates that GA+A* provides the best balance between solution quality and runtime efficiency.

Gc-178-191 Communication App: Ai-Assisted Aac Platform​, Alex Wills, Maryam Koya

C-Day Computing Showcase

The Communication App is an accessibility-focused mobile application designed to support individuals with speech impairments, strong or unrecognized accents, and neurodivergent communication needs. The system leverages AI assisted speech-to-text (STT) and text-to-speech (TTS) technologies to enable real-time and seamless communication between users.This project aims to bridge communication gaps by providing a customizable, adaptive platform that learns user speech patterns over time. The application integrates cloud-based services, secure communication protocols, and an intuitive user interface to ensure usability, performance, and accessibility.

Grm-010-170 Ai-Enabled Water Quality Framework For E. Coli Prediction And Forecasting, Sangeetha Devaraj, Jui Mhatre

C-Day Computing Showcase

Water quality monitoring is essential for public health and environmental sustainability, yet existing monitoring infrastructures remain sparse, fragmented, and incomplete. Data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) indicate that while over 1.5 million sites are cataloged in the USGS Water Data for the Nation, only a small fraction are actively reporting water quality measurements, with significant reductions observed in recent years. Moreover, critical parameters such as pH, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and microbial indicators like Escherichia coli are inconsistently measured, with widespread missing and irregular data. This work presents an AI-enabled water quality data framework designed to address …

Grm-012-173 Can You Trust Ai Code? Understanding And Detecting Breaking Changes Using Llms, K M Ferdous, Kowshik Chowdhury

C-Day Computing Showcase

AI-generated code is increasingly prevalent in software engineering practices, yet its reliability in preserving backward compatibility remains underexplored. This paper presents a unified study of (i) how often AI-generated code introduces breaking changes and (ii) whether large language models (LLMs) can detect such changes from commit-level diffs with explanations. We analyze 7,191 agent-generated and 1,402 human-authored pull requests from Python repositories using an AST-based approach to identify potential breaking changes. Our results show that AI agents introduce fewer breaking changes overall than humans (3.45% vs. 7.40%) in code generation tasks. However, agents show higher risk in maintenance tasks, where refactoring …

Grm-081-207 Leveraging Non-Parametric Longitudinal Rank Sum Tests (Lrst) For Robust Global Treatment Effect Estimation In Alzheimer’S Disease, Imaan Shahid

C-Day Computing Showcase

Parametric approaches, such as Mixed Models for Repeated Measures (MMRM), are standard in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) clinical trials. However, these models often falter when data violates assumptions of normality or follows non-linear trajectories—common occurrences in AD due to floor/ceiling effects on cognitive scales and heterogeneous disease progression. This study evaluates Longitudinal Rank Sum Tests (LRST) as a non-parametric alternative to maintain statistical power and robustness.

Grm-094-176 Influence Of Speech Disfluencies And Prompt Optimization On Llm-Based Alzheimer's Detection, Muhammad Awais Arshad

C-Day Computing Showcase

This study evaluates how speech disfluencies and prompting strategies impact LLM-based Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) detection. We compared transcripts with preserved disfluencies (ADReSS) against clean transcripts (ADReSSo) using four state-of-the-art LLMs. Key Discovery: Complex prompts induce a "mirror-image" classification bias, where DeepSeek models severely over-classify AD, and GPT-5.2 over-classifies Cognitively Normal (CN) individuals. Optimization Fix: Applying DSPy MIPROv2 effectively mitigated bias in simpler prompts, while TextGrad successfully optimized complex, multi-step prompts.

Grm-095-230 A Multimodal Llm Framework For Automated Construction Blueprint Analysis With Real-Time Decision Support, Muhammad Awais Arshad

C-Day Computing Showcase

This study addresses the high hallucination rates of Vision-Language Models (LLMs) when analyzing complex, hybrid construction blueprints. We developed a dual-input pipeline that pairs high-resolution images with a four-layer JSON "Digital Twin" (vector text, raster OCR, geometry) to mathematically ground the LLM's visual interpretation. Key Engineering Achievement: We processed a massive 137-sheet civil engineering project with zero errors. By introducing a multi-tier JSON pruning strategy, we cut token usage by up to 70% and processed the entire batch from $13-$15 to just $0.93. Decision Support Extension: We integrated real-time traffic data (TomTom) and GDOT procedural policies to transform the pipeline …