Digital Commons Network^™

Arson Event Detection Using Yolov9, Ali Abbas Abbod, Matheel E. Abdulmunimb, Ismail A. Mageed

Journal of Soft Computing and Computer Applications

Detecting event anomalies is crucial for surveillance systems, as it enables the identification of occurrences in videos, both temporally and spatially. It can identify deviations from patterns without requiring human oversight by learning from past information to distinguish normal behavior and pinpoint irregularities. Early detection of arson fires is critical to mitigating damage, public safety, property, and the environment, as well as saving lives and aiding in law enforcement investigations. The objective of this study is to evaluate a system for detecting events using the You Only Look Once version 9 (YOLOv9) model in surveillance videos with a focus on …

Elemental Analysis Of Sediments In Johnson County, Kansas: Applications In Fluvial Suspended Sediment Tracing, Kiena Campbell

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This exploratory study investigates whether bulk elemental analysis of sediment samples using inductively coupled mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) can reveal chemical signatures that identify anthropogenic contributions to sedimentation and increased fluvial suspended sediment loads, and whether these contribution sources can be identified. Human activity, urbanization, and changes in land use increase erosion, resulting in higher-than-natural suspended sediments (SS) in waterways and increasing sedimentation in reservoirs across the state of Kansas. These threats to freshwater storage capacity are especially urgent given the projected rise in freshwater demand in the Great Plains region driven by climate change. Understanding the origin of anthropogenic SS …

Sex And Control In Redeemer Georgia, Anthony Michael Kreis

Georgia State University Law Review

This Essay explores the interplay of history, law, and morality behind the first abortion law in Georgia. Examining the philosophical underpinnings of liberty and equality as articulated in Georgia’s constitutional history through time, this Essay highlights the moral contradictions inherent in the legal frameworks of Reconstruction Georgia. The origin of Georgia’s 1876 abortion law contains multitudes—rooted in race-based contestations for political power, the sociological evolution of medical practice, and evolving attitudes on individual rights. At times, White elites used abortion to attack Yankee culture and stir up racist fears about moral contagion associated with Radical Republicans. To this end, when …

Medication Abortion And The Mails: The Ghost Of Anthony Comstock Rides Again?, Lars Noah

Georgia State University Law Review

Mail-order dispensing of the prescription drug mifepristone has become the latest flashpoint in this country’s long-running debate over abortion access. It also has brought back from the dead one of the oldest federal statutes to address that contentious subject. In their fight to limit access to a drug approved by the FDA one quarter of a century ago, abortion opponents have rediscovered the Comstock Act. Although amended on several occasions since 1873, Congress never managed to repeal or clarify its ambiguous language relating to abortion. On its narrowest reading, this provision would have no impact whatsoever on access to mifepristone; …

Taxing Morality: How Tax Law Defines Wealth, Justice, And Fairness, Doron Narotzki, Tamir Shanan

Georgia State University Law Review

Tax law is more than a fiscal framework; it is a moral compass that shapes society's values, governing who bears the burden and who reaps the benefits. Hidden within the tax code are moral judgments on wealth, privilege, responsibility, and fairness, making taxation one of the most profound expressions of social ethics. This Article argues that the tax system is not just a mechanism for raising revenue but is, and should continue to be, a legal tool for enforcing collective moral decisions about justice and equity. As the wealth gap widens and public discourse intensifies around tax fairness, the question …

What's Freedom Got To Do With It? Occupational Freedom And The Illusion Of Choice, Bojan Perovic

Georgia State University Law Review

This Article critically examines the concept of occupational freedom, arguing that the legal right to choose and pursue a profession, as enshrined in many constitutional systems, remains largely theoretical for vast segments of the population. While legal frameworks recognize occupational freedom, socioeconomic barriers, systemic discrimination, and cultural norms continue to impede genuine access to professions. Using historical examples like the exclusion of women from the legal profession or racial segregation under apartheid, this Article illustrates how law can act as both an instrument of oppression and a tool for progress.

Through a comparative analysis of case law from Germany, South …

Criminalization Of Homelessness: The Impact Of A Market-Oriented Approach, Gabriella M. Chioffi

Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law

Since the fourteenth century, countries have sought to criminalize unhoused individuals by labeling them as "vagrants." Currently, the United States and other countries continue to criminalize acts of sleeping rough, begging, loitering and other vagrancy-type activities that disproportionately target unhoused persons. Despite going through a period of decriminalization in the 1960s and 1970s, these punitive measures were largely reinstated by the 1990s. In the most extreme case, vagrancy criminalization was entrenched in a state's constitution. This Note contends that the reversion to punitive measures is triggered by a country's transition to a market-oriented approach that privatizes housing development and de-emphasizes …

Burned In Berlin – Banned In Boston: Censorship Of Booksellers During The Interwar Period In The U. S. As Compared To Germany, 1919-1939, Aleksandra Jimerson-Mckinnies

Lawrence University Honors Projects

During the twenty-year interwar period from 1919-1939, two vastly different nations faced their own personal wars with the censorship of booksellers. Germany—at first the Weimar Republic, then later the Nazi Regime—underwent such a transformation that Berlin went from one of the literary capitals of the world to the site of the most infamous of censorship crimes: the book burnings. Meanwhile, the United States was a long-standing democratic nation in which freedom of speech was one of its cornerstone tenants. Despite the differences of governments and the scope and scale of the censorship, there were major similarities between the tactics and …

Benefits Of Extended Unemployment Insurance On Post-Unemployment Outcomes, Alyssa Roche

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates how unemployment insurance (UI) affects individuals during and after unemployment. Drawing on historical evidence from recent recessions in the United States, publicly available data, behavioral insights, and mathematical modeling, it argues that the benefits of extending UI outweigh the potential costs. The analysis incorporates a wide range of sources, including empirical economic studies using regression models and psychology and business research that highlight behavioral responses to financial stress and job insecurity. By combining quantitative data with behavioral context, the thesis offers a more comprehensive understanding of how extended UI influences job search decisions, wage outcomes, and overall …

Predictive Analysis Of Crash Severity And Modeling Of 85th Percentile Speed For Rural Highways Of Arkansas Using Artificial Intelligence (Ai), Sagun Basel

Student Theses and Dissertations

Crash severity is a significant aspect of transport safety as its contributing factors assist engineers and designers in designing safer roads. The focus of this project is to predict crash severity, analyze crash parameters, and modeling of the 85th percentile speed (V85) selected rural roads (i.e., Interstate-555, East Johnson Avenue Highway, and Red Wolf Blvd) in Arkansas, using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models. MATLAB® was used to predict the V85 and compare it with the actual V85 collected from field instrumentation. Besides the speed data, weather (e.g., rainfall), road geometry, light conditions, and traffic volume were used as input in …

“Do No Harm,” Unless God Says So? The Unholy Conflict Of Religious Objections In Health Care, Brandon Hernandez

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Walking The Line On Safety And Free Speech: Sidestepping First Amendment Challenges To Median Bans, Taylor J. Black

New Mexico Law Review

In 2021, the Tenth Circuit held a ban targeting pedestrians on street medians in Albuquerque, New Mexico unconstitutional under the First Amendment. Citing a crisis of pedestrian fatalities, Albuquerque has since promulgated a new pedestrian-safety ordinance with an adjusted median ban that prohibits pedestrians from sitting or standing on certain street medians. This ban not only fails to increase pedestrian safety but also arbitrarily blames the city’s poorest residents and poses a threat to First Amendment freedoms. Because the city cannot produce case-specific evidence to show that the ban is narrowly tailored to ameliorate a nonspeculative harm, the current ban …

Beyond Criminalization: A Call For Educational Restorative Justice In Response To Maryland’S 2024 Juvenile Crime Bill, Melissa B. Spirn

Maryland Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Letter From Eartha White To N. B. Young, Rough Draft

Eartha M. M. White Textual Material

Correspondence: Rough draft of letter from Eartha White to N. B. Young requesting that he speak at the Lincoln - Douglass Memorial Observance. Undated.

Exploring Novel Methods For Real-Time Multi-Camera People Tracking In Machine Learning, Johan Kou, Connor Vallero

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Multi-camera people tracking is the process of tracking persons and their paths, continuously across different camera fields of view. It can help track suspects across large areas, and assist individuals in emergency situations. The current state-of-the-art (SOTA) method involves using geometric-consistent constraints, information on the appearance of subjects, and pose estimation for dealing with occlusion issues. This current SOTA works well, but is still lacking in its ability to handle occlusion and perform well in real-time applications on a network. With occlusion, the IDs assigned to persons can be accidentally swapped in high density areas, or places where there are …

The Impact Of Hazard Naming In Wireless Emergency Alerts: Enhancing Protective Action Decision Making And Organizational Attitudes, Micki Olson, Hugh Walpole, Jeannette Sutton, Lauren B. Cain, Nicholas Waugh

Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity Faculty Scholarship

Wireless Emergency Alerts are an important way people learn about impending threats. Yet, these messages typically lack information about the hazard that will endanger people. In this study, we examine how naming the hazard and its associated cues in a Wireless Emergency Alert influences people’s perceptions that help them make protective action decisions, including understanding, belief, personalization, deciding, response efficacy, and self-efficacy. We also measure the extent to which naming the hazard and its cues affects an organization’s reputation and perceived transparency. To do so, we conduct a 2 (message type: named hazard vs. unnamed hazard) × 3 (hazard type: …

Leveraging An Arts-Based Approach To Foster Engagement, Nurture Kindness, And Prevent Violence, Yok-Fong Paat, Diego Garcia Tovar, Nathan W. Myers, Max C. E. Orezzoli, Anne M. Giangiulio, Sarah L. Ruiz, Angela V. Dorado, Luis R. Torres-Hostos

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Drawing from the insights of community partners, this study explored the roles and benefits of arts-based approaches to foster civic learning, critical media literacy, and community engagement. It also uncovered approaches to promote kindness, prevent violence, and combat online extremism, offering insights into strategies that may enhance community engagement and create a positive impact. We presented our model framework, a detailed case study of our project, and qualitative methods incorporating 15 interviews with our community partners to capture a broad range of perspectives and experiences. Interviewees were community partners who collaborated with our project in organizing events and activities using …

Plan Mano Dura: A Punctuated Political Act? Addressing Gang Violence In El Salvador, Carlos A. Arias

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

On July 23, 2003, Salvadoran President Francisco Flores introduced a punitive and militaristic gang-prevention measure, Plan Mano Dura (Plan Iron Fist), in an attempt to solve the gang phenomenon plaguing El Salvador. Although it turned out to be an abject policy failure, its future effects and significance would far outweigh its intended impact, essentially dictating how El Salvador would combat gang violence for the next 20 years and beyond. As such, it is essential to better understand how such an ineffective policy could arise as a policy approach. This paper examines whether Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) can account for the …

Week Of June 9, 2025, Student Life

College, School and Department Newsletters, Magazines, and Journals

Your summer hub for events, resources and updates.

International Abolitionist Advocacy: The Rise Of Global Networks To Advance Human Rights And The Promise Of The Worldwise Campaign To Abolish Capital Punishment, John D. Bessler

Minnesota Journal of International Law, Vols. 28:2 onward (2019-present)

The modern international human rights movement began with the U.N. Charter and the U.N. General Assembly’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although the movement to abolish the death penalty is rooted in the Enlightenment, global advocacy to halt executions and to abolish capital punishment has accelerated exponentially in recent decades. This Article discusses the origins of global networks to advance human rights and highlights the growing international advocacy, including by nation-states and nongovernmental organizations (“NGOs”), for a worldwide moratorium on executions and to abolish capital punishment altogether. The total number of countries conducting executions in the past …

The Adoption And Implementation Of Lean And Six Sigma In State Governments And Its Impact On Efficiency, Effectiveness, And Equity, Jin Hong Kim

All Faculty Scholarship

This research explores the contextualized use of Lean and Six Sigma (LSS) practices in the state governments in the United States. It analyzes LSS’s capacity to innovate public service administration to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and equity in government.
This study employed the Grounded Theory Method to analyze 2,048 LSS project reports from 32 state governments between 2003 and 2024, aiming to identify systematic patterns in the adjustment and application of LSS within state service administration and its outcomes.
Thirty-two states applied LSS across 24 service areas, adapting it in five ways: strategic programming, production efficiency, customer focus, internal accountability, and …

"I'M Guilty, But I'M Not A War Criminal!": Fixing Treaty Crimes, Dyllan M. Taxman

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

This Article examines the Supreme Court's test for treaty crime constitutionality against the gauntlet of time and application. Treaty crimes are criminal behavior violating statutes penalizing private individuals for disobeying the terms of an international treaty obligation. The current treaty crime test from Bond v. United States has produced inconsistent results resting on shaky constitutional grounds. This Article proposes a new test relying on constitutional delegations of authority and treaty drafting history to determine when a treaty crime statute violates the Tenth Amendment. It measures the new test's effectiveness by applying the test to cases in which the Bond test …

Self-Collection For Cervical Cancer Screening In A Safety-Net Setting: The Prestis Randomized Clinical Trial, Jane R Montealegre, Susan G Hilsenbeck, Shaun Bulsara, Susan L Parker, Trisha L Amboree, Matthew L Anderson, Maria Daheri, Maria L Jibaja-Weiss, Kathleen M Schmeler, Ashish A Deshmukh, Elizabeth Y Chiao, Michael E Scheurer

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Importance: There are limited data on the effectiveness of mailed self-collection to increase cervical cancer screening (CCS) participation in underresourced health care settings.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of mailed self-collection kits, with and without patient navigation, to telephone reminders to increase CCS in a safety-net health system.

Design, setting, and participants: This pragmatic, parallel, single-blinded, randomized clinical trial within a publicly funded safety-net health system in Houston, Texas, compared (1) telephone reminder (TR) for clinic-based screening, (2) TR with mailed self-collection (SC), and (3) TR with mailed SC and patient navigation among a random sample of CCS-eligible patients not …

Vaccination Mandates And Civil Liberties, Sophia Choti

Florida Atlantic University Undergraduate Law Journal

Vaccination mandates in the United States sit at the crossroads of public health and individual freedoms, a complex and often controversial intersection. The enforcement of immunization policies has a long history of legal and ethical scrutiny, balancing the state's responsibility to protect its citizens with the constitutional rights individuals hold dear. The COVID-19 pandemic reignited this debate, amplifying existing tensions and presenting new challenges. This analysis argues that while vaccination mandates are constitutionally valid and essential for safeguarding public health, they must be designed with care to respect individual liberties and address modern challenges such as misinformation, inequities, and public …

Reexamining The Second Amendment: The Impact Of Police Militarization On Civilian Gun Ownership, Merin Ajith

Florida Atlantic University Undergraduate Law Journal

The increasing militarization of police forces in the United States contains profound implications on citizens’ Second Amendment rights, specifically concerning the ownership of weapons capable of mass violence. The original intent of the Second Amendment was not only to guarantee self-defense but also to safeguard citizens’ ability to resist a potentially tyrannical government. As police forces acquire military grade weaponry, some argue that civilians should have access to similar arms to maintain the balance of power between the state and its citizens, as outlined by the purpose of the Second Amendment. The historic use of violent police force to suppress …

Beyond Barriers: Supporting Formerly Incarcerated Students In American Higher Education, Carly Jean Colbert

Journal of Prison Education Research

The United States prison industry is the largest in the world. With the reintroduction of Second Chance Pell in 2015, more people are starting their education while incarcerated, and some attempt to finish after release. However, they are faced with numerous barriers that may prevent graduation. Drawing on Astin’s theory of student involvement, this mixed-methods study examines the challenges that formerly incarcerated people face while pursuing college degrees. Rather than focusing on access, this research focuses on the supports that institutions of higher education can establish to help formerly incarcerated students persist and successfully complete their undergraduate degrees. The findings …

Masculine Traits In Female Serial Killers: A Qualitative Analysis, Ashley Polk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Female serial killers represent a minority in criminal statistics; their cases offer significant insights regarding broader patterns of serial killing behavior. The purpose of this study is to understand the role masculine traits play in the lives of female serial killers. This study involved using a qualitative research method to understand specific characteristics of female serial killers with common masculine traits and childhood experiences. Common masculine traits researched in this study were lack of emotions, aggression, control, dominance, and manipulation. The trauma control model and the gender scheme theory were the theoretical frameworks for this study. Data were collected by …

Development Of Aldot's Worker Safety Assessment, Risk Identification, And Control Program, Lana Marji

All ETDs from UAB

This research examines the safety challenges faced by Transportation Maintenance Technicians (TMTs) at the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT). By ana-lyzing extensive injury data from 2009 to 2024, along with insights from surveys and interactions with ALDOT personnel, this effort highlights significant trends and relation-ships among injury characteristics such as nature, cause, source, and affected body parts. The findings reveal considerable costs and productivity losses associated with common injury types that warrant the need for targeted interventions. By reviewing successful safety programs across various state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), the study identifies opportunities to enhance safety within ALDOT. This effort …

Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence And Well-Being Among New York Police Department Law Enforcement Agents, La’Lisa Scudder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem this quantitative study addressed was police officers’ willingness to use organizational help-seeking interventions and rely on organizational support to mitigate operational and organizational stress. Previous literature discussed how officers engaged in different maladaptive coping behaviors as a result of work related stressor or low well-being, divorce, depression, prescription drug abuse, alcoholism, and suicide. The purpose of this quantitative correlational cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and well-being among law enforcement agents and examine agents’ willingness to use organizational-based intervention services. The organizational support theory and the social exchange theory provided the theoretical framework for …

“Any Black Man Will Do”: A Transparency Framework For Eyewitness Identification In The Facial Recognition Technology Era, Ariam O. Kiflemariam

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

No abstract provided.