Digital Commons Network^™

Letters From A Fragmented Democracy, Maureen Edobor

Scholarly Articles

This piece confronts the stakes of our current trajectory by looking to the future. It presents six fictional letters to illustrate where today’s ominous currents could lead. In this imagined tomorrow, contemporary voting restrictions, judicial erosion, and administrative manipulation have gradually hollowed out the franchise, transforming formal democracy into little more than an empty spectacle. Each letter voices a different facet of democratic erosion: a voter disenfranchised by bureaucratic hurdles, a candidate’s voice hijacked by deepfake technology, a neighbor ensnared by punitive voting laws, a community erased by gerrymandering, a campaign drowned in dark money, and even a corporate memo …

Arboretum Annual Report, 2025, Maggie Redfern

Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Ozanimod In Patients With Moderate To Severe Ulcerative Colitis Naive To Advanced Therapies, Alisha Mehere

VCU's Medical Journal Club: The Work of Future Health Professionals

The drug studied was Ozanimod which is an oral sphingosine-1 -phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator, and was experimented in patient suffering from Ulcerative colitis (UC) who weren’t exposed to biological or Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitors previously. The effects of Ozanimod treatment led to promising results such as greater rates of clinical remission, endoscopic movement as well as histologic remission as compared to the placebo group. The safety profile neither improved nor declined with regard to the side effects of previously conducted experiments with Ozanimod, thus had no serious concerns observed. Ozanimod treatment thus could strongly help patients with moderate to severe …

Undergraduate Review, Vol. 19, 2025

Undergraduate Review

No abstract provided.

Two Decades Of Climate Monitoring In Peru’S Cordillera Blanca Reveal El Niño's Role In Elevation-Dependent Warming, Luke Davies

Undergraduate Review

Driven by climate change, elevation-dependent warming (EDW) has become a critical issue in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru. This study focuses on gathering evidence of EDW and determining the relationship between El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and micrometeorological forcing in two proglacial valleys. A climate monitoring network was maintained through a 20-year collaboration between Bridgewater State University (BSU), Universidad Nacional Santiago Antúnez de Mayolo (UNASAM), and the Autoridad Nacional de Agua (ANA). Fieldwork in June 2023 and June 2024 included repairing weather stations, installing Lascar sensors, and downloading data loggers to sustain and improve the climate record. Data analysis …

Examining Audiovisual Entrainment To Rhythm: Contingency-Based Gamification May Generate Divergent Learning Outcomes, Jevaughn Barnett

Undergraduate Review

No abstract provided.

The Impossibility Of Love: The Difficulty Of Establishing Family Behind Prison Walls, Samantha Carrington Balcanoff

Undergraduate Review

No abstract provided.

The Power Of Language To Devastate Or Restore The Environment In Atwood’S Oryx And Crake And Kimmerer’S Braiding Sweetgrass, Allison Marchand

Undergraduate Review

No abstract provided.

Victim Worthiness: How Demographics Impact The Search For Missing Children, Rory O'Connor

Undergraduate Review

No abstract provided.

In Right Relationship: Practicing And Teaching Trauma-Responsive Restorative Advocacy, Amy Dallas

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Design Of Chinese Medicinal “Curcumin” Ointment And Study Its Anti-Oxidant Or Anti-Bacterial Properties Compared With A Commercial Product, Mei Tsz Lai, Siu Kan Law, Sze Wing Ng

THEi Student Research Output

Background: Many cosmetic products possess anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial properties. However, they are chemically synthesized products. This research project focuses on “organic” and “natural” for skin care products. “Organic” is derived from living matter, such as the Chinese medicinal plant, “Curcuma longa L.” “Natural” exists in or is derived from nature, and is not made or caused by humankind, as these have some advantages. Purpose: The research aimed to design and develop a Chinese medicinal ointment using “natural curcumin extract powder (NCP)” with 98% purity of a bioactive ingredient, “curcumin,” as well as evaluate its anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial properties. The NCP …

Powdery Mildew On Crapemyrtle, Kripa Dhakal, Kaitlin Barrios, Karla M. Addesso, Fulya Baysal-Gurel Baysal-Gurel

Extension Publications

No abstract provided.

Water’S Effect On The Decomposition Of Baptisia Australis, Jackson Whiteside, Adeline Beckham, Jeremy Little, Reese Cobb, Darlene Panvini

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Detritus, dead organic matter, is an essential part of nutrient cycling in Earth’s ecosystems. If dead organic matter could not be decomposed, dead matter would be amassed everywhere, and its nutrients could not be returned to the soil to nourish living species. Detritivores decompose this dead matter and return its nutrients to the soil. How quickly matter decomposes is influenced by a variety of abiotic factors. One abiotic factor which is of interest to decomposition is water quantity and frequency. This study aimed to test if Baptisia australis decomposes faster in dry or wet conditions. The expected results are that …

Potential Impacts Of Construction On Bat Populations In Warner Parks, Nashville, Tennessee, Jackson Whiteside, Wyatt Fooks, Jeremy Little

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Human development continues to alter natural landscapes, often with significant consequences for wildlife populations. Among the most sensitive taxa to such disturbances are bats, which serve vital ecological roles as insect predators, pollinators, and seed dispersers. Because bats depend on specific roosting and foraging habitats, even minor environmental changes can strongly influence their activity and diversity. A new road is proposed through an area of Warner Parks, Nashville, Tennessee which is otherwise untouched. This may affect the biodiversity and the populations of bats as a result. Wildlife Acoustic MiniBat 2 acoustic monitoring equipment was used to gather echolocation calls of …

Functionalizing Silver Nanoparticles With Histamine, Noah J. Deblanco

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are of increasing interest in biomedical research due to their antimicrobial properties, biocompatibility, and high surface-area-to-volume ratio. A major challenge, however, lies in stabilizing AgNPs under physiological conditions and understanding how their surface interactions influence potential medical applications. This project explores the synthesis of AgNPs using the Turkevich method and investigates their behavior when exposed to varying biological conditions, including changes in pH and temperature. In addition, preliminary efforts are being made to functionalize AgNPs with small biological signaling molecules to evaluate their effects on nanoparticle stability and surface interactions. Characterization is performed primarily through UV-Vis spectrophotometry, …

Effects Of In-Stream Large Woody Debris Management On Riparian Salamander Population Dynamics, Sydney Hermann

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The addition of large woody debris (LWD) into streams is an increasingly common habitat restoration method used to support brook trout populations and other sensitive freshwater species. Wood jams create localized reductions of water velocity, increase organic matter retention, intensify overbank flows, and promote habitat heterogeneity. These changes enhance interaction between the floodplain and the stream which can influence forest habitat variables such as leaf litter, soil pH, moisture, and invertebrate abundance. Salamander demographics reflect the stability of these forest habitat variables, and population declines can be indicative of environmental disturbance, stress, or change. Evaluating how this trout-targeted management effects …

2024 Touro University System Faculty Publications, Touro University System

Faculty Publications Books

The 2024 edition of the Faculty Publications Book of the Touro University System. This bibliography contains the published works of affiliated authors during 2024, arranged by academic unit.

Neural Network Curriculum Development And Student Research In Electronics Engineering Technology, Erik Mayer

Posters

The development of neural network curriculum in the Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) program began as project for the Kansas National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program – Opportunities in NASA STEM FY 2020-2024 grant. In this grant, NASA funds supported curriculum development and research in affiliated universities. In the project, faculty and students met to explore online resources and participate in online courses on neural networks that focused on the Keras application programming interface (API).

A portion of the developed curriculum was first used in Spring 2022 in EET 549 Advanced Microcontrollers and EET 745 Advanced Microprocessor Systems and Applications. …

Structural Impacts Of Canonical And Non-Canonical Oligonucleotide Modifications, Deepak Shrestha

Wayne State University Dissertations

Nucleic acids, including DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acids), are the fundamental building blocks of living organisms. The events that cause modification of DNA/RNA are of interest because they impact the nucleic acid function. Targeting DNA is important for treating diseases such as cancer. Cisplatin (cisPt) is a well-studied drug that targets DNA and blocks replication, but its use is limited by adverse side effects and cellular resistance. Prevoius research addressed some of these challenges through development of platinum analogues such as carboplatin and oxaliplatin. Amino acid-linked platinum analogues (AAPt) are the focus of this thesis work. AAPt complexes …

Mass Spectrometry Combined With Chemical Biology To Study Human Ailments, Eric Thomas Jacquerio Davis

Wayne State University Dissertations

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are essential as chemical changes that regulate protein function, activity, stability, interactions, and localization after protein synthesis. PTMs, such as phosphorylation, acetylation, and ubiquitination, can activate or deactivate proteins, influence their interactions with other molecules, and determine their cellular location. This regulation is vital for numerous biological processes, such as cell cycle control, signal transduction, and gene expression. Abnormal PTMs are linked to various diseases in humans, including parasitic infection, blood disorders, cancers, and neurodegenerative diseases, making their study crucial for understanding disease mechanisms and developing targeted therapies. In the Pflum lab, we are interested in the …

An Auto-Historia-Teoria Of Kismet Encounters: Building Bridges Between Multiple-Marginalized Identites - Queer, Latine, And Disabled - In A Colonial Education System, Rachel Torres

Wayne State University Dissertations

Existing education research has identified a series of factors that impact student identity formation, belonging, and academic performance in secondary and post-secondary education. Such research usually focuses on one to two identity groups - like ethnicity and gender or sexuality and disability. However, very few center on the experiences of queer, disabled, students of color. Using a decolonial methodological approach to qualitative research. This dissertation uses Chicana/Indigenous epistemologies as research methodologies to identify challenges students of multiple marginalized identities encounter in schooling and how they might find strength in their elders and cultural stories. The findings encourage educators to normalize …

The Bad And The Beautiful: Is It Moral To Patronize Immoral Artists’ Works?, Earl W. Spurgin

2025 Faculty Bibliography

Artists’ moral wrongs raise interesting questions about whether, and how, we should engage the artists and their works. Public discourse is replete with opposition to honoring immoral artists for their achievements and calls for boycotts of their works. I examine a specific moral question that artists’ moral wrongs raise: Is it morally permissible to patronize immoral artists’ works? After explaining some preliminary matters, such as the meanings of some of important terms, I argue that it is morally permissible to patronize immoral artists’ works. Then, I examine two possible objections that pose significant challenges to my argument.

The Role Of Radiation Therapy In Managing Brain Metastases, Kaylie Skovira

Medical Imaging Senior Posters

This project explores brain metastases and the critical role of radiation therapy in managing this condition. It provides an overview of general statistics, radiation therapy types, treatment options, expected outcome and prognosis. Brain metastases rank as the tenth major leading cause of death among men and women, and occur in 20-40% of patients diagnosed with cancer. Radiation therapy for brain metastases primarily involves external radiotherapy, which delivers ionizing radiation from outside of the body to targeted brain regions. Internal radiotherapy is less commonly used due to anatomical constraints.Common treatment options include: CyberKnife stereotactic radiation therapy, whole-brain radiation therapy, intensity-modulated radiotherapy, …

2025 Intersession Catalog, Illinois Math And Science Academy

Intersession Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of The 2025 Globe U.S. Virtual Srs, Eleanor M. Jaffee, Globe U.S. Coordination Office

Publications and Media

No abstract provided.

Research Annual Report Fy2025, Children's Mercy Kansas City

Research Annual Reports

Annual report of the research at Children's Mercy Kansas City in Kansas City MO, a pediatric medical center.

Data For Research Collaboration And Co-Authorship In The Gulf Of Mexico, 2000–2018, Owen Temby, Dongkyu Kim, Juliet Vallejo

Datasets

This dataset documents research collaboration and co-authorship among organizations engaged in environmental science in the Gulf of Mexico from 2000 to 2018. The data were compiled through bibliometric analysis of scientific articles, with each record containing publication-level and author affiliation information, as well as institutional and country codes. The dataset provides the basis for network analysis of collaborative patterns among institutions in the United States, Mexico, and Cuba. Variable definitions and data structure are described in the accompanying README file.

Event-Based Histogram Of Gradients For Lane Detection, Ganesh Gupta

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

In the rapidly evolving landscape of autonomous driving technology, lane detection systems stand as fundamental guardians of vehicular safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration identifies unintentional lane departures as responsible for approximately one-third of all road accidents—a sobering statistic that underscores the critical importance of robust lane detection methodologies. This thesis embarks on an academic exploration at the intersection of neuromorphic engineering and computer vision, examining how the distinctive properties of event-based cameras might be harnessed to enhance lane detection capabilities under challenging environmental conditions. Unlike conventional frame-based imaging sensors that capture entire scenes at fixed intervals, event-based cameras …

Centrality Algorithms For Weighted Homogeneous Multilayer Networks, Ayomide Ayowole-Obi

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Applications need to be modeled for analyses. With the availability of many alternate data Models, choosing one needs to be done carefully by considering the complexity of data to be modeled and its analyses requirements. Social networks and other newer applications are primarily relationship-oriented and also have multiple types of entities and relationships. Although simple and attributed graphs have been used historically for modeling these applications, recently, multilayer networks (or MLNs) have been shown to be more effective in preserving the semantics of the application better and further provide flexibility of analyses. However, choice of MLN as a data model …

Crime Theory Informed Agent-Based Modeling For Crime Prediction And Patrolling Route Optimization, Shohreh Moradi

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Crime reduction remains a global priority, demanding both accurate modeling of criminal dynamics and efficient allocation of scarce policing resources. To address these needs, this study presents a two‐fold framework that (1) simulates street‐level crime patterns using an agent‐based model (ABM) grounded in Routine Activity Theory (RAT), Rational Choice Theory (RCT), and Crime Pattern Theory (CPT), and (2) optimizes patrol routing through a time-dependent, multi‐visit mixed‐integer linear programming (MILP) formulation.

In the first component, we integrate real‐world crime, environmental, and census data to reproduce realistic offender, citizen, and Police behaviors, capturing where and when robbery, burglary, and larceny occur across …