Digital Commons Network^™

Foreward: Environmental And Energy Regulation Reformation: Challenges And Solutions After West Virginia V. Epa, Sackett V. Epa, And Loper Bright Enterprises V. Raimondo, Shannon Schooley

Minnesota Law Review Vols. 106:2 onward (2021-present)

No abstract provided.

Our Lady Of Peace: John Joseph Lynch’S Pilgrimage To Niagara Falls, Amelia Gallagher

Vincentian Studies

This article relates how John Joseph Lynch established Niagara Falls as a pilgrimage site, which he envisioned as being the first such site in the United States. In the nineteenth century, Niagara was viewed as such a spectacular natural wonder that it frequently inspired religious devotion, a history that Lynch encouraged and continued. The evolution of nineteenth- and twentieth-century views of Niagara and of pilgrimage in general are discussed. Niagara's role in American history is also explored.

John Timon, The Vincentian: Filling Out The Biography Of The Founding Bishop Of Buffalo, John E. Rybolt

Vincentian Studies

John Rybolt traces the biographical information we have about John Timon and talks about the bishop's career and his lifelong devotion to the Vincentians, even when he was painfully separated from the Congregation because he was forced to join the episcopacy against his will. At the time, the Congregation's Rules stated that Vincentians could not stay within the community if they accepted church office, especially not without receiving the approval of the superior general. But Timon's appointment could hardly have been refused, since it came directly from the pope.

Deep Reinforcement Learning-Driven Decision Support System Design For Precision Agriculture: Optimizing Farming And Resource Use, Qingshan Bai

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

This study focuses on enhancing the efficiency of agricultural decision support systems by integrating deep reinforcement learning techniques to optimize the path planning of agricultural vehicles. By decomposing the system into dynamics, action, strategy, reward, and discount factor components, a robust framework is established. A value-based reinforcement learning algorithm is introduced, enriched with policy gradient (PG) methodology to enable continuous and adaptive state-to-action decision-making process. A deep neural network (DNN) was used to approximate the state-action value function, resulting in the innovative DNN-PG-Q-learning algorithm. This algorithm leverages an empirical playback pool to enable efficient and intelligent path planning for agricultural …

In Re: Wawa, Inc. Data Security Litigation

2025 Decisions

USDC for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Adalberto Pino-Porras V. Attorney General United States Of America

2025 Decisions

Agency

Why Gen Z Is More Anxious Than Ever? Turning To Social Chats For Answers, Yi Luo, Jin-A Choi, Bond Benton

College of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

As social media has evolved into a prominent part of Gen Z’s social interaction, this study attempted to enrich our current understanding of Gen Z’s mental health struggles through their conversations surrounding anxiety on social media. Highlights of the findings included the following. First, the overwhelming presence of fear (83%) illustrates that anxiety is an emotionally draining experience for many Gen Z users. The use of emotionally charged language to publicly share their struggles with anxiety reflect increasing self-awareness and a cultural shift toward normalizing mental health conversations. Second, the open, candid conversations on anxiety indicate that anxiety is experienced …

Antiinflammatory Mechanisms Of Barley-Based Functional Foods Beyond Diabetes Management, Hafiz Ghulam Muhu Din Ahmed, Adnan Noor Shah, Muhammad Ahtasham Mushtaq, Xiaomeng Yang, Jiazhen Yang, Xia Li, Li’E Yang, Xiaoying Pu, Yawen Zeng

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

This review article investigated the antiinflammatory properties of barley, emphasizing its benefits beyond diabetes management. Barley, historically valued for its nutritional and medicinal properties, is rich in bioactive compounds such as beta-glucans, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. These compounds are known for their significant antioxidant and antiinflammatory activities. This study highlights the multifaceted mechanisms through which barley reduces systemic inflammation, including the enhancement of gut microbiota composition, the production of beneficial short-chain fatty acids, and the modulation of immune responses. Beta-glucans in barley lower cholesterol, and regulate glucose levels, while phenolic acids and flavonoids inhibit proinflammatory enzymes and cytokines, thereby reducing …

Intraspecific Competition Can Promote Population-Level Specialization, Abdel H. Halloway

Faculty Scholarship

The hypothesis of competitive diversification asserts that increased intraspecific competition will cause a population to generalize in resource use. The reasoning is that as preferred resources are depleted, individuals which use alternative resources become more fit, leading to an overall broadening of resource use. However, recent studies have shown instances of the opposite effect: increased intraspecific competition leading to increased population resource specialization. We explored how intraspecific competition could affect population resource specialization by creating an evolutionary game theoretic consumer-resource model in which individuals have both resource use preference and resource use breadth which are flexible and adaptable. Using this …

The Clean Water Act And Avoidance Creep, Jack H.L. Whiteley

Minnesota Law Review Vols. 106:2 onward (2021-present)

In Sackett v. EPA, the Supreme Court set out a test for the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction over wetlands. The Act, the Court held, protects only those wetlands that have a continuous surface connection to relatively permanent bodies of water like streams, rivers, and lakes. If the connection lies below the surface, or is at the surface but discontinuous, the wetlands are presumed to fall outside the Act’s protections. The ruling, which abruptly curtailed how each administration since the 1970s had understood the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction, has generated persuasive criticism from environmental scholars. In this Essay, prepared for the …

Sosiologi Hukum Dan Perubahan Sosial: Studi Kasus Uu No. 35 Tahun 2014 Tentang Perlindungan Anak Sebagai Respon Terhadap Kesadaran Sosial Yang Meningkat Akan Hak Anak, Fahrul Rozi

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Dalam konteks sosial yang dinamis, kesadaran akan hak anak telah meningkat, terlihat dari perhatian masyarakat terhadap isu-isu seperti kekerasan, eksploitasi, dan diskriminasi. Meskipun UU No. 35 Tahun 2014 memberikan kerangka hukum yang kuat untuk melindungi hak-hak anak, tantangan dalam pelaksanaannya masih ada, termasuk kurangnya sumber daya dan koordinasi antar lembaga. Anak jalanan, sebagai kelompok yang paling rentan, sering kali terjebak dalam siklus kemiskinan dan stigma sosial, yang menghambat upaya perlindungan. Menekankan pentingnya edukasi dan sosialisasi mengenai hak anak, serta peran aktif masyarakat dan media dalam mendukung perlindungan anak. Dengan kolaborasi antara pemerintah, masyarakat, dan lembaga swadaya masyarakat, diharapkan hak-hak anak …

The Impact Of Loper Bright V. Raimondo: An Empirical Review Of The First Six Months, Robin Kundis Craig

Minnesota Law Review Vols. 106:2 onward (2021-present)

One of the most impactful decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023–2024 term was Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overruled the forty-year-old administrative law doctrine of Chevron deference. This doctrine allowed federal agencies to interpret ambiguities in the statutes that they administer. Courts cited Chevron over 18,000 times in its forty-year existence, or roughly 450 times a year—more than once a day, on average. Small wonder, then, that in the first six months after the Supreme Court decided Loper Bright, courts cited it more than 400 times. This article provides an empirical review of what courts are doing with …

Water Flowing Down Wall Street, Vanessa Casado Pérez

Minnesota Law Review Vols. 106:2 onward (2021-present)

Water scarcity is a perennial problem with dire consequences for the United States and governments around the world. A lack of adequate water resources is a systematic cause of environmental harm, economic damage, and societal division. Climate change has exacerbated these problems making water even more valuable and essential. Financial actors have turned water into the new oil. These large financial actors profiteer from buying and selling water without any interest in its actual use as an input of production. Instead, they typically seek to hold these rights until dire situations, like droughts and fires, cause temporary, but large, spikes …

Application Of Vermicompost Extract To Improve The Phytochemical Composition Of Berry Fruits, Jelena Tomić, Žaklina Karaklajić-Stajić, Marijana Pešaković, Svetlana M. Paunović, Boris Rilak, Maja Mikulic-Petkovsek, Metka Hudina, Robert Veberic, Nesi̇be Ebru Kafkas, Sezai̇ Erci̇şli̇, Jerneja Jakopic

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The growing market demand for environmentally friendly products for plant nutrition has led to the development of new fertilizers, particularly liquid compost-based products such as teas, extracts, and leachates. The aim of this research was to compare the effect of chemical fertilization (CF) and its combination with liquid fertilizer based on vermicompost and beneficial microorganisms (CF + VP) on the phytochemical profile of strawberry (Senga Sengana), blackberry (Čačanska Bestrna) and blueberry (Aurora). The results showed that CF + VP positively affected fruit weight (8.8 g), soluble solids (8.9°Bx), total sugars (65.5 g/kg FW), and the sum of all phenolic groups …

Precision Crop Yield Prediction Model Based On Deep Learning And Multimodal Data Fusion, Zijin Mo, Yanxiong Wu

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

More precise crop yield prediction methods are essential in advancing precision agriculture, ensuring food security, and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. Deep learning technologies have significantly improved prediction accuracy by allowing the analysis of large-scale agricultural datasets. However, existing approaches still face challenges in effectively integrating multisource data, such as meteorological, soil, and remote sensing information, and optimizing model parameters. To address these issues, this study introduces TCGNet, a novel deep learning architecture that combines a time convolutional network (TCN), convolutional long short-term memory (ConvLSTM), and the grey wolf optimization (GWO) algorithm. The TCN is employed for time series analysis, ConvLSTM …

A Comprehensive Review Of Fermentation Technologies In Food Processing: From Traditional To Cutting Edge, Pragati Singh, Niharika Arya, Shalini Sharma, Ankita Sharma, Prasad Rasane, Supriya Singh Gaur, Sawinder Kaur, Mahendra Gunjal, Hasan Kiliçgün, Jyoti Singh

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Fermentation technologies play crucial roles in food processing, offering various advantages, including enhanced flavor profiles, extended shelf life, and improved nutritional qualities. This paper provides a comprehensive overview on the major types of fermentation as well as effects of various factors such as substrate composition, temperature, pH, oxygen availability, and microbial strain selection on the process. Despite its widespread application, traditional fermentation processes face limitations related to yield optimization, contamination risks, and process consistency. Recent advancements have significantly enhanced fermentation efficiency, product quality, and scalability, ultimately expanding the applications beyond food and beverage production into pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, biofuels, and waste …

Fsec Meeting Minutes June 25, 2025, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Thai Elderly’S Working Needs During 2007–2021: Empirical Findings On Aging Health Status And Impact From Thai Elderly Financial Support Policy, Ratchaphon Amsuk

Asia-Pacific Social Science Review

Thailand has implemented many initiatives in response to the growing older population. One of the objectives was to increase revenue through employment. This study examines the employment demands of the elderly population by considering their health status, eyesight, and hearing capacity, with the aim of improving the provision of employment support for the elderly. The data from the survey of older persons during 2007–2021 were examined. The results revealed that the Thai elderly’s working needs are likely to continually increase. However, their health status, eyesight capability, and hearing ability significantly affected the elderly’s working opportunities. One intriguing discovery pertained to …

Political Regimes And Paradigms In Bangladesh, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam Talukdar

Asia-Pacific Social Science Review

When scholars, stakeholders, and the international community consider revitalizing democracy in Bangladesh a terrific challenge, the substantive question arises: did the country hold democracy in the true sense under any regime? Throughout its long political history, it has attained some structural democracy, but it still falls short of institutional democratic standards. Following a glorious, challenging, and victorious struggle for independence, it underwent post-independence governance, military dictatorship, and the democratic movement that resulted in structural democracy and “particracy.” The essay offers a comprehensive examination and critique of the political regime’s perspectives in Bangladesh with respect to this issue. This article helps …

The Body In Extremist White Supremacism, Mehr Latif, Kathleen Blee, Matthew Demichele, Pete Simi

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

This article advances the study of racial extremism by analyzing how its practices of violence and sexuality are marked on the bodies of participants in the form of scars, physical stances, abuse, tattoos, pregnancy, injury, strength and size, using an extraordinarily rich and extensive set of narratives collected from lengthy in-person interviews with 47 former members of U.S. extremist white supremacist groups. It asks how embodied practices of violence and sexuality enable extremist white supremacist groups and actors, how embodied practices of violence and sexuality disable these groups and actors, and how gender matters in embodied practices in these groups. …

What Drives Clinic Follow-Up After Traumatic Spinal Injury? An Observational Cohort Study From Tanzania, Chibuikem A Ikwuegbuenyi, Julie Woodfield, Romani Roman Sabas, Sean Inzerillo, Noah Willett, Magalie Cadieux, Scott L Zuckerman, Francois Waterkeyn, Halinder S Mangat, Hamisi K Shabani, Roger Härtl

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate factors associated with clinic follow-up after traumatic spinal injury (TSI) in Tanzania, focusing on demographic, injury-related and hospital variables. We hypothesised that socioeconomic and injury-specific factors would predict follow-up adherence.

DESIGN: Retrospective observational cohort study.

SETTING: Tertiary government referral centre for neurosurgery and orthopaedics in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

PARTICIPANTS: 443 adults with TSI admitted between September 2016 and October 2021. Inclusion criteria included survival to discharge and availability of the discharge date. Patients with missing data were excluded.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcomes were any clinic follow-up and 1-year follow-up post-discharge. Secondary outcome was …

Law Enforcement Officers’ Perceptions About Antipolice Sentiment And Social Media As A Force Multiplier, Edward Peter Pope

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As a newly emergent form of mass communication, social media platforms can act as a force multiplier in fomenting negative and critical attitudes or viewpoints toward law enforcement officers and agencies. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions and lived experiences of law enforcement officers about antipolice sentiment and social media as a force multiplier. Amid growing concerns regarding public opinion and the impact of social media on law enforcement practices, more research was needed on how officers navigate and interpret these challenges. Data from in-depth interviews with 10 law enforcement officers were thematically analyzed to …

Probation Officers’ Perspectives Of Outside Services In Reducing Recidivism, Karla Murguia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has underscored the critical role of probation officers in improving rates of recidivism. However, the literature on the comprehensive impact of outside services on recidivism was sparse and underdeveloped. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how probation officers in court services and a community corrections agency in Garden City, Kansas perceived the utility of outside services in reducing adult recidivism for probationers. Ecological systems theory was used to guide the study. Eight probation officers recruited via purposive sampling participated in semistructured interviews. Transcribed data were analyzed using a six-step thematic analysis protocol. Findings revealed that probationers …

Democracy, Expertise, And The Disinformation Problem, Richard Randall Frohock Iv

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Experts are an essential part of our social epistemology. They grant us access to knowledge that would otherwise be inaccessible. Because of this, experts are also typically seen as invaluable political contributors. Without expert contributions, public policy risks being ill-informed and therefore incapable of addressing society’s needs. Recently, however, the extent to which expertise should inform public policy has come into question. Fueled largely by disinformation, there is a growing movement against traditional experts. Those within this movement argue that experts have overstepped their bounds and are working against the societies they are meant to be helping. Fearing that that …

Granite Staters Wary Of One Big Beautiful Bill But Support No Taxes On Tips & Overtime 6/25/2025, Unh Survey Center

All UNH Survey Center Polls

A majority of New Hampshire residents do not want the U.S. Congress to pass President Trump's signature piece of legislation, the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," amid bipartisan concern about the federal debt. Despite opposition to the overall bill, Granite Staters favor the provision of the bill to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime and are divided on work requirements for Medicaid and making the 2017 tax cuts permanent. Elon Musk is a largely unpopular figure in New Hampshire and nearly half of state residents believe the Department of Government Efficiency has had a negative effect on the country. Approval …

Mainers Disapprove Of One Big Beautiful Bill, Increasingly Disapprove Of Trump Handling Of Economy 6/25/2025, Unh Survey Center

All UNH Survey Center Polls

Less than one-third of Maine residents want Congress to pass the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," President Trump's major piece of legislation. However, a majority favor the provision of the bill which would eliminate taxes on tips and overtime. Elon Musk is an unpopular figure in Maine following his departure from the federal government and more than half of state residents believe the Department of Government Efficiency has had a negative effect on the country. Approval of Trump's handling of the economy among Mainers has declined since April and bipartisan majorities express concern about the federal debt.

Two-Thirds Of Vermonters Reject One Big Beautiful Bill Amid Bipartisan Concern About Budget Deficit 6/25/2025, Unh Survey Center

All UNH Survey Center Polls

Most Vermont residents do not want Congress to pass President Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act." Majorities oppose notable provisions of the Act such as making the 2017 tax cuts permanent and removing tax credits for electric vehicles and solar energy. Following his departure from the federal government, Elon Musk is an unpopular figure in Vermont and two-thirds of state residents believe the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has had a negative effect on the country. Vermonters continue to disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy, immigration, and his overall job performance.

Xplain: Xai For Interpretable Llms Through Perturbation Analysis And Normalized Vector Similarity, Gopala Dhar, Sharmila Devi

Defensive Publications Series

This document introduces XAI methodology, referred to as XPLAIN, to address the challenges of LLM interpretability by developing a perturbation-based normalized vector similarity metric to identify and quantify word level importance of the prompt provided to an LLM on its generated output. By analyzing which words or phrases most significantly influence an LLM's decisions, the described techniques enhance the explainability and interpretability of large language models. The approach perturbs the prompt via masking words to generate several outputs through the LLM and then compares the outputs with the generated output of the unperturbed prompt through vector-based similarity at a semantic …

A “Teaching As Emergent Learning” Approach To Teaching Deep Creativity, Steven Greenstein, Iain Kerr, Emily Olson

LASER Journal

Creativity is the process by which a change that is new and different emerges. We call it deep when it yields novel forms of both quantitative and qualitative change. If we are to take on the most pressing and persistent challenges to our social, global, and planetary well-being, we need novel approaches of a qualitatively different kind than those that have failed to bring about radical change in the past. In other words, we need deep creativity. The paradox at the heart of ``ideation-first" approaches to creative practice (e.g., brainstorming or ideating) is that if creativity aims to produce outcomes …

Christianity, Conception, And Consciousness: Why A Conscious Human Mind Is Necessary To Fulfill The Conception Requirement, Vittoria L. D'Addesi

Liberty University Law Review

As artificial intelligence (“AI”) advances, it not only affects our daily life, but also implicates patent law. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has already held in Thaler v. Vidal that only a natural human person can be an “inventor” entitled to receive a patent, thereby excluding AI. The rationale in Thaler centers on statutory interpretation, leaving open the question of whether AI is capable of fulfilling the conception requirement—an essential element of qualifying as an inventor and receiving a patent. This Comment aims to expand the rationale of Thaler and argues that AI cannot fulfill the conception requirement; thus, …