Digital Commons Network^™

The Politicization Of Performance: How Rome Turned Ancient Greek Ritualistic Entertainment Into Political Propaganda, Ava Henderson

IdeaFest 2026

In this poster the topic of how Ancient Greek ritualistic theater was changed to fit the bloody and politically inclined ideals of Ancient Rome was discussed. It explores different theoretical frameworks such as the Ritual Theory, the Spectacle and Power Theory, and the Performance Theory. It also uses many different methodologies including comparative archaeological analysis, textual analysis, and socio-political contextualization. Using these different methods the poster is able to explore how Rome used both their spectacles and their architecture to promote their idealization of war while Greece used their performances and architecture to honor their Gods, specifically Dionysus who was …

Freenergy: Smart Piezoelectric Speed Bumps For Clean Energy And Operational Intelligence, Jorge Luis Zavala Álvarez

IdeaFest 2026

Urban environments are facing a growing demand for energy alongside increasing vehicular activity, particularly in high-density, high-traffic areas. While renewable energy technologies continue to expand, many solutions remain constrained by high installation costs, spatial limitations, and the need for dedicated infrastructure. This creates an opportunity to explore alternative approaches that integrate energy generation into existing urban systems. Freenergy introduces a novel concept that leverages everyday vehicular movement as a distributed source of energy and data. By embedding piezoelectric modules within speed bumps, the system captures mechanical stress from passing vehicles and transforms it into electrical output. Beyond energy generation, the …

Fiber Orientation Effects In 3d Printed Composites, Chloe Melendez

IdeaFest 2026

This project investigated how fiber orientation affects stiffness in 3D-printed fiber-reinforced composites made with consumer-grade printers. Tensile specimens were printed with fibers aligned at 0°, 45°, and 90° and tested to measure Young’s modulus. Experimental results were compared with micromechanical models, including the Rule of Mixtures and Halpin–Tsai equations. An interactive Mathematica simulation was also developed to predict mechanical behavior, providing an accessible tool and open-source data for education and composite design.

Modern Consumption: Digital Media And Food Intake In Young Adults, Norah Mieloch

IdeaFest 2026

This poster explores how digital media influences food engagement in terms of what we eat and why, how hormonal hunger and satiety cues may be impacted by screens during mealtime, how media content targets certain food behaviors (intentional and not), and meal appreciation. In learning about the impacts of digital media consumption alongside food consumption, the audience will understand the effects on their health and how screens change their brain chemistry - hopefully allowing them to make an educated decision of whether or not to engage in media while eating.

Fad Diets Or Bad Diets?, Walker Dorris

IdeaFest 2026

A literature review on fad diets and their effectiveness and sustainability with regard to weight loss and overall health.

The Mechanical-Human Mismatch: Fatigue And Injury Prevention In Motocross, Mark Rivas

IdeaFest 2026

A research project into the risks and causes of injury in the sport of motocross. The research is focused on how the athlete can be better prepared through sport specific training for better technique and other factors. The sport specific training can be developed through the perspective of a physical therapist to develop more durable athletes. With more research the perspective can be utilized in the set-up of the equipment on the motorcycle and the protective equipment riders use can be made safer. The practices and methods used by PT's could be very valuable to the growth of the sport …

Emergent Disorder Induced Transport In Active Matter Systems, Josh Steimel

IdeaFest 2026

Creating randomized obstacles for magnetic particles to traverse in varying magnetic fields in hopes of finding immerging patterns. Responsible for creating CAD files in large quantities and making functional resin prints with obstacles on the micro-scale.

Effect Of Hydration Pack Load Carrying Configuration On Trail Running Energetics And Performance, Ryan Giglio

IdeaFest 2026

Lit Review for KINS 492W Senior Seminar, looking at the effects of hydration pack configuration on metabolic cost/energetics in trail running.

Methods For Degradation Of Pla-Quinoa Composites, Rafael Bernard

IdeaFest 2026

Polylactic acid (PLA) composites were created by integrating quinoa chaff that had been refluxed in a toluene and ethanol solution, with differing ratios of the chaff. These composites underwent testing such as bomb calorimetry, infrared (IR) spectroscopy, water uptake, water contact angle & degredation, antioxidant assay and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A cellulase enzyme was also purified from E-Coli bacteria for use in degradation studies. Current tests indicate that the refluxing of raw chaff increases homogeniztion of composites, which in turn allows for the increase of certain physical properties as well as increased degredation. This gives promising results concerning the …

From Textbook To Treatment: Designing And Building A Bench-Scale Drinking Water Treatment System, Neeshelle Jaimes

IdeaFest 2026

In Humboldt County, California, the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District (HBMWD) draws source water from the Mad River aquifer via Ranney Collectors, where natural filtration produces high-quality water that is disinfected prior to distribution to the cities of Arcata, McKinleyville, Eureka, Blue Lake and Manila. As a result, there is no conventional surface water treatment plant in the area for environmental engineering and water science students at Cal Poly Humboldt to visit and learn from. To address this lack of visibility, we developed a bench-scale demonstration water treatment plant for Dr. Yacob Tesfayohanes’ drinking water treatment course.This project scales down …

From Clumsy To Capable: Improving Awareness And Care For Developmental Coordination Disorder In Children, Mallory Akers

IdeaFest 2026

This project analyzing the effectiveness of current interventions and brings awareness to current lack of care for children with Developmental Coordination Disorder. It compares current diagnosis measures like MABC,TGMD-2, Bruininks-Oseretsky Test with interventions to give background of where we are currently to streamline care for the future. Findings show that Neuromotor task training (NTT) and CO-OP interventions are most effective in improving quality of care. Results suggest for improving this problem we can educate health professionals more in the subject and improve diagnosis streamline, implement more school based additional therapies to increase access to care, and improve parents involvement in …

N Y State Dent J January 2026

The New York State Dental Journal

In the January 2026 issue, the reader will find the following feature articles:

• No Need to Travel the Road to Licensure Renewal Alone
• IPS Subperiosteal Implant for the Maxilla and Mandible
• Amyloidoma of the Palate
• Titanium Hypersensitivity as Possible Cause of Dental Implant Failures

This issue includes regular columns with regional news impacting the New York membership including editorial and perspectives columns, legal, association activities, component news, continuing education opportunities, and classifieds.

A Complete Diploid Human Genome Benchmark For Personalized Genomics, Nancy F. Hansen, Nathan Dwarshuis, Hyun Joo Ji, Arang Rhie, Hailey Loucks, Glennis A. Logsdon, Mitchell R. Vallger, Jessica M. Storer, Juhyun Kim, Eleni Adam, Nicolas Alternose, Dmitry Antipov, Mobin Asri, Sofia Barreira, Stephanie C. Bohaczuk, Andrey V. Bzikadze, Sara A. Carioscia, Andrew Carroll, Kuan-Hao Chao, Yanan Chu, Arun Das, Peter Ebert, Adam English, Mark Fleharty, Laura E. Fleming, Giulio Formenti, Andrea Guarracino, Gabrielle A. Hartley, Katharine Jenike, Jenna Kalleberg, Yu Kang, Robert King, Josipa Lipovac, Mira Mastoras, Matthew W. Mitchell, Shloka Negi, Nathan D. Olson, Keisuke K. Oshima, Luis F. Paulin, Brandon D. Pickett, David Porubsky, Jane Ranchalis, Desh Ranjan, Mikko Rautiainen, Harold Riethman, Robert D. Schnabel, Fritz J. Sedlazeck, Kishwar Shafin, Mile Sikic, Steven J. Solar, Alexander P. Sweeten, Winston Timp, Justin Wagner, Dongahn Yoo, Ying Zhou, Erik Garrison, Evan E. Eichler, Michaeel C. Schatz, Andrew B. Stergachis, Rachel J. O'Neill, Karen H. Miga, Steven L. Salzberg, Sergey Koren, Justin M. Zook, Adam M. Phillippy

School of Medical Diagnostics & Translational Sciences Publications

Human genome sequencing typically relies on mapping reads to a reference genome to call variants, but this approach introduces technical biases, excluding duplicated and structurally polymorphic regions of the genome. To overcome this, we present a telomere-to-telomere genome benchmark with near-perfect accuracy across 99.4% of the diploid HG002 genome. This benchmark adds 701.4 Mb of autosomal sequence and both sex chromosomes (216.8 Mb), which were absent from prior benchmarks. We annotated genes and repeats on both haplotypes, including 19,956 protein-coding genes on the maternal haplotype and 19,190 on the paternal haplotype, and developed new methods to measure the accuracy of …

Strategic Peer Region Selection For Economic Development, Xiaobing Shuai, Riley Ford

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Benchmarking against peer and aspirational regions is essential for economic development because it provides meaningful context for evaluating performance and shaping strategy. These comparisons help highlight regional advantages that attract new investments, as well as uncover gaps that may represent opportunities for future growth. ...

This article provides a practical, data-driven framework that economic development organizations can use to identify peer and aspirational regions, strengthen benchmarking efforts, and support strategy development. A case study illustrates how this can be applied to better interpret economic indicators and inform decision-making. For EDOs, this approach offers a more consistent way to evaluate competitiveness, …

Evaluating Multi-Year Transferability Of Single- And Multi-Class Machine Learning For Remote Monitoring Of Beaver-Engineered Landscapes, Harris J. Sloan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Long-term satellite image archives enable ecological monitoring at large scales, but manual extraction of fine-grained features (e.g., beaver dams) remains time-consuming. Machine learning models may automate these tasks, but their temporal transferability for multiannual monitoring is still poorly resolved.

We evaluated the performance of two complementary neural-network frameworks across a 100,000-hectare watershed in Montana USA, using a decade of satellite imagery (2014-2024): (i) a single-class ResNet-50 beaver dam detector, and (ii) a multi-class ResU-Net landcover classifier.

In 2024, the dam detector identified 352 of 404 mapped dams, achieving balanced accuracy = 93.6%, precision = 79.8%, recall = 87.1%, F1 = …

The Connectedness Between Awareness And Practice Of Waste Control And Recycling In Urban Villages: A Cross-Sectional Community-Based Study., Nelifer Shreya Ammanna, Jeenal Valine Mendonca, Chethan Kunder, Sushwetha Poojary, Swagath Nayak, Ansuya Ansuya, Mitchelle Shilpa Lewis

Manipal Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences

Introduction: Waste management is an increasing problem that occurs globally due to expanding population around the globe. Researchers worldwide are working towards ending this problem that impacts the environment and people's health. The knowledge of the wastes produced and how we manage them is vital for the population to understand; knowing about it and practicing the same will create a ripple effect on the waste generated by the people.

Objective: To determine the condition of the urban villages in terms of awareness and practice of waste management, and to know whether these are interrelated.

Methods: A quantitative approach with …

In Trust We Trust: Role Of Trust In Business Negotiations In The Context Of Switzerland As A High-Trust Country, Aksana Babich

Plymouth Business School Theses

The present research examines the role of trust in business negotiations in the context of Switzerland, a high-trust country. Using a qualitative, practitioner-oriented design grounded in template analysis, the research draws on semi-structured interviews with thirty professionals from diverse sectors of the economy of the canton of Geneva. Switzerland’s high-trust environment provides an empirical context in which trust mechanisms are particularly visible and operational.The research advances conceptual, empirical and methodological knowledge of trust in negotiations. Conceptually, it clarifies the meaning of trust, demonstrating that trust is not a one-dimensional construct centred on risk and vulnerability, but a multifaceted moral value …

Prediction Of Phytocompounds For Environmental Sustainability: A Framework Using Computational Tools, Ankita Halder, Sayoni Dam, Sisir Nandi, Asmita Samadder

Trends in advanced sciences and technology

In response to the abruptly elevated environmental impact caused by the usage of chemical-based synthetic compounds in agricultural fields and pharmaceutical pollution, phytocompound-based products have become the choice of use for their ability to foster environmental sustainability. The potential of new phyto-based compounds has been explored in agriculture, phytoremediation, etc. Computer-based in silico prediction through ADMETlab 2.0, SwissADME, and Way2Drug software secured an important role in screening of these phyto-based compounds in terms of lethal concentration (LC₅₀FM, LC₅₀DM), Bioconcentration Factors, IGC50, and role in the TOX21 pathway ahead of their environmental exposure. These aforementioned softwares also …

Early Stem Impressions, Student Engagement, And Readiness For Digitalization, Myron Sheu

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This study examines how early impressions of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) shape business students’ learning behaviors and, ultimately, their readiness for organizational digitalization. Focusing on gender differences, subgroup identities, and perceived obstacles, the analysis uses survey data processed through correlation matrices, regression models, and subgroup heatmaps to trace the relationship between initial attitudes toward STEM and subsequent engagement patterns. The findings reveal consistent links between positive early impressions and active participation in structured STEM activities, along with gender-based distinctions in action preferences. Subgroup analyses further uncover nuanced patterns where stereotypes or perceived barriers correspond with reduced engagement. Collectively, …

Does Digital Innovation Matter For Hospital Efficiency? Evidence From U.S. Hospitals, C. Christopher Lee, Shihui Fan, Jung Young Lee, David W. Hwang

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Purpose – This study examines the impact of digital innovation on hospital performance, providing evidence to guide healthcare administrators and policymakers in making informed decisions regarding digital investment.

Design/Methodology/Approach – Using data from the 2020 American Hospital Association (AHA) U.S. Hospital Survey and the 2019 AHA Information Technology Survey, we empirically analyze the relationship between five dimensions of digital innovation—automation, cybersecurity, telehealth, health information exchange (HIE), and IT spending—and three efficiency indicators: occupancy rate, capacity productivity, and manpower productivity.

Findings – The results show that digital innovation has varying effects on hospital efficiency. Automation is positively associated with capacity and …

The Crowdfunding Paradox In Crisis: Rising Funder Demand Vs. Declining Entrepreneur Supply, Dan Liu, Guangzhi Shang, Cynthia Fan Yang

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This study investigates how the crowdfunding marketplace responds to major crises, focusing on behavioral shifts among funders and entrepreneurs. Results show a dual impact on platform dynamics. On the demand side, funders become more engaged, with notable increases in the number of backers, average contributions, and total pledge amounts. This heightened activity suggests stronger altruistic motivations, as individuals view crowdfunding as a way to support others during difficult times. On the supply side, however, entrepreneurs act more cautiously, leading to a decline in new project launches. This drop likely reflects increased risk aversion and uncertainty as creators navigate volatile conditions. …

Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing Of Magnetic Heat Exchange Structures For Caloric Applications, Turab S. Rizvi

UROP Posters

Developing sustainable, high-efficiency cooling technologies is vital to addressing 21st century energy challenges. This research focuses on magnetic refrigeration, an environmentally friendly cooling method utilizing the magnetocaloric effect to regulate temperature using magnetic fields. This approach offers greater energy efficiency than conventional vapor-compression systems by eliminating harmful refrigerants. The critical component is the regenerator, made of magnetocaloric material and transfers heat between the magnetic material and a fluid through parallel channels. Traditional designs such as packed beds of particles are prone to particle segregation, creating an undesirable pressure drop. The main goal of our research was to fix those flaws …

Land, Development, And Tribal Identity In India: The Heavy Engineering Corporation (Hec) And Tribal Land Acquisition, Nishka Malhotra, Anila Surin M.U.P., Niraj Verma Ph.D.

UROP Posters

Tribal land in Jharkhand, India, has been cultivated for generations by Adivasis, one of the largest aboriginal tribes of India. After India’s independence in 1947, the government-owned Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) was established as a tomb to the industrial development of a new India. Land for the massive project came from acquiring large tracts of Adivasi land. Even in cases where compensation was paid, the social and cultural costs borne by Adivasis far exceeded the land's market value. Our research (a) traces this history of how the discourse of modernization and development was used to justify dispossession of land; (b) …

Establishment Of A Conditionally Replicating Guinea Pig Cytomegalovirus Model For Molecular Characterization Of Latency, Akshay R. Molakalapalli, Saketh Majeti, Michael A. Mcvoy, Jian Ben Wang

UROP Posters

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a member of the Herpesviridae that establishes life-long latent infections that pose risks of life-threatening disease upon reactivation in immunocompromised individuals. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern the latent state is critical for developing effective treatments. However, molecular characterization has been impeded by the scarcity of latently infected cells in vivo and the inability of current in vitro models to support the expansion of clonal latent cell lines. To address these limitations, we developed a novel cell culture model utilizing a conditionally replicating guinea pig cytomegalovirus, a relative of HCMV that mimics HCMV pathology and provides …

The Limits Of Daca: Affordability- And Access-Related Barriers To Health Professions Education, Nicole Perez, Laura Hirshfield

Journal of College Access

The U.S. is currently facing a shortage of health professionals from underrepresented backgrounds. One potential pathway to decrease this shortage is through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a policy that provides temporary relief from deportation for individuals who migrated to the U.S. before age 16. This study, using 15 life-history narrative interviews, investigates the experiences of Latinx young adults who were pursuing health professions education or working as health professionals. Nine of the participants were DACA recipients, while the remaining six were second-generation (i.e., children of immigrants). An iterative, inductive approach to data analysis was used to …

Making Their Community Proud: First-Generation Latinx Students' Participation In Clep, Michelle Van Beek, Abby Holland

Journal of College Access

This study explores the impact of earning Spanish CLEP credit on first-generation Latinx students' levels of self-efficacy, college-going mindset toward earning a post-secondary degree, and their perceptions of bilingualism. Study participants (n=47) were all enrolled or previously enrolled in a college access program in high school. All participants received the opportunity to take the Spanish CLEP exam. Participants (n=33) completed a pre/post survey, and a paired sample t-test showed self-efficacy, college-going mindset, and language perceptions remained neutral for participants. Five semi-structured group interviews (n=26) were conducted after the post-survey. Participants showed that earning Spanish CLEP credit impacted their way of …

Saliency Guided Reinforcement Leaming For Multi Step Mathematical Reasoning In Large Language Models, Ji Dung Lo

Computer Science and Engineering Master's Theses

Large language models perform strongly on many tasks but remain unreliable on complex multi step mathematical reasoning. Existing reinforcement learning methods treat reasoning trajectories as uniformly informative, ignoring that some intermediate steps matter more than others. This thesis argues that reasoning is structurally uneven and that optimization should reflect this internal credit distribution.

We adopt Group Relative Policy Optimization (GRPO) to construct a fully automated reinforcement learning framework. To provide intermediate supervision without human annotation, we automatically generate short quiz questions that test key reasoning checkpoints. Quiz rewards complement final answer rewards, enabling structured feedback while keeping the pipeline scalable. …

The Gsa’S Draft Ai Clause Is Governance By Sledgehammer, Jessica Tillipman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The General Services Administration's proposed contract clause, GSAR 552.239-7001, attempts to embed AI governance into federal procurement through a single default instrument applied across GSA's commercial buying channels. The clause addresses real gaps in federal AI acquisition, including inadequate transparency, weak exit rights, insufficient testing authority, opaque supply chains, and unchecked vendor dependency. But it responds by aggregating buyer protections, operational control, sourcing mandates, and politically derived performance conditions into one overburdened clause. This essay examines what the draft gets right, where it overreaches, and why the federal government's rapid shift from an AI governance vacuum to a sweeping, politically …

Private Standards As Liability Shields: A Pro-Innovation Artificial Intelligence Regulatory Approach For States, Gary E. Marchant, Jordan Buckwald

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

States face a dilemma. The federal government is not regulating artificial intelligence (AI), and is threatening states that regulate the technology with preemption and funding restrictions. Moreover, piecemeal state regulation with different substantive requirements risks impeding AI innovation and harming our national interest and security. And yet, AI creates a whole host of problems relating to accuracy, safety, security, bias, transparency, privacy, and autonomy that needs to be governed. This Article presents a solution to this dilemma that can protect against AI risks without harming innovation and the national interest. The proposal is for states to provide a liability shield …

Creative Destruction For The Patent System? Impact Of Generative Ai, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

AI raises the provocative possibility that patents could one day become obsolete. AI has the ability both to generate inventions and to simulate the perspective of a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA). This article explores the transformative impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on the United States patent system. The article supports a scenario in which everything becomes invented—and simultaneously, everything becomes obvious—thus challenging a foundational criterion for patentability. These developments can occur within established principles of inventorship, obviousness, and subject matter eligibility under U.S. patent law. Using a narrative case study and a test invention, the …