Digital Commons Network^™

The Effectiveness Of University Administration In Performing The Function Of Community Service: Enhancing Lifelong Learning Opportunities As A Model In The Saudi Context, Abdullah Dhaifallah Alharthi

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

we would like to inform you that the current study aimed to determine the degree of effectiveness of university administration in performing its function in serving the community in order to improve lifelong learning opportunities in the dimensions of availability and diversity. the thesis also aimed to determine effectiveness, access and dissemination, and the researcher used the descriptive approach, relying on the questionnaire as a tool to collect data that he collected according to the facilitated sample, which numbered (2048) individuals from the saudi community in the first semester of the academic year 2024. the study extracted a number of …

The Effect Of Integrating Augmented Reality (Ar) Technology In Science Education Teaching On Improving The Biological Concepts Learning Among Kindergarten Children, Kawthar Habeeb

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

This quasi-experimental study explored the impact of AR on acquiring biological concepts among kindergarteners. The sample comprised 30 second-level kindergarteners from a school in Farwaniya Educational Directorate, Kuwait. Participants were randomly divided into an experimental group (n = 15), taught using AR, and a control group (n = 15), taught traditionally. Results revealed statistically significant di erences in biological concept understanding, favoring the experimental group. Additionally, the experimental group demonstrated significant improvement from pre-test to post-test stages. These findings highlight the potential of AR to enhance learning outcomes in kindergarten biology education. The study emphasizes the importance of integrating AR …

Balancing Infrastructure Demands: Analysis Of Materials Pricing And Supply, Bethany Paris, Ying Li, Steve Waddle, Bryan Gibson

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) lets around 700 contracts year valued at over $1 billion. One of KYTC’s foremost goals is to deliver projects on time and on budget. However, over the past five years achieving these twin goals has grown in difficulty due to material shortages, widespread inflation, supply chain disruptions, and the tight labor market triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although material shortages have abated and supply chain disruptions have eased, instability is seemingly a permanent feature of the national and global economies. As such, Cabinet decision makers need reliable tools that can be used to understand historical …

Enhanced Pavement Project Prioritization, Bryan Gibson, Jon Wilcoxson, Gayle Marks

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is responsible for inspecting, maintaining, and improving 27,000 centerline miles of pavement. Given the vastness of the state’s transportation network, KYTC needs a robust method for prioritizing pavement preservation projects. The Cabinet has relied on pavement condition ratings, data collected using Laser Crack Measurement Systems, and input from district-level staff to prioritize these types of projects. But this approach overlooks information that should be considered, such as factors related to safety, mobility, and geographic context. To resolve these shortcomings, Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) researchers worked with KYTC subject-matter experts to develop the Enhanced Pavement Prioritization …

Reducing Impact Load On Rc-Slabs Using Expanded Polystyrene (Eps), Yosra El Maghraby, Ahmed Essam Eng., Aya Assem Eng., John Wael Eng.

Civil Engineering

No abstract provided.

Monitoring Morphological Variability Of Gravel Barriers Using 2d Lidar, Robert Jones, Nieves Valiente, Chris Blenkinsopp, Mark Davidson

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

State: The Magazine Of Illinois State University, Summer 2025, Illinois State University, University Marketing And Communications

State: The Magazine of Illinois State University (1999-present)

Illinois State University alumni magazine

Volume 34, Number 2, Summer/Fall 2025, Office Of Communications, Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan University Magazine, 2018-present

VOLUME 34 | NUMBER 2 | Summer/Fall 2025

ON OUR COVER:

The Illinois Wesleyan University archives, housed on the fourth floor of The Ames Library, holds many artifacts of IWU history, including the original university charter and a gold medal awarded to John Marden, clas of 1909, for his breakthrough work in atomic science and engineering.

18 175 Years of Illinois Wesleyan University. Celebrate IWU's history with a timeline of the last 175 years of our community's milestones.

26 Alumni Award Winners. Meet our Award Winners John Camardella '03, Natalie Lalagos '12, and Carol Willis '68.

Retraction: A Database Of Teleseismic Shear-Wave Splitting Measurements For The Ordos Block And Adjacent Areas(Seismological Research Letters (2022), 93, 5, (2731–2739), 10.1785/0220210310), Lin Liu, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu, Tu Xue, Yan Jia, Sanzhong Li

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An earlier version of this article (Liu et al., 2022) included private data from the Himalayan-III program which should not have been made public. The authors acknowledge and regret their negligence during the selection of the measurements. The impacted data represent only 2.7% of the total data published in this article, and after review, the authors and the editors agree that this unintentional error has no bearing on the work's scientific conclusions. Therefore, we are retracting the impacted data and have made corrections to remove any Himalayan-III program data from the article's text, figures, and supplemental tables.

Analyzing Google Maps As A Data Source For Urban Research In Dhaka, Xinyi Du

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This paper investigates how mass transit infrastructure shapes urban economic activity by examining the impact of Dhaka's first metro line using novel Google Maps data. Leveraging the opening of Metro Line 6 on December 2022, we employ a difference-in-differences framework to analyze changes in business establishment density around metro stations. Our estimates show that every 1% reduction in distance to the nearest metro station adds, on average, about 0.092–0.111 establishments per 40 m × 40 m grid cell—that is, roughly 57 – 69 additional businesses per square kilometer. The effect is even more pronounced for dining: about 1 – 4 …

Machine Learning For Digital Biomarker-Based Detection Of Cognitive Decline, Seng Khoon The

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Dementia is a neurodegenerative disease with a prevalence rate expected to triple by 2050, posing a significant challenge for health services. To impede the increasing prevalence, medical professionals and scientists are actively investigating technology to detect cognitive decline at a reversible stage known as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Digital biomarker technology is an emerging pragmatic approach to permit objective, ecologically valid, and long-term continuous measurement of cognitive health status, rendering it as one of the promising technologies for early MCI detection. Despite its potential, it is nontrivial to encode, extract and combine predictive information from these digital biomarker technologies; advanced …

Supporting On Their Own Terms: Eu Institutions’ Discourses On Mindanao, Vincent Carlo A. Legara

European Studies Department Faculty Publications

This paper critically examines the nature and dynamics of European Union (EU) engagement in Mindanao. The southern Philippines is historically home to Muslims, with a special region that is the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), formerly known as the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where Muslims compose the majority of the population. Muslim Mindanao gained greater autonomy in 2019 after decades of violent conflict and the persistence of weak democratic institutions. Since the 1970s, Muslim secessionist movements have clashed against government troops for independence. These have contributed to poor human development indicators in Mindanao. The EU, previously the …

Advanced Biodegradable Antimicrobial Coatings By Combining Biopolymers And Natural Antimicrobials For The Active Packaging And Extending The Shelf-Life Of Fish And Other Seafood Products: A Review, Hariharan S. Melarcode, Onur Ertugrul, Paola C. Alzate Calderon, Joseph P. Kerry, Michael A. Morris

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Fish and other seafood products are an integral and valuable part of human diets. In advanced nations, the transportation of fish and other seafood products to customers requires packaging and display. Due to their intrinsic physicochemical properties, seafood products are particularly susceptible to microbial growth, resulting in shorter shelf lives and higher spoilage rates compared to other animal-derived proteins, such as meat. To prevent microbial spoilage and preserve the freshness and quality of fish and other seafood products, petroleum-based plastic materials are commonly used in combination with packaging technologies, such as vacuum packaging and modified atmosphere packaging. However, as these …

Ultra-Low Dosages Of Novel Graphene Types Enhance The Rheological Properties And Buildability Of 3d Printed Binders, Sahil Surehali, Akshay Venkatachalam, Ranjith Divigalpitiya, Aditya Kumar, Narayanan Neithalath

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The use of graphene as a high-performance concrete additive is attractive; but, its cost and concerns about production scalability and dispersion efficiency in concrete are impediments to widespread use. This study explores the impact of ultra-low dosages (≤0.02 % by mass of binder) of two novel graphene types—fractal graphene (FG) and reactive graphene (RG)—produced through a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and scalable process, on the rheological properties of 3D-printable concrete. Both FG and RG significantly enhance the dynamic and static yield stresses and viscoelastic properties of the binder, with RG-modified mixtures exhibiting slightly more pronounced enhancements due to the presence of …

The Rising Returns To R&D: Ideas Are Not Getting Harder To Find, Yoshiki Ando, James Bessen, Xiupeng Wang

Research Collection School Of Economics

R&D has grown robustly, yet aggregate productivity growth has stagnated. Is this because “ideas are getting harder to find”? Using microdata from the US Census Bureau this paper estimates R&D effectiveness in the manufacturing sector from 1976 to 2018. We find that the marginal effect of R&D on output and the gross marginal returns to R&D have risen sharply. But rivals’ R&D has also gotten more effective, raising expected obsolescence. But firm productivity growth rises with growth in the R&D stock. Higher obsolescence slows the accumulation of R&D capital, reducing the contribution to productivity growth and shortening innovation lives.

Evaluating Chatgpt To Answer Multi-Modal Exercises In Computer Science Education, Eng Lieh Ouh, Kar Way Tan, Siaw Ling Lo, Benjamin Gan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This study investigates ChatGPT-4o's ability to answer multi-modal assessment exercises in computer science (CS) courses. While the use of large language models (LLMs) to answer text-based exercises are extensively researched, their ability to answer exercises involving artifacts of other modalities remains underexplored. To close this gap, we evaluate ChatGPT-4o's answers to 120 multi-modal CS exercises in programming, software design, human-computer interaction, statistical analysis, process analysis, and simulation. The multi-modal artifacts in these exercises include class diagrams, sequence diagrams, user interface images, analytical charts, workflow diagrams and object-flow diagrams. Our comparisons to the expected answers of these exercises show that ChatGPT-4o …

An On-The-Fly Synthesis Framework For Ltl Over Finite Traces, Shengping Xiao, Yongkang Li, Shufang Zhu, Jun Sun, Jianwen Li, Geguang Pu, Moshe Vardi

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We present an on-the-fly synthesis framework for Linear Temporal Logic over finite traces (LTLf) based on top-down deterministic automata construction. Existing approaches rely on constructing a complete Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA) corresponding to the LTLf specification, a process with doubly exponential complexity relative to formula size in the worst case. In this case, the synthesis cannot be conducted until the entire DFA is constructed. This inefficiency is the main bottleneck of existing approaches. To address this challenge, we first present a method for converting LTLf into Transition-based DFA (TDFA) by directly leveraging LTLf semantics, incorporating intermediate results as direct components …

1d Thermoembolization Model Using Ct Imaging Data For Porcine Liver, Rohan Amare, Danielle Stolley, Steve Parrish, Megan Jacobsen, Rick R Layman, Chimamanda Santos, Beatrice Riviere, Natalie Fowlkes, David Fuentes, Erik Cressman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Innovative therapies such as thermoembolization are expected to play an important role in improving care for patients with diseases such as hepatocellular carcinoma. Thermoembolization is a minimally invasive strategy that combines thermal ablation and embolization in a single procedure. This approach exploits an exothermic chemical reaction that occurs when an acid chloride is delivered via an endovascular route. However, comprehension of the complexities of the biophysics of thermoembolization is challenging. Mathematical models can aid in understanding such complex processes and assisting clinicians in making informed decisions. In this study, we used a Hagen-Poiseuille 1D blood flow model to predict the …

Impacts Of Radiation On Metabolism And Vascular Cell Senescence, Junichi Abe, Khanh Chau, Anahita Mojiri, Guangyu Wang, Masayoshi Oikawa, Venkata S K Samanthapudi, Abigail M Osborn, Keila C Ostos-Mendoza, Karla N Mariscal-Reyes, Tammay Mathur, Abhishek Jain, Joerg Herrmann, Syed Wamique Yusuf, Sunil Krishnan, Anita Deswal, Steven H Lin, Sivareddy Kotla, John P Cooke, Nhat-Tu Le

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Significance: This review investigates how radiation therapy (RT) increases the risk of delayed cardiovascular disease (CVD) in cancer survivors. Understanding the mechanisms underlying radiation-induced CVD is essential for developing targeted therapies to mitigate these effects and improve long-term outcomes for patients with cancer.

Recent Advances: Recent studies have primarily focused on metabolic alterations induced by irradiation in various cancer cell types. However, there remains a significant knowledge gap regarding the role of chronic metabolic alterations in normal cells, particularly vascular cells, in the progression of CVD after RT.

Critical Issues: This review centers on RT-induced metabolic alterations in vascular cells …

Autologous T Cell Therapy For Prame, Martin Wermke, Dejka M Araujo, Manik Chatterjee, Apostolia M Tsimberidou, Tobias A W Holderried, Amir A Jazaeri, Ran Reshef, Carsten Bokemeyer, Winfried Alsdorf, Katrin Wetzko, Peter Brossart, Katrin Aslan, Linus Backert, Sebastian Bunk, Jens Fritsche, Swapna Gulde, Silvana Hengler, Norbert Hilf, Mohammad B Hossain, Jens Hukelmann, Mamta Kalra, Delfi Krishna, M Alper Kursunel, Dominik Maurer, Andrea Mayer-Mokler, Regina Mendrzyk, Ali Mohamed, Karine Pozo, Arun Satelli, Marilena Letizia, Heiko Schuster, Oliver Schoor, Claudia Wagner, Hans-Georg Rammensee, Carsten Reinhardt, Harpreet Singh-Jasuja, Steffen Walter, Toni Weinschenk, Jason J Luke, Cedrik M Britten

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In contrast to chimeric antigen receptor T cells, T cell receptor (TCR)-engineered T cells can target intracellular tumor-associated antigens crucial for treating solid tumors. However, most trials published so far show limited clinical activity. Here we report interim data from a first-in-human, multicenter, open-label, 3 + 3 dose-escalation/de-escalation phase 1 trial studying IMA203, an autologous preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME)-directed TCR T cell therapy in HLA-A*02+ patients with PRAME+ recurrent and/or refractory solid tumors, including melanoma and sarcoma. Primary objectives include the evaluation of safety and tolerability and the determination of the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and/or recommended dose …

Bayesian Inference Of Fitness Landscapes Via Tree-Structured Branching Processes, Xiang Ge Luo, Jack Kuipers, Kevin Rupp, Koichi Takahashi, Niko Beerenwinkel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Motivation: The complex dynamics of cancer evolution, driven by mutation and selection, underlies the molecular heterogeneity observed in tumors. The evolutionary histories of tumors of different patients can be encoded as mutation trees and reconstructed in high resolution from single-cell sequencing data, offering crucial insights for studying fitness effects of and epistasis among mutations. Existing models, however, either fail to separate mutation and selection or neglect the evolutionary histories encoded by the tumor phylogenetic trees.

Results: We introduce FiTree, a tree-structured multi-type branching process model with epistatic fitness parameterization and a Bayesian inference scheme to learn fitness landscapes from single-cell …

Building Respect, Responsibility, And Reciprocity: Insights From A Rural Stem Research Practice Design Partnership, Amanda Obery, Martha Cabell, Shelly Hogan, Matt Queen

The Rural Educator

Rural schools often have strong community involvement and thus can offer educational experiences to students that are more closely aligned with local people and places. However, curricula in rural schools rarely offer this same alignment. Partnerships with others, including higher education, can support rural schools in creating STEM curricula that center the resources and careers present in their communities. A research design practice partnership (RPDP) was created as a Third Space to enable the development of locally relevant STEM curricula. The partnership was formed focusing on respect, responsibility, and reciprocity, necessary tenets as the roles and goals of the project …

Distributed Tracking Control Of Multiple High-Order Uncertain Nonlinear Systems With Guaranteed Performance, Eduardo Alvarez, Wenjie Dong

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper addresses the distributed tracking control of multiple uncertain high-order nonlinear systems with prescribed performance requirements. By introducing a performance function and a nonlinear transformation, the prescribed fixed-time performance tracking control problem is reformulated as a distributed tracking control problem for multiple special nonlinear systems. With the aid of the universal approximation theorem for continuous functions and algebraic graph theory, distributed robust adaptive controllers are designed using the backstepping technique. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.

Screens Are Not The Enemy: Recommendations For Developing Healthy Digital Habits In Youth., Megan B. Bolch, Rachel Moore, Gail Robertson, Meredith J. Scafe, Libby Milkovich

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

With the rapid and ever-evolving growth of both digital media platforms and mental health concerns in youth, parents and practitioners are faced with the challenge of critically evaluating the effects of digital media use on youth development.1 Despite popular culture's narrow focus on the risks, research has established both positive and negative effects of youth digital media use.2,3 In contrast to interventions primarily focused on screen time limits, the goal of this article is to propose a framework for healthy digital habits rooted in a social-ecological model, called the Multisystemic Model of Digital Habits. This framework considers the intersection of …

On Data Envelopment Analysis Framework For Optimizing Two-Stage Systems Under Neutrosophic Environment, Basma E. El- Demerdash, A. Almutairi, Sultan S. Alodhaibi, Hamiden Abd El- Wahed Khalifa, Heba Ghareb Goma

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Neutrosophic Reliability Assessment Of Hydroelectric Power Plant Using Universal Generating Function Technique, Kanak Saini, Monika Saini, Ashish Kumar, $Dinesh Kumar Saini

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Properties Of Neutrosophic Κ- Bi-Ideals In Near-Subtraction Semigroups, B. Elavarasan, G. Muhiuddin, Y. B. Jun, K. Porselvi

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Arbitrating With Indian Tribes: Separability, Tribal Sovereign Immunity, And Exhaustion Of Tribal Remedies, Paul F. Kirgis

Faculty Law Review Articles

Indian tribes have emerged as significant contributors to the national and regional economies, notably through industries such as gaming, natural resource extraction, technology, and consumer lending. This increasing commercial activity brings with it increasing commercial disputes. Both Indian tribes and their nonmember counterparts need a fair and reliable forum to ensure that agreements are performed, loans repaid, and avoidable harms compensated. But the complex legal landscape of tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction complicates dispute resolution involving tribes. Tribes’ status as sovereign entities raises challenging issues of federal and state court jurisdiction, tribal sovereign immunity, and exhaustion of tribal remedies. Arbitration offers …

Mechanical Engineering Virtual Reality Lab, Alan Mcdonnell

Case studies: Digital Education

Students perform multiple engineering lab experiments within the Critical Utilities 1 module. The ‘Pump Laboratory’ experiment involves interaction with a fluid power training rig to record pressure and flow readings from a variety of system states. The recorded data from multiple pumping experiments is used to create pump and system characteristic curves and charts. This experiment is very appropriate to industrial practice and design. The typical cohort size is 10+ and the availability of only one training rig introduces a ‘pinch-point’ in the interaction capacity of the students; there is insufficient time for all students to perform all the separate …

Mobile Hyflex And Cfd, Fergal Boyle

Case studies: Digital Education

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is one of 12 taught modules on the Master of Engineering (ME) in Mechanical Engineering programme delivered on the Bolton St campus by the School of Mechanical Engineering. This programme is delivered as both a full-time programme (12 months) and a 2-3 year part-time programme with lectures held in the evenings only from 6-10 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. CFD is delivered in Semester 2 on a Tuesday evening from 6-8 pm in Room 236, a hardwired HyFlex room, with another module delivered directly afterwards. The number of students taking the module is generally around …