Digital Commons Network^™

Codelympics: An Educational Game, Shreyas Raghunath, Riley Guioguio

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

This thesis addresses the growth of Computer Science and the increasing demand for resources that educate people about programming. The central problem is that existing resources either fall short in engaging the user, or are ineffective at communicating the basics of programming. Through a year of development and testing, we developed an application to serve as a bridge between games and educational content, making programming skills fun and accessible for younger students with no prior experience.

This thesis details the development of Codelympics, an educational game designed to teach the basics of computer programming, including control flow, functions, variables, and …

Plm-Dbps: Enhancing Plant Dna-Binding Protein Prediction By Integrating Sequence-Based And Structure-Aware Protein Language Models, Suresh Pokharel, Kepha Barasa, Pawel Pratyush, Dukka B. Kc

Michigan Tech Publications

DNA-binding proteins (DBPs) play a crucial role in gene regulation, development, and environmental responses across plants, animals, and microorganisms. Existing DBP prediction methods are largely limited to sequence information, whether through handcrafted features or sequence-based protein language models (PLMs), overlooking structural cues critical to protein function. In addition, most existing tools are trained for general DBP predictions, which are often not accurate for plant-specific DBPs due to the unique structural and functional properties of plant proteins. Our work introduces PLM-DBPs, a deep learning framework that integrates both sequence-based and structure-aware representations to enhance DBP prediction in plants. We evaluated several …

The Impact Of Substance Use Disorder And Drug Transfer Into Breast Milk: Implications For Maternal And Infant Health, Yongzong Yang, Bofang Yi, Tao Zhang

Pharmacy Faculty Scholarship

Breast milk provides significant health benefits to both infants and mothers, offering protection against infections and enhancing cognitive development. This paper examines the complex effects of substance use disorder (SUD) during pregnancy and lactation, focusing on the pharmacokinetics of drug transfer into breast milk. It highlights the mechanisms by which drugs enter milk, emphasizing the roles of passive diffusion and active transport, particularly through breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP). The study explores the impact of various substances on fetal and infant health, with a focus on the relative infant dose (RID) and milk-to-plasma (MP) ratio as key metrics for assessing …

We Didn’T Start The Fire: For And Against Koppelman On The Corruption Of Libertarianism, Roderick T. Long

The Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues

At the philosophic core of libertarianism is a set of market-oriented commitments that are entirely compatible with, and indeed congenial to, traditional leftist concerns with the well-being of the disadvantaged in society. But over the past several decades, the libertarian movement has fallen increasingly under the spell of toxic, callous, right-wing versions of libertarianism that scorn empathy while championing the cause of the economic winners in society at the expense of those who lose out.

That’s one way of stating the central thesis of Andrew Koppelman’s book Burning Down the House. And that thesis, so stated, is one I …

Freedom From Libertarianism, Joseph Fishkin

The Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues

Andrew Koppelman’s new book Burning Down the House is a guide to some of the late stages of the libertarian collapse. It’s a book whose many virtues include its clear and simple prose style. As a result of that style, and its generally straightforward exposition, I think this book will be of real use to many people, perhaps especially to free-thinking former libertarians who are engaged in a project of self-deprogramming. The book makes a nice holiday gift to the former libertarian or wavering libertarian in your life who would like to learn more about the arc of how it …

What Is The Automotive Recycling Industry And Its Prospective Future?, Andres M. Rabago

Sustainable Supply Chain Management

An explanation of the current automotive recycling industry. Looking in depth at aspects such as its sustainability and key businesses involved in the industry and the roles they play in it.

Fieldnote 24: Who Is Sharpening Your Iron?, Venus Evans-Winters, Mildred Boveda, Erica Mccray

Fieldnotes of a Black Woman Scholar: Research, Culture, and Wellness

In this episode, Dr. Venus Evans-Winters and Dr. Mildred Boveda (Youtube @mboveda) sit down with Dr. Erica McCray—educator, researcher, and leader—to discuss the powerful roles of mothering and daughtering in shaping our work and wellness in academic spaces. Together, they explore how intergenerational care and personal identity influence educational leadership, equity-focused research, and the pursuit of balance in high-pressure environments. Dr. McCray reflects on her lived experiences and shares how she integrates care, legacy, and advocacy into her scholarship and professional life. This is a rich, intimate conversation for anyone invested in justice, healing, and the ways Black women lead …

Assessing Consumer Perceptions And Attitudes Towards Cultured Meat Using X (Twitter) Data: Implications For Decision Support, Guoste Pivoraite, Shaofeng Liu, Saeyeon Roh, Guoqing Zhao

Plymouth Business School

Cultured meat (CM) is considered to have a potential to address environmental, sustainability, ethical concerns, and food security, however, consumer acceptance remains a challenge. This study empirically validatesand extends the Cultured Meat Attitude and Perception Assessment (CAPA) model by analysing public discussions on X (Twitter) to understand consumer perceptions of CM. Using BERTopic for topic modelling and qualitative analysis, the study explored unprompted public narratives, mapping them to CAPA constructs to examine how public opinions align with or challenge existing theoretical concepts. The findings revealed a combination of cultural, political, ethical, and economic narratives shaping consumer behaviour and theirdecision-making processes …

Benchmarking Machine Learning Models In Lesion-Symptom Mapping For Predicting Language Outcomes In Stroke Survivors, Deepa Tilwani, Christian O'Reilly, Nicholas Riccardi, Valerie L. Shalin, Dirk B. Den Ouden, Julius Fridriksson, Svetlana V. Shinkareva, Amit P. Sheth, Rutvik H. Desai

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

Several decades of research have investigated the neural connections between stroke-induced brain damage and language difficulties. Typically, lesion-symptom mapping (LSM) studies that address this connection have relied on mass univariate statistics, which do not account for multidimensional relationships between variables. Machine learning (ML) techniques, which can capture these intricate connections, offer a promising complement to LSM methods. To test this promise, we benchmarked ML models on structural and functional MRI to predict aphasia severity (N = 238) and naming impairment (N = 191) for a cohort of chronic-stage stroke survivors. We used nested cross-validation to examine performance along …

Axiomatic Aggregation Data, Carl D. Sorensen, Christopher A. Mattson, Michael L. Anderson, Thomas J. Ashworth

ScholarsArchive Data

This data set includes the ideation results of an experiment in ideation effectiveness, along with tools for analyzing the quality of the ideation.

All ideas generated by 15 teams of BYU students are included in the database. The ideas have been placed into an OPED genealogy tree format. The quality of all the ideas has been evaluated. The novelty of one team's ideas has been evaluated.

Instructions for performing the OPED organization, evaluating quality, and evaluating novelty are included in the data workbook.

Software tools to aggregate the individual evaluations into team scores and to display the results of the …

Integrating Radiogenomics And Machine Learning In Musculoskeletal Oncology Care, Rahul Kumar, Kyle Sporn, Akshay Khanna, Phani Paladugu, Chirag Gowda, Alex Ngo, Ram Jagadeesan, Nasif Zaman, Alireza Tavakkoli

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

Musculoskeletal tumors present a diagnostic challenge due to their rarity, histological diversity, and overlapping imaging features. Accurate characterization is essential for effective treatment planning and prognosis, yet current diagnostic workflows rely heavily on invasive biopsy and subjective radiologic interpretation. This review explores the evolving role of radiogenomics and machine learning in improving diagnostic accuracy for bone and soft tissue tumors. We examine integrating quantitative imaging features from MRI, CT, and PET with genomic and transcriptomic data to enable non-invasive tumor profiling. AI-powered platforms employing convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and radiomic texture analysis show promising results in tumor grading, subtype differentiation …

A Tale Of Two Tracks, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Newspaper and Magazine Articles

The recent impressive performance of Pakistan’s armed forces against a formidable adversary, enjoying favorable distribution of conventional forces, a 10-times larger economy, six times in population, a leading global exporter of IT and IT-enabled services, having huge forex reserves of over $600 billion, has made the nation proud. The question that needs to be answered is: How come the performance of our military (1971 being an exception) has been so consistently superior compared to our civilian institutions? Why is the gap between these two parallel tracks — military and civil — widening and why have there been no synergies between …

Strongly Confined Bi2se3 Quantum Dots Via Pulsed Laser Ablation In Liquids, Gregory Guisbiers, Rajendra Subedi, Burningham Burningham, Francisco Francisco Ruiz-Zepeda, Qiaohui Zhou, Xin Lu

Faculty Scholarship

Bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) is a binary compound displaying a strong spin−orbit coupling, resulting in a narrow bulk bandgap material with a gapless metallic surface. By shrinking the size of Bi2Se3 within the strong confinement regime, its optoelectronic properties changed drastically. To achieve this goal, strongly confined Bi2Se3 quantum dots (QDs) were produced by pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL). The laser used for the synthesis was a nanosecond Nd/YAG laser emitting at 1064 nm and pulsing at ∼13 mJ/pulse. The irradiation of the bulk target was performed at 1 kHz in acetone and lasted 5 min. Finally, the Bi2Se3 QDs …

Spectator 2025-05-29, Editors Of The Spectator

The Spectator

No abstract provided.

The Ethics Of Exploitation: How Social Media Profits From Attention, Addiction, And Data Manipulation, Laeila Scott

NSU Undergraduate Law Journal

The pervasive influence of social media platforms extends far beyond digital interaction, shaping human behavior, manipulating democratic processes, and exploiting user data with minimal oversight. Through the attention economy, these platforms employ algorithms designed to maximize engagement at the expense of users’ autonomy, fostering addiction and cognitive dependency. Manipulative terms and conditions further entrench corporate control, binding users to contracts with the very companies that obscure the extent of data collection and limit legal recourse. The Cambridge Analytica scandal laid bare the dangers of unregulated data harvesting, demonstrating how personal information can be weaponized for political and economic gain.

Beyond …

A Selective Discontinuous Galerkin Implicit Particle-In-Cell Method For Plasma Simulation With Improved Interpolation, Siyu Wu, Yang Li, Hongtao Liu, Xiaoming He, Yong Cao

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

This article dynamically incorporates multiple ideas into the existing direct implicit particle-in-cell (DIPIC) method for plasma simulation, in order to dramatically improve the DIPIC method for its local mesh refinement needs based on Cartesian meshes as well as its interpolation needs based on the locally refined meshes. One key tool is to utilize the selective discontinuous Galerkin method, which is based on the interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin formulation and the regular local finite element basis functions, as the electric field solver in the DIPIC simulation. This hybrid type finite element method combines the advantages of both continuous and discontinuous finite …

Attitude Determination & Control Algorithms, Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Purpose

• Quick-look overview of all elements of ADCS (e.g. this control loop)
• Give references and terminology but not the complete "how-to"

Uhsp Master Of Public Health Student Handbook 2025-2026

Handbooks

No abstract provided.

Deference And Discretion In Bank Regulation, Heidi Mandanis Schooner

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporate Reputation: The 'Currency' Of Communication, Kleon Battersby

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to show how and why businesses rely on reputational currency as a resource when conducting business and how that reputation can be affected. The first part of the study was conducted using peer-reviewed articles, public-facing, and managerial articles from credible online sources. The second part uses a case study strategy, projecting the findings from the literature review into a single case on JP Morgan. This business corporation is an ideal choice for this topic because they use reputational currency as a tool to remain ahead of their competition, form business partnerships, and establish new …

Preparation And Modification Of Mxene Composites For Application In Electrochemical Energy Storage, Zhang-Hai You, Ding-Ze Lu, Kiran Kumar Kondamareddy, Wen-Ju Gu, Peng-Fei Cheng, Jing-Xuan Yang, Rui Zheng, Hong-Mei Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

With the acceleration of advanced industrialization and urbanization, the environment is deteriorating rapidly, and non-renewable energy resources are depleted. The gradual advent of potential clean energy storage technologies is particularly urgent. Electrochemical energy storage technologies have been widely used in multiple fields, especially supercapacitors and rechargeable batteries, as vital elements of storing renewable energy. In recent years, two-dimensional material MXene has shown great potential in energy and multiple application fields thanks to its excellent electrical properties, large specific surface area, and tunability. Based on the layered materials of MXene, researchers have successfully achieved the dual functions of energy storage and …

Money For Nothin’, Gifts For Free: The Supreme Court Differentiates Between Bribes And Gratuities In Snyder V. United States, Seth Lewis

Mercer Law Review

The Supreme Court of the United States determined that the federal bribery statute regarding state and local officials did not include gratuities in Snyder v. United States. In Snyder, James Snyder was convicted of accepting an illegal gratuity under 18 U.S.C. § 666 and appealed his conviction. The Court’s decision addressed the split in the United States Courts of Appeals regarding whether 18 U.S.C. § 666 criminalized gratuities, payments made after an official’s act without a prior agreement, along with bribes, payments made with a prior agreement. The Court held that 18 U.S.C. § 666 only criminalized bribes and did …

Good Faith, Bad Faith, And Ugly Tactics: Bad Faith In Modern Insurance Litigation, John M. Forbes

Mercer Law Review

This Article seeks to explain bad faith in insurance litigation. Its purpose is to provide a general overview of the cause of action, as well as outline some of the nuances which make bad faith difficult to litigate for all involved. In this Article, Part III will introduce the general idea of the cause of action and discuss some of its history. Part IV will discuss the mechanics, including: first and third-party claims, procedural prerequisites, the origins of a claim, whether insurers must pay a claim to avoid bad faith, assignment, damages, and summary judgment. Part V will explain why …

Domestic Workers' Resistance From The Twentieth Century To Post-Pandemic Rio De Janeiro, Jéssica Pereira

LAII Events

Drawing on Afro-Brazilian Nair Jane’ de Castro Lima's testimony—a domestic workers’ union leader with overfifty years of activism— obtained during Jéssica's fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro (June–August 2024) and secondary sources, this presentation analyzes how race, gender, class, and nationalist politics have contributed to the formation ofa feminized and racialized domestic workforce in Brazil since the 19th century. This paper aims to challenge the misconception that the lack of labor rights in this sector stems from domestic workers being “a class difficult tounionize.” By tracing this history from the past to the present, this research seeks to contribute to broader …

Coastal Erosion As A Major Sediment Source In The Inner Gulf Of Thailand: Implications For Carbon Dynamics In Tropical Coastal Ocean Systems, Bingbing Wei, Stephanie Kusch, Till J.J. Hanebuth, Limin Hu, Miao Fan, Guodong Jia, Gesine Mollenhauer, Moritz Holtappels

Marine Science

Coastal erosion is an increasingly dominant sediment source in marginal seas, particularly in low-lying areas affected by deltaic subsidence and sediment deficits from upstream water management. However, its role in sediment and organic carbon (OC) dynamics remains to be estimated. Our analyses of the inner Gulf of Thailand (IGoT) revealed that riverine sediment fluxes decreased from 6.6 to 5.4 Mt/yr after 1975, while sediment accumulation within the IGoT increased from 20.8 to 29.5 Mt/yr. The observed trend indicates major sediment contributions from coastal erosion, particularly from mangrove deposits. This process destabilizes coastal ecosystems and accelerates OC decomposition, that is, a …

Ud Now Publishing African Policy Journal, Maureen Schlangen

University Libraries Blog Archive

For 30 years, volumes of research and analysis on African policy were hiding on library shelves, available only in print. Now available in eCommons, the journal joins nine other active periodicals UD publishes.

Theoretical Insights Into The Atomic And Electronic Structures Of Polyperyleneimide: On The Origin Of Photocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Activity, Yi-Qing Wang, Zhi Lin, Ming-Tao Li, Shao-Hua Shen

Journal of Electrochemistry

Polymeric perylene diimide (PDI) has been evidenced as a good candidate for photocatalytic water oxidation, yet the origin of the photocatalytic oxygen evolution activity remains unclear and needs further exploration. Herein, with crystal and atomic structures of the self-assembled PDI revealed from the X-ray diffraction pattern, the electronic structure is theoretically illustrated by the first-principles density functional theory calculations, suggesting the suitable band structure and the direct electronic transition for efficient photocatalytic oxygen evolution over PDI. It is confirmed that the carbonyl O atoms on the conjugation structure serve as the active sites for oxygen evolution reaction by the crystal …

Three-Dimensional Melamine Carbon Sponge/Nai As Cathode Materials For Sodium-Ion Batteries, Qian-Ying Huang, Yue Liu, Zi-Xin Lin, Shu-Yi Zheng, Ting-Ting Mei, Yu-Ting Tang, Ying-He Zhang, Jun Liu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The sodium-iodine (Na-I) battery exhibits significant potential as an alternative energy storage device to the lithium-ion battery. However, its development is hindered by inadequate electrical and thermal stability, as well as the dissolution and shuttling of polyiodide. In this study, we report a preparation method for melamine carbon sponge (MC) via carbonizing a commercially available kitchen sponge. It was revealed that the as-prepared MC, composed of unique self-growing carbon nanotubes, could provide both physical and chemical adsorption capabilities for intermediate polyiodides to improve the electrochemical performance of NaI. Consequently, the NaI/MC electrode effectively minimized polyiodide dissolution and reduced the electrochemical …

Comprehensive Risk Assessment Of Power Grids Using Fuzzy Bayesian Networks Through Expert Elicitation: A Technical Analysis, Yasir Mahmood, Nof Yasir, Nita Yodo, Ying Huang, Di Wu, Roy A. Mccann

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Power grid infrastructures, essential to modern societies for electricity distribution, are prone to vulnerabilities due to their numerous sensitive components, necessitating a comprehensive risk assessment. Uncertainty in historical failure data often compromises accurate risk quantification, leading to the integration of expert elicitation as a solution. This study develops a Bayesian network (BN) risk assessment model integrated with fuzzy set theory (FST), referred to as the fuzzy Bayesian network (FBN). By incorporating expert insights, this model quantifies internal and external risk variables more comprehensively. Crisp probabilities (CPr), derived from regional transmission operator (RTO) failure incident data, are complemented by fuzzy probabilities …

Mitigating Damage From Healthcare Ransomware Attacks, Neil J. Nusbaum

Journal of the Louisiana Public Health Association

No abstract provided.