Digital Commons Network^™

Academic Supply And Occupational Demand Report 2025, Improving The Pipeline For Tennessee's Workforce, Tennessee. Higher Education Commission.

Academic Programs and Workforce Reports

No abstract provided.

Oops! My Brain Did It Again! How Music, Smell, And Sight Rekindle The Past, Lana Hunt

Scientific Kenyon: The Neuroscience Edition

No abstract provided.

Empowering Digital Consent: A Risk-Focused Due Diligence Tool, Bar Fargon Mizrahi

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

We live in an era of almost infinite digital interactions, many of which involve risks to our rights stemming from various problematic practices, such as data-protection infringements, user profiling, and consumer protection violations. Currently, the protection of digital consumers against these risks rests primarily on a "notice-and-consent" regulatory model-users are legally presumed to have consented to the terms of service (ToS) and privacy policy agreements (PPAs) of the digital services they use. In reality, despite the gravity of the risks involved, users routinely fail to study these binding agreements. Thus, it is widely accepted that this model is ineffective at …

Language Models' Verbatim Copying: Copyright Infringement Analysis Through The Lens Of The New York Times Co. V. Microsoft Corp., Openai, Inc. Et Al., Tian "Tony" Chen

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

In their high-profile suit in late 2023, The New York Times Company ("The Times") alleged that OpenAI's Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) language models might output "near-verbatim" copies ("memorizations") of the works of The Times based on certain user prompts and thus might have infringed on The Times's exclusive rights over its content. One of the central issues is whether the embodiment of unauthorized reproductions of Times content in the GPT models constitutes a copyright infringement. This comment argues that OpenAI might have a colorable fair use affirmative defense despite the plaintiff's prima facie copyright infringement claim.

Existing literature on the …

Seasonality Of Cyanobacteria And Eukaryotes In Lake Geneva And The Impacts Of Cyanotoxins On Growth Of The Model Ciliate Tetrahymena Pyriformis, Niveen S. Ismail, Paul Seguin, Lola Pricam, Elisabeth M.L. Janssen, Tamar Kohn, Bas W. Ibelings, Anna Carratalá

Engineering: Faculty Publications

Toxic cyanobacteria are likely to be favored by global warming and other human impacts, posing significant threats to aquatic ecosystems. While cyanobacterial blooms in eutrophic lakes are widely investigated, the dynamics of cyanobacteria and the effects of their toxins and bioactive metabolites on the plankton communities in mesotrophic and oligotrophic lakes are less well understood. Here we investigated seasonal dynamics of cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae and cyanotoxins in oligo-mesotrophic Lake Geneva—the largest and deepest lake in western Europe. High-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes in 143 samples along a water column revealed that Lake Geneva hosts diverse, co-dominant cyanobacterial genera, …

Assessing The Selection And Impact Of Completeness In Technical Measure Sets In Systems Engineering, Casey Eaton

Dissertations

Technical measurement is foundational in large-scale complex engineered systems (LSCES) design and contract awards due to the state of practice of systems engineering. Although technical measurement is ubiquitous in systems engineering practice, the selection and assessment of the impact of a set of technical measures is often heuristics-based, rather than based on empirical evidence or theory. Current technical measure set selection has been observed to be subject to many challenges which, in turn, can degrade system outcomes. Two main thrusts comprise the research: selection and impact. Motivated by the potential impacts of a poor set of technical measures, a significant …

Synthesis Of Poly (L-Glutamine) Of Controlled Chain Length : A Novel Synthetic Approach For Developing Models To Study Polyq Diseases, Nirupama Singh

Dissertations

The abnormal expansion of poly (L-glutamine) repeats beyond a normal threshold (with disease onset at >35 repeat units) has been linked with several neurodegenerative diseases classified as poly (Q) diseases. To investigate the role of this uncontrolled polyQ expansion in disease onset, it is important to understand the changes that occur when the length of poly (L-glutamine) sequences surpasses the normal threshold. To comprehend the role and behavior of these expanded segments, it is essential to develop synthetic techniques that allow polymer production with controlled length. This ensures the accurate representation of healthy and abnormal poly (L-glutamine) segments. However, a …

Mutual Coupling Reduction Techniques In Transverse-Electric-Mode And Hybrid-Mode Microstrip Patch Antenna Arrays, Matthew A. Adams

Dissertations

When the elements of an antenna array are closely spaced, the electromagnetic coupling between them can distort the radiation patterns of the individual elements and change their input impedances, causing significant degradation in the array’s performance. Numerous mutual coupling reduction methods exist in the current literature, each of which allows array elements to be closely spaced while being well-isolated from each other. This dissertation investigates mutual coupling reduction techniques for microstrip patch antenna arrays utilizing elements that excite the fundamental transverse electric (TE) mode. First, a mutual coupling reduction method inspired by the TE-mode microstrip patch cavity model is proposed …

Engaging Nurses In Effective Cost Of Care Conversations To Address Cancer-Related Financial Toxicity: Results From An Exploratory Survey, Jean Edward, Amanda T. Wiggins, Louis G. Baser, Haafsah Fariduddin, Joanna F. Doran, Monica F. Bryant, John August D'Orazio, Kimberly D. Northrip

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Few evidence-based trainings exist on how to equip healthcare providers, particularly nurses, with the skills to engage in cost of care conversations with patients/caregivers to mitigate the impact of cancer-related financial toxicity. This study evaluated a pilot training developed in collaboration with Triage Cancer® to prepare oncology nurses to identify and assist patients/caregivers facing financial and/or legal barriers to care. Ten pediatric oncology nurses completed the training and pre/post-surveys on behaviors related to financial and legal need screening, frequency and comfort level of answering questions, knowledge, and behavior changes, along with training evaluation questions. At baseline, six nurses reported never …

Pharmacological Or Genetic Inhibition Of Ltcc Promotes Cardiomyocyte Proliferation Through Inhibition Of Calcineurin Activity, Lynn A. C. Devilée, Abou Bakr M. Salama, Jessica M. Miller, Janice D. Reid, Qinghui Ou, Nourhan M. Baraka, Kamal Abou Farraj, Madiha Jamal, Yibing Nong, Todd K. Rosengart, Douglas A. Andres, Jonathan Satin, Tamer M. A. Mohamed, James E. Hudson, Riham R. E. Abouleisa

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Cardiomyocytes (CMs) lost during ischemic cardiac injury cannot be replaced due to their limited proliferative capacity. Calcium is an important signal transducer that regulates key cellular processes, but its role in regulating CM proliferation is incompletely understood. Here we show a robust pathway for new calcium signaling-based cardiac regenerative strategies. A drug screen targeting proteins involved in CM calcium cycling in human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiac organoids (hCOs) revealed that only the inhibition of L-Type Calcium Channel (LTCC) induced the CM cell cycle. Furthermore, overexpression of Ras-related associated with Diabetes (RRAD), an endogenous inhibitor of LTCC, induced CM cell cycle …

Advances In Magnetic Nanoparticles For Molecular Medicine, Xiaoyue Yang, Sarah E. Kubican, Zhongchao Yi, Sheng Tong

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are highly versatile nanomaterials in nanomedicine, owing to their diverse magnetic properties, which can be tailored through variations in size, shape, composition, and exposure to inductive magnetic fields. Over four decades of research have led to the clinical approval or ongoing trials of several MNP formulations, fueling continued innovation. Beyond traditional applications in drug delivery, imaging, and cancer hyperthermia, MNPs have increasingly advanced into molecular medicine. Under external magnetic fields, MNPs can generate mechano- or thermal stimuli to modulate individual molecules or cells deep within tissue, offering precise, remote control of biological processes at cellular and molecular …

Engaging Nurses In Effective Cost Of Care Conversations To Address Cancer-Related Financial Toxicity: Results From An Exploratory Survey, Jean Edward, Abigail Wiggins, Louis G. Baser, Haafsah Fariduddin, Joanna F. Doran, Monica F. Bryant, John A. D'Orazio, Kimberly D. Northrip

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Few evidence-based trainings exist on how to equip healthcare providers, particularly nurses, with the skills to engage in cost of care conversations with patients/caregivers to mitigate the impact of cancer-related financial toxicity. This study evaluated a pilot training developed in collaboration with Triage Cancer® to prepare oncology nurses to identify and assist patients/caregivers facing financial and/or legal barriers to care. Ten pediatric oncology nurses completed the training and pre/post-surveys on behaviors related to financial and legal need screening, frequency and comfort level of answering questions, knowledge, and behavior changes, along with training evaluation questions. At baseline, six nurses reported never …

Functional Assessment Of Migration And Adhesion To Quantify Cancer Cell Aggression, Lauren E. Mehanna, James D. Boyd, Chloe G. Walker, Adrianna R. Osborne, Martha E. Grady, Brad J. Berron

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

During epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), cancer cells lose their cell–cell adhesion junctions as they become more metastatic, altering cell motility and focal adhesion disassembly associated with increased detachment from the primary tumor and a migratory response into nearby tissue and vasculature. Current in vitro strategies characterizing a cell’s metastatic potential heavily favor quantifying the presence of cell adhesion biomarkers through biochemical analysis; however, mechanical cues such as adhesion and motility directly relate to cell metastatic potential without needing to first identify a cell specific biomarker for a particular type of cancer. This paper presents a comprehensive comparison of two functional metrics …

M1 Macrophage‑Engineered Vesicles Have Anti‑Cancer Activity In Ovarian Cancer, Connie D. Cao, J. Robert Mccorkle, Derek B. Allison, Donglin Yan, Kristen S. Hill, Lan Li, Rani Jayswal, David Schweer, Charles S. Dietrich Iii, Frederick R. Ueland, Christopher I. Richards, Jill M. Kolesar

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Background: Ovarian cancer typically presents at an advanced stage, has a poor prognosis, and is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell membrane-derived nanoparticles that function in specific cell- to-cell communication and are under development as novel drug delivery vehicles and modulators of the tumor microenvironment. Artificial cell-derived vesicles (ACDVs) from M1 macrophages are able to repolarize macrophages from a M2 to a M1 phenotype and target tumor cells in in vitro studies.

Results: In this study, we generated engineered EVs (EEVs) by membrane disruption of M1 macrophages (MEVs) with and without cisplatin to …

Cisplatin-Loaded M1 Macrophage-Derived Vesicles Have Anti-Cancer Activity In Osteosarcoma, Namrata Anand, Joseph Robert Mccorkle, David Schweer, Lan Li, Kristen S. Hill, Melissa A. Fath, Derek B. Allison, Christopher L. Richards, Jill M. Kolesar

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a relatively rare bone malignancy that primarily affects children and young adults and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Cisplatin is a mainstay of treatment, but its efficacy is limited by off-target toxicities. Immunotherapy is not effective due to a poor antigenic tumor microenvironment. Here, we address these challenges by using manufactured M1 macrophage-derived vesicles (MVs) loaded with cisplatin. Human blood and mouse RAW 264.7 M1 macrophages were used to prepare empty (E-MVs) and cisplatin-loaded MVs (C-MVs). Human OS cell lines were used in vitro and in a tibia xenograft mouse model to evaluate the anti-cancer …

Development Of Genome-Scale Technologies For Writing And Recoding Cyanobacteria, Laura Beth Quinto

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Diverse microorganisms have delivered unique solutions in medicine, food, energy, and nutrient cycling through atmospheric gas fixation. Yet despite tremendous progress in model organisms like E. coli and S. cerevisiae, tools for editing and predictably manipulating undomesticated species – which comprise the vast majority of microbes1 – remain scarce. Cyanobacteria, with their light- and CO₂-powered metabolism, hold particular promise for bioproduction, bioremediation, and in situ fertilization, but have been difficult to engineer. Furthermore, many of the most valuable applications of cyanobacteria would involve implementation in an open system. Such strains require two critical safeguards: biocontainment to ensure that their propagation …

Review: Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators For In-Flight Applications, Sabeel Saleem Mohammed

Anthós

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) is a phenomenon observed when high voltage is passed through a dielectric barrier at high frequencies. Current DBD plasma actuators (PAs) excel at laminar fluid boundary layer control but suffer from limited momentum flux and fluid mechanic inefficiencies. In this article, Mohammed analyzes previous discourse on DBD PAs and offers directions for future research and potential DBD PA applications. Previous work on DBD PAs documented thrust generation at high voltages and frequencies, thrust in varying fluid compositions, and vortex generation. However, certain arrangements hinder flow magnitudes, limiting the use of multiple DBD PAs in close proximity. …

The Impacts Of Mentorship On An Asian American Female Pk-12 School Leader: An Autoethnography, Jessica Proctor

Education Dissertations

Asian American women remain significantly underrepresented in PK-12 school leadership roles in the United States, despite the rapid growth of the Asian American population. Existing research on women of color in educational leadership has primarily focused on Black and Latina women, leaving Asian American women’s experiences largely unexplored. This autoethnographic dissertation examines the experiences of an Asian American female leader in PK-12 education, with a particular focus on the role of mentorship in career progression and identity development. By analyzing personal experiences through the lens of historical and contemporary barriers, including racism, sexism, and limited access to networks, this study …

Fault Identification And Localization In Distribution Grids Based On An Attention-Hybrid Graph Neural Network, Xingjian Shan

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

This thesis proposes a multi-task fault diagnosis framework for distribution systems based on Graph Convolutional Networks (GCN) and an enhanced Graph Attention Network (GATv2). By representing the power grid as a graph with electrical features and topological connections, the model simultaneously performs fault type classification and fault location prediction. The architecture incorporates residual connections, multi-head attention, and a Jumping Knowledge module to capture multi-scale structural patterns, while dynamic loss weighting ensures balanced task optimization under noise and sparsity. Experimental results on the IEEE 123-node test feeder demonstrate a fault classification accuracy of 96.43%, and fault localization accuracies of 84.64% (strict), …

Surface Morphology And Moisture Adsorption/Desorption Characteristics Of Hybrid-Dielectric Moisture Sensors, Ronak Ali

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Relative humidity sensors are used for high-humidity measurement. Moisture sensors, or dew point sensors are used for low-humidity measurement (< 1 ppm_v). The dissertation contains two parts of studies. In the first part, the effect of surface morphology on the response speed of moisture sensors is studied. Moisture sensors using α-Al₂O₃ films as porous dielectric materials deposited by anodic spark deposition are studied. In this part of the study, a variety of small pores have been studied to investigate the response speed of moisture sensors. Three different surface morphologies have been studied using scanning electron microscopy. One …

Measurement Of Moisture Levels In Oils And Lubricants Using A Novel Moisture Sensor, Aaron Swartz

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

It is very challenging to measure moisture levels in oils. There is not a good method to measure it. Using the novel moisture sensor, we tried various methods to measure the moisture levels in oils. The initial trials are to immerse the sensor chip into the oils to see any sensor reading changes with the change of moisture levels in oils. It was observed that the sensor reading was unstable. The idea for immersion of the sensor chip into the oils failed. The last idea is to heat the oil to let all moisture evaporate fully. Before heating, the dew …

Mathematical-Programming Modeling Of Power-Electronics-Based Microgrid Systems, Jack A. Robey

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

The emergence of power-electronics-based microgrid systems is driven by the shift to cleaner energy, transportation electrification, renewable integration, grid modernization through smart grid advancements, and growing demand for energy-efficient solutions. For utilities, these systems present unique opportunities for enhancing grid resilience, improving load management, and enabling distributed energy resource integration. This work presents a modeling and simulation approach for microgrid systems that uses mathematical programming to represent power flow and capture the system dynamics. By solving an optimization problem at each time step, the method enables evaluation of power distribution and system performance under a range of operating conditions, without …

Computing With Photonic Phase Change Memory, David B. Pippen

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

A recent breakthrough in silicon photonics includes the discovery and use of phase changing materials (PCMs). These materials can be programmed to store nonvolatile values, and when a stored value in a PCM cell is read, it changes the amplitude of the read signal, imprinting the value held into the PCM cell on the amplitude of the read signal. This thesis proposes a new approach to using PCM cells not only for photonic memory but also as a substrate to perform multiplications in the photonic domain. The proposed multiplier uses PCM cells to encode amplitude-analog weight values and differing lengths …

Scalable Hypergraph Structure Learning With Diverse Smoothness Priors, Benjamin T. Brown

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

In graph signal processing, learning weighted connections between nodes from signals is a fundamental task when the underlying relationships are unknown. With the extension of graphs to hypergraphs, where edges can connect more than two nodes, graph learning methods have similarly been generalized to hypergraphs. However, the absence of a unified framework for calculating total variation has led to divergent definitions of smoothness and, consequently, differing approaches to hyperedge recovery. This challenge is confronted in this work through generalization of several previously proposed hypergraph total variations, allowing ease of substitution into a vector-based optimization. To this end, a novel hypergraph …

Electromagnetic Integral Equation Methods For High-Order Field Predictions, Jordon N. Blackburn

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Methods like the Method of Moments (MoM) or the locally-corrected Nyström (LCN) method are employed to discretize and solve electromagnetic integral equations. This process results in large, dense systems of linear equations that must be solved. In many cases, the elements of the system matrix can be computed analytically or approximated with high-order numerical methods. In this thesis, various approaches are presented to improve the accuracy and efficiency of integral equation solutions.

The second chapter derives a modified form of the low-rank matrix approximation algorithm known as the adaptive cross approximation (ACA). The original ACA has been observed to lose …

Lifecycle Carbon Footprint And Sustainability Evaluation Of Dram-Based Processing In Memory Computing Architectures, Samrat Pravin Patel

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

The use of computing technologies has significantly enhanced several aspects of our day-to-day lives. But it has still revealed significant environmental concerns, primarily related to greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. Initially, the primary environmental problems associated with computing were energy consumption during device operation. However, with the rapid advancement of technology and increasing computational demands, attention has shifted towards the embodied carbon footprint. This term refers to the total greenhouse gas emissions throughout a product’s lifecycle from the extraction of raw materials to end-of-life processing. It has become increasingly significant in the context of manufacturing integrated circuits (ICs), such …

Afapbp: Aggregate Function Accelerated Parallel Bit-Pattern Computing, Charles Z. Armstrong

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Classical computing models have proven sufficient for problems of the complexity class ``P", but problems of a higher complexity class like ``NP", ``NP-Hard", etc. have been shown to be more resistant to efficient computation. Quantum Computing is an alternative computing model that specifically targets performing computations within the ``NP" complexity class in close to linear time. However, Quantum Computing has its own set of problems. Methods for dealing with quantum decoherence, error correction, and difficulty in scaling have all inhibited Quantum Computing from becoming a commonly used computational model. This thesis introduces AFAPBP (Aggregate Function Accelerated Parallel Bit Pattern), a …

Scalable Systems And Devices For Wireless Charging Of Electric Vehicles, Donovin D. Lewis

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

The rising adoption of electric vehicles creates new opportunities that are not possible with conventional gas-powered vehicles such as wireless charging of electric vehicles (EV). Wide-scale implementation of wireless charging could result in benefits unique to EVs such as operation without human intervention, improved charging accessibility, and even in-route wireless charging for charge-sustaining or extended driving range operation. As the technology is in the early stages of development, there are many open-ended challenges to tackle including but not limited to coil and systems cost, weight and size, stray field emissions in high-power, high-frequency operation, and dynamic wireless charging system design …

Analysis And Design Optimization Of Electric Machines With Field Intensifying Configuration, Ali Mohammadi

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

The design and optimization of electric machines face increasing demands for efficiency, improved torque density, manufacturability, and effective utilization of materials. Meeting these demands is particularly vital in for example, electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy systems, where performance, reliability, and cost are critical. In this dissertation innovative field-intensifying electric machine configurations have been explored, emphasizing advanced topologies, computational modeling, and optimization techniques to advance the state of the art in electric machine design and analysis.

Electric machines with high torque density are essential for many low-speed direct-drive systems, such as wind turbines, in-wheel traction, and industrial automation. This dissertation …

Multi-Objective Design Optimization Of Power Converters For Electric Aircraft Propulsion, Ben Luckett

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

As global focus shifts to the electrification of the aviation sector, the need for high efficiency, lightweight, and reliable electric aircraft propulsion power converter systems has become apparent. These goals can be somewhat conflicting with each other, and a single multi-domain-optimized solution is not guaranteed. The search for a design which presents satisfactory merits becomes a drudge through various trade-off studies which can expend vast quantities of manpower and time. As a remedy to this, design automation allows the process to be computer-assisted. This dissertation presents the core fundamentals for a general multi-objective design optimization framework intended for the design …