Digital Commons Network^™

The Public Speaking Survival Kit: A Personalized And Holistic Approach To Managing Speech Anxiety, Sydney Kamm

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Speech anxiety is a common stressor for students in public speaking classes (McCroskey, 1977) and is a particular worry for Gen Z students (Wahed & Palmer-Wackerly, 2026), yet it is often treated superficially in curricula and textbooks. When instruction centers on generic advice, students are left unequipped to manage anxiety that directly affects performance. Although delivery is graded, many “poor delivery” habits—fidgeting, filler words, lack of eye contact—stem from unmanaged anxiety (Bodie, 2010). This activity addresses that gap through a holistic approach that integrates cognitive, behavioral, and physiological dimensions. Informed by my experience with a neurological condition that causes physical …

"From An Activist Spirit And History": An Examination Of Midwest Professors Who Teach Gender Studies In The Current Political Climate, Mena Faber

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Gender studies is an interdisciplinary field spanning higher education institutions globally. Yet the experiences of scholars within specific regional contexts remain understudied. This study examines the lived personal and pedagogical experiences of gender studies and gender communication scholars in the Midwest. Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore participants’ experiences, perceived pressures, and responses to the current political and academic climate. Interview questions focused on the challenges scholars face as well as the communicative practices they adopt in response to shifting attitudes toward gender studies. This research seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of how scholars …

Debating Without Format: A Portrait, A Proposal, A Possibility, Stephen M. Llano

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

This essay distinguishes "Debate" — competitive, tournament-driven, and governed by fixed procedural rules — from "debate," rhetoric's older practice of persuading an audience. Drawing on the dual etymology of "format" (to shape, and to arrange data for machine processing) and on Goodhart's law, the essay argues that competitive format has displaced audience assent as debate's real aim, training students to satisfy a judge's rules rather than move real listeners. As an alternative, it proposes a co-curricular model rooted in the university rather than the tournament circuit, treating rules as adaptable paradigms rather than algorithms to execute. Drawing on Perelman and …

Feasibility And Pilot Study Of Implementing Mindfulness-Based Attention Training In A Pediatric Health Care Setting, Thomas B. Ayres, Seth Sonnevile, Angela Myers

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

We present herein our preliminary evidence from a pilot study of the feasibility of implementing Mindfulness-Based Attention Training (MBAT) in a pediatric health care institution. MBAT has been implemented primarily in military settings, representing another high-stress work environment. Furthermore, MBAT has had favorable evaluations from being implemented with medical students. Mindfulness-based interventions have received increasing attention in health care environments. This interest from health care institutions and the focus on developing attention-based resources through MBAT created a use case for implementing MBAT. We had 5 health care workers with a variety of job roles in our institution complete a train-the-trainer …

Pebbles In The Shoe: A Multidisciplinary Program To Identify And Resolve Workplace Inefficiencies In A Pediatric Oncology Division, Reeja Raj, Kate Gazouleas, Pavilia Francis, Nancy Gordon, Vidya Gopalakrishnan, Amy Heaton, Ishwaria Subbiah, Priti Tewari, Harjeet Singh, Aaron Walton, Shehla Razvi, Martha Askins, Lisa Triche, Karen Moody

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Introduction: Occupational burnout is a significant concern among pediatric oncology faculty and multidisciplinary staff, characterized by emotional depletion, detachment from work, or a diminished sense of professional achievement. Inefficient work processes can be important contributors to burnout. This report describes the implementation and outcomes of Pebbles in the Shoe (also referred to as Pebbles), a pediatric division–wide initiative designed to address workplace concerns and inefficiencies.

Methods: The Pebbles program was developed and led by our pediatric division's wellness task force. Division members were invited to anonymously submit work-related concerns and irritations through a QR code–accessible electronic form. Five discipline-based work …

Creating A Culture Of Well-Being By Removing Barriers To Participation In A Multi-Campus Cancer Center, Adam Siegman, Miranda M. Phillips, Jennifer Bickel

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Background: Healthcare professionals in geographically distributed cancer care settings may face barriers to accessing workforce well-being resources due to geographic distance, staffing constraints, and operational demands. Disconnect & Refresh was developed to improve access to restorative wellness opportunities across community-based cancer care sites.

Methods: Disconnect & Refresh was implemented at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center across 4 Houston area locations. The initiative included BeWell Paws, virtual reality meditation, chair yoga, and creative wellness activities delivered during the workday. Participation was voluntary and tracked through employee badge scans. Participants were invited to complete an anonymous post-event survey, and …

Implementation Of A Low-Cost Tobacco-Free Intervention In A Permanent Supportive Housing Program To Address Cancer Disparities Among People Who Have Experienced Homelessness, Ammar D. Siddiqi, Phoebe Wong, Cathy Crouch, Lorraine R. Reitzel

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Objectives: Permanent supportive housing residents who have experienced homelessness use tobacco products at elevated rates, contributing to higher cancer risk. Agencies that provide wraparound support services to this group are committed to rebuilding their stability by improving their health. Yet, their delivery of tobacco screening and cessation care is limited, as is information about their clients’ tobacco use behaviors. Here, we evaluated a low-cost intervention for an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship project conducted in a permanent supportive housing program with 650 adults who had experienced homelessness in Houston, Texas.

Materials and Methods: Between August 2024 and February 2025, client-facing staff members …

Evaluation Of Shortened Irinotecan Infusion Times And Adverse Effects Incidence For Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology Patients, Rachel N. Ochs, Daniel J. Donovan, Neha A. Betrabet, Wendy M. Covert

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Background: Irinotecan, a topoisomerase I inhibitor, is commonly used to treat gastrointestinal cancers. The infusion time of irinotecan is usually over 90 minutes; however, studies support the safety and feasibility of 30-minute infusions. A shortened infusion duration may improve patient quality of life, optimize infusion chair utilization, and reduce wait times. Faster infusion rates may increase the risk of acute cholinergic side effects, reported in up to 50% of patients (all grades). Current institutional practice in the gastrointestinal medical oncology (GIMO) clinic involves administering irinotecan over 90 minutes and using atropine as needed for reversing cholinergic symptoms. For patients who …

Why Should A Data-Driven Cancer Center Prioritize Well-Being?, Peter Pisters

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

No abstract provided.

Actualizing Leaders To Inspire A Group Network (Align): Feasibility And Pilot Of Implementing A Commensality Group Program For Leaders In A Pediatric Healthcare Setting, Thomas B. Ayres, Kristin Ray, Angela Myers

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Background: Leadership behaviors in pediatric health care settings are strongly linked to leader burnout, professional fulfillment, and self-care in addition to influencing their teams. Despite their pivotal role, leaders often face substantial emotional burdens associated with their roles. Commensality groups, defined as small, recurring gatherings centered around shared meals and structured discussions, have emerged as a promising approach to enhancing connection, community, and resilience among health care professionals. A gap in the literature regarding commensality groups is understanding the mechanism of this well-being intervention. Our hypothesis is that commensality groups act as resource caravans and provide psychosocial resources to health …

Cookies Crumble: Reimagining Internet Personal Jurisdiction Post Briskin V. Shopify, Gabriel Wherley

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Punishing Homelessness: An Analysis Of Criminalizing Outdoor Sleeping, Maggie Hazelbaker

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Turning The Page Backward: Reconciling The Current Circuit Split On Whether The First Amendment Can Be Used To Challenge Modern Book Banning, Stella Brocker

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

System, Method, And Computer Program Product For Routing A Machine Learning Inference Request To A Model Version Based On Properties Of A Format-Preserving Encrypted Identifier Without Decryption, Hao Qin, Ruiyang Xia

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure provides a method, a system, and a computer program product for routing machine learning inference requests based on properties of a format-preserving encrypted identifier without performing decryption. The method comprises receiving a transaction request containing an identifier encrypted using format-preserving encryption, wherein the encrypted identifier preserves the format and length of the original identifier. The method includes extracting a prefix portion of the encrypted identifier without performing decryption and without accessing cryptographic key material. The method includes matching the extracted prefix against a pre-computed routing table that maps encrypted prefixes to machine learning model versions, wherein the …

Account-Context-Affinity Routing For Transformer-Based Payment Authorization With Key-Value Cachestate Freshness As A Routing Signal, Durga S. Kala, Tomer Rabani, Benjamin Nativi

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure provides a method and a system for account-context-affinity routing in a distributed transformer inference grid. The method includes recording, by a cache state monitor embedded in each inference stack, KV cache hit and miss events for each account bucket and determining a rolling hit rate for each account bucket over a sliding window. The method includes aggregating the rolling hit rates from the inference stacks into a preference matrix mapping account buckets and inference stacks to hit rates and publishing a snapshot of the preference matrix to a routing signal bus. The method includes receiving an authorization …

Cryptogram Key Scheme Migration For A Device Token, Yuexi Chen

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure provides a method and a system for migrating a cryptogram key scheme of a device token. The method comprises detecting that a device associated with the device token is migrated to a second key scheme and determining whether an issuer associated with the device token is migrated to the second key scheme. The method includes provisioning a single token key of the second key scheme where the issuer is migrated and provisioning a first token key of a first key scheme in an active state together with a second token key of the second key scheme in …

Trusted Gen Ai Analytics Using Semantic Graph Grounding And Grain-Safe Query Validation, Srishti Jaiswal, Anshul Hedau

Defensive Publications Series

A computer-implemented system and method to generate trusted analytics result from a natural-language business query. Business-intent elements represented by the query are mapped to semantic objects in a semantic data graph representing business entities, approved relationships, measures, dimensions, filters, and aggregation-grain metadata. Before generation of an executable query, one or more candidate semantic query plans are generated over the semantic data graph. A validation engine validates relationship-path correctness, measure compatibility, aggregation-grain safety, ambiguity, policy constraints, and fanout or double-counting risk. Validated plans may be ranked using confidence scores, and clarification may be requested when materially different interpretations remain. A selected …

Automated Counterfactual Pair Mining In Payment Artificial-Intelligence Systems, Durga S. Kala, Om Pandey, Tanner Barcelos, Benjamin Nativi, Jun Xu

Defensive Publications Series

A system and method for identifying counterfactual transaction pairs in a payment artificial-intelligence system. An atomic embedding vector associated with a query transaction is selected, and an inference embedding vector index is queried to retrieve transaction records whose embeddings satisfy a similarity criterion. Outcome metadata associated with the retrieved records is compared with an outcome of the query transaction. A retrieved transaction having a divergent outcome is paired with the query transaction as a counterfactual transaction pair. An embedding distance between the pair members indicates decision-boundary proximity. The pair may be stored in a counterfactual-pair registry and used for decision …

Universal Food Stabilizer, Peter Stevenson

Defensive Publications Series

Introducing a multi-functional, universally non-allergenic additive framework that meets Capex and NPAT requirements

Combatting Cyber Warfare, Peter Stevenson

Defensive Publications Series

This paper offers a regulatory behavior for news services that leverages Reinsurance providers as a means to giving news an equivalent metric to Moody's and Standard & Poors methods of measuring debt risk in corporations. Whilst not a all encompassing metric it provides service users with a knowledge of the trustworthiness of their preferred news source.

Changing Computing Resource Limits For Camera-Based Motion Tracking, Parth Agrawal, Ryan Christopher Dutoit

Defensive Publications Series

Camera-based motion tracking systems, which fuse camera images and inertial measurement unit data to estimate a position and orientation of a device, can experience performance bottlenecks on resource-constrained platforms due to processing a statically defined number of visual constraints. A dynamic, map-aware framework can allocate a visual constraint budget at runtime. When a map is available, the framework may evaluate a quality of the map and choose to use map-based tracking features instead of standard motion-tracking measurements. A budget for persistent feature tracking landmarks may optionally remain fixed. This approach can reduce a total number of processed constraints. Modifying a …

Language Model Generation Of Executable Commands For Native User Interface Control, Ankit Aggar, Sujay Mohan

Defensive Publications Series

Conversational agents integrated into software applications can introduce user friction by providing text-based instructions that require users to perform manual navigation. This disclosure describes systems and methods where a language model can process a user's natural language input to generate a structured data payload, such as a Javascript object notation object, containing executable commands. A client-side application may intercept this payload and use a native execution engine to interpret the commands. This process can trigger direct user interface actions, for example, navigating a user to a specific screen or dynamically rendering an interactive native widget within the conversational flow. This …

Dual-Core Electricity Grid, Peter Stevenson

Defensive Publications Series

Up to 58% Non-Active Cycle Efficiency Gain in Power Grid Usage, by employing a simple inbuilt timer switch at the breaker box

Integrated Dual-Spectrum Camera Module Calibration Solution, Hp Inc

Defensive Publications Series

An integrated dual-spectrum camera module and calibration method combine a visible-light (RGB) imaging channel and a long-wave infrared (LWIR) thermal-imaging channel within a common enclosure. An electronically controlled actuator moves an internal spectrally selective shutter, such as a silicon/germanium (Si/Ge) optical element, between an open operating state and a closed calibration state. In the open operating state, the shutter is retracted and substantially simultaneous RGB and LWIR frames are processed using stored and/or dynamically updated registration parameters to produce corrected, registered, or fused dual-spectrum outputs. In the closed calibration state, the shutter provides an optically blocked black-reference frame for RGB …

Method For Heterogeneous Integration And Fabrication Of Micro-Led Based Optical Input/Output Chiplets, N/A

Defensive Publications Series

A method for fabricating and integrating micro-light-emitting diode based optical input/output chiplets utilizes a reconstructed wafer architecture to combine heterogeneous semiconductor dies prior to wafer-level assembly. Known good photodetector dies and micro-light-emitting diode transmitter dies are arranged facing upward on a temporary carrier wafer, and die-to-die gaps are filled with a dielectric oxide material. Sequential redistribution layers are formed over the reconstructed wafer to establish a power distribution network along with a surface hybrid bonding layer. The reconstructed wafer is then bonded face-to-face to a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor base wafer in a single wafer-to-wafer hybrid bonding step. Backside processing is performed …

Automated Risk-Based Schedule Optimization From Unstructured Project Data, Mike Goodman, Gary Foreman, Sumit Agrawal, Matt Anderson, Ashwin Mishra

Defensive Publications Series

Project management for large-scale industrial operations may be challenged by rigid plans that are susceptible to disruptions from real-world events, potentially leading to schedule and cost overruns. A system for automated workflow optimization can process unstructured data by using an agentic framework to ingest heterogeneous data, such as technical manuals and three-dimensional models, to extract project tasks and their dependencies. A bilevel optimization engine, which could be coupled with Monte Carlo risk simulation, may then process this task list to generate a risk-adjusted and optimized schedule based on variables including, for example, cost and time. This approach can facilitate a …

Trade Remedies And Export Deflection: Indonesia’S Mozambique Pta In Southern Africa, Ilham Dary Athallah, Hayara Khairia, Tsabita Husna

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

The Indonesia–Mozambique Preferential Trade Agreement (IM-PTA), signed in 2019 and in force since 6 June 2022, is Indonesia’s first bilateral trade agreement with an African state. This article asks how the agreement facilitates the diversification of Indonesian paper exports under trade-remedy pressure and how far Mozambique can function as a gateway to Southern Africa. A qualitative case study and process-tracing design covering 2010–2023 compares the treaty, implementing regulations, trade disputes, official negotiating agendas, and HS 48 (paper articles) export data. The findings show that the IM-PTA’s tariff concessions and rules of origin reduce entry costs in Mozambique and are consistent …

How Older Adults And Adults With Health Conditions Define Wellbeing And Quality Of Life: A Narrative Review, Rachel Cox, Alison Warren, Oliver Beer

School of Health Professions

Wellbeing and quality of life (QoL) are widely used concepts within health and social care research, practice and policy internationally. Despite their universal use, the definition of these concepts and subsequent application are subject to continued debate. The terms continue to be used, often interchangeably, and may not align with personal definitions for service users. This narrative review explored definitions of wellbeing and QoL of life from older adults and adults with health conditions as major users of health and social care services. Informed by systematic reviewing principles, a comprehensive search of CINAHL, SocINDEX and PsychInfo was conducted on 30 …

Trading Deaths For Suffering In Ai Systems, James Miller, David Veldran, Jonathan Leighton, Roman V. Yampolskiy

Economics: Faculty Publications

Optimizing an AI system against objectives that include both deaths and suffering can create a tradeoff between the two harms. When deaths are more readily recorded and audited than suffering, optimization pressure can concentrate on mortality and displace harm toward suffering, which is continuous, private, and hard to measure. Recorded deaths can fall while unmeasured suffering rises through non-lethal control, restriction, and deprivation. We trace six mechanisms that can produce this substitution and argue that manipulation-resistant suffering metrics, backed by enforcement as rigorous as that applied to mortality metrics, would reduce this form of harm displacement.

Jesus Diaz V. Attorney General United States Of America

2026 Decisions

Agency