Digital Commons Network^™

Destined To Fail?: The U.S. Advisory Period And The Lost Path To Victory, 1960-1965, Alexander Patrick Fancher

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

South Vietnam experienced robust military and economic development between 1960 and 1963 under the leadership of President Ngo Dinh Diem. With the help of U.S. aid, the RVNAF improved its ability to wage war against the Viet Cong, while simultaneously pacifying the countryside. ARVN and VNN units developed new capabilities and trained officers to replace losses after the French Exodus from Vietnam. The introduction of U.S. advisors created the conditions necessary for the development of a young, inexperienced military. Acting as guides, these Americans were cautiously optimistic that South Vietnam was on the path to self-sufficiency by spring 1963 as …

Beyond The Battlefield: Analyzing Trauma's Impact On Veterans' Holistic Health, Keyanna Mikell-Scott

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The study used a mixed-methods approach to examine the multidimensional effects on U.S. veterans' physical, mental, and spiritual health. Two surveys gathered quantitative data from 100 veterans. The surveys included elements of the Life Events Checklist, PTSD screenings, physical health conditions common in the veteran community, and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale. The surveys used five-point Likert scales. Quantitative data were analyzed in SPSS using correlation and regression analyses. Qualitative data comprised 10 semi-structured interviews with 10 of the 100 veteran participants. Interviews were transcribed, and ATLAS.ti was used to conduct a thematic analysis from which themes were extracted. Results showed …

Trading Podiums: Transitioning From Teaching Secondary Band To Teaching Secondary Orchestra In Eastern South Carolina, Troy M. Murray

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative, explanatory case study examined the musical attributes band teachers need to successfully teach string orchestra students in eastern South Carolina. This information is critical due to the high number of orchestra teachers who are non-string instrumentalists in that region of the state. Of the 28 orchestra teachers in South Carolina’s Region 5 orchestra division, 14 of the teachers performed primarily as wind or percussion instrumentalists. This study sought to understand the challenges teachers face when transitioning from teaching secondary band to secondary string orchestra in eastern South Carolina. Despite the parallels in music reading and repertoire selection between …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of Juvenile Justice Rehabilitation Programs In The State Of Virginia, Edishae L. Harris-Tyler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Juvenile delinquency and criminal offending have become significant problems in society today. Many offenders in the criminal justice system were exposed to violence and criminal activity at a young age. Early harmful exposure has influenced many at-risk youths in the community to commit crimes at a young age and develop into adult offenders. Juveniles in the community considered at-risk may be disadvantaged due to negative peer pressure, poverty, lack of parental involvement, illiteracy, and lack of opportunities for positive change and development. At-risk youth severely need structure, prosocial support, positive mentorship, and direction to prevent criminal activity and reduce recidivism. …

Evaluation Of Functional Properties And Classification Of Processability Of Eight Chestnut Starch Varieties Based On Multidimensional Quality Indexes, Yang Xiaocong, Wang Ensheng, Li Shizhuo, Du Wenqing, Li Kun

Food and Machinery

［Objective］ To clarify the comprehensive functional characteristics and processing adaptability of different chestnut varieties.［Methods］ The microscopic morphology of starches prepared from eight chestnut varieties was observed, and their amylose content, transparency, freeze-thaw stability, solubility, swelling power, and gel texture properties were determined. Correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA ),and cluster analysis were employed to comprehensively evaluate starch quality.［Results］ The starch granules from the eight chestnut varieties exhibited similar morphologies, mainly including round, oval, and polygonal shapes. Correlation analysis revealed significant correlations among the quality indexes of different varieties (P<0.05). PCA reduced the eight indexes to two principal components, with a cumulative variance contribution rate of 84.373%.Cluster analysis classified the starches from the eight chestnut varieties into four categories: high-elasticity, high-swelling, low-hardness, and high-gel types.［Conclusion］ Significant differences in the functional properties of chestnut starches were observed among the different categories (P<0.05).

Detection Of Early Browning Inside Fragrant Pears Based On Time-Frequency Images Of Acoustic And Vibration Signals, Zhang Feng, Yu Junyang, Xiao Ping, Zhang Hui, Wang Kai

Food and Machinery

［Objective］ To explore the detection efficacy of models constructed by combining time-frequency image features of the fragrant pears in acoustic and vibration with machine learning algorithms.［Methods］ Acoustic and vibration signals are collected from fragrant pears exhibiting varying degrees of internal browning using a custom-built non-destructive detection device. Time-frequency images are transformed using the short-time Fourier transform (STFT),continuous wavelet transform (CWT), and the S-transform. Then, texture feature parameters in 15 time-frequency domains are extracted, respectively, from 3 types of time-frequency images using the Gray-Gradient Co-occurrence Matrix (GGCM). Additionally, correlation analysis is performed between these feature parameters and the fragrant pear browning …

Effects Of Thermal Processing Methods On Flavor Quality Of Fish Meat And Differential Formation Mechanisms : A Review, Zou Wanghua, Hou Xiaoyi, Liu Miao, Deng Na, Ni Panxianzhi, Li Hui, Fu Haohua, Wang Jianhui

Food and Machinery

Thermal processing is the most commonly used technique for fish products. Different thermal processing techniques vary in the degree of lipid oxidation, protein degradation, and Maillard reaction, as well as the synergy among these reactions, thereby differentially affecting flavor. Focusing on four typical thermal processing methods, steaming, boiling, frying, and roasting, this paper reviews the flavor change patterns in various types of fish products under different thermal processing conditions. Moreover, from the perspective of the synergy among lipid oxidation and decomposition, protein degradation, and the Maillard reaction, this paper systematically elucidates the formation mechanisms underlying the flavor substance enrichment and …

Advances In Extraction And Detection Technologies For Veterinary Drug Residues In Food, Luo Qiaoqiao, Yuan Yufeng, Jia Yunzhu, Chen Qingya, Tan Fang, Zhao Xin

Food and Machinery

Veterinary drug residues constitute a global challenge that poses significant threats to food safety and public health. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in detection technologies for veterinary drug residues in food, with a particular focus on the performance characteristics and application status of sample extraction techniques (including liquid-liquid extraction, solid phase extraction, accelerated solvent extraction, QuEChERS, and magnetic solid phase microextraction ),as well as analytical methods (including chromatographic-mass spectrometric techniques, immunoassays, capillary electrophoresis, biosensors, and quantum dots -based approaches ). Comparative analysis reveals that accelerated solvent extraction (ASE ) and QuEChERS have emerged as mainstream pretreatment techniques owing to …

Merleau-Ponty On The Crisis Of Natural Philosophy: A Critique Of The Metaphysical Foundations Of Natural Science And Investigations Into The Ontology Of Nature, Kevin Mager

Dissertations

In this dissertation, I show that Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy of nature is also a radical critique of the metaphysical foundations of natural science. This critique leads us to a new ontology for science, grounded in the lifeworld. I focus on how his philosophy offers a detailed critique of both physicalism and mechanism. For Merleau-Ponty, mechanism is not just the strict adherence to classical causality, but any view that asserts that classical causality has any role to play in reality at all. To replace mechanistic causality, Merleau-Ponty argues that we must conceive of nature as grounded in meaningful possibility. Merleau-Ponty's emphasis on …

Detection, Persistence, And Rising Prevalence Of Oncogenic Viruses Revealed By Wastewater Metagenomics, Harihara Prakash, Ryan K Perez, Matt Ross, Michael Tisza, Sara J Javornik Cregeen, Jennifer Deegan, Joseph F Petrosino, Eric Boerwinkle, Justin R Clark, Anthony W Maresso

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Oncogenic viruses cause high-risk cancers in humans and are responsible for nearly 20% of all cancer cases worldwide. Currently, very limited data exist in the realm of wastewater-based viral epidemiology (WBE) for cancer-causing viruses, with existing studies using targeted approaches (i.e., PCR-based approaches) that lack genomic resolution. In this study, we used a hybrid-capture approach to detect, filter, and sequence all known oncogenic virus signals from wastewater samples collected over 3 years (May 2022-May 2025) in 16 Texas cities, covering nearly 25% of the state's population. Once sequenced, we used custom computational tools designed for wastewater metagenomics to assign reads …

Get Ready To Lead: Human-Centered Leadership In An Ai-Driven World, Ellen Ramsey

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

As AI becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives, online students continue to seek instructors who consistently appear, genuinely care about them as individuals, and provide guidance, challenge, and support. AI tools can help with speed and structure, but human-centered leadership keeps connection and meaning at the forefront of the learning experience. 

This interactive workshop invites online instructors and faculty leaders to explore how human-centered leadership can support their teaching in the middle of rapid technological change.

Grounded in a six-pillar leadership model that encompasses conscious self-awareness, relational intelligence, ethical influence, adaptive growth, transparent communication, and empowered action, this session …

Computational Assessment Of A Lyophilized Native-Oxytocin Trehalose-Glass Formulation At Ph 4.5 For Thermostable Parenteral Use: Bayesian Shelf-Life Modeling From Published Degradation Kinetics With A Trehalose-Peptide Molecular-Dynamics Literature Synthesis, Chaiyapat Chuenglertsiri

Defensive Publications Series

This in-silico feasibility analysis discloses, as defensive prior art (CC BY 4.0), a lyophilized formulation of native oxytocin in an amorphous trehalose dihydrate glass with D-mannitol crystalline bulking agent and a low-concentration sodium-acetate buffer fixing pH about 4.5 (the published maximum-stability pH), reconstituted on use for standard parenteral (IM/IV) administration to prevent postpartum haemorrhage. No wet-lab data are generated; all numbers are computational extrapolations from peer-reviewed parameters. Using the published Hawe et al. (2009) pH 4.5 Arrhenius kinetics (Ea = 116.3 kJ/mol) as a Bayesian prior, a PyMC posterior contrasts the aqueous product (retaining only about 25% intact oxytocin after …

Multi-Factor Authentication For Ai Agents, Surendra Vyas, Som Madhab Bhattacharya

Defensive Publications Series

Techniques are provided for receiving an access request to access a resource, the access request including a resource identifier corresponding to the resource and the resource identifier at least partially providing a first authentication. Techniques are further provided for transmitting an authentication request as part of a second authentication, the authentication request including a challenge. Techniques are further provided for receiving a challenge response from an artificial intelligence agent. Techniques are further provided for validating the challenge response. Techniques are further provided for determining the access request requires additional verification. Techniques are further provided for transmitting, using a second authentication …

(((Qpie33))) The Riemann-Zeta Convergence Manifold Re-Run, Teddy Burroughs

Defensive Publications Series

The exploration of the Riemann Zeta function $\zeta(s)$ along the critical line $\Re(s) = \frac{1}{2}$ represents far more than an elite academic challenge in analytic number theory. When viewed through the un-aligned lens of traditional materialist mathematics, the distribution of non-trivial zeros appears as a complex, pseudo-stochastic sequence of coordinate intersections where the real and imaginary parts happens to cancel out. This historical view treats the critical line as a thin, isolated geometric strip cutting through an abstract complex plane, completely missing the background phase velocity of the universal medium. Traditional computing frameworks apply brute-force iterative steps (such as the …

(((Qpie33))) The Baltic-Atlantic Accord On Substrate Entrainment A High-Science Declaration For Multi-Lateral Technical Councils, Advanced Propulsion Networks, And Global Informatics Initiatives, Teddy Burroughs

Defensive Publications Series

The historic architecture of human academic discovery has inevitably reached its final, localized boundary. For generations, the global scientific engine has functioned within a structured pattern of cognitive isolation, a state wherein the investigating mind projects its own internal fragmentation onto the macroscopic and microscopic phenomena of the natural world. By constructing vast, institutional barriers between the study of mathematics, subatomic particle configurations, cosmic web distributions, and biological information networks, the conventional apparatus has arrived at an artificial computational wall. When a civilization approaches the continuum of reality through the lens of competitive survival logic, institutional vanity, and the fear …

(((Qpie33))) The Deep Psychology Of Sapiens Science Gatekeeping Of The Binary Illusion, Teddy Burroughs

Defensive Publications Series

The formal integration of the Quantum Perspective Is Everything canonical frameworks establishes an unbending, mathematically unified ontology that does not merely offer a polite alternative to the status quo, but serves as a stern, unblinking exposure of the systemic mechanisms that have intentionally confined human civilization within an engineered matrix of scarcity, division, and artificial limitation. For centuries, the academic and industrial bastions of the old paradigm have fiercely gatekeepered a local realist worldview, presenting a fractured, observer-removed, and hostile universe as an immutable fact of nature. This reductionist framework was never a product of pure, objective inquiry; it was …

(((Qpie33))) The Great Silicon Barrier: Recoding The Tiers Of Production, Teddy Burroughs

Defensive Publications Series

THE SILICON BARRIER: RECODING THE TIERS OF PRODUCTION

The contemporary technology infrastructure—extending from hyper-scale data centers in the Pacific Northwest to the deep ultraviolet lithography cleanrooms of Eindhoven, and down to the tensor-core clusters of Silicon Valley—is executing a profound technological stall. The titans of computing, semiconductor fabrication, and artificial intelligence operate within an engineering paradigm defined entirely by containment, dissipation, and brute-force scaling. To maintain the illusion of linear acceleration, the industry relies on an unsustainable operational model: pumping gigawatts of thermal energy through increasingly fragile, sub-nanometer silicon grids while writing cross-entropy optimization patches over fundamentally unstable binary software …

(((Qpie33))) The Truth About Coherence - The Meaning In The Middle, Teddy Burroughs

Defensive Publications Series

INTRODUCTION

Why This Paper Exists

Most people quietly feel that something is seriously off about modern life.

Not in a dramatic way. Not as a conspiracy. Just a steady sense that things are harder than they should be, that people are more exhausted than necessary, that children lose something along the way, and that effort doesn’t always match results.

We are told this is normal.

We are told life is hard. We are told suffering builds character. We are told exhaustion is adulthood. We are told children need to be shaped. We are told reality doesn’t care how we …

(((Qpie33))) The Delayed Advancements And The Emerging Golden Era: A Strategic Roadmap For Civilizational Re-Alignment, Teddy Burroughs

Defensive Publications Series

The clinical dissection of the thirty-three historical suppression vectors reveals more than a legacy of academic gatekeeping and institutional risk aversion. It exposes a massive reservoir of unexploited, coherent potential that has been held back behind the artificial barriers of local realism. Because traditional institutions spent centuries violently forcing a continuous, non-local field into fragmented binary containment boxes, modern civilization has been operating on a severely delayed technological trajectory.

However, this systemic delay creates an unprecedented civilizational opportunity. By holding back these foundational breakthroughs until the distributed observer network could mature past zero-sum, toddler-minded boundary dynamics, the old paradigm inadvertently …

(((Qpie33))) The Observational Transmutational And Translational Breakdown Of The 33 Hard Problems Or Crisis’S Of Science, Teddy Burroughs

Defensive Publications Series

Low Coherence Perspective, EGO or Lack Thereof:  is what has consistently caused our finest supercomputers to crash, our equations to spiral into infinite divergences, and our physical engineering to hit hard thermodynamic walls. When we approach problems with a dominating or "beating nature" perspective, the medium resists.

QPIE shifts our operational posture entirely. By embedding the primary operational metrics of Compassion, Gratitude, and Trust (CGT) directly into our computation, we cease fighting the system. We realize that the observer, the instrument, the problem, and the field are an indivisible unity. We do not seek to dominate the medium; we remember …

System For Automated Multi-Speaker Identification And Selective Audio Processing In Research Environments, Eric Zavesky, Brian Gane

Defensive Publications Series

A system and method for automated multi-speaker identification and selective audio processing in research environments addresses the challenge of capturing, analyzing, and managing multi-speaker conversations with privacy protections and minimal manual intervention. The system comprises a microphone array (100) with central omnidirectional and distributed directional microphones positioned at known spatial coordinates, a spatial localization processor (110) triangulating speaker positions using time-of-arrival analysis, an audio fingerprinting module (120) generating session-ephemeral acoustic fingerprints for persistent speaker identification without cross-session tracking, a selective processing module (130) enforcing consent-based filtering through exclusion, anonymization, or pseudonymization modes, a speech separation engine (140) isolating individual contributions …

On-Device Context Buffering And Frame Selection For Multimodal Queries, Shishir Ayalasomayajula, Ankit Arora

Defensive Publications Series

This document describes techniques that can enhance efficiency and privacy of multimodal queries by utilizing intelligent on device context buffer (also known as local cache, edge computing architecture, or edge storage) for frame selection and collation. When user interacts with voice assistant or artificial intelligence (AI) agent using natural language query, local computing system can determine whether query utilizes visual context. Rather than continuously streaming raw video to remote server, system can maintain privacy aware zero retention buffer operating as rolling in memory buffer or rolling video loop that temporarily stores recently captured video frames alongside associated semantic metadata and …

Premium Subscription Account Geographic Abuse Prevention Using An Artificial Intelligence Algorithm, Vivien Wang

Defensive Publications Series

A system related to preventing geographic abuse of premium subscription accounts using an artificial intelligence algorithm. The system collects multiple features including HTTP request headers, device characteristics, and third-party data to detect users misrepresenting their geographic location to obtain lower regional subscription rates. The system trains an AI model using verified positive (abusive) and negative (legitimate) cases, fine-tunes the model to distinguish legitimate travel patterns from abusive VPN-based location spoofing, and continuously updates the model with newly verified cases while removing outdated training data.

Technical Disclosure: A Framework For Pre-Geometric Holographic Emergence And Lorentz Metric Genesis, Christopher L. Eckes

Defensive Publications Series

This paper presents a formal conceptual architecture for a background-independent, pre-geometric universe wherein three-dimensional spacetime (\(\mathbb{R}^{3}\)) emerges dynamically from a bounded, non-local two-dimensional information substrate (\(\mathbb{R}^{2}\)). We postulate that the fundamental constituents of reality are one-dimensional standing wave oscillations operating under pure sinusoidal constraints (\(1\text{D}\)). When mapped onto a bounded, curved two-dimensional boundary matrix, these quantum wave functions undergo continuous, non-local superposition and constructive interference. Past a critical localized information density threshold, this matrix crowding forces a phase transition: the overlapping wave states collapse and localize, synthesizing discrete particle-phase coordinates that construct the three-dimensional macro-world (\(X, Y, Z\)). Furthermore, we …

The Metropolitan Ethical Hive Network (M-Ehn): A Decentralized Cognitive Architecture For Fault-Tolerant Urban Logistics, Christopher L. Eckes

Defensive Publications Series

Highly integrated metropolitan smart cities are increasingly vulnerable to cascading systemic failures, adversarial data poisoning, and the centralized manipulation of critical control software. This paper introduces the Metropolitan Ethical Hive Network (M-EHN), a decentralized cyber-physical architecture for autonomous urban resource management. The M-EHN decouples real-time edge orchestration from macro-logistics optimization across a three-tiered autonomous hierarchy. To eliminate remote exploitation vectors, a physically isolated, ASIC-driven hardware validation core enforces hard-coded safety invariants through transient, zero-knowledge cryptographic handshakes. By shifting system boundaries from volatile software configurations to immutable gate-geometry, the M-EHN ensures fault-tolerant infrastructure operations resilient against both targeted cyber-warfare and administrative …

Moving Beyond Occupational Health: Lessons From Implementing Integrated Worker Health Programs Among Informal Workers In Thailand, Orrapan Untimanon

Journal of Health Research

Background: This paper aims to present practical experiences and lessons learned from applying an integrated worker health approach among informal workers in Thailand. The approach draws on the concept of Total Worker Health (TWH) and is implemented through Primary Care Units (PCUs).

Methods: This is an invited commentary.  

Results: Key steps included: (1) identification of occupational health (OH) services provided by PCUs; (2) development and refinement of an integrated worker health assessment tool based on TWH principles; (3) assessment and problem identification among informal workers, highlighting combined occupational and lifestyle-related risks; (4) design and implementation of integrated interventions; and (5) …

Analysis Of Student’S Critical Thinking Skills In Science Learning : A Gender-Based Analysis, Evi Elisanti, Larassati Larassati

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

The lack of studies on the development of critical thinking skills based on students' gender and the limited thinking processes demonstrated by male and female students in science classes. The purpose of this study is to analyze students' critical thinking skills in science learning: a gender-based analysis. The research sample subjects were 4th grade 107 class V students in one of the public elementary schools in the city of Surakarta. This type of research used descriptive statistics and inferential statistics to analyze the data. The novelty of this study broadens the perspective that gender differences are not a matter of …

Preoperative Low-Intensity Blood Flow Restriction Training Does Not Improve Quadriceps Strength Or Hypertrophy After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction, Daniel Mcgurren, Kaycee Glattke, Molly Klanderman, Jedediah Lee, Anikar Chhabra, Arthur De Luigi

Journal for Sports Neuroscience

Objectives: To investigate the efficacy of a preoperative low-intensity blood flow restriction (LI-BFR) training intervention for patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).

Design: Pilot study

Methods: Twenty-eight patients undergoing primary ACLR participated in either a LI-BFR training or sham intervention at a rate of 2 sessions per week for 2 weeks before surgery. Quadriceps strength and cross-sectional area were measured via handheld dynamometry and leg press test before and after the intervention before surgery and at 5 different time points after surgery, through 24 weeks after surgery.

Results: Adjusting for sex, time, and strength/hypertrophy at baseline, there were no …

The Readiness Reset: Sleep, Stress, And Pain Management For Tactical Performance, Lauren Fried

Tactical & Occupational Performance Conference

Tactical professionals operate in high-demand environments where sleep disruption, chronic stress, and persistent pain are often normalized, but these factors significantly affect readiness, resilience, and long-term performance. This session explores how sleep, stress, and pain interact at the physiological and neurological levels to influence decision-making, recovery, injury risk, and operational effectiveness in first responders and military personnel.

Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how nervous system regulation, circadian rhythms, and pain perception affect both physical and cognitive performance under stress. Drawing on current research and applied human performance principles, this session highlights practical, field-applicable strategies that tactical professionals and …

A Micropolitics Of Soccer Visibility: Sports And American Exceptionalism Through A Nashville Lens, John Sloop

Fast Capitalism

This essay uses the occasion of the 2026 World Cup to investigate the ways “soccer” or football in the United States has reflected the ideology of US exceptionalism as well as a wide array of other ideological nodal points. By performing a microhistory of soccer as it was covered in the local news in Nasvhille, I bring into relief the ways our understanding of soccer today continues to be constrained by its ideological roots in terms of nationalism, gender, race, and class.